Lesson Plan # 2

Strategy from: Gunner Brown

Position: Math (Algebra 1 and Geometry)
Institution: Elkhorn South High School
Correspond with the author at: gbrown@epsne.org
How valuable is my time? (How can I prioritize daily?)
INTRODUCTION:
A student who is currently struggling in class usually can benefit greatly from gaining an understanding of how
valuable their time is. Even if they are not struggling, or even exceeding, it could be a helpful insight to
continue a pursuit. As a subset of that theme, students who need to see how valuable their time is also need to
have a new system to complete daily work that pushes them in the directions of their goal. To tackle both of
these pieces, I am going to incorporate one activity to help students see how valuable their time is, and a second
activity to help them prioritize their daily goals so that they can have better opportunities to succeed.
PURPOSE:
Objective 1: Students will gain an increased understanding of how their time should be treated as a valuable
resource that is not to be wasted.

Objective 2: Students will gain the ability to prioritize their daily life, and the ability to continue this
prioritization on their own accord.

Collateral Learning: Self-management, self-responsibility, and life-long learning.

Domains of Influence: Homework assignments, modeling, classroom activities.

SUPPLIES/SET UP:
Whiteboard for listing things that people decide to do with their money/time

Double sided handout What Would You Do?

Enough 3 x 5 notecards for the each member of the class to have at least two.

The modeled example of 3 x 5 notecard and accompanying story (projection document below).

DIRECTIONS:
1) Pass out the What Would You Do? worksheet so that each student has a visual. Discuss the guidelines of
the activity with them, then separate them into groups of 3-4 students. Have the students try to come up with as
many different things to buy as possible, and if their group doesnt all agree then have them find a consensus.

2) After about 5-10 minutes of brainstorming, have each group write what they would buy on the board.
Encourage the students to read what others are writing.

3) Leaving the students in their groups, have a whole class discussion about what students wrote. Try to have
the students discover a theme about what was purchased and why.

4) Once the discussion is waning, have the students flip over the sheet and repeat steps 1-3.

5) Bring class back together with a discussion of how the change from money to time impacted their decisions.
What changed when they discovered that time could be thought of as a currency? What possible motivations did
they have to spend their time?

6) Pass out a notecard to each student, and have them put their name on it. Ask them to set it aside for now, and
bring up the story about the company.

7) Read the story to the class and ask students to summarize and discuss. Afterwards, model an example of what
a notecard might look like for a high school student.

8) At the end of class, ask students to write down five things they want to have accomplished by the time your
class starts tomorrow. Make sure each student has five before they leave the room. Encourage them to have
goals that are small enough to be attainable, and to cross them off once they are complete.

9) To begin class the next day, collect the 3 x 5 cards as students enter. Ask students to reflect on this and how it
worked for them.

10) As an optional activity to increase retention, give students another blank card and repeat for one or several
days.

OUTCOMES AND EXPERIENCES:

Outcomes:
-By the end of the lesson, I want students to have thought about at least 2 different things that they should be
doing daily that are more effective uses of their valuable time.
-By the beginning of the next class, I want students to have applied the 3 x 5 notecard example to their own life
and to have accomplished all tasks on the card.
-A week after the lesson, I want students to have used a notecard for their own schedule at least once.
-A month after the lesson, I want students to maintain a high level of respect and understanding about the true
importance of valuing time.

Experiences:
- I want students to recognize the importance of their time.
- I want students to understand that they have the ability to use time effectively and in the interest of growth.
- I want students to have the ability to prioritize their lives with small, attainable goals.
- I want students to develop positive habits of self-reliance and time management.
- I want students to feel growth in their thought processes and how they act.

PERSONAL LESSONS:

I want to model the 3 x 5 notecard for the students daily by helping to prioritize my own life.

I want to feel empowered by the growth students show in recognizing time management as essential.

I want to become a better time-management model for students by maintaining a classroom where time is
valued and essential.
I want to look at my own life and determine where I may be spending time that does not impact my future goals
positively and reduce that time.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Time is Money Analogy Adapted from Module 4 Powerpoint, EDU 622 Strategies for Struggling Middle/High
School Students, Spring 2015
3 x 5 Notecard story and activity- Adapted from Module 4 Powerpoint, EDU 622 Strategies for Struggling
Middle/High School Students, Spring 2015
Expectations, Outcomes, Domains of Influence, and Collateral Learning- all stem from powerpoints taken from
EDU 622 online materials, Spring 2015

What Would You Do?

I am going to give you $1440 to spend each day, without you having to do anything to
earn that money. However, there are some ground rules on what you can do with the amount of
money I give you:
1) You must spend it all each day. For example, if you only spend some of the money,
you lose the rest. None of the money can be carried to future days.
2) You must spend $480 dollars on basic life necessities, such as food, housing, etc.
3) The money can be spent on things to help you gain income in the future.

Following the above rules, determine (as a group) what you would buy with your
money. You must include a reason with everything you buy! List your purchases and
reasons below.

What Would You Do? (Part 2)

I am going to give you 1440 minutes to have in each day, without you having to do
anything to earn that time. However, there are some ground rules on what you can do with the
amount of time I give you:
1) You must use it all each day. For example, if you only use some of the time, you lose
the rest. None of the time can be carried to future days.
2) You must spend 480 minutes on basic life necessities, such as eating, sleeping, etc.
3) The time can be spent on things to help you in the future.

Following the above rules, determine (as a group) what you would do with your
time. You must include a reason with everything you do! List your activities and reasons
below.

Creating Daily Action List

A Fortune 500 company was having trouble meeting its quarterly goals and falling short
in getting work done by its deadlines, so they hired a management consultant to boost overall
production. The consultant called in all the companys managers and gave each a 3X5 card. He
instructed them to write down on the card the 5 most important things they had to accomplish
that day. He instructed them to focus on those 5 activities and on getting them done. They were
to cross each out as they accomplished them. The next day when the managers met with the
consultant, he checked everyones cards to see that all 5 activities had been accomplished. He
then gave each manager another 3X5 card and had them do the same thing for that day. He
continued this process for the whole month. At the end of the month, production had soared and
profits were climbing. The success came from having daily goals (3 foot tosses) that were
1) Ask
Mr. Brown
with
math that I dont understand. Spend at least 20
purposeful
actions
leadingfor
tohelp
larger
goals.
minutes there and ask as many questions as possible.
2) Call Susie to talk about our English project. We need to be done with the first
part tonight, which should only take about 20 minutes.
3) Pick up a new book to read.
4) Find a new television show that is related to what I want to do in my career.
5) Go for a walk with my dog so we can both get exercise.