Bear Lloyd 2/10/14 Week 3 / Reflection 1 Study Skills I am very thankful that my mentor teacher stresses teaching students

in Economics and Personal Finance proper study skills in addition to the content. Although all students need to learn how to implement and exercise proper study skills, this is particularly true for sophomores, juniors, and seniors as they prepare to take more advanced courses. These are the grade levels that typically make up an Economics and Personal Finance course. At the start of the semester, my mentor asked students to list several academic goals and the grades they would like to receive in each course they are currently taking. Part of our goal, is to assist students in acquiring the skills needed to make these grades. As my mentor and I teach new material, she reminds students of the study skills and habits they can use to learn the content. Then, we have students actually put those skills to work. Anytime we begin teaching a new lesson, we have students read the related page numbers in their textbook for content. Second, we have students take notes on the material. We often give students guided notes that ask them to define vocabulary words or answer questions in order to do this. Thirdly, we then teach the material using powerpoints, lecture, and discussion. Next, we have students interact with and apply the material in some manner. For example, during the lesson on stock classifications, I plan to have students look up different companys stocks and what they are classified as. Finally, we end by reviewing the material. Oftentimes, this is done through some type of review game, such as jeopardy. Although these steps may seem repetitive to some, they work to bring about true learning. This is so because they cause students to gain familiarity with the content, interact with the content by answering questions and taking notes, discuss the material, interact with it once again through application, and review it. Considering students scores on assignments and Mrs. Whichards impressive pass rate on the Wise Financial Literacy Test that exceeds 95 percent, it is clear that these steps to learning are effective. In light of this, we encourage students to practice these same study skills we have taught them in their other fields of study. Students should read the material for familiarity, summarize the content and take notes on it for further realization, interact with it in some manner, and review it. Regardless of the subject or content, study skills are essential. I am thankful to have a mentor that takes the time to teach students effective and useful skills.

Bear Lloyd 2/11/14 Week 3 / Reflection 2 The Last 10 Minutes By now, many of us have probably noticed that the last 10 minutes of class contain many variables. Sometimes, we find that students have completed their learning assignments a little quicker than anticipated. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to reach a good stopping point for the days lecture and discussion a few minutes before the bell rings. In times like these, we are often scared that moving into new material will simply cause more confusion than it will help. If we are not prepared for these scenarios, the last 10 minutes of class can be easily wasted. However, this does not have to be the case. Teachers should always have a game plan up their sleeve for situations such as the one described above. Thankfully, my mentor teacher has already provided me with a countless number of activities to occupy the remaining minutes of class in a productive manner. For example, today in personal finance I found a good stopping point for the lecture around 10 minutes before class was over. As a result, I allowed students to play an online game that has them identify various corporate logos. The students loved this game and it exposes them to some of the leading businesses in todays economy. The student with the best time on this online game receives a ticket for 5 extra points on an assignment. In addition to the logo game, there are countless other activities I can use at the end of class that take just a few minutes. The website for the textbook, along with several other financial literacy websites, contains a number of interactive games and quizzes students can complete. These games are very productive because they cover the material we are learning, and they provide students with an enjoyable change of pace. In addition, Youtube has a wide variety of short videos that discuss personal finance and investing I can show. The possibilities for the last 10 minutes of class are endless. In light of this, if we equip ourselves with the right tools, we will discover that this can be one of the most productive and enjoyable time periods in the class.

Bear Lloyd 2/12/14 Week 3 / Reflection 3 Early Dismissal Today I was able to experience my first early dismissal as a teacher due to inclement weather. I am aware that, oftentimes, students tend to be more alive on early dismissal days and harder to keep on task. However, I was amazed at how well behaved all of my students were today. In fact, they were just as well behaved as they are on a typical school day. In addition, many of the other teachers at the school were discussing how well behaved their students were considering there was an altered scheduled. Today also reminds us that we must always be prepared to alter our lesson plans to fit the days schedule. Abingdon High School chose to keep first and second periods on a normal schedule, to shorten third period, and to cancel fourth and fifth periods. This schedule allowed me to proceed with plans as normal during my first period web design class and second period personal finance and economics course. However, third period was greatly reduced to less than an hour. In addition, many students in the building were scheduling their classes for next year. This led me to having to make an executive decision of what material I wanted to cover today and what to hold on to. Also, the significant possibility of upcoming snow days also further complicated this decision. This was also the last class period of the day. After consulting with my mentor, we decided that this would be the perfect day to complete a marketing activity we had wanted to work into the schedule sometime in the near future. This activity related to managing competition and had students list several competitors for various businesses from law offices to department stores. After students had listed these businesses, students shared their ideas and we discussed some of the various competitors in each industry. Today was the perfect reminder that our lesson plans for each unit or week need to be flexible enough that we can move learning assignments and activities around into time slots that best accommodate the activity and the days schedule. We should always be expecting the unexpected. Only in a perfect world will each class last its full length and every student will be present without interruption. However, with proper planning, we can ensure that every moment is a productive learning moment regardless of the circumstances.