Volunteer Toolbox: JA Economics for Success

Volunteer Toolbox: JA Economics for Success Teaching Tips: Pages 1 -2 Activity Enhancements: Pages 3- 5 What if I have a difficult class?: Page 6 Taki...
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Volunteer Toolbox: JA Economics for Success Teaching Tips: Pages 1 -2 Activity Enhancements: Pages 3- 5 What if I have a difficult class?: Page 6 Taking activities from group work to class/individual work: Page 6-7 Incorporating Technology: Page 8 Special Instruction: Pages 9-10

Teaching Tips Preparing for Success    

Prepare before you go into the classroom! Ready activity plans, organize kit materials, etc Sign in at the main office each time you visit the school. Use your “Guide for Consultants” and make activities FUN for your students. Discuss with your teacher how to adapt lessons to meet learning needs. There are different learning abilities among students.  Secure student roster from the teacher to make certificates (for last visit). In the Classroom Group Activities Always ask the teacher to divide the class into groups for the activities. Teachers know which students work well together. Noting the “need to group students” prior to the beginning of the lesson is helpful to the teacher. Also, since you are dealing with middle and high school students, you might not always need to have them in small groups to do some of the activities. Discuss the options of small group vs. entire classroom with the teacher. Working with Students  

Use an opening question to test students’ background knowledge. Brainstorm words to go with each lesson.

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Encourage all students to give answers loudly and clearly enough for everyone to hear. Rephrasing their answers, not repeating them, is helpful. Thus, the student “owns” his/her answer. When asking questions during a lesson, be sure to allow for reflection or “wait time” for the students to respond before moving on or answering the question yourself. Encourage everyone to participate. Use such phrases as “Now we are going to…” rather than “Would everyone like to...” as you begin activities. Emphasize at each visit how you use math, spelling, reading, and language arts at work every day. During your time in the classroom, please take the opportunity to demonstrate the basics of business etiquette. (Some examples include introducing others, making eye-contact, respectfully addressing others, punctuality, presentation skills, the importance of volunteering, etc.).

Other Considerations 



Plan a graduation party at the last session. While gifts are optional, students appreciate food treats, pencils, or anything you bring. Be sure to bring the same treat for every student. Ask the teacher if there are special circumstances (allergies, diabetic, etc.). Many schools have food restrictions. Please check with your classroom teacher before bringing in edible treats. Present students with certificates upon completion of the program. Templates for printing the certificates can be found at: http://www.jabrand.org.

Snacks & Treats Most schools are “nut-free” zones, therefore we ask you to review our safe candies list before bringing in food/candy for students. Some safe candies are Skittles, Starburst fruit chews, Twizzlers, Smarties, Tootsie Rolls, Dum Dum Lollipops, and Rolos. For a full list of safe candies, which means they do not contain any type of nuts and were not created in a factory where nut items are processed check web sites such as www.peanutfreezone.com or www.peanutallergy.com. *Always ask your teacher before handing out candy. Teaching Ideas  Rating Scale – have students rate how things are going, or their level of understanding. Use a thumbs up / thumbs down system or have them rank 1 – 5, bad to good, to indicate their rating.  Think, Pair, Share – ask students a question then allow them to think about their response individually, discuss their responses in pairs, and then share with a small group or the entire class.  Wrapping up the Lesson – ask two questions or ask for two comments/observations about the day. Ask for three responses for each, limiting the students’ answers to one word, one sentence or one short phrase.  Creating Certificates of Completion- To easily create your students certificates, click the following link followed by the corresponding program’s “Certificate Customizable- DOC” http://www.jabrand.org/volunteers/Customizable-Program-Certs/index.shtml

Activity Enhancements Please note: Anything highlighted MUST be added to the presentation. These are new state standards that are required by Ohio Financial Literacy Laws. There is an incredible This American Life episode on Middle school students that gives amazing insight. You can watch it at: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/449/middle-school

Activity 1: Mirror, Mirror   

Prior to the start of the program, consult with the teacher to determine the best timing for the Economics for Success CD-ROM and the Take-Home Newsletter. Pass out table tents and workbooks and have students write their name on both. These will be used for every session and should be left in the classroom with the teacher. Tell the students about yourself and your career. You may want to conduct some type of icebreaker to get to know the students better.

Activity 2: Choose Your Success    

Prior to class, review the decision-making process and be prepared to share an important decision you have made where you might have benefited from using the process. Do not take too much class time on explaining the process Review and play the Choose Your Success game before presenting it to the class. Separate the game cards prior to class but be sure not to mix the Cards from sheet to sheet. This game takes some time to explain. It is best if you attach one of the game boards to the front board as you explain the game. Actually play the game for a few roles to show them how to play it.  If your class does not do well in groups you could separate the class into two large teams and they could compete against each other, with you managing the game. Or see page 4 for directions on how to complete this with the class as a whole.

Activity 3: Budgeting Activity 

Replace this activity with the provided in training. Do not use the book.

Activity 4: Savvy Shopper  

Prior to class, separate the playing cards, display cards, and play money, read activity rules, ask the teacher to be the banker during the game. You can take the clearance option out of the cards if you wish.

Activity 5: Keeping Score 

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A great comparison: GPA is your score on grades, A Credit Score is your score on paying and managing your bills. a. When highlighting the importance of paying bills on time, please introduce the following concepts that can help them in managing their money. This should be added on page 32 after the student reads the “How does credit work” section. Fit it in with the “payment history” that is talked about in that section. b. Automatic payments - Payments that automatically come out of a bank account. They will have a specific day that the money is taken out. Many companies will offer a discount if you pay electronically. Some companies will not service you if you do not pay electronically (gyms). With automatic payments you want to make sure you understand how to stop the payments if you stop working with the company. Many companies say they need 45 days to stop the payment from being taken out of your account. c. Electronic payments – paying bills on line. One thing to remember when doing this is that it DOES NOT automatically go to the payee. Many times it takes up to a week to be submitted. d. Installment Loans - Loans in which the principal (cost of item) and interest (cost of loan) are repaid in equal installments at fixed intervals (usually every month). An Installment loans can be used for vehicles, homes and other things. Make sure to break up the materials for the game before going into the classroom Remove the Accept Required Draw, Exchange, and Discard game cards from each game . These cards tend to make the game confusing and do not add any educational opportunities.

Activity 6: What’s the Risk?  

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Start off by asking the students to name the kinds of insurance they can have. Give the students examples of “fun or interesting” things to insure a. Example: Talk about how some people have old red sleeveless shirts insured for $6,000. Why on earth would someone insure an old red sleeveless shirt???? It was Michael Jordan’s signed rooky jersey. b. Talk about how a hand model can insure JUST her hand. Because that is how she makes a living. This activity, although informative, does not hold students attention well. We recommend doing the activity as a class, instead of in pairs. Then do a short review game with the vocabulary words if time allows. Recommended review game: Hang Man c. Break the student into 4 teams d. Use the board to draw a hang man picture and put the letter blanks underneath. e. Use the vocabulary words from the EFS program f. Give each team a turn picking a letter and then guessing what the correct word is g. Award a point to each team when they get a word correct. h. Track points on the board

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The team with the most points at the end of the game wins!  Allow them to use their books, it is about review! The following link can be used to access certificates of completion: o http://www.jabrand.org/volunteers/Customizable-Program-Certs/index.shtml

DISCARD FROM YOUR KIT: Activity 3: All Activity 5: Accept Required Draw, Discard, and Exchange cards from game

“What if I have a difficult class?” 



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Consult your teacher. Ask them the following questions o “What classroom control techniques do you use?” (Ie. Clapping twice to get the class’s attention) o “What teaching techniques have you found work best for this class? What do you recommend for me to do or do differently?” o Ask your teacher to step in to help regain class composure. Walk around the classroom. Teach from the desk of a student who is chatting with their neighbor. Even place your hand on their desk if necessary. Your presence should remind the student that they need to be engaged. Take a moment to remind the students of the ground rules you set in your first session. The same ground rules, as well as the teacher’s regular classroom rules still apply. Contact your JA consultant. Take group activities, and change them to individual or classroom activities. See below for details on how to do so, or contact your JA consultant. *Only do this if you have discussed it with your teacher and they feel it would be the best decision for his or her class.

Taking activities from group work to class/individual work Activity 2:  After explaining the Choose Your Success game board to the class as outlined in your guide, explain that each row will act as a team. Have students remain in their seats, desks shouldn’t move. Assign each team a color, based on the game pieces in your kit.  Tape the Choose Your Success game board to the front board; place a piece of tape or sticky tack on the back of each team’s game piece.  Decide the order in which teams will play (typically right to left) and have one student roll the dice.  Rule for each of the squares remains true to what is outlined in your guide. You are essentially acting as a game host.  With each teams turn, a different student should roll the dice.  It is important to commentate with each move made so that students remain engaged throughout the game. Activity 4:  Instead of separating the class into multiple teams, split the class in half and have them remain at their seats. (This will make the game move much quicker, meaning students will have less time for distractions)  Remove the clearance card. The game will be too short if clearance is an option for students. This will also force them to use reasoning and encourage participation when deciding whether or not to purchase an item.  Complete the game as outlined in your guide. Activity 6:  Separate the class into pairs and give each pair several minutes to read over the types of insurance covered on the What’s the Risk Chart.

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Have pairs decide whether or not they would make room in their budgets for each type of insurance. After decisions have been made, be sure to recap as a class. If pairs will not work for your class, this can also be done individually.

Incorporating Technology



“Coffee Shop” - This game will allow students to act as entrepreneurs. They will essentially be running a coffee shop, hoping to make a profit. Just like in the real world, each “day” the business owners will face new challenges. They will have to make real-life business decisions such as price, inventory, etc. The accelerated 2-week game (each day only lasting a couple minutes), gives students the opportunity to learn best practice methods and watch their business soar. o http://www.coolmath-games.com/0-coffee-shop/index.html



“What Do You Like?” – This website allows students to explore careers based off of what subjects they like in school. If time allows ask a couple students what their favorite subject is, and introduce them to different fields of work they may like. o http://www.bls.gov/k12/index.htm



“Get A Life!” – Once you have introduced the concept of budgeting to your class, direct them to this game. It can be played as a class (similarly to Activity 3, where a majority vote wins), or provide both the teacher and students with the link. They will be able to explore several career options, and create a budget for each. Ask students at the beginning of session 4 if any had the chance to play the budgetting game, what did they discover? o http://www.famemaine.com/files/StaticPages/General/GetALife/GetALife.html



“Who Do U Want 2B?”- This short, visually appealling quiz will help direct students to certain fields they may be interested in. After answering the series of questions, the top three fields of work they might be in will be generated. Students can click on any of the categories to learn more. o http://www.whodouwant2b.com/quiz/



As a way to introduce the topic of insurance, consider showing the students a funny insurance commercial to grab their attention, and then discuss it with them. Below you will find a couple options, or choose your own! o “Life Comes at You Fast” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK5ZzDcrm0A o “Humans Commerical” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y9lljKFN8g o “Happier Than A Camel on Hump Day” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWBhP0EQ1lA

Special Instruction

“Poll Everywhere”         

www.polleverywhere.com: Instructional video option for your convenience. Click “sign up,” located at the top right of the page and fill out the necessary fields. Click “create your first poll.” Enter the question you will be asking the class along with any answers you want students to be able to choose from. Click create poll. You will be given a code for each answer. Students will decide what they would like to answer and text that code into the number shown at the top of your screen. As answers come in, a bar graph will generate. Votes are anonymous, and students will be able to see in real time how the graph changes as votes come in. Polls and results will save. Note: Results are limited to 40 responses per poll.

“SMART Board” 

Please note: your teacher will be able to answer any SMART Board questions you may have.

TO ORIENT: You should orient the board when first setting it up, or if the projector or whiteboard has been moved since last use  

Press and hold the Keyboard and Right Mouse button, located on the pen tray either directly in front of the eraser or to the right of the green pen, simultaneously until the Orientation screen appears. Begin the process at the upper left corner of the screen - press your finger or pen firmly on the center of each cross in the order indicated by the white, diamond-shaped graphic.

TO CLICK:   

Your finger is your mouse. A press on a SMART Board is the same as a left-click on a mouse To open an application, double-press the application with your finger. If your press unintentionally and produce digital ink or erase a previous note, check that the pens and the eraser are in their pen tray slots. If one tool isn’t in its slot, the sensors in the pen tray register your touch as if you were using that tool.

TO WRITE:  

Pick up a pen from the pen tray and write on the SMART Board o You can use your finger to write and the board will recognize it if a pen is out of the pen tray. To write in a different color, pick up a different colored pen. (The color recognition comes from the sensors in the pen-tray slots and not the pens themselves).

TO ERASE: 

Pick up the eraser from the pen-tray and move it in a smooth motion over notes to erase them.

IMPORTANT- The SMART Board only recognizes the last tool taken from the pen tray. For example, if you already have a pen in your hand when you pick up the eraser, the board will assume you want to erase, regardless of whether you touch the board with the pen or eraser. To avoid confusion, return each tool to its proper slot when you are done using it.