Teacher Training Guide

Three learning modules: Money (6 lessons, green), Careers (7 lessons, blue), and Entrepreneurship (6 lessons, purple). The same color coding appears in the Lessons menu, the student top bar, and your reports.

Consistent lesson format: Every lesson is 5 interactive screens with narration, tappable hotspots, and a knowledge check quiz at the end. Once students learn the format, they can run any lesson independently.

Built-in motivation: Students earn 50 XP for each main lesson plus XP for quizzes and games, and unlock levels, badges, and challenges along the way.

Any device, no install: The program runs in a web browser on Chromebooks, laptops, tablets, and phones. Headphones are recommended for the narrated lessons.

Built around classes: You create your classes in your My Classes portal and share a 5-character join code. Students link to your class from the home screen, and everything they complete shows up in your reports.

Open the app: Send students to https://yca-next-wave-9-12n.base44.app — the login screen reads “Welcome to the JA Chicago Next Wave 9-12 Program.”

Create an account: Students tap “Create Account” and enter their first name, school name, grade (9–12), email, and a password. Have them use their school email so accounts are easy to track.

Verify the email: A 6-digit verification code is emailed to the student. They enter it once, their profile is created, and they enter the program.

Log in next time: Returning students log in with email and password. Progress saves automatically, so they continue exactly where they left off — even mid-lesson.

Classroom tip: Have students record their email and password somewhere safe before their first session.

Share your class code: Each class you create gets a code made of 5 easy-to-read characters (no I, L, O, 0, or 1). Write it on the board or post it in your LMS.

Students tap “Join a Class”: On the home screen, students tap the Join a Class button in the lower-left corner and type the code.

Confirm the class: The app shows the class name, school, and teacher before joining, so students can check they are in the right class before they confirm.

Progress travels with the account: Joining never affects XP, lessons, or game progress — the class link only adds the student to your roster and reports. Students who switch classes keep everything.

Get a teacher account: A JA admin invites you by email and sets your account to the Teacher role. You then sign in on the normal login screen — no separate portal to remember.

Create your classes: Tap “Create a Class”, give it a name (like Period 3) and a school. Each class gets its own join code — create one class per period so your reports stay separated.

Manage your roster: The roster shows every student who joined with your code, with their grade and XP. You can also add an existing account by email, or remove a student — their account and progress are always kept.

Refresh the code anytime: Tap “New Code” to retire an old code and issue a fresh one — useful between class periods or school years.

Choose a lesson: From the home screen, students open the Lessons menu and pick a lesson card. The “Next up” banner highlights the recommended lesson, and each module strip shows progress.

Work through each screen: Each screen narrates itself with highlighted text. Students tap the pulsing amber markers to reveal pop-up facts, then use the Back, Listen, and Next buttons at the bottom.

Nothing can get stuck: The Next button is always available — students can move ahead even if they have not tapped every marker, and Listen replays the narration at any time.

Finish and take the quiz: Completing the 5th screen awards 50 XP and leads to the knowledge check. The quiz asks a few questions, shows explanations, awards XP when passed, and lets students retry if needed.

Progress saves automatically: Screen position, narration position, and tapped hotspots are all remembered, so a lesson can be finished across multiple class periods.

Capital City: A 13-station life simulation: students choose a career and manage a paycheck, housing, transportation, loans, insurance, and unexpected events, finishing with a net worth and a grade (Financial Champion, Breaking Even, or In Debt). Progress saves so they can resume at their station.

Mini-games: Career Match, Budget Builder, Savings Simulator, and Pitch Builder are short, XP-earning activities that build directly on the Money and Entrepreneurship lessons.

Classroom use: Have students finish the related lesson first, then play the matching game the same week — the games are designed to follow the lessons.

Debrief in class: Ask students to share their final net worth and grade — the range of outcomes makes a great class discussion.

Progress at a glance: The top bar always shows each module’s progress (for example Money 2/6) plus the student’s XP, level, and rewards button.

Progress & Rewards page: Students open it to see total XP, level progress, lessons / games / challenges / badges completed, and module-by-module progress.

Challenges and badges: Weekly challenges (like completing 3 Money lessons) and unlockable badges give students bonus goals — great for friendly class competitions.

Copy and share the link: Anyone with the link can view the report — parents, counselors, or your principal. It only ever shows your classes, and student names appear as initials.

Summary at a glance: Student count, average XP, lessons completed, and badges earned — a quick pulse of overall engagement.

Per-class breakdown: Each of your classes shows its own student count, average XP, lessons, and badges, so you can compare periods at a glance.

Top Students: A leaderboard by XP, shown with initials only for privacy. Celebrating it weekly is the simplest way to keep classes motivated.

Always current: The report updates automatically as students progress — keep sharing the same link all year.

A simple weekly routine: Open your report once a week: celebrate the top students, compare per-class averages, and remind students of their “Next up” lesson.