Counterfeit Money

Catch Me If You Can was a biographical crime drama based on the life of Frank Abagnale, who, before he was 19, successfully posed as a doctor, lawyer, and pilot to con people out of millions of dollars. Whoever said that teenagers are slicker than snot on a doorknob was right. Cue the heart clouds – the main role was played by Leonardo DiCaprio.  Abagnale later served as a government employee check fraud expert while under the direction of the FBI.  The FBI also employs many in the field of counterfeit money.  The ongoing training that these agents are put through may surprise you.  Those trained to recognize counterfeit money never study counterfeit money!  Why is that?  Glad you asked. There are far too many possibilities that counterfeiters use and is impossible to keep up with.  So, here is what these experts study – they immerse themselves in studying what true legal tender looks like day after day after day so that can spot anything incorrect that stands out.  Studying the good to recognize the bad – what a novel concept.

A best practice concept to use in your classroom is to display exemplary work of students.  One reason for this is the recognition of the student touching the affective side of total student development.  Perhaps you have your own method of displaying these excellent essays, art work, country brochures, or science fair projects.  Kids develop some personal pride knowing that their teacher thought that their work was so good it just had to be displayed.  The other side of displaying exemplary student work is for the other kids to see.  Displaying great work gives the class examples of what “great” actually looks like so that they understand what “not great” looks like. It give them something to aspire to.  It gives them a goal. It provides an example.  It is a best practice.  Don’t miss this incredibly easy teaching strategy.  Hopefully, you won’t have to chase Leonardo DiCaprio around…guess that is a matter of perspective.