Busy Week

This is a VERY busy week - the last full one of your high school career!  ALL Econ (JA) materials are available online.  We're finishing with 8,9,10,13, & 14.  It seems like a lot, but they are VERY interconnected (except for 13).  I feel that we covered advertising throughout the year and

Monday
Pick up Ch. 9 & 10 Packet (Corrected in class on Thursday) - work on it in class today

Tuesday
Go to CCC to complete Naviance Exit Survey
Pick up Ch. 13 Packet (Complete by Friday)
Pick up Ch. 14 Reading (Read by Friday)
Econ Final Vocab Study Guide available

Wednesday
Some are gone to Valleyfair
Work on Ch. 13 Packet in class

Thursday
Correct Chs 9 & 10 Packet
Enter Take-Home Exam 2 Answers

Friday
Weekly WIL 4.7 DUE
Correct Ch. 13 Packet
Discuss Ch. 14 Reading

Tuesday (May 29, 2012)
Final Exam (Econ JA Chapters 8,9,10, and 13)

Wednesday (May 30, 2012)
WIL 4.8 DUE
Econ JA 14 Exam (Group)

Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes

We went over stocks tables and financial statements.  I hope you learned the how and why of hostile corporate takeovers.  We then watched South Park "Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes" in an effort to show you how and why such programs can be useful to teachers.

Wal-Mart - Good or Bad? Discussion

Analyze/Discuss:  Wal-Mart, Grade Acknowledgement, and Prom Rules.  Is Wal-Mart evil?  What is wrong, if anything, about their business practice?  We also looked at the recent news story about underclassmen NOT be allowed to attend Prom 2012, and you signed a sheet acknowledging that you still have work to do if you hope to pass the course.

Friday:
Correct/Discuss: Stock Market & Financial Statements Worksheet.
Watch  South Park (Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes)
WIL 4.6 turned in on Friday for EXTRA CREDIT!

Is Wal-Mart Good for America?

We watched "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" in class.  It took the whole class period, so your review will be done on your own time.  Embed your review into your Weekly WIL 4.6; be sure to reference profit vs. ethics or profit & ethics, and use econ terminology.  Turn in your WIL by Friday for some EC!  I also wedged this depiction of the spread of the Wal-Mart virus into the class at some point.

Thursday
Correct/Discuss: Stock Market & Financial Statements Worksheet.
Analyze/Discuss:  Wal_Mart, Trade Deficit, Employment, Unions, etc.


Friday (Here or not, WIL for EC is due, otherwise accepted Mon for NO EC)

Watch Simpsons (Trouble with Trillions)
Watch South Park (Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes)

Ethics & Profit or Ethics vs. Profit?

We read the two viewpoints of business ethics & profit motive from the packet distributed yesterday.  You completed the five questions on your own, after which we discussed them as a class.  At the end of class, you turned in the completed Ch. 8 (Financing a Business) work - I will still accept it at the beginning of class on Wednesday.  Tomorrow = "Is Walmart Good for America" will be screened.  Watch and write a review as Weekly WIL 4.6 (due Friday/Monday).  Do not forget about the Take-Home Exam that is due Thursday.  It was due Tuesday/Weds

Stock-Aid

Fun pun?  You picked up the next set of worksheets and started work on the first page (How to Read Stock Tables & Financial Statements) in class.  You submitted Weekly WIL 4.5 AND the first page from the previous packet (Classifying Business & Comparing forms of Business Organization), which we went over as a class.  You then picked up Take-Home Exam 4.2, which is due Tues/Weds.  Please make sure to follow directions and ONLY TURN IN THE FIRST PAGE by Tues/Weds (Thursday at LATEST).

EXTRA CREDIT!!!

High School for seniors is coming to a screeching halt in just three weeks!  And while some students may fear life beyond High School, I doubt being a "Super Senior" is desirable.  As such, I am offering the following Extra Credit Opportunities:

• Bring back a "borrowed" Government Textbook.  I have 25, but there SHOULD be 33. Everyone gets +1% for each book returned.  It's an AMAZING offer. 

• Watch "Boiler Room" (2000) or "Wall Street" (1988) and write a review including key economic concepts and judging ethical decisions made by main characters.  Include how/when/where it was screened.  Due Tuesday 5-15.  Past Due

• Watch "Margin Call" (2011) or "Capitalism, A Love Story" (2009) and write a review including key economic concepts and judging ethical decisions made by main characters (or as depicted in the documentary).  Include how/when/where it was screened.  Due Friday 5-18. Past Due

• Watch "American Dream" (1990) or "Harlan County, USA" (1976) and write a review including bias and JUSTIFIABLE positions depicted by multiple "sides" of a worker's strike.  Include how/when/where it was screened.  Due Tues 5-22.  

• Write an "Open Letter" to a current 8th-grader AND ANOTHER "Open Letter" to a  current Junior providing insight about high school and, specifically, the senior year.  Include advice and tips.  450-500 words EACH.  BOTH due Friday 5-25.

No student is doomed, even at this late date.  We're racing through economic principles and concluding with ethical analyses within what little time we have in class.  Pay attention, DO EVERYTHING, study, and EVERYONE can earn a greAt grAde!

Economic Freedom & Growth

We watched some segments from Stossel & Friedman concerning "Economic Freedom & Growth" which hopefully spark some internal thought & reflection.  You were to take some brief notes of ideas and statements that left an impression on your malleable mind.  We then discussed (analyzed) each segment.  The segments shown are listed below (I'll add links when possible - if I can't get them converted and uploaded, Google the segment titles and/or this cool site you may have heard about and search the title):

Day 1 (Thursday)

1. Stossel How Economic Freedom Leads to Prosperity (5.26)
2. Stossel Ease of Business Freedom Key to Economic Success (2.56)
3. Friedman Self-Interest and the Profit Motive 1of2 (5.25)

Day 2 (Friday)

1. Friedman Self-Interest and the Profit Motive 2of2 (6.56) 
2. Friedman Most Persistent Economic Fallacy of All Time (2.51)
3. Stossel Minimum Wage and Consequences (1.44)
4. Friedman Minimum Wage (3.38)
5. Friedman Redistribution of Wealth (4.21)
6. Stossel Responsibility of Wealthy to Pay More Taxes (5.15)

Types of Business

You picked up a packet and completed the first page defining types of businesses and providing examples during the first 30 minutes of class.  Ignore the directions on page 75 and simply write definitions for each type, followed by EXAMPLES of each mentioned in 1,2,& 4 and skip #5.  And complete page 81 as well.Then you entered your test scores while I cleaned up the gradebook.  I must say that scores for a take-home-and-use-whatever-you-can-and/or-want were pretty low.  You will have another take-home exam next week.

Decisions

You submitted your Take-Home Exam (100/100 in classroom points just for turning it in!), which will be entered & scored in class tomorrow.  Many of you also submitted Weekly WIL 4.4 - please note that I now enter MISSING by default and clear it out (leaving it empty) if you turned it in on time.  Actual scores are entered a week later.  You picked up the Decisions chart and completed it in class.  We then discussed the chart in hopes of knowing the importance of decision-making and choices as a whole throughout life - which is the simple basis of economics.  I also reminded everyone to turn in ANY and ALL Economic Skills Lab worksheets (Analyzing Advertising, Savings Options, Costs of Credit) that you may have hidden away.  We'll explore the concept and role of private Business (including Labor) this week and next, with your 2nd (of 3 total) exam to follow.

Judicial System Review & Exam

We went over the Judicial System Packet in class and I distributed the Take-Home Exam.  I also explained Affirmative Action.  The Packet Key and Take-Home Exam are available online.  Please note that Weekly WIL 4.4 is due.  If you have NOT done a WIL this qtr, you better start doing so or you will probably NOT earn credit this qtr., which is REQUIRED FOR GRADUATION!  If you do submit weekly WILS 4.4-4.8 and do all of the assigned classwork through May, you will most definitely be well-prepared for any remaining exams and earn a passing grade.  If not...

Court Delay

I revised the Judicial System plan.  We will correct the handout on FRIDAY.  You will get a take-home exam that is due Tuesday.  I suggest you email me your answers if there is a possibility you will be absent (entered ONLY IF ABSENCE IS EXCUSED).  For your Weekly WIL, I suggest you include a response to the video shown in class on Thursday.

Stadium, Judicial System, & Classwork

I went through the history and current process of the Vikings' Stadium efforts, followed by a Standard Deviant's summary of the Judicial System.  You then had 15+ minutes to work on your Judicial System Handout, which is DUE WEDNESDAY.

Tues:  Standard Deviant's Civil Liberties (25 mins.), followed by 25 minutes of classwork time

Weds - Standard Deviant's Civil Rights (15 mins.) preceded by 25 minutes of classwork time

Thurs - Vid: Cost of Freedom.  Include a response in your Weekly WIL.

Fri - Correct Judicial System Packet, Receive Take-Home Exam (Due Tuesday)

PTSD

The trauma is over and you were to complete a chart for 12 Angry Men.  I also uploaded all of the readings for the Justice System Packet Handout (Vocab & Organization).  To see everything, go to the Unit Page.  You will get Monday and some of Tuesday in class.  We'll correct everything on Wednesday, followed by a test on Friday.

12 Angrier Men

We finished the film today and will discuss it tomorrow.  You will have some more time to complete the Justice System packet tomorrow and Monday.  We will correct it in class on Weds.  Expect a test on Thursday or Friday.

12 Angry Men

We started the movie in class today.  You will get a handout when we finish the film on Thursday.  Pay attention to character personalities, group dynamics, and be mindful of the circumstances surrounding each juror's change in opinion.  In class tomorrow, you will get a packet of Judicial System expectations.  I went through the four chapters to pull out what I feel to be essential.  There is also a long list of vocabulary.  by no means must you write definitions for each, but YOU MUST KNOW THEM ALL.  So, if there is a term you do not know, write the definition in the space.  You will have Wednesday and Friday to complete the work in class.

Saving Handouts

I distributed the next set of handouts, reminded you of your advertising "homework" that was due last Friday, and we watched a short video about how to wisely use credit.  We discussed how today's dollar is worth more than tomorrow's while also opening the exploration of credit.  The day was concluded with a look at Homer Simpson's credit rating.

Saving - Now or Later?

You picked up a handout of four worksheets and then sat at a computer in order to create a spreadsheet depicting different savings scenarios.

Freakonomics - Incentives

We briefly discussed the recent homicides in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park.  People kill people, but guns make it easier.  While we have a 2nd Amendment right to own firearms, should there be limits placed on ownership and use in terms of type, number, and availability or access?  That is your Weekly WIL question.  We spent the rest of the day finishing Freakonomics with the study of Incentives - Can You Bribe A 9th Grader To Succeed?  You wrote a personal response when finished.

I will be out on Thursday.  The assignment given is to read two excerpts from Andrew Carnegie and Karl Marx.  There are questions to ponder and respond to on the back of each excerpt.  We'll discuss them on Friday.

Beginning of the End

Your FINAL Quarter of High School (well, for most of you at least).  We started the day by defining the following terms as succinctly as possible:

Economics                                Demand                         Equilibrium

Markets                                   Supply                            Shortage

Opportunity Cost                            Price Effect             Surplus

Resources (types of)                      Shift in

                                                         Elasticity

We then watched the third segment of Freakonomics: "It's Not Always A Wonderful Life" explores the question of what led to a decline in the urban crime rate in the US during the mid- to late 1990s. The authors of Freakonomics suggest that a substantial factor was the 1973 US Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade, in the US which permitted people to have legal abortions, leading to more wanted children with better upbringings.

I concluded the day by reminding you that there are still about 38 days of class left...so do not stop now.

Supply of Equilibrium

We went through the Supply Worksheet Packet, which you turned in at the end of class for some much-needed points.  I also went through the Equilibrium slides.  You'll get that worksheet tomorrow.  Do not forget about the Demand-Supply-Equilibrium test on Wednesday serving as the Final.  On Thursday, you will have 10-15 minutes to write your Final Weekly WIL in class.  It is the ONLY WAY I AM ACCEPTING IT SINCE IT IS EXTRA CREDIT.

Govt Final Exam

You took your Government Final Exam in class today.  I also went through the gradebook cleaning  up everything I could find.  ALL Weekly WILs should be entered by the end of the school day.

Study!

I decided to give everyone a second day to prepare & study for tomorrow's Government "Final" exam.  Please do not waste your time.  Also, THERE IS NO WEEKLY WIL this week, not even for EC.  I plan to have a final WIL due next Thursday covering everything you may have learned during Q3.  There is also going to be an EC movie review opportunity.  Choose one of the following: The Box - (2009). or Lifeboat (1944).  Apply Economic Reasoning as you review the film.

Government Study Prep

You have an exam on Friday covering government.  I gave you a study guide in class and you had time to fill it out.  It was NOT a day to waste.  We'll continue studying Supply tomorrow.

Freakonomics (Part 1)

I showed you 45 minutes of Freakonomics, a movie based on an extremely popular book - we'll finish the film next Monday.  We'll move forward with Supply tomorrow, followed by Equilibrium.  On Friday, you have your Government Final.  Next Friday's exam (Q3 Final) will cover Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium.

Economic Growth & Decline

We went over the last page of the Econ 1.3 Demand Packet.  I hope you understand how Demand Shifts (Increase to the Right, Decrease to the Left).  I also reviewed the Circular Flow and how important it is to spend in order to help the economy grow.  We ended class by watching South Park Season 13 Episode 3: Margaritaville.  You will have a test on Friday covering what we have studied thus far.

I fell behind, so you get a week to catch up as well.  This week's Weekly WIL counts as EXTRA CREDIT!

I Demand To Know Demand

We simply went through the Demand Packet of worksheets.  I hope, and presume, that you know about the concept and Law of Demand.  If not...ASK QUESTIONS!!!  There will be an Econ Quiz (Intro, Free Enterprise, and Demand) on Friday, March 16th.

Want/Need + Ability = Demand

We went through the Econ 1.3 Demand Slides today.  I asked you to actually take notes this time, so it may have seemed a bit tedious at times.  But I am trying to have you learn the skills of being a successful student.  After the slides, we went through some of the worksheets in the Econ 1.3 Demand Worksheet Packet.  If you do NOT understand something...ASK!  It is VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING!

RomoThink Review

We took the day to discuss previous RomoThinks. 

• 1/24/12 (Sample) Under Oath
• 1/27/12 Effort
• 2/03/12 Incompetence Petition
• 2/10/12 Fame or Fortune
• 2/17/20 Convict & Medical Research
• 2/24/12 Super Loss
• 3/1/12 Mo' Money
• 3/9/12 Public Position

We'll get back to Econ tomorrow, focusing on the Law of Demand.

Free Enterprise

No, Captain Kirk and his crew have not been captured.  Although, with so many lens flares, it might be difficult to see who is actually on board.  Regardless, back to economics.  We went through some slides today covering the basics of the Free Enterprise system.  As always, they are available for download via my teacher page. I also showed you 10 minutes of video segments explaining the Circular Flow. I'll try to upload them as well.

Circular Flow

You worked in groups to complete the Circular Flow of Economic Activity via Google Docs.  As you worked on it and asked me to verify your work, I highlighted correct placement in green (after 1-2 initial attempts).  You then completed the Worksheet ripped from the Econ 1 Packet.  We'll learn about Economic Systems in class tomorrow.  RomoThink question to be included within your Weekly WIL is below:

3/9/12 Public Position
A TV news crew stops you on the street and asks your position on premarital sex, drug use, and abortion.  Do you agree to voice your opinion on the air...to be seen and heard by all of your friends and family (including grandparents, religious leader, and potential employers)?

The Lorax

NO, not the new, feature-length movie.  We watched the original, 25-minute cartoon from 1972.  And we applied economics to it.  Even with the cheesy, yet catchy, tunes.  You started the day by drawing your own copy of the Circular Flow into your notebooks, followed by listing resources and economic concepts depicted in the cartoon.  I've always enjoyed this lesson, and I hope you do (did) too.

Stossel Ideology

Is Stossel crazy?  How would you describe him to others?  we discuss(ed) Stossel today.  You take notes, write a summary, and turn in both Stossel handouts plus today's notes for some nice classroom credit.  You also answered the following question:
     You are a business owner intent on making a profit not only for yourself but for your shareholders.  You are at risk of losing your position if profits are not increased.  In order to cut costs, do you:    
               a)  cut corners in terms of safety for people you do not know, or  
               b)  make your friends work harder for less pay?Explain your reasoning.

Super Stossel!

He's Back!  Meanwhile, I'm gone.  You have another worksheet to follow, but focus on the video.  We'll discuss & answer the questions when I am back on Tuesday.

Econ Test 1

We had a test in Econ today.  25 questions.  Some people still ask about a Weekly WIL.  There is ALWAYS a Weekly WIL!  I have decided to accept this week's WILs through Tuesday.  Your weekly question is as follows:

3/1/12 Mo' Money

You have a (legal) opportunity to make more money than your fellow workers, but it involves a degree of deception (lying - hiding the truth).  Do you do it?  Explain your reasoning.

Econ Exam Preparation

We watched a 20-minute video that covers the basics of Economics studied thus far.  After the video, I had you sit in groups at a computer station to go through the slides I showed on Monday.  You will take the exam in class tomorrow and finish the packet (which will be turned in for many points).