Financial Class Economy

Shortly after the 2016-2017 school year ended in June, I was continuing to reflect on our Financial Algebra course. I kept thinking what can we make better and how can we do it. I thought about how I didn't particularly enjoy how we did some of our banking unit - mainly checking (I also was over the project choice we had for them for that chapter). I decided I was going to tackle a modified class economy system for these high school juniors and seniors! So I spend all summer tackling and figuring out how and what to do. Here is what I have so far:

I had found a template online that I modified to make checks for student use. If students want to "purchase" something they may write a check. This would then give students practical practice with how to fill out a check. While my document has 16 checks, I've decided to only give students 8 of them. As one of the expenses, they may purchase additional checks (we have to buy them in the real world). Since I know we do not write checks for everything we purchase, I then decided to make a Form for electronic transactions. They can debit, transfer, or deposit funds. I figure it would be rare from them to transfer or deposit funds as these would be from another student, but I still wanted to give them that option. Students would be required to record all transactions they make on an Account Register. I was naive the first time teaching this course that this would be something easy for them - it wasn't! They just depend on the online bank to tell them what they have - ugh!!!! Getting students to keep track of this on their own will be huge.

While researching, I found Class Economy was mostly used in the elementary schools. We are not giving out jobs, but high school students are always told that school is their (unpaid) job. I decided that they would be paid minimum wage (currently $10.50 in CA) for the time that they are in class. Our class periods are typically about 90 minutes and we see the students every day (only for 1 semester though). So, they would be paid according to that, including all taxes taken out. Alice Keeler has a Send Comments Add-On Template (you can read about it here) that I was able to modify the Script so that I could have it email information like it was a Pay Stub (my Template). Once I have the students name and email in, all I will need to do is put in the hours for the pay period and I've programmed the cells to do the magic of the calculations! When it is pay day, I just need to push "Send Emails" and it should send the students the email with their pay information. I tested it a few times, but haven't officially run payroll for the class yet.

I just introduced it Friday to my students - it was a quick introduction. One class seemed pretty excited, though they were bummed when they asked if taxes would be taken out! The other class didn't seem as enthusiastic, but maybe that was because it was too close to the bell? I used this document to introduce it to them. It has links to my current expenses and fines, and student friendly language.

I'm just starting this journey, so hopefully I can update in a few months with some positive results. I also have thoughts of giving performance increases in October, followed shortly by some inflation.

First Day Plans - Financial Algebra

The first day of school is just over a week away! Being on a 4x4 schedule that means we have to hit the ground running - especially in the fall semester. I have just 84 school days in the fall to get through tons of information (if you are unfamiliar, think college class schedule - you finish the course in a semester then start new course the next semester). This fall I will be teaching Financial Algebra (I absolutely LOVE this course and what we have done with it), and then planning out our Integrated Math 1 and 2 course for the teams (in the spring I will be teaching Math 2).

Note: I say it often, but I really am going to try to Blog more! So, I decided to get started with the #MTBoS #SundayFunday Weekly Blogging Challenge. I feel like I have been working on butt off this summer trying to get courses organized and set for the first quarter. For the first time in like 5 years, we will be starting the year with the teachers that ended last - there is not a new math teacher in my department! As a teacher who had to move schools every year my first 7 years of teaching, I had always taken my new teachers in my department under my wings to mentor and make sure they felt comfortable and supported to do what they needed to be an awesome teacher. Obviously I will still support the teachers in my department, but I don't feel like I need to be there as much - they are amazing and they got this!! So, maybe that will free up the time I need to Blog? ... right???

The post for this week is "First Day Plans." The plan is to:

1) start by greeting students at the door. I also use this as an opportunity to help some of the "lost" students find the correct classroom. Last spring, my student teacher asked students to write about "what does it mean to be financially secure" for the warm-up, so I think I will ask the same thing. 

2) I think I may also want to have a brief discussion about what the students think this course will be about, then what would they like to learn about. This will lead into a little more about what it may actually be like. Some students really struggle with this being a Project based course, while others don't realize this course should be taken at the end of their high school math pathway - so I like to take just a few minutes to make sure I inform them about this.

3) Students are then going to grab Chromebooks and get into Classroom. We aren't 1-1, so we have 3 carts for our department. Sadly, we usually have 1 booked for most days for our Financial Alg. courses.

4) Once in, I'll make sure students know what resources will be available to them in the "About" section, then they will get started on the first 2 assignments!!

  a) the first is a Google Form that just asks for some information so that I can get to know them better. I browse through answers as they work on the second assignment so that I can make a more personal connection with them. 

  b) students work on a HyperDoc about Google Apps. Since we use Chromebooks and Google Applications OFTEN in our Financial Algebra class, it is very important for students to have a strong grasp of the apps. We also found that students didn't know some of the little things that we thought they should, so we wrapped almost everything into this document. They have this day and part of the next two day's to complete it. I like that this can challenge any student! Last Spring, we used a slightly different version and every student learned at least one thing new.

5) finally, students will be given a Twitter Student Profile sheet so I can get to know just a little more about them.

The second day, I'm hoping to introduce my Class Economy plan (I'm still working on some aspects in my head but I am sooooo excited about this and can't wait to write a post about it soon!), have students get a little introduction to Sheets, and then continue to work on the Google Apps document.

Crazy Busy Week

I realize I haven't posted in a while. I had made plans to post once a week with the happenings in Financial Algebra, and that just has not happened. But I'm super excited about this week and I wanted to share!

1) Tomorrow is Pi Day!!! And who isn't excited about that? This weekend I made my T-shirt for the day. Several years back I made one that said "Be Inspired" so I needed something different. I looked up words and really liked the word "Aspire" so then I had to figure out what to do from there. My colleague helped me and we came up with "Aspire 2 be the [delta] change"!! Over the years, our students have used the motto "be the change" so this fits in perfectly. This shirt is what I made for myself and colleague. I wish I had the time to let my entire department in on the shirt and make one for them, but time isn't always on our side. Regardless, I'm excited to wear this tomorrow.

2) Along with Pi Day, my math department is hosting a luncheon for our staff. This year, each month a department is hosting a lunch for everyone. So obviously we took March so that we could do 3.14 and make it everything circular. Our Math Club made Pi Day Facts that we can display at the tables and I had my peer tutors color a few of these Pi Coloring Pages I got for free at Teachers Pay Teachers. I also made copies of this Graphic Organizer and Pi Day Sudoku Puzzle, also free from Teachers Pay Teachers, that I plan to have out on the table for staff to grab.

3)  Midterms is this week! We are 3/4 of the way complete with the school year and 1/2 through this term. It is going so quick. So Thursday and Friday will be exams. I decided this time to try our online assessment system for the Midterm. I spent last week inputting all of our questions and then this weekend added them to my exam so that I can administer it online. I'm excited and nervous about this. I think I may make a few sets of paper copies for students that may need it, but I'm looking forward to not having to make copies of the test for students. I always feel like I'm wasting so much paper! 

With midterms at the end of the week, we are providing time the remaining days for review in our Financial Algebra classes. Today they did review problems. Tomorrow we are going to have them create test questions and Wednesday I'm going to use the test questions to create a Scavenger Hunt. With our 80+ degree summer-like temperature this week, I figured this will be a great way to get the students outside to enjoy the weather while having a different way to review. Here's to crossing my fingers it all goes as planned.

4)  With St. Patrick's Day on Friday, I found on Pintrest the link to these shamrocks. So I'm making one for each member of my department. I'm hoping I'll be able to find a way to sneak it to them without them knowing it's from me, but we will see. I'm just hoping they will get a little message about how great they are!

5) Finally, we are busy practicing this week for the talent show next week. The math department is getting together and doing a dance to a mashup. We just started practicing last week and we have about half the song nailed down. We will be spending more time this week gearing up for the big performance next week!

If you haven't figured it out yet... I have an absolutely amazing department. I love working with them each and every day!!

Financial Algebra Week 1 [and 2]

We are one week two weeks into Financial Algebra for this new term! Students seem to be excited about what we will be learning and have been actively working on stuff.

We decided to create a parent newsletter for each unit we are working on. We want the parents to become involved in the discussions with their kids, and this way they will have an idea of what is going on in the classroom, as well as what our next unit will be on. Here is Volume 1 of our newsletter. I'll update you on if it is successful or not at the end of the year!

The past few weeks we have been busy talking about some employment basics. We decided to focus the project on a career they were interested in. Students will be researching and writing a paper, giving a quick presentation, and calculating monthly pay net of Social Security and Medicare. They will use this career throughout the term and the salary will be used to calculate their net monthly income for their household budget for the final project. I'm hoping that the students are picking careers they are truly interested in and the research they are doing helps to affirm that choice! The project is due Monday night with presentations Tuesday and Wednesday, so I'll keep you posted in the next post how everything turned out. I've included the Project Instructions here for anyone interested in what we are doing.

Up next, we will be starting Banking Services. I didn't really like what we did in the Fall - it was the first unit we did and we were still trying to figure things out. I'll be spending the next few days trying to figure out how we can make this unit better. I had my student teacher work on some project ideas and I'm meeting Monday with the other teacher teaching the course (she's the "we" I always refer to). I know we can come up with some great stuff for this unit.

New Year

It's the first of the year! In 2 days, I will be back at work and getting ready to the new term.

I'm excited to be teaching 2 sections of Financial Algebra again - I've learned so much the first time around and already have so many thoughts and ideas on how to make it better for the second time. That being said, I'm also finding that I am already overwhelming myself with wanting to create new lessons and repackaging old lessons. The past two weeks, I've spent many hours working on a HyperDoc to familiarize students with Google Suite (suited for High School students) and repackaging a career introduction (skills, interests, and abilities assessments). I think that I have finally got them completed! I'm still working on a document to go into Sheets (since we are doing finance, we use it often and I found the first time around that students had no experience with the application). And, I need to still figure out the details of our first project - career research. We did a different project for this unit, but with the additional time we have, we thought it would be better to really have students research the career they are thinking about since we will use it throughout the year. I'm hoping that I will be able to get them finished by Tuesday, but it isn't looking promising since the other 2 took so long for me to "perfect."

More time than I anticipated has been spent working on a strategy session presentation I volunteered to give. Back in November, I attended SDCUE and a session on HyperDocs. I had heard about them, but I wanted a better understanding. I had implemented a few in my class, and really enjoy the freedom it gives both myself and the students. So, I'm presenting a session about HyperDocs to any teacher that wishes to find out more! I finished my slide deck and thought that I was ready to go. But then I finished reading The HyperDoc Handbook: Digital Lesson Design Using Google Apps by Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton, and Sarah Landis. I felt I could make it better. I thought, if I'm giving a presentation about HyperDocs, wouldn't it be best to example it with them? So I created a Form that could go with the session. I gave opportunities for participants to Explore, Apply, and Reflect. I ask participants to explore already made hyperdocs for their content area. Then I ask for them to include the hyperlink. I will have them apply by really thinking about a lesson they plan to do this spring that maybe they could repackage. Finally, they will reflect on the idea of HyperDocs. In having participants search and include a link to a HyperDoc, I wanted to make sure that information was available for teachers to access, so I created a new Sheet and used the ImportRange function so that only those responses from the form would be visible to anyone that has the link. It's simple, but I'm pretty impressed with myself in pushing this further. My hope is that my colleagues will push themselves so that we all can push the students to achieve more!

Now that I have procrastinated an additional half-hour on the lessons I still need to work on, my resolution for this Spring Term is to Blog at least once a week with some of the resources we are using for Financial Algebra. I think we are doing some awesome stuff, and while we haven't created everything ourselves, it would still be good for me to share what we are doing.

Credit Card Minimum

One of my favorite projects so far in Financial Algebra has been on Credit Cards. I had found a Personal Finance Project Resource Book that was created through the Connecticut State Department of Education. The project is on "Paying the Minimum" and essentially how long it will take to pay off a credit card if you are only to pay the minimum amount. I stress with the Students that this is IF you do not charge anything else onto the card (which most people do not do). I felt it was pretty eye-opening to them. I modified a few things from the original project and expected this from the students. I will probably change a few things for the next time around (up the minimum payment) - I felt a little rushed putting it together with midterms right around the corner. I also was finding that it was really important to be able to provide an example.

Below are some pictures of a few of the projects that were turned in. I love that students are getting experience with Sheets and learning how to use it to their advantage. This is the second project they have had in which they used Sheets and had to link it to the project with a QR code!!

      

Loan Amortization

On the heels of starting the next Financial Algebra chapter on Automobile Ownership, I decided to do a little research into loan amortization schedules. This lesson serves two purposes:

1. Teaching the kids the math and formulas on how loan payments are split between principal and interest, and
2. Showing the students how to use Sheets/Excel to do the math for you

I feel both of these will be valuable skills that they should know. I find too often that students do not know all the advantages of Excel, so if I can show them just a few I'll call that a win!

So,  as I was starting to work the math behind the lesson, I began with the Monthly Payment Formula:

I had to check if this was the monthly payment the loan calculator gave; it was! Next, I started a Google Sheet to begin work for the amortization schedule. Interest was calculated by taking the balance and multiplying it by the "monthly" rate (the rate given is the annual percentage rate so you have to divide that by 12). Principal is found by subtracting the interest from the monthly payment and the balance by taking the previous balance and subtracting that payments principal. So easy to do once you tell Sheets what to do - first payment was done and then you drag the rest down and watch the magic happen!!

I also remembered from my business classes being able to set a formula in Excel to find the payment (not having to input the crazy thing above). So, I used that also to see if it worked - it does. Except that it gave the answer as a negative?? Not sure why, but I'll look into that when I have more time. 

I'm excited for the opportunity to share all this with my class next week. I hope they find this unit enjoyable!!

9 Days of Financial Algebra

We are completing the 9th day of school. I've enjoyed this course and the knowledge it can provide to students and am so excited for the school year. But, I've also been a little disappointed.

On the first day, we had students balance a checking account just to see where they were at. I was amazed at how many did not get the correct balance in the end (all the more reason they should be in this course!). Many didn't have the correct check numbers and didn't know how to handle a voided check - not too big of a deal - so I made sure to go over in more detail about that. I also had students complete a survey to just get an idea of how others manage their finances. Of the 72 surveyed, 19 still use a hand-written register and 22 stated they used some software or app. Students were only allowed to interview one person under the age of 25 and only one person per household. I saw 2 surveys that they clearly interviewed a person from each generation - balance by hand, use an app, don't at all. I would imagine as this current generation grows, more and more will just depend on the balance the bank tells them. That scares me!

As we wrap up our first unit, students had a project they had to complete. They could choose 1 of 4 topics, and it was either a presentation or a paper. We designed this awesome rubric on what we expected and how they would be graded. So many have been just basic information. Since we gave 2 days of class time (almost 3 hours) for researching and putting it together, I think I was expecting better. Only a few are MLA format. They were supposed to be a minimum of 2 pages (that's it!!) and several are just over a page. Is this what English experiences with essays? I'm going to have to monitor them a lot more with future projects that's for sure.

On a positive note, students are asking great questions, so I'm loving that. They are curious and want to learn more. I'm hoping that continues as we move into more topics.

Reconciling Accounts

We are offering Financial Algebra for the first time at our school this upcoming school year. Myself and my former student teacher (I say that because we work awesome together and we hired her last year!) will be teaching 2 sections each of the third-year elective math course. I'm both very excited and crazy nervous! When I taught Integrated Math 1 the past 2 years, we discuss simple and compound interest and I become SOOOO passionate about the topic. Last year we even discussed credit card statements and the "minimum" payment!!

As we started preparing things for this year, we decided to do Chapter 3, Banking Services, first. The first two sections are on Checking Accounts and Reconcile a Bank Statement. It got me thinking ... does anyone use a check register or reconcile their accounts anymore? My counterpart said she just looks at her account balance online. Although I'm about 5-6 years older than her, I kept a written check register for the longest time (probably stopped in 2005 - my husband still keeps receipts for me because I used to make him do it all the time!!). I've been using Quicken for almost 10 years to manage my checking and savings accounts. I enter every transaction and categorize every expense. Am I the only one???? In asking a few others, I feel like I am! So, I wonder at what generation did that switch occur?

We decided to introduce the idea of how to balance a checking account by seeing if the students could with little to no direction. We figured this generation isn't writing a ledger of transactions, but depending more and more on the information provided online by their bank. I also decided that I wanted to see what others did, so I'm having each student quickly interview 3 people (Survey document) as homework on the first day. I haven't yet decided if I want to do a Google Form yet for the data, but I think the results may create a great discussion in class.

Since we only have 3 days figured out of this course, I'm back to planning.  But, what are your thoughts on reconciling accounts?

I'm Back!!

After an almost two year hiatus (pregnancy and enjoying time with my wonderful daughter), I decided that I need to start blogging again. I'm hoping that I can post more often than my last go around and offer more insight and resources into my teaching.

As I've spent the summer preparing and planning for the upcoming school year, I felt like there were a lack of resources for the 3 classes I needed to prepare: Integrated Math 1, Financial Algebra, and Senior AVID Seminar. I thought if I was feeling this way, there had to be others out there? So, I'm hoping that by writing about my journey, it may stir additional conversations and offer others a place to gather some ideas. [DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert for these courses]

We are in our third year with Common Core Integrated Math. To be honest, we are really starting our 5th year since we are on a 4x4 schedule. The transition to Common Core and Integrated was tough, not for content but more due to parent and student resistance. I think it was more misunderstanding than anything. Seeing our students go through the 3 courses has been awesome - the level of math they are doing, the conversations they are having, the interest level! The past two years we were using the Mathematics Vision Project. In January, our three District high schools came together to discuss and choose one main resource that we were going to use moving forward (prior to this each school was using a different program). I highlight main resource because it was made clear that this would not be our curriculum; that our curriculum we would develop as we went and that we would have the ability to pull different resources together! Ultimately, we decided to go with CPM (College Preparatory Mathematics) as our main resource as we felt it would be more accessible to all students. While not ecstatic that we would have to change after all the time and effort my department had put in, I knew this decision would be for the best and I was still happy that I would be able to pull in my favorite MVP lessons. So I spent most of the Spring and Summer preparing for our upcoming school year. I've got 7 teachers teaching this course; 4 of them for the first time and 3 of those are brand new to our school (2 totally fresh teachers). It's going to be crazy this Fall. I'm excited at what resources we will be putting together and looking forward to the feedback our team has.

I spent a lot of the 2014-2015 school year working with another teacher in our District to get Financial Algebra as an approved course in our District. I'm a strong supporter of financial literacy in the classroom and wish more required it. At least this course would give a third year course option to our students and get them knowledgeable for the world they are about to enter. Since I was on Maternity Leave for 1/3 of last year, I decided to hold off on offering the course until this year. We got about 140 students signed up to take the class and will be offering 4 sections of it. I'm excited that I will have 2 of the sections and my former student teacher will have 2 of them. We have already spent several hours meeting and trying to figure out how we envision the class, what we want to cover, and how we can make it relevant and applicable to each student. More on this throughout the year!

Finally, I'll also be teaching Senior AVID Seminar. I taught Freshman AVID in the past for 2 years, so I'm excited and nervous about this switch to Seniors. Again, with our 4x4 schedule, curriculum gets crazy. I'm not sure how our school has managed this schedule (I know they have!) so I'm anxious about getting into figuring all that out. I'm also excited since my first set of freshman AVID kiddos are now seniors, so it'll be nice to see where they are now.

I'm planning on making an effort to blog at least once per week with my insights of these three classes. I'll post the resources I can too! I may write about a few other things too - as a BTSA support provider, department chair, sports enthusiast!

My CMC-S Reflection

October 24-25 I got the opportunity with some of my amazing team members to attend the 2014 California Mathematics Council South Conference in Palm Springs. The focus of the conference this year was "Common Core Mathematics: Building Competent and Confident Problem Solvers."  This was my first time ever attending this conference, so I didn't know what to expect.

Streets of Palm Springs

So first, Palm Springs doesn't seem to have much going on!  Everything was close and within walking distance, so that was super nice. But not too many options for food around us.

Here are the sessions I attended and my take-aways:

1. The Art of Questioning: Transforming your PLC.  

Session Description: When we analyze student work collaboratively, we build a toolkit of questions from a broader perspective. Practice teaming to develop push and probe questions to use for making instructional adjustments and serving all learners to make sense of problems.

Reflection: Working ahead to decide on questions that can get students to think and question more. Also working with a team to develop (we all don't need to do everything!) Really looking at what students do and mistakes they may make to understand what is going on and those misconceptions they may have. Don't just give the information to students.

2.  Attacking Finance Problems Algebraically

Session Description: Hybrid of algebra 1, 2, probability, statistics and precalculus topics form the basis of this UC a-g level 'c' approved math modeling course in financial problem solving. Reading, writing, discussion and projects are an integral part of the course.

Reflection: FANTASTIC session!  This would be a great course for us to add to our District after Integrated 2. Would allow students another math option, especially those that are not ready for Integrated 3.   Spoke with publisher and requested a copy of the text also. Will request information for UC approval so that we can bring it to Math Leadership, Curriculum Council, and the Board.

3.  Statistics, Sports, and Real Research

Session Description: Perform an experiment from a new multi-disciplinary course integrating CCSS Statistics, Sports Analytics, Sports Medicine and authentic student research.

Reflection: Additional course we could consider adding to our math classes. Would bring variety and offer additional options following the Integrated sequence. Students could be taken before an AP Stats class. Not sure if this would work too well right now at our site, but could be considered in the future.

4. Desmos: Infinite Graphing Power

Session Description: Supercharge students' problem-solving toolset with Desmos, the free online graohing calculator. Learning more about Desmos and the capabilities of the program within our classroom.

Reflection: WOW! Can do so much with this program in our math classes. Takes a little bit to set up a problem, but then students can link to it and explore the graphs - important with transformations of graphs - and discover the effects of changing "things" in the equation without actually graphing by hand. Can also insert a table of information, do linear regression. Great for exploring EVERYTHING! Can do graphs in radians and also set up polar graph instead of grid. Discovering equations for "real-life" math pictures too (parabolas - bridges)

I attempted to attend the session on using Google Forms for Assessment, but it was already packed and full before I was able to get there. One of my colleagues was able to go though, so we were at least able to share information.

My amazing Team (minus 1 who we missed dearly)

I was happy to have the opportunity to attend (and the funding to make it happen for all of us).  I look forward to going again next year!!