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Welcome to the wiki page for Mr. Moloney's Economics Class.

 * ==**Student Blogs**== || == == || == == ||  ||   || ==**Student Wikis**== ||   ||   ||   || [[file:Rich Dad, Poor Dad.pdf]] ||

**List of Lessons:**

 * ===Lesson #28=== || More Bills to pay for the month of May (Last set of bills for the month and the semester). ||
 * ===Lesson #27=== || Presentations of projects by students. ||
 * ===Lesson #26=== || Payday for checkbook project; new bills to pay. Last payday of the project! ||
 * ===Lesson #25===

(continued)
|| The Great Economic Teaching Project. Student groups will be assigned topics to research and present to the class. || May 1 || First of the month. Pay day! And new bills to pay for the month of May || Tue. 4/28 || More Bills to pay for the month of April (Last set of bills for the month). || Tue. 4/21 || Payday for checkbook project; new bills to pay. (Payday was supposed to be on 4/15, but that was during vacation, so we're doing it now). || Mon. April 20 || Welcome back from vacation! Mixed bag today: Students will view a NY Times video about how the current state of Wall Street affects Business School graduates. Then students will receive a mini-lecture and view a NY Times video about the Drug problems in Mexico and how the violence resulting from the drug trafficking is out of control. Tomorrow - Tuesday - Payday for mid-April. Bring your checks and checkbooks we will be paying bills. || Fri. April 3 || **Blog #5. Title of blog: "Opportunity Costs"**. In your own words, explain what economists mean when they talk about "Opportunity Costs". What are opportunity costs? Give some examples. And give some examples from your own life. How do, or how will, opportunity costs affect you. Use these links for help. [|#1]. - [|#2]. || Wed. 4/1 || Pay day! And new bills to pay for the month of April. || Mon. 3/30 || Students will watch a NY Times video [|"The New Hard Times"] about a 96 year old business professor who lived during "The Great Depression". Then students will discuss "Compound Interest" and "The Rule of 72" - two topics we began last week. || [|Links about Compound Interest.] || List of Chapters and Students. || Then students will view some current figures on the US economy. ||
 * ===Lesson #27===
 * ===Lesson #25=== || The Great Economic Teaching Project. Student groups will be assigned topics to research and present to the class. ||
 * ===Lesson #26===
 * ===Lesson #25=== || The Great Economic Teaching Project. Student groups will be assigned topics to research and present to the class. ||
 * ===Lesson #24===
 * ===Lesson #23===
 * ===Lesson #22===
 * ===Lesson #21=== || Taxes: Form 1040EZ. Students will get a real W2 form from a real part-time job (Century 21), and will use the information to complete a 1040EZ form. Students will see how the govt. takes out five different forms of taxes (federal, state, soc. sec., medicare, local) from this persons paycheck. Students will learn just how complex completing a tax form can be - even the EZ form. ||
 * ===Lesson #20===
 * ===Lesson #19=== || "Should we bailout the US automakers? ... and if so, how should we do it?" Students will view a [|NY TImes video], and then read[| an article about how President Obama is handling the failing US auto companies] and their bailout. Then students will get into groups to discuss potential solutions to the problem. ||
 * ===Lesson #18===
 * ===Lesson #17=== || More Bills to pay for the month of March (Last set of bills for the month). ||
 * ===Lesson #16=== || Compound Interest and the "Rule of 72". Do a little research and explain the concepts of Compound Interest and the "Rule of 72". Write your explanation in __**Blog #4**__. Title of blog: "Compound Interest and the Rule of 72". What is it about compound interest that inspired Albert Einstein to say "The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest". Use a Compound Interest calculator to see just what happens to money when Compound Interest is applied.
 * ===Lesson #15=== || Wrap up "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" - then we will do a lesson on Supply and Demand. ||
 * ===Lesson # 14 (continued)=== || Students will present their "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" chapters to the class over a three-day period (Wed-Thur-Mon) ||
 * ===Lesson # 14 (continued)=== || Students will have one more day to work on their "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" presentations which will be given Wed. and Thur. List of Chapters and Students. ||
 * ===Lesson #15=== || Payday for checkbook project. New bills to pay. Students will also receive their graded checkbooks and registers from the 1st marking period. ||
 * ===Lesson #14=== || "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". Students will be assigned particular chapters of the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" (see link above) and will read them and present them to the class. Students may use Powerpoint, chalk and talk, handouts, etc. to present your chapter. Your presentation should be from 5 - 10 minutes long. You have three class periods to do this - presentations begin on Monday 3/16.
 * ===Lesson #13=== || Students will do a reading about [|America's consumption habits] and the fact that we have outsourced much of our industry. Then students will work on __**Blog #3**__. Title of Blog: "My Recession Spending". [|Read this article] about changing spending habits during the recession. Then explain how you will alter your own personal spending habits. What will you do differently during "The Great Recession". ||
 * ===Lesson #12=== || Students will [|view a NY Times video] on the recent murders in Northern Ireland and discuss the fact that terrorism exists outside of the Muslim world.
 * ===Lesson #11===
 * ===Lesson #11===

Fri 3/6
|| Students will receive their packet of blank checks and a checkbook register. Then they will learn how to write checks and record them in their checkbook register. Then students will "open" their checking accounts and write checks for the first five bills that are due. Click here for bills that are due. || Then, student's will be introduced to the stock market contest. Rules and procedures of the contest will be discussed. Student's will begin to formulate their investment strategy. ||
 * ===Lesson #10 (Fri+tue/wed/thur)=== || Students will register for [|their own economics "wiki" pages] and link them to the class wiki page. Then students will begin working on their budget for their checkbook project. Make sure you register for the free educators wiki page (the one with the picture of the student looking at a computer). Food for thought on the shrinking DOW - [|read this link]. ||
 * ===Lesson #9 (Thur)=== || Students will register for the [|Stock Market Contest] and begin trading. A student volunteer will demonstrate how to do this. Contest Name: "Blackhawks" (case sensitive). Password: "infotech". Your display name should be your real name! Otherwise I will delete you from the contest. ||
 * ===Lesson #8 (Tu + Wed.)=== || __**Blog #2**.__ Title of Blog: "My investment strategy". You will have two class periods to do some stock market/investment research. You also have to write a blog post explaining your investment strategy for the upcoming stock market contest. The contest begins Thursday. For your initial investment you will have to buy stocks from at least 5 different companies. Use the "Stock Research" link on the sidebar of this page. ||
 * ===Lesson #7 (Mon. 2/23)=== || Financial Aid! Student's will view a [|NY Times article] on this subject and then discuss the importance of applying for financial aid - and the complicated process of filing out the financial aid form (Fafsa). [|(Click here for help on the form.])
 * ======== || ====Winter Break (Feb. 16-20) -==== ||
 * ===Lesson #6 (cont.)=== || 1.) Students will discuss the basic information about the stock market. 2.) Students will view a typical success story by looking at the stock of Apple computer. 3.) Then students will look up some individual companies to find their stock symbols. ||
 * ===Lesson #6=== || Students will get more class time to work on their blog #1. But before that we will discuss the current US financial bailout and exactly how much money the US if giving out to prop up the banks, insurance companies, auto companies, etc. ||
 * ===Lesson #6===

(Wed - Thur. Feb. 11+12)
|| __**Blog #1**__. Title of Blog: "Intro. to the Stock Market". Answer the following questions about the stock market.
 * What exactly is a stock and why do companies sell stock in the first place?
 * What is the difference between a public and a private company?
 * What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
 * What is a blue chip stock?
 * What is the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ?
 * What is a mutual fund and how do they operate?
 * What are some of the biggest companies on the stock market, what is the total value of their stock?
 * What is the PE ratio of a stock?
 * What is a stock dividend?
 * Links to help you:
 * [|StocksQuest (go to "stock guide" and then "basics".)]
 * [|How stuff works: stock market] ||
 * ===Lesson #5=== || Teachable moment: Recession, layoffs, and plant closings. Students will watch a NY Times slide show about the closing of a tool plant in Ohio and how the former workers are having trouble finding jobs. This will lead us to a mini-lecture/discussion of how the US has outsourced its production since about 1960 to overseas nations, and now is facing an economic situation where we have a shortage of US based industries and manufacturing. We will also provide history to this situation by discussing how the US became a super-power because we outproduced the Japanese and Germans in WW II to become the leading economic engine of the world. ||
 * ===Lesson #4 (2/9)=== || Students will view a NY Times video about the dismal condition of the Florida Real Estate market and how it is indicative of the housing market in general in the US. Then we will read part of a fascinating "New Yorker" article about the same topic. ||
 * ===Lesson===

#3
|| Students will create [|Economic Blog Pages] and link them to the class wiki page. You will need a google account to do this (which simply requires a working email address - but remember your email and password!) Your blog should be called "Joe's Econ Blog". You may choose any template you want - you can always change it later. You will get an in-class demonstration on blog creation by a fellow student. Then link the address of your new blog page to your name on the class wiki page. || = = || Introduction to class: re-arrange seating assignments, view NY times video about student loan debt. Brief discussion of credit cards. ||
 * ===Lesson #2=== || Students will get a one-day lecture discussion about the current state of the US economy and why it is in such trouble. Topics discussed will be: "The American Dream", subprime mortages, bailouts, AGI insurance, mortgage default, flipping-houses, greed - and some of the things that got us into our current financial mess. ||
 * ===**Lesson #1**===