Minimalism in the Classroom - Teaching Students Personal Finance and Consumerism

If you have not viewed the documentary 'Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things' you must add it to your list! This well-produced film addresses a lot of great topics for a personal finance or a consumerism class. 

 #MinimalismFilm

Mark and Joshua are former business professionals who rediscover themselves after climbing the corporate ladder by reevaluating their needs and wants. Their drive for becoming minimalist is to live a meaningful life with less. The film focuses on how one can manage his/her spending and still live a fulfilled life. 

To preview the documentary click here!

In addition, to the 1 ½ hour documentary that you can purchase from Ryan & Joshua's website or view using a variety of video accounts such as Netflix or Amazon Prime. They also offer web series, a TED Talk and an assortment of podcasts on their website at https://www.theminimalists.com/.

Show this film as an introduction to budgeting, with a highly engaging storyline leave the film for sub plans, or discuss spending trends and economic impacts with your consumerism class.  This film has many learning opportunities and is perfect for a personal finance or consumerism class!

Want to use the film in your classroom?  No worries, I've created materials to help students follow along and be reflective.  The movie guide is now available for purchase at my Etsy Shop. The download includes a student movie guide, answer key, and reflective questions. (click below to purchase) The reflective questions may be answered individually by students after viewing the documentary or used to lead a class discussion.

Minimalism Movie Guide & Reflection

What are other video's you use to teach personal finance?

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Hot Potato Review!

No Prep Review Game!

This is one of the easiest review games EVER!  To start locate a potato, real or stuffed, you can purchase stuffed potatoes from my crafty friends on Etsy.  

Next, find some good music, your review questions, a cup, and 2 sets of numbered jumbo craft sticks 1-20. 

**If you have purchased and created the Formative Assessment Tool Kit just grab 2 sets from your baskets.


Have students stand in a circle around the classroom.  Start the music and have students pass the potato while the music plays, at random stop the music, ask the student holding the potato a review question.  

If the student provides a correct answer they stay in the game, if they don't they go back to their seat.  


How to keep the students engaged who are now out of the game?  

Using 2 sets of Jumbo Craft Sticks numbered 1-20, each time a student is eliminated from the game and sent back to his/her seat give them a numbered stick, starting with 1 and counting forward.

In a cup place a stick with the same number as given to the student.

When a question is answered incorrectly from the game, draw a stick, the person who has that number will be given a chance to answer that question correctly and re-enter the game!

Students still standing after you have asked all your review quesitons are WINNERS!  

What games do you use to review content before an upcoming test or quiz?

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What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? The content and activities of the Successful Entrepreneur Lesson will help students explore the personality traits, skills, and challenges faced by different entrepreneurs! The lesson addresses national standards on teaching entrepreneurship with a focus on specific student learning objectives.

This lesson opens with a vocabulary activity that will engage your students and allow them to successfully master the definition of entrepreneur.

Photo Credit: Bryli Burns (age 7)

A card sort activity helps students learn the traits of successful entrepreneurs in conjunction with a researched based activity where students research an entrepreneur to create a gallery. This gallery is then used as an in-class activity to reinforce the objectives of the lesson.

In addition to all the other great resources in this lesson, it also includes a rubric for easy teacher grading and a professionally designed PowerPoint to teach and guide!

Several review activities are suggested in the lesson to meet the needs of different students. These review activities include worksheets, questions, and formative assessments.

You will not be disappointed with all the different assessments embedded into this lesson. Tracking student growth will be easy!

To purchase this NEW lesson please visit my Etsy Shop – Teaching Success FCS or CLICK HERE!

What activities do you do in your classroom to inspire young entrepreneurs?

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Teaching is an Art, what is your unique style? FREE Lesson Plan.

Teaching is an Art!

What is your uniques style?

Teaching is an art! Just like each artist has a unique style, so does each educator. Like many, I’ve sat in lecture halls where I was engaged from the moment I step through the door until class was dismissed, no PowerPoint, no ‘fun’ activity, just the teacher and an agenda.  I’ve also been part of inquiry-based instruction where I could not bring myself to stop thinking about the question posed.  During professional development and at other times in my educational endeavors I’ve completed assignments that were project based and required me to apply my learning in a format that would someday be useful to my life.  At the same token, I have also sat in a room pondering any and every thought that crossed my mind, thinking I had NEVER been so bored.  As educators, we have to decide who we are in the classroom and the best fit for our personalities and students.   In my early years of being a teacher I discovered that while I LOVE to talk, my lectures would quickly put the rowdiest student to sleep.  Out of necessity for my own sanity and my students learning I had to find a new way of doing things.  It was in these desperate times I discovered who I was as an educator…

I’m a creative 'doer'!  I’ve been blessed with a gift, the gift of being able to turn learning objectives into engaging and interactive lessons.  In the classroom, I prefer to be a facilitator while my students participate in the learning process.    If you relate to my teaching style you may enjoy facilitating the lessons I write.  Each lesson starts with the national standards and student learning objectives.  Everything designed in the lesson after relates back to these 2 sections, student learning objectives drive my activities, presentations, projects, and assessments.

Each lesson has an introduction. Many of times these activities are formative assessments or bell ringers to get your students learning upon entry to the classroom. They are designed to ‘hook’ the students and set the tone for the lesson and student learning.

The introduction is then followed by an outline of detailed activities for content delivery, learning activities and projects, along with assessments of the learning process. Each lesson is designed with unique instructional activities and if appropriate formative assessments are embedded into the teaching and learning process to provide feedback to the teacher.

A review section is included for students to practice or apply their learning. From these activities, teachers may be able to make a judgment if the student(s) mastered the learning objectives at the beginning of the lesson.

Each lesson concludes with an evaluation/assessment section.  This section provides instruction on how to assess your students.  Activities may be a short quiz, exit ticket, project rubric or other appropriate tools.

 

At the end of the lesson a materials list is available to help teachers prepare for the lesson, sometimes materials require pre-assembly. 

Finally, a reflection box is at the end of each lesson.  This is a great place to jot down notes; What went well with the lesson? What would you change? Do you have a better idea? What did the students enjoy?  Just as we ask of our students to be reflective in their learning we too as educators should be reflective in our teaching.  Some of my early lessons were not great lessons nor were they effective, but through reflection, they developed over time and many of those lessons are now my greatest!

If your teaching style is a ‘doer’ or you are looking for something new try my FREE download, the STD lesson!  This is a great opportunity to learn more about my unique teaching style, if you enjoy the lesson I would encourage you to visit my Etsy Shop – Teaching Success FCS for additional great lesson plans and activities!

What kind of teacher are you?

Click here to download a FREE copy of the STD Lesson.

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New Year & New Semester of Child Development! Getting to Know YOU Activities!

In a world of student objectives, learning targets, an abundance of assessments, and high teacher accountability do you get to know your students?  Lesson plans, emails, and meetings can easily take precedence over the lives of our students.  As we begin a new year and new semester it’s important for us to remember to take some time to get to know our students.  As there is a wealth of research supporting the dedication of instructional time to “getting to know you” activities. 

Just in time for this transitional time in the school year, I’m excited to release my Child Development “Getting to Know YOU” activities in a package!  You can now purchase 6 fun and interactive activities in this bundle.  Each activity has intentionally been designed to help child development students learn more about their classmates and you learn more about your students.  

Below are the activities provided in the bundle, don’t miss this opportunity to get to know your students!

Do you have a photo booth?

Come one, Come ALL to the Carnival!  Lots of fun and lots of learning!

Play BINGO using the Child Development Ice Breaker……

Need a laugh?  Students will chuckle when they read their babies future birth announcement using this fun fill in the blank game.

Spotlight each student using the “ALL about YOU” poster….

Play 20 Questions, easy setup, and fun!

Introduce an old playground favorite, the cootie catcher as a new social game for learning!

I like to take the first week of my courses to learn more about the attitudes and minds of the students I’ll be teaching the next several weeks.  These activities help me better understand my learners and the audience that will anxiously await my lessons each day in the classroom. They help me to design and select appropriate instructional activities, manage the classroom and teach to their learning needs.  

Click below to purchase this awesome bundle from my Teaching Success with FCS Etsy Shop for only $6.00 until the end of January!  

Child Development "Getting to Know You" Activity Bundle

What do you do to get to know your students?