Over this weekend, I finished reading the book, A Deadly Indifference, by Marshall Jevons. It's a Henry Spearman mystery, a fictional character who's a professor of economics at Harvard University.
The book was about 179 pages and it was a fairly easy read. Most of the story takes place in Cambridge, not the one in Massachusetts but the other one across the pond in Great Britain. The main plot in the story involves purchasing a house that used to be the home to the famous economist, Alfred Marshall. This mystery has many different characters (most of whom are economists) as well as an unsolved murder.
I won't give away the ending, but I can say that I enjoyed reading the book. The ending had an interesting twist and made perfect sense after piecing together the events and characters. Aside from the entertainment value, this book also involves many economic principles. From elasticity to trade-offs, the author cleverly fits economic concepts within the story.
As a future teacher of economics, I would probably have my students read particular sections of the book that involve economic principles that we are covering in class. They can help serve as examples or analogies of what is being covered in class. However, I wouldn't assign the entire book to my students, unless it was an extra credit assignment. The reading to too long to cover briefly, and many of my students probably wouldn't enjoy reading mysteries either.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The CCEE Website
I checked out the California Council on Economic Education website for my first time. It's a really nice site, nice layout, and looks professional. I visited the section called "Teacher Guide to California Economics Standards." Within that section, there's a link that you can click on which opens a .pdf file and explains the California content standards to teachers. Also, there's an example assessment at the end of the guide, with sample multiple choice questions (with answers). I found it to be really helpful.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Still Waiting On JA
Well, not much happened this weekend. I'm awaiting a response from my representative at Junior Achievement. Last week, I connected with a teacher in Poway who teaches in middle school. She seems like a nice lady, and said that I could work with her on Wednesdays starting November 5th. However, my JA representative has been out of town for the past week, and I need to get my teaching materials from her. Hopefully, she'll respond to me soon so I can get started with my student teaching when November comes around.
Other than that, I had a pretty depressing weekend. I'm still working on my assessment for my lesson plan. When I decided to go with an easy grade level for my first lesson plan, I didn't think about making an assessment plan afterwards. It's kind of difficult to "assess" first graders, so I guess I'll bump the age group a grade level or two for this time.
Other than that, I had a pretty depressing weekend. I'm still working on my assessment for my lesson plan. When I decided to go with an easy grade level for my first lesson plan, I didn't think about making an assessment plan afterwards. It's kind of difficult to "assess" first graders, so I guess I'll bump the age group a grade level or two for this time.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Economics 349 Progress Report
So far, I like Professor Imazeki's class: Economics 349 - Economics for Teachers.
I like the concept of having a class designed around teaching future teachers concepts in economics because I may end up teaching an economics class in the future. Since my major is Social Science - Single Subject, I must be prepared to teach in the following subjects: history, political science, geography, and economics. Economics was never one of my strongest subject areas. But with the help of Professor Imazeki and her class, I think I'm gaining a clearer understanding of economic principles and how to teach them to a class of students.
On Monday, we went over externalities. I have to admit, that I couldn't quite remember what exernalities were and I was afraid to raise my hand in class. But once Professor Imazeki went over some examples of externalities, I finally remembered what it was. I remembered them being like "extra costs." The example we went over in class was the production of cashmere sweaters and dust clouds. Here in the United States, we purchase cashmere sweaters from China. Business is good in China, because we have plenty of demand for their cashmere sweaters here in America. However, cashmere is made from goats, and the hooves from their goats (which are like stiletto heels) produce huge dust clouds which drift all over China to Oregon and Washington in the States. Obviously, residents in Oregon and Washington don't appreciate these dust clouds from China. So in this case, the externality is the dust clouds from China annoying the residents of the Pacific northwest. Chinese manufactors charge a price for their cashmere sweaters, which American demanders pay for, but both don't realize the extra cost of having dust clouds hovering from China due to the goats from China--unless you're a resident of Oregon or Washington. Should we as demanders reduce our demand for cashmere sweaters, so that residents of Oregon and Washington can enjoy fresh clean air? Should manufacturers in China reduce their supply of cashmere sweaters (and goats) and raise the price so as to not produce such huge dust clouds? Or should either side not care about the issue at all, and let the invisible hand work things out on its own?
I like the concept of having a class designed around teaching future teachers concepts in economics because I may end up teaching an economics class in the future. Since my major is Social Science - Single Subject, I must be prepared to teach in the following subjects: history, political science, geography, and economics. Economics was never one of my strongest subject areas. But with the help of Professor Imazeki and her class, I think I'm gaining a clearer understanding of economic principles and how to teach them to a class of students.
On Monday, we went over externalities. I have to admit, that I couldn't quite remember what exernalities were and I was afraid to raise my hand in class. But once Professor Imazeki went over some examples of externalities, I finally remembered what it was. I remembered them being like "extra costs." The example we went over in class was the production of cashmere sweaters and dust clouds. Here in the United States, we purchase cashmere sweaters from China. Business is good in China, because we have plenty of demand for their cashmere sweaters here in America. However, cashmere is made from goats, and the hooves from their goats (which are like stiletto heels) produce huge dust clouds which drift all over China to Oregon and Washington in the States. Obviously, residents in Oregon and Washington don't appreciate these dust clouds from China. So in this case, the externality is the dust clouds from China annoying the residents of the Pacific northwest. Chinese manufactors charge a price for their cashmere sweaters, which American demanders pay for, but both don't realize the extra cost of having dust clouds hovering from China due to the goats from China--unless you're a resident of Oregon or Washington. Should we as demanders reduce our demand for cashmere sweaters, so that residents of Oregon and Washington can enjoy fresh clean air? Should manufacturers in China reduce their supply of cashmere sweaters (and goats) and raise the price so as to not produce such huge dust clouds? Or should either side not care about the issue at all, and let the invisible hand work things out on its own?
Monday, October 13, 2008
First Week of Presentations
I thought the first week of presentations went well. Everyone appeared to be slightly nervous while presenting, but that's normal considering it was probably the first time most of us had to present our lesson plans. I thought the content in everyone's lesson plan was through and well planned. I didn't see many lesson plans that were incomplete or unclear.
For my lesson plan, I decided to present on the use of money in a first grade classroom setting. I know I picked kind of an easy one. This was one of the first times I had to create and present a lesson plan in class, so I wanted to make sure it was good. Everyone laughed and seemed to enjoy my presentation, so I guess it was aight. :P
Personally, I would prefer to have more of these oral presentations than written assignments. When I'm a teacher, I'll have to speak in front of students all day. Speaking is not one of my strengths right now, so I want to get all the practice I can get.
I had a really busy weekend, which is why I am posting this blog right now instead of earlier. One of my friends who is my workout partner and gets me in shape and ready for my bodybuilding and fitness modeling shows just got married on Saturday. He got married in that beautiful Mormon temple near the 5 freeway. I'm not Mormon, so I couldn't go inside. But I was able to go to the ring ceremony in Orange County, and it was great. On Sunday, another friend of mine called me and told me that he had an extra ticket to the Patriots vs Chargers game. So heck yea I took that offer! The game was great, the Chargers dominated the Patriots the entire game, 10-30. The fans were even more entertaining, there were two fights between drunks in my section. The first one wasn't near me and was more like a pillow fight. But the second one was about two or three rows behind me, and the drunks really got after it and got beat up with blood all over them. It was really funny to watch.
That's about it for this week (last week). More to come later this week and in the coming weeks when I do my first student teacher presentation with Junior Achievement.
For my lesson plan, I decided to present on the use of money in a first grade classroom setting. I know I picked kind of an easy one. This was one of the first times I had to create and present a lesson plan in class, so I wanted to make sure it was good. Everyone laughed and seemed to enjoy my presentation, so I guess it was aight. :P
Personally, I would prefer to have more of these oral presentations than written assignments. When I'm a teacher, I'll have to speak in front of students all day. Speaking is not one of my strengths right now, so I want to get all the practice I can get.
I had a really busy weekend, which is why I am posting this blog right now instead of earlier. One of my friends who is my workout partner and gets me in shape and ready for my bodybuilding and fitness modeling shows just got married on Saturday. He got married in that beautiful Mormon temple near the 5 freeway. I'm not Mormon, so I couldn't go inside. But I was able to go to the ring ceremony in Orange County, and it was great. On Sunday, another friend of mine called me and told me that he had an extra ticket to the Patriots vs Chargers game. So heck yea I took that offer! The game was great, the Chargers dominated the Patriots the entire game, 10-30. The fans were even more entertaining, there were two fights between drunks in my section. The first one wasn't near me and was more like a pillow fight. But the second one was about two or three rows behind me, and the drunks really got after it and got beat up with blood all over them. It was really funny to watch.
That's about it for this week (last week). More to come later this week and in the coming weeks when I do my first student teacher presentation with Junior Achievement.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Active Learning
My first official post will be on the topic of active learning, based on my thoughts after reading the article "Using Active Learning Techniques in Large Lecture Classes" by Stephen Buckles and Gail Mitchell Hoyt.
Basically, this article is about incorporating different methods of teaching in large classrooms by having the students getting actively involved with the lesson plan. Some ways to do this is by motivating students, splitting the lesson into small sessions, getting students to learn from each other in groups, using experiments and simulations, brainstorming, and creating a course website.
My views on the article's methods of active learning:
A teacher is like a DJ, and the students are a crowd of music-lovers. A good DJ will grab the crowd's attention by playing the right music and make good transitions between songs/tracks; a poor DJ will stumble and lose the crowd's attention. Therefore, if a teacher is going to incorporate "active learning" into their classroom, he or she must know how to administer the method effectively to his or her students. If an inappropriate method is used for a lesson, or if the teacher does not administer the method clearly or effectively for his or her students, then the students will not work efficiently and the lesson of the day will be lost. Just like how music-lovers are at a DJ party to listen to good music, students are in the classroom to learn lessons; and if the method used for that day's lesson is not carried out correctly, then that day's lesson will be lost.
In the end, I believe that in order to learn one must actively participate in the lesson mentally (i.e. paying attention). In contrast, there is no such thing as passive learning. So in my own words, active learning is paying attention to the teacher and the lesson being taught, whether the work is being done in groups or not.
Basically, this article is about incorporating different methods of teaching in large classrooms by having the students getting actively involved with the lesson plan. Some ways to do this is by motivating students, splitting the lesson into small sessions, getting students to learn from each other in groups, using experiments and simulations, brainstorming, and creating a course website.
My views on the article's methods of active learning:
A teacher is like a DJ, and the students are a crowd of music-lovers. A good DJ will grab the crowd's attention by playing the right music and make good transitions between songs/tracks; a poor DJ will stumble and lose the crowd's attention. Therefore, if a teacher is going to incorporate "active learning" into their classroom, he or she must know how to administer the method effectively to his or her students. If an inappropriate method is used for a lesson, or if the teacher does not administer the method clearly or effectively for his or her students, then the students will not work efficiently and the lesson of the day will be lost. Just like how music-lovers are at a DJ party to listen to good music, students are in the classroom to learn lessons; and if the method used for that day's lesson is not carried out correctly, then that day's lesson will be lost.
In the end, I believe that in order to learn one must actively participate in the lesson mentally (i.e. paying attention). In contrast, there is no such thing as passive learning. So in my own words, active learning is paying attention to the teacher and the lesson being taught, whether the work is being done in groups or not.
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