Entrepreneurial Project-Based Learning
TeacherPreneuring
Let your Guide show you the way with your questions
Entrepreneurial Project-Based Learning—what I call TeacherPreneuring—gives teachers and students a practical way to fund their own classrooms while learning real-world skills. By creating and using CAP Notes and WAY Game Cards, students turn their learning into products that can be shared, printed, and even sold as part of a class-driven initiative. The result is simple and powerful: funds to cover out-of-pocket teacher expenses, support WAY Game prizes, and provide essential classroom supplies—reducing the financial burden on parents. At the same time, students gain experience in creativity, responsibility, and teamwork, seeing firsthand how their ideas can create value. It’s learning with purpose—where classrooms become communities that think, create, and contribute together.
Opportunities for Teachers/Entrepreneurs
1] PD Train others in SWAY techniques. Use playway.ca as your guide.
2] Host Pub Night or Community Play with the WAY Game. Help battle loneliness.
Classroom Fundraising Ideas
1}CAP Note Markup - Optional - Cost Costs.
2} Customize CAP Notes Pictures - Swap my pictures with student pictures.
3} Game Card Sales and Printing Services - offer printing services to families.
4} WAY Game Swag - created and distributed by students.
5} Put on a Show, Run it as a Business Simulation - charge admission. EG Beluga Play & 5M's Digital Art Show—part of June's Show and Tell Week, where classes present their projects.
I don’t believe the only source of funding for classrooms has to come from “above.” TeacherPreneuring offers another option. It’s not for everyone—but for teachers who value practical, skill-building projects that can also generate revenue, it creates new possibilities. When classrooms are equipped with shared sets of essential materials, everything changes. Students come prepared, waste is reduced, and desks, lockers, and backpacks become organized and purposeful. As the cost of basic supplies goes down, students and families have more flexibility in what matters most. It’s a simple shift—one that brings structure, responsibility, and sustainability into the classroom.
In 2015, my Grade 5 class (5M) took on a year-long project that began with a simple idea: explore the issue of internet piracy. From that starting point, we built something much bigger—a fully produced puppet show. We started from scratch. The class organized itself into actors and technicians, and everyone had a role to play. Students wrote the script, designed and built puppets, created sets and props, added special effects, and managed the production. In June, we performed 23 shows for students and parents, charging 25 cents admission and raising $400 for charity. The show ran about 30 minutes, but the learning lasted far longer.
Students developed creativity, teamwork, responsibility, and confidence—skills that don’t come from worksheets alone. If you’re looking to engage your class in meaningful, real-world learning, consider a year-long project. Start with an idea, give students ownership, and watch what they can create together.
Digital Art Show
5:49
Beluga Play
4:12
An Economic Model Based on Caring, Sharing & Profit
A Note to Administrators and Parents,
Please support teachers in their classroom fundraising efforts. We continually ask teachers to do more with less.
No more. SWAY is a way to divert money from the business sector to the classroom by reducing prescribed classroom materials. Here's how
Level 1 - Teachers order class sets of CAP Notes directly from Amazon for $11.11. Add markup and a tip
Level 2 - Choose your own venture adventure.
The time to integrate SWAY is up to teachers. Of course, TeacherPreneuring is optional. Having an Independent Class Fundraiser adds motivation, skills, and value to a student's day and a teacher's pocket.
Teachers will not lose sight of their objectives - to teach students how to earn a living. Parents and Administration give TeacherPreneurs a licence to do so. And if students are wildly successful? Wow!
Know that PROFITS flow back to stakeholders in reduced costs and improved performance.
