Period 6: Financial Collapse - Day 3

Today, we continued watching "Capitalism: A Love Story" in class. I took this picture in Love Park, Philadelphia (known as "The City of Brotherly Love") in 2011. 

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Spring Break - for some of you, the last Spring Break of your high school career! We had a nice and easy class before the break. Here's what happened:

Soundtrack: "Love Lockdown" by Kanye West. Chosen for today because of the word "love" in the title and the lyrics, which are about a dysfunctional relationship ("Capitalism: A Love Story" has a similar theme).

AGENDA 3/22/13

Grades Talk

Bad Bank, Continued

Capitalism: A Love Story

Homework: Make sure to complete any missing work, because once break is over, we will come back and start in on Chapter 3. Have a great and safe Spring Break!

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Grades Talk: I posted updated grades in the classroom. You should know where you are at! Notebooks were due to be checked today.

Bad Bank, Continued: We listened to another 15 minutes or so of the NPR podcast, while I explained some of the terms.

Capitalism: A Love Story: We continued watching this documentary.

Period 6: Financial Collapse - Day 2

The US Capitol building in Washington, D.C. - where Congress voted to provide bailout money to banks during the financial crisis we are learning about in class! I took this picture during Spring Break of 2010.

Dear class,

I really enjoyed the discussion and questions today! My biggest fear with teaching is that the content is too boring. Hopefully, we managed to make it so that learning about all of these terms and new information was interesting. Read on to see what we did!

Soundtrack: “Is This Love?” by Bob Marley. Selected for today because of the film we started watching. Lyrics are here.

AGENDA 3/20/13:
Warm Up
Bad Bank
Capitalism: A Love Story

Homework: Check the blog!

Warm Up: (#12 in your notebook) Why do budget airlines charge for onboard meals (which are typically free on luxury airlines), while luxury hotels charge for Internet access (which is typically free at budget hotels)?

Again, a really good discussion of possible reasons for this in class. Lots of great economic thinking! This is a situation that I frequently encounter when traveling, so it is interesting to learn about the reasons behind the different marketing choices.

Bad Bank: The last NPR podcast about the financial crisis! In class, we went through the main terms - I had students write down the definitions from the top of this paper:

Google Drive: "Bad Bank" Definitions and Transcript

During the middle of this, a great conversation came up about where the United States gets oil. Here is a great article, with a graph that is somewhat more recent than the chart I showed the class: NPR.org: Where Does America Get Oil? You May Be Surprised.

After the definitions, we started listening to the (really excellent, in my opinion) podcast about the financial crisis and bailout. Here it is if you wanted to listen again or preview next class:

ThisAmericanLife.org - 375: "Bad Bank" Podcast

During the podcast, I paused and showed the class how to make a bank balance sheet with the information that was being given. The podcast uses the funny example of a dollhouse mortgage at a bank to show how the real life financial crisis happened. I stopped the episode about 15 minutes in, to move on and stop everyone from being bored. We will come back to this next class.

Capitalism: A Love Story - Next, we started watching this film by Michael Moore. I made sure to note that the film has an obvious bias to it, and that we will discuss what this is as we watch. To not mention this would be basically showing propaganda as fact, haha. It really is a great film to watch and discuss, especially at the end of the Free Enterprise chapter. Here is the worksheet that I passed out:

Google Drive: "Capitalism: A Love Story" Worksheet

We stopped about 15 minutes into this, as well. We will return to it next class!

Please make sure to come and take the Chapter 2 test if you have not taken it yet. Also, please turn in the Chapter 2 review packet. I will post updated grades on Friday. :-)

Period 6: Financial Collapse - Day 1

The now famous ball of yarn, all wrapped back up!

Hi everyone,

Today was a pretty laid back day. We did not really get to any new content, but that is fine. It was mostly reviewing the answers from the test and the yarn activity.

Soundtrack: “We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey. Selected for today because of the class unity activity. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/18/13:
Warm Up
Test Review
Class Unity Activity
Bad Bank

Homework: Check the blog! Make sure your notebook is ready to be checked!
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Warm Up: (#11 in your notebook) Why is milk sold in rectangular containers, while soft drinks are sold in round ones?

At first, it seemed like the class had no clue, but with the help of both of these items being in class (!!!) we were able to figure out possible answers. Thanks for the good discussion!

Test Review: As it sounds, we went over the answers to the Chapter 2 test. Unfortunately, this meant that many of the students that missed last class (and the test) had to go study outside. Thus, I tried to be somewhat quick in my explanations.

Class Unity Activity: This was to get away from the usual dynamic of me up in front of the room, talking. We passed a ball of yarn away and connected to each other using our family backgrounds. Economically, the world is increasingly become a global competition of markets, because of the internet and air travel (among other inventions). This was a fun way to think about those connections. We finished right at the end of class, so we will come back to the financial collapse podcast next time.

Period 6: Free Enterprise, Day 6

The soundtrack today was "2 Legit 2 Quit" by MC Hammer. Here is a picture I took with him in 2001 (I had just completed my freshman year of high school) outside the Colosseum in Rome.

Hi everyone,

I am writing the recap while you take the test! Multitasking at its finest. A really basic day today.

Soundtrack: "2 Legit 2 Quit" by MC Hammer. Chosen for today because of it being the Chapter 2 test and because you hopefully were "too legit to quit" on the test today. :-) Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/13/13:
Review
Chapter 2 Test

Homework: Check the blog! The next notebook check will be next week, so make sure that you are all up to date with the work in class! There was no warm up today.
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Review: Before the test, I think (and hope) that we went through the review packet quite thoroughly. I wanted to be sure that we went over the main concepts and the learning targets again. Hopefully, this helped! Your review packets were due in class (in the Period 6 basket).

Chapter 2 Test: I hope that this went well and that the class average was much better than last time. We will review these next week.

I will not be starting with Chapter 3 next week, because it would not be fair to do all of the learning target work and then have the entire Spring Break to forget it. We will be working on the economic collapse some more, as well as some other interesting stuff.

See you next week - have a great weekend!

Period 6: Free Enterprise, Day 5

Here's a big symbol of the US free enterprise market economy: the statue of the bull by Wall Street in New York. A good stock market is called a "bull market" and a bad one is a "bear market." I took this picture in September of 2009.

Hi everyone,

We did not end up with as much time as I would have liked to finish the review packets for Chapter 2 today. You should have PLENTY of time to do them over the long weekend, though, as I only see you once next week - on Wednesday for your Chapter 2 test. Read on for review help and prep!

Soundtrack: "Confessions, Pt. 2" by Usher. This album came out when I was in high school, haha. Selected for today because we are working with Chapter 2 of the textbook. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/8/13:

Warm Up
Swap Cops
Review Packet

Homework: Finish Chapter 2 review packet. Study for Chapter 2 test on Wednesday! Check the blog and ask questions if needed!
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Warm Up: #10: Why does Taco Bell sponsor 20,000 Free Chalupas for the Blazers crowd if they go over 100 points, for every game?

Loved the responses here, as usual. I created this one myself. It is fun to use economic reasoning with what is going on around us!

Swap Cops: I wrote a diagram of what we had learned through the NPR podcasts so far, with the mortgage situation leading to banks defaulting, and then all of these impossible to pay out bets/insurance on whether or not those banks would fail. Yeah, it is complicated. Hopefully, we are starting to make some sense of it in class. If you want to check out the podcast again, here it is: ThisAmericanLife.org - Another Frightening Show About the Economy.

After listening to the end of the episode, I posed a simple question: how do you feel about the bailout? You wrote a short response (a paragraph) to this, then we talked as a class for a bit. Again, a very interesting discussion!

Review Packet: The rest of the class was spent (or should have been spent, in some cases) working on completing the review packet. I will try to go through it briefly on Wednesday before the test. If you did not complete this in class, it is homework to be turned in next class! If you somehow lost your packet, here it is to download again:

Google Drive: Chapter 2 - "Free Enterprise" Review Packet

Please let me know if you are at all confused on any of the concepts in the packet or in the chapter! Here is the Chapter 2 Learning Targets PowerPoint, if you want to review that again:

Google Drive: Chapter 2 LTs PowerPoint Presentation

Have a great long weekend. Study up and be ready for Wednesday!

Period 6: Free Enterprise, Day 4

The Statue of Liberty (with lower Manhattan in the background) is a symbol that many Americans see as representing freedom.

Hi everyone,

I enjoyed the conversations today in class, as usual. It is nice to have a little bit of balance between all of the freshmen (who I love, don't get me wrong) I have and you all. Read on for the recap!

Soundtrack: "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty. Chosen for today because of the connection to our look at the financial collapse in 2008 (when our economy was free falling) and because of the chapter title of "free enterprise." Lyrics are here.


AGENDA 3/6/13:
Warm Up
Out of the Hedges
Chapter 2 LT PowerPoint
Review Packet

Homework: Read the blog. Work on review packet so you can finish in class on Friday.
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Warm Up: The question (#9) for today was: Why do the keypad buttons on drive-up automatic teller machines have Braille dots?

I heartily enjoyed the few responses we had on this. The real answer is that 1) it would cost more to change the keypads for specific drive up ATMs and 2) the US government requires that all ATMs have Braille dots for blind people, regardless of where they are located.

Out of the Hedges: We continued listening to "Another Frightening Show About the Economy" from NPR/This American Life. Today, we heard Part 2 of the podcast, which was titled "Out of the Hedges and Into the Woods." As usual, I scrolled through the transcript as we listened to the reasons behind why the economy crashed in 2008.

This time, however, your assignment was to make a graphic representation (a picture of some sort, for instance, or a political cartoon) of what the section was about. You could have drawn a ticking time bomb, a pyramid, or anything that you could connect to what you were listening to. I will check this off in your next notebook check.

Chapter 2 LT PowerPoint: I finished up with the Chapter 2 PowerPoint. If you do not have the learning targets written out, they are here for you to review and complete for credit:

Google Drive: Free Enterprise - Chapter 2 PowerPoint

Please be sure to ask questions if you are confused! Be very familiar with the pillars of free enterprise and the circular flow of the economy, for sure.

Review Packet: For the last bit of class, I passed out this review packet and we started it. Next class, you will finish it and we will review for your Chapter 2 test next Wednesday (the only time we meet next week, so treat it like a final, or something).

There are multiple copies left in class, but if you want to get a start (if you missed class or lost your copy), here is the packet to download:

Google Drive: Chapter 2 Review Packet

That is it for today! Next class, we will continue with the podcast, finish the review (and go through it), and prep for the Chapter 2 test. See you on Friday!

Period 6: Free Enterprise, Day 3

Today's warm up had to do with flights to and from Hawaii. Here's a picture I took from the top of Diamond's Head crater, looking out on Honolulu and the Pacific Ocean. Why would you want to leave this, if you didn't have to for business? That was a main reason why airfares are higher from Hawaii to the mainland.

Hi everyone,

Another good class today - I'm sort of glad that we did not finish the PowerPoint, because it meant less talking by me during class! We will pick back up next class. If you would like to review, the presentation is below.

Soundtrack: "Regulate" by Warren G and Nate Dogg. Picked for today because the regulation of Wall Street and the mortgage backed securities was sorely lacking before the financial crisis. Lyrics (somewhat dirty, but not too bad) here.

AGENDA 3/4/13:

Warm Up/LT Check

Another Frightening Show

Chapter 2 LT PowerPoint

Homework: Read the blog. Finish learning targets if you did not already!

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Warm Up: The warm up question for today (#8 overall) was: Why are round-trip fares from Hawaii to the mainland higher than the corresponding fares from the mainland to Hawaii?

I talked a little bit about this above, but the reason is because vacation travelers have all sorts of opportunity costs at play with where they select to go to. Thus, airlines need to be competitive for the vacation travelers from the mainland, where the most frequent passenger from Hawaii to the mainland are business people, which really HAVE to be on a flight (there isn't much choice there).

While you were writing the warm up, I was checking off completed learning targets. If you did these for today, you get to use a note card on the Chapter 2 test. If you did not complete them, you still need to get them done ASAP!

Another Frightening Show: We listened to the first part of this podcast: ThisAmericanLife.org - "Another Frightening Show About the Economy" Here's the transcript and definitions that we looked at in class: 

Google Drive: "Another Frightening Show" Definitions and Part 1 Transcript

You need to have these definitions written down. At the end of this section, I had students write in your economics notebooks to put the podcast in your own words. We will continue doing this in future classes, too.

Chapter 2 LT PowerPoint: We were able to get through about half of the presentation. Next class, we will finish this. Thanks for taking notes and paying attention. Here it is if you want to preview next class, or review what I talked about in class:

Google Drive: Chapter 2 - Free Enterprise Learning Targets PowerPoint

See you on Wednesday!