JA or Econ 349? That is the question.

So i have been reading a few of our class mates blogs and they all seem to think that going in front of the class is quite hard. I completely disagree. Teaching is teaching no matter if they are twenty somethings or in their teens. I personally like going in front of large groups and talking. Yes it can be nerve wracking at times but, I think teaching one class is extremely simple compared to six weeks of teaching JA. That said, I love doing my JA and I've became a better person, student, and future teacer because of it; I would not trade it for anything else.

Turkey day, the Great Depression, and my Question?

Turkey Day! Wow am I stuffed today was a fantastic day! Now for economics. I forgot who presented on Monday but I think she did a better job than the other two. I don’t know what it was but I think she simply had more spunk in her step. The other two talked about unemployment but they failed to mention when and how unemployment was created. What was the unemployment prior to the Great Depression? What was the government spending their money on? EX: Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Dams, etc… I saw lots of holes in their lesson but did not want to say anything because we are all new at this stuff. For the girl who presented on Monday I thought she could have done a better job in some areas, for example explain the context of some pictures, she got some dates wrong, and dive into her question of why was the employment of women rising when the number of unemployed was on the rise? (I know it’s not an exact quote but its close)

That said, I think she did a great job and I left with a smile. However, her lesson gave me a question that has been rolling around ever since. Professor maybe you can help (if you get this far)

Q: Does technology create necessity, or does necessity create technology?

I am thinking about this question in the context of after WWII and the consumerism that has developed thereafter. However, I know there are times in history where it has worked both ways. (Do I truly need the internet on my phone?)

Black Friday- Not Black Tuesday!!

So today’s lesson went fairly smooth and we had no problems, thankfully. I began the day with an interdiction of what red and black means in the business world. I asked what day is Black Friday and what other day dose it relate to? (Black Tuesday, 1929 stock market crash). A female student explained to me that Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year. Then I went over why this shopping day is extremely important for the economy this year. Additionally, I reviewed the national unemployment rate, SD unemployment rate (6.4 as of Sep-08), and what is full employment.
Moreover, then I preceded to review the material that we have been doing for the last few weeks. The mantra is W.C.W. which = Will you do the job, Can you do the job, and Will you fit into the job? In addition, I discussed appearance, language, body language, and communication to prep them for a future interview for their dream job (any job). So today I gave them interview questions which Qualcomm directly uses in their interviews; then I had the students look over the questions and place them into the categories of W.C.W. and had them answer 10 questions based on the interview matter for homework, which is due on Monday. This was a downer for several of the students because I NEVER give them homework.
When the students were working on their HW, my self and the teacher would walk around the room and ask the students how were they doing and if they needed any help? I ran across one student with a blank sheet of paper who was talking, I asked him what is you answer to Q#1? And he replied that he dose not know what he wants to do. In this predicament I always ask the student what he or she likes to do in their free time? Or what his he or she good at? This typically gets the student involved and they find an answer. However this kid was lost. I began to provide some open ended questions and some possible answers to his questions. I asked him what attributes could he offer an employer? He ask me what was an attribute? And after my explanation he told me that he was “lazy” to which I replied, that is not a quality you want to tell an employer. I worked with him a bit longer and had to explain the definition of FIVE different words- wow, I asked myself “am I using big words, or is this guys vocabulary tremendously minute?” it was the later because several of the students around him helped him understand the words that I was using.
On a side note, I am disenchanted that I will be unable to complete one of the goals that I developed for this JA assignment. My goal was for the students to create a resume and have mock interviews, unfortunately there is no time in the semester for such a project. However, Mr. Rose said that I have inspired the social science chair and he loves my idea! He proceeded to tell me that they will do mock interviews at the end of next semester to prep the students for graduation and give them extra credit. I am sad that they will not be conducting the interviews this semester because I feel that I have bonded with some of the students, I also get this feeling at the end of each soccer season.( If you are reading this professor “I” do you get sad at the end of the semester?) But i will go to the interviews next semester, for sure!!!

JA, Unemployment, Questions, and RANT!

So today I did my JA assignment and the teacher praised me afterwards. I was fairly satisfied with his comments, although not to seem egotistical, I already knew I did a good job based on the amount of student comments, interaction, and volunteers.
However, because the teacher has fallen a little behind and need to do some catch-up today we did not adherer 100% to the JA material. Ironically the material that we went over in class this weeks was quite helpful in teaching today’s lesson. The teacher gave me a handout and we discussed unemployment, unemployment rate, and the effects of unemployment. In addition, I distributed a news paper article to the class and had them popcorn read (one student reads a clip/ paragraph and then picks another student). At the end of each paragraph I had the students stop and I explained what the article was describing. Overall I think to day was a success.
On a side note. Why do we present our lessons in front of the class if we don’t get graded for it? I could easily sit in front of the class and be boring as f—k and simply read off a sheet of paper. Instead I take an hour or two of my time and do a PP to convey my ideas and the lesson. WHY? I don’t know? I am just pissed!! I just want school to be over so I can go snowboarding in Mammoth and Tahoe !!! (END RANT)

Liberty, choices, and always be prepared.

Hello everyone I hope you all are having a great day, week, month, and LIFE!
So this post is for November 3-9. I was unable to blog due to the rain, my crappy internet was down. WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!! That’s what this week was. The presidential election was on Tuesday! I voted of OBAMA! And I was extremely pleased with the outcome. I even did a ASL video project on his victory (that did not turn out so well).
I presented my second lesson plan and I admit I was quite pleased with my performance and the result of the second assignment. Because if you have been reading my blogs you would know that I F—king chocked on the first one.
I got back a midterm that I left scratching my head, and to my astonishment I got an –A. This brings me to Friday. The day I teach the JA material.

November 7th 8am. This is the time that I teach the JA material. I don’t know if the other peeps in the class except for Britney, go and meet with their teacher each week prior to their normal teaching day? Howard Rose (the Econ Teacher) and my self meet every Wednesday to review the material and develop a game plan for that Fridays class. I find this extremely helpful because it forces you to become more organized and prepared for the upcoming lesson.

However, I found out that not everything always goes as planned. So on Friday I went into class even more prepared than normal because I wanted to be fluid and show the teacher that I can run his class like a pro. So I started reviewing last weeks lesson asking questions to get their brains working. The class was fairly responsive answered all of my questions and asked a few questions themselves. The lesson consisted of introducing problems in the workplace and how vital communication is, then you transition into a movie. However, this is where the fun begins because the DVD player was inoperable.

When Howard and my self attempted to fix the problem a normal respectful and quiet class erupted like Mt. Vesuvius! Rapidly I was faced with something that I was unprepared for- ravenous kids bent on talking! I remember thinking to myself I must do something to stop this talking. But my mind was blank. I was saying common Jordan Fucking think of something calm down think, think, think!!! Yet, to no avail my mind remained blank. I asked the class to calm down but only three students stopped talking. He looked at me and said under his breath I got to get these kids to shut the fuck up! Then Mr. Rose began yelling and the entire class became quiet. He promptly developed a new game plan and everything was golden.

After an activity a girl asked me a question: Why do you tell girls that they must wear slack to an interview? Why should I wear slacks to an interview at Starbucks? I explained the answer and I asked her if she works and how do people dress when they apply for a job at her workplace? Her response was the answer to both of our questions! She went on to explain story how a female attempted to apply for a job. The student said the girls had tattoos on neck, gangster makeup, and two giant steel balls on her chin! The entire class began laughing she concluded her story. Class was almost over and I began reviewing the lesson of the day. I told the class the following:
Do you know what is so great about America? Liberty! The freedom to choose! We all have the freedom to choose what we want to do in life and how we portray our selves to society. I have no problem with tattoos and piercings- what you want to do with yourself is your business. That is what’s so great about America. However, what I want you to think about the outcome of you choices in an interview. If you have dirty stained clothes, tattoos on your face or neck or great big balls on your chin...(hahahah)… your interview will be ruined because the he or she is not focused on you.

End of class