Real Life Finances

Below is a breakdown of this week's lessons.  We will build off of our budgeting discussion and break down money management throughout the month.  I've given you all a typical starting salary for a typical job in which you net approximately $2,500/month in 2 pay periods ($1,250 on the15th and last day of each month).  I've assigned typical expenses and due dates in the "Typical Monthly Expenses" Google sheet.  With this information, we'll do the following:

Monday

B/R: Open budget spreadsheet and enter the fictitious values from our Google sheet

C/T: We can analyze essential financial information

1.       Set up bank account with first check

a.       What to bring?

                                                               i.      ID – 2 forms

                                                             ii.      Your check

2.       Use debit card

3.       Look at a check

a.       Routing number

b.      Account number

c.       Check number

Tuesday

B/R: Draw a check using the image provided:

C/T: We can analyze essential financial information

1.       Watch me fill out a check

2.       Write your own check for rent

3.       Other scenario for writing a check

Wednesday

B/R: Differentiate between routing # and account #

C/T: We can analyze essential financial information

1.       Online payments

a.       Easier? Harder? Safer?

b.      Scenarios for them

c.       Should you memorize routing & account #s?

2.       Which bills can you pay online?

3.       Can you send checks without a checkbook?

Thursday

B/R: Write due dates for each bill

C/T: We can analyze essential financial information

1.       How do you keep up with bills?

a.       Smart phone reminders

b.      Date book

c.       Email alerts

2.       How much cash should you carry at all times?

3.       What to do when emergency occurs

Friday

B/R: What is a realistic emergency that could occur?

C/T: We can analyze essential financial information

1.       What if that emergency costs more than what you have?

a.       Bills will still be due

b.      Negotiating payment plans for medical expenses

c.       Repercussions of not negotiating payment plans

2.       Blog post about what was learned this week

Imperative

As you can see, the definition of imperative is "of vital importance; crucial."  This week, as the year, along with many of your high school careers, winds down, I would like to take some time to provide you with some information that I feel is imperative to know prior to venturing off into college or the real world.  For this reason, I've reserved the Large Group Instruction (LGI) room Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday so that we will have limited distractions and a comfortable setting in which to engage in meaningful discussion.  

Much of the material covered in class this week has already been covered in other courses throughout high school, but I feel as if refreshing your memory and adding some important details will allow you to walk out of class (and into the real world) with a clear understanding of the most important aspects of each lesson.

Below is a breakdown of our week:

Monday (in LGI Room):

The W2 and W4 forms - what are they and why have them?  What is the goal of filling out a W4?  How do you read a W2 form?  Why might you claim a smaller/larger number on your W4?  What is the ideal scenario for filling out a W4?

Tuesday (in classroom):

On Tuesday, we're going to discuss in class some other topics you might want to know about before next year.  Have you ever heard people talk about business-related or other financial topics that you think you should know about?  We can compile a list for future lessons.  Additionally, we will discuss other class-related topics.

Wednesday (in LGI Room):

This lesson about financial goals is really interesting.  Knowing what you want to do with your money moving forward (car? apartment? computer?) will help you with financial goals that you can set for the short-term and long-term.  The information learned in this lesson will help greatly with Thursday's topic.

Thursday (in LGI Room):

How do you prevent yourself from running out of money at the end of the week/month?  Where does all your money go?  We'll discuss budgeting and exactly how to predict/calculate your weekly/monthly expenditures and how your budget affects your short-term and long-term financial goals.

Friday (in classroom):

On Friday, you'll blog about the biggest takeaways from this week's lessons, as well as share at least two suggestions for future "Imperatives" lessons.  

See you Monday!

Thank-You Letters & Writing Prompt

This week, we're going to accomplish two larger projects.  First you will compose and send thank-you letters to your interviewer from Mock Interview Day.  Second, to complete your N4 writing prompt, you will compose an argumentative essay about the new minimum wage in California.  The week breaks down like this:

Monday:
Review this article and this follow-up article about the value of thank-you letters after an interview.  We'll discuss what goes in a post-interview thank-you letter and some of the highlights of Mock Interview Day.

Tuesday:
I'll be out chaperoning a Health Science Academy trip, so you'll have the entire class period to compose your thank-you letters.  Make sure to save your letters to your student drop box AND your Google Drive.

Wednesday:
We're going to read and discuss this article about the increasing minimum wage in California.  After this article was published, California passed the proposed increase, and minimum wage will grow to $15/hour by 2018.  To students, this might sound like an awesome thing, but please think about what this does to the budget of a business and the effects on the number of employees a business is capable of paying.

Thursday:
I'll be in class for the first half of the period, but then I will have Admin Duty.  While I'm in class, I'm going to review the Argumentative Writing Rubric and then allow you to begin writing your argumentative essays to address the following prompt:

Based on what you read in the News ELA article "California's Lowest-Paid Workers Could Soon Get a Raise," compose an argumentative essay about whether you think the increased state minimum wage would have a positive or negative impact on employment.  Be sure to address the effects of an increase in the cost of labor, how the farming industry will have to adjust, and what will happen to the wealth of business owners.  Cite specific examples from the text to defend your opinion.

Friday:
Any student who missed an interview on Mock Interview Day will complete an interview in class.  From there, you will complete the rest of your writing prompt and submit via Faculty Drop Box.

That's it for this week.  See you Monday!

Mock Interview Preparation Crash Course

This week, we will be doing an interview-prep crash course.  Because all of you have already completed an interview for your actual positions within Pick-It Sweets & Treats, and since most of you have a solid portfolio already, I did not want to interfere with your business plan projects to teach you a bunch of stuff that we could have learned in a matter of days.  

In case you cannot remember the job you will be applying for, please check the Google Drive VE folder for the file named “Office Clerk Job Description.”  That file will detail all the job requirements and KSAs the employer desires.  

I could write out all of our tasks in paragraph form, but I figure listing out what we need to do by day will get the job done more efficiently.  That said, here’s a breakdown of our week:

Monday & Tuesday: Portfolio Prep/Creation

• Identify/Print at least TWO projects completed in class that will highlight your skills for the job
• Newsletter
• Screenshot of website
• Sales brochure
• Payroll distribution spreadsheet
• Business plan contribution
• Review necessary components of portfolio
• Resume & Cover Letter
• 2 - 3 work samples from class
• 1 - 2 work samples from outside of class
• Letter(s) of Recommendation (if applicable)
• Awards, Honors & Certificates (if applicable)
• Compose Portfolio
• You are NOT required to use the binder if you do not wish.  I know many of you have your own portfolios and I’m fine with you using your own

Wednesday/Thursday: Interview Question Prep & Appointment Card

• Here are the questions each student should know for the competition
• Discuss answering each
• Receive appointment card for interview

Friday: Reflection

• Write a 200+ word blog post about your experience on your interview.  Address what went well, what you could have done differently, and if you think you would have landed the job

That’s it for the week.  I’m sure you’re all going to do well.  Don’t stress.  Be yourself.  Succeed.

Commercial + Some Business Duties

This week we are going to finalize all details about the commercial, shoot multiple commercial scenes, edit, and load the video to our business web page.  Additionally, we’ll work on learning how to create a YouTube page and in our free time, we’ll host each commercial.  Those of you who aren’t working directly on the commercial will have other business-related duties (the usual ones) as outlined below.  Here’s a breakdown of our weekly projects:

Commercial Team: Complete Commercial

Here’s the deal.  I would like one director overseeing the entire process.  This person is in charge of establishing which props we need, a wardrobe, where and when we will shoot the scenes (and how), and who will be in the commercial.  You will also be in charge of making the commercial between 25 and 40 seconds (standard commercial length), and must know these 5 tips for making effective commercials.  Actors in the commercial must have instructions on what to do, a script, and all the necessary materials.  Because we’ll have a long period on Monday, I expect most of the commercial shoot to be finished.  Tuesday and Wednesday the editor (I have one in mind, but wouldn’t mind having a second) should finish up the masterpiece.

Other Business Responsibilities:

Payroll Distribution:

Everybody needs to get paid.  I assume we owe some employees back-pay for the work they’ve done over the past few weeks.  Determine payroll obligations, calculate withholdings & deductions, and distribute payroll accordingly.  This should take about a day to complete since we will need you to calculate the amount of back-pay that is owed.

Company Newsletter:

This week, our company newsletter should include the following:

1. 100-word article highlighting some of the elements of the more interesting business plans
2. 150-word article about non-negotiables in business.  Our class discussion on Wednesday inspired me to ask you to include something about this in the weekly newsletter.  There are 7 in the Forbes article I’ve linked for you
3. Sports at a Glance: Please post the schedule of games during Spring Break Week and feel free to write a little something about the softball and soccer teams, since we have a couple players from each sport in our class
4. Item of the Week Promotional Flyer - Page 4 of our Newsletter will be the Item of the Week promotional Flyer

We will read the newsletter as a class on Wednesday and provide feedback on what went well and what could have been done differently

Website Item of the Week:

In addition to loading our commercials to the website (IT is NOT NECESSARILY in charge of editing the commercials), IT is responsible for highlighting the Item of the Week on the HOME page of our website.  Once finished, please take a screen shot of the site and email it to me.   

Item of the Week Promotional Ad:

As usual, find a seasonal-appropriate (Easter’s coming) item to highlight as our Item of the Week.  Create a promotional flyer for this item.  You’ve done this numerous times, so I’m not going into more detail about it.  You guys know what you’re doing.

Order Processing:

Two to three students should get on our email account and process any orders we’ve received.  I’m sure this is going to be quite a long list since we haven’t checked on orders in some time.  Take care of these orders, send invoices (communicate with Finance to create the appropriately numbered invoice).  Additionally, follow up on any outstanding invoices.  Cross-reference invoice dates with payment receipts in our checking account.  Journalize all sales and cash receipts to the appropriate journals.

That’s it for this week.  See you Monday!

Presentation Completion and Commercial Production!

I guess I had lofty aspirations to complete the business plan presentations this week, especially considering I was out of the building promoting Viking Voyage on Tuesday.  Next week, we will complete our presentations by Tuesday (fingers crossed - you guys have done a great job of making very creative and comprehensive presentations), reflecting on our personal business plan unit on Wednesday, and creating story boards/scripts for TWO Pick-It Sweets & Treats commercials on Thursday and Friday.  That's right!  Now that we have this state-of-the-art hardware, we will put it to good use!  Maybe our commercial can run on Northwest Review!  Below is a breakdown of the week:

Monday & Tuesday: Complete Business Plan Presentations
To begin class, we will set up the camera and make your presentations available in your Public_Student folders.  All students will access the Business Plan Critique Form and provide feedback on the presentations.  Each presentation will be followed by a Q&A session and some discussion about whether you would invest or not in the business.

This is always a fun project and I hope the remaining presentations are as entertaining as our first few.

Wednesday:  Business Plan Unit Reflection
On Wednesday, you will use the entire period (we will begin our testing schedule, which means 4th period will only be 25 minutes long) to reflect on the entire business plan unit.  Feel free to vent about what was frustrating, share what parts of the project were fun, and discuss whose presentations you found to be the most entertaining.  You can even break your blog entry into sections, addressing the following questions:

1. What was the most interesting part of your project?  Why was this part of the project your favorite?
2. What portion of the project frustrated you most?  Why?  Discuss whether you believe this portion should be included in the business plan.
3. Whose presentation was most entertaining?  Whose do you feel will be most successful?  Why do you feel this way about each?

Publish your blog entry and share it with me.  I am quite interested in hearing your thoughts.

Thursday & Friday: Commercial Ideas

By department, brainstorm ideas for commercials.  You will create a story board and a script for at least one commercial in class on Thursday.  On Friday, you'll have 5 more minutes to prepare an explanation for your commercial.  As a whole, we will evaluate your ideas (based on feasibility and entertainment value) and determine which TWO commercials we will shoot the week before we leave for Spring Break.  Again, I am very interested in your ideas.  You are a creative bunch and I know we're going to make some magic.

That's it for the week.  I know it will be a fun time.  Most of you are seniors and the year is winding down.  Hopefully these projects will provide you a creative outlet to enjoy the remaining 9 weeks of your high school careers.

It's Showtime!

This week we will start AND finish presenting and critiquing our partner business plans.  To start the week off, we’re going to watch 2 or 3 Shark Tank presentations and then discuss how we plan to open our presentations.  I went over a lot of opening options for many of your groups, so I expect many of you to have some really clever ideas. 

On Tuesday, I will be out of the building during 4^th period to promote Viking Voyage at New Providence Middle School.  You will use this class time to finalize your PowerPoint/Prezi and/or your speaking parts for the presentation.  I’m sure you are aware that each partner is responsible for some portion of the presentation, so Tuesday’s class period will be used to dot all your I’s and cross all your T’s. 

Wednesday through Friday will be our presentation days.  In case you were wondering, here’s the order:

1. K&S
2. The BARbershop
3. Zombie Adventure
4. Wow! That’s Fun!
5. REV Automotive
6. Skigh High
7. Mid-South Customs
8. Illusion

For each business, fill out a critique form and use your feedback for your investor questions.  Please look at this form and be mindful that it asks specific questions about the business (What need in the market does it fill? How well do you think the business will serve its target market? etc.).  Once finished, we can provide feedback and proceed with a new business plan.

I’m looking forward to all your presentations (and the samples of ice cream).  See you all on Monday!