When it gets tough

This has been a...well lets just say challenging week for me. There have been a few different issues that have made me start to get wary of teaching. This has happened a few times to me over my past nine years. However, I read a great blog post on how to deal with people who frustrate you. The author, David Cain, suggests to look at everyone frustrating you as testing you. It really works. But I needed more. I am feeling defeated in a lot of ways, so it was going to take more than a Jedi mind trick this time. I resorted back to an old favorite. A list. Ok, I'm a list maker. I love a good list. It's weird, because my space, classroom, etc, ist not all that organized, but in reality, I love a list. So I got started. And you know what, I felt better. I remembered that it is first, foremost, only for that matter about my students. I realized my frustrations were all linked to things outside my classroom walls. The students were my saving grace. Looking at their faces as we discussed Muckrakers or the Fiscal Cliff, with all their enthusiasm brought me back. The amazing projects they did for their assignments continue to go above the high standards we set in the beginning of the year. But beyond that it was more. It was the extra things they did. It was the food drive we are running where even at my school of 62% poverty we still collected over 30 copy paper boxes full of food. It was the hundreds of dollars we collected for the Red Cross and victims of hurricane Sandy. It was beyond the three carloads of coats that we are donating. It is their selflessness that gives me hope in the future, and gives me my reason to teach.
Last year, some female students and I started working out after school with the intention to practice healthy habits. This year, the number has more than tripled with more girls coming each day. Their committment and willingness to try new workouts gives me pause to think how adaptive the students are and how excited they are to be challenged. It reminds me of my why. Why I got into all of this. Why I try to find new lessons everyday. Why I spend a few hours looking for new technology and increasing my PLN. Why I want them to be better, but more importantly why I want to be better for them.

Economics Curriculum

Here is my curriculum for the semester long high school Economics course. This course is a survey course. The curriculum includes goals, objectives, Common Core Standards, key terms, lesson ideas, and a pacing guide.

Curriculum Guide

Economic Unit Plans

Here are my unit plans for Economics as a semester introduction course. The units include Essential Questions, Key Terms, Learning Outcomes and lesson plan ideas. Feel free to use any or all of them.

Unit 1 An Introduction into Economics
Unit 2 Elements of Microeconomics
Unit 3 Free Enterprise at Work
Unit 4 Elements of Macroeconomics
Unit 5 Government and the Economy
Unit 6 International Economics

Economic Theories

When I am teaching Economic Theories I use this as an opening. I hand out these Word Clouds to each group of students. I have them figure out the following questions. What is the theory about? What should the theory be called? Do you agree with the theory why or why not? This is a great way to get them thinking. Then, I have them discuss with the other groups and compare and contrast the theories. The links below are for the Word Clouds that I use.
Adam Smith Theory

Supply Side Theory

Fiscal Policy

Jean Baptiste Say

Keynesian Economics

Karl Marx

Monetary Policy

Supply Side Economics

Economics Ideas

For Economics, I have been trying to do more long term projects. I have found that they get the ideas and concepts much more by doing these. The first one that I do is I have fake money that they get paid for doing jobs and being in class biweekly. With that money, they have to keep a checkbook, and pay rent and other bills. I also have a game called "That's Life" that they have to play every few weeks and they draw cards to see what unexpected expense they encounter. This can be from buying lunch at Subway to buying new tires. I also discuss with them about what happens they if they lose their money. They have to keep track of their money all semester long, including what they get paid and what they spend.

Another project I do is have them start a business. They have to do the research and find out how much it really costs to start a business and what else goes into starting a business. I have put the documents and rubrics here on LiveBinder.

The next big project I do is for Personal Finance, which I think is one of the most important things we can teach our students. I have the students pick from a hat if they are married, single or divorced, what education level they have and how many kids they have, 1-8. They are to assume they are 30 years old and figure out a month's budget. They pick the month, and figure out their job, create a resume and calculate their taxes and more. I have put the documents and rubrics here on LiveBinder

American history lesson ideas

For a different activity this year I decided to try a video project. I have been trying to try different kinds of activities to keep the students involved and interested. I have done videos before but this time I tried something different. I wrote immigration an d urbanization on the board. I had the students get into groups and had them write their own critical thinking questions. As I circulated the room I have to admit I was nervous at first. I didn't know if they would ask the challenging questions I wanted to see. Luckily, I was wrong. The students were asking better questions than I imagined and those questions were leading to more questions. It was great. I then had them create a storyboard about the topic that they would turn into a movie they were star in and direct. They researched online and created creative stories that they then turned into a movie.

Some of the best stuff that they came up with was how they personalized the experiences of the immigrants at the turn of the century. As I walked around listening to the conversations in the loud classroom it struck me how important it is to allows students to work together with loosely created guidelines. This kind of assignment is a fantastic way to see how far students can go. As long as I was there to offer guidance the students learned more than they ever would've with a traditional lecture.

Creative (technology) Learning

I have created a Live Binder with resources for using technology in the classroom. These are sites that I use frequently, and have found user friendly for the students. There is nothing like the look on a student's face when they discover a new technological resource they can use to create something original. These sites are great with guidelines for the students to use or left up to their own choices. I have tried to organize them by type. There are obviously lots of other sources that are great to use for students in the classroom. But once again, as I have stated many times in this blog, I have found students retain the knowledge much more when they enjoy the work.

1:1 For students

I have been able to see a few schools in action using 1:1Ipads, and I was amazed. After that, I started doing research. I have been compiling research on the topic which can be found on my Live Binder. I would appreciate any other feedback on the topic. I am trying to convince my administration to begin the discussion on how this can be achieved at our school. I would love to have the school get in on this right away, and have recently discovered there are a few other teachers who are interested in this as well. Again, I'd love any feedback on your work with this topic.

CSI in the History Classroom

Recently I did a lesson on the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York in the 1900s. Before, I had taught this showing a picture and telling the students what happened. This time, I decided to switch it up. I did a picture method that I learned from Glenn Wiebe, ESSDACK extraordinnaire. This is where you take a picture, crop it, and then reveal a small portion of the photo little by little. This builds up the excitement. When I did it, I allowed them to guess at each moment, and questioned them. It's best to use a photo that won't be obvious and could be multiple different situations.

After revealing it, I let them still guess what it was, without telling them. I then had them write questions they had about the photo. They did this in partners, but could be done alone. Then, I had a bunch of primary sources that I spread around the room and had them "dig in." The result was incredible. As I was walking around listening to the groups, they had more and more questions and information. I told them to keep writing down their questions and keep searching for more answers. When the bell rang, they didn't want to go, they wanted to keep talking about the fire. I realized this was one of the more productive lessons I have done. The students were able to have a great conversation and take the learning farther.

Link for primary sources:
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/supplemental/bibliography.html

Technology in the classroom

Recently I have been thinking a lot more about having a 1:1 program for laptops/tablets/IPads or whatever for our students at my school. I have emailed our administration a few times asking for direction on how to proceed with making this dream a reality. I have yet to get any response. My next step is turning to other teachers out there asking for help. How did you make this happen for your school? I am in a school where funding isn't a real issue, but obviously the powers that be will need to see the savings. I know a lot of teachers have said they wrote grants, but I am looking for more specific answers about which grants or types of grants to look into. If anyone can shed some light, that would be amazing.