Study Guide

Students will be able to distinguish advantages and disadvantages of traditional savings versus stock market investments over twenty years given a set budget. This is an important learning objective and activity because, students will need to be able to figure out how to plan for their financial future beyond just saving for the short term. Understanding this may help them to plan more wisely and increase the likelihood of being financially secure.

To assess readiness, I will have students play a review game, to determine if they can recall terms learned in the previous lessons, such as long-term investment, short term investment, types of asset, and to see if they understand how to calculate simple interest. If necessary, I will reteach what needs to be reviewed.

I will ask students to turn and talk with their neighbors about what they see as dream jobs, where they see themselves working in 20 years. We will then talk about possibilities that came up in these discussions. I’ll ask them what they think they will need to do to achieve their personal and financial goals. I expect some will discuss savings accounts, stocks, even riskier plans to achieve these goals, and I will elicit responses about what they know in these areas. From there I’ll present more advanced or unique options to take when planning one’s financial future, including savings accounts, CDs, investing in major stock market indexes savings bonds, as well as individual stock investments with both low-risk and more high-risk possibilities, including companies they are familiar with. I will present this through an audio/visual format to keep interest level up, and to offer more entry points supporting the needs of all students. I’ll, again, solicit possible investment ideas from students, as they may have thoughts on what they would like to do with their money.

I will then put the group into pairs, where each group will be given the means to research investment possibilities further, using an interactive internet-based game, giving teams $4000 that they must choose how to save and invest, providing many ways they can do this over the course of 20 years, simulating how their investments will pay off. Working in pairs will give them the opportunity to bounce ideas off each other and discuss what might be a safer or riskier options, and how to balance these options. This will likely span over a few class periods. I will provide a written description of different forms of investments for students to refer to as needed.

At the end of the game, students see where their financial decisions have taken them. To assess, I will have them prepare a brief presentation with their partner, that will show the avenues they took, what they thought were good steps for their financial success (and why), and what they might want to do differently in the future. They can make these presentations using any method that will present their information clearly. A rubric will be provided that will include their ability to explain the choices they made, the differences noted in savings versus investing, as well as the clarity of their presentation. I can use the rubric to note areas that may need more time for student understanding and cover these areas with the class depending on the level of need.

Students will be able to summarize and describe the best methods to motivate and maintain high morale in various workplaces.

I will use an inquiry-based approach as a means of assessing student readiness for this lesson, by asking open-ended questions such as "why do people work?" "what else other than money can motivate workers?," and "how have your coaches, teachers, parents, bosses motivated you to succeed?" I expect that I will receive answers such as good pay, bonuses, and perhaps company perks (food, gifts).

It is important that students understand what actions motivate others to succeed because as they enter the workforce or work with others in any capacity, being able to successfully motivate others and keep morale high will help them with their effectiveness in future leadership roles.

I will then lead a discussion around why and how a company benefits from motivated employees. We will read an article from a business periodical discussing various ways to motivate and retain employees, leading to success for all involved. We will discuss these methods such as offering flextime for employees, professional development, recognizing milestone events in employees’ lives, offering discounts on health-related programs, as well as the usual perks we think of such as pay raises, bonuses, tuition reimbursement, paid leave time, and health insurance. We will also discuss the different levels of support companies or employers are able to offer their staff based on the size and budget of the organization. For example, major technology firms provide numerous benefits to employees, including health clubs, extensive on-site meal choices, and time off to volunteer in the community, but many smaller companies or government agencies will not have budgets for this, nor will they necessarily require so much of an employee’s time on the job.

To further explore this, I will break the class up into small groups, giving each of the groups a different organization/company in the community that they will need to come up with a plan for how to improve employee motivation and morale, based on their size, budget, and what they may have the ability to offer. Each group will research possible steps for their organization to take in increasing motivation and morale and develop a plan that they will present to this organization’s leadership. As an assessment, I will pair different groups (with a different type and sized business assigned to them so as to expand their understanding of different business's needs), and have one play the role of the organization’s leadership while the other will play the role of either a consultant or a human resources person. The two groups will participate in a role play situation for the class to observe. After each role play, the rest of the class will fill out an evaluation where they will answer questions such as "how will the suggestions for improving motivation and morale help this organization to grow, how might these suggestions be detrimental? What might you suggest as alternative incentives?"

Once each group has had an opportunity to role play their scenario, and students have submitted their evaluations, I will assess whether there needs to be further presentation on this topic or if I am able to move on to the next step in their learning. I may need to further break down and explain different options that motivate employees or explore the impact of a business’ budget on these choices, but this will be clearer once I review the comments and assess the role-playing situations presented.

Students will be able to evaluate examples of on-line information tracking and explain how they can prevent the tracking of online behavior by using reliable software.

The internet, including apps for our phones and other devices, is a real part of our society and will likely be used even more as students leave school and enter the workforce. Knowing how to protect oneself from unwanted leaks of information or bombardment of ads through these programs will continue to be essential and increase in importance.

To assess readiness, I will lead a discussion about different websites and apps students may have used and ask what they might know about keeping their information private on these sites. I expect that some students will be able to discuss privacy settings that keep certain pictures and/or posts from public viewing on social media websites. Once I have a sense of what they know about the topic, I can plan the lesson to start from there.

To ensure that all students understand the basics of internet security, we will review the privacy settings for several of these sites/apps, such as Instagram. I will show the class how to find the privacy policies as well as how to change privacy settings on this site by projecting a fake account. I will then introduce the topic of tools/apps that claim to keep a user’s information private or to limit providers’ access to personal user information across websites. As a class we will explore one of these apps using the student laptops as well as a projected version. We will look at the features available, cost (if any), user friendliness, and safety of this app. I will lead a discussion with the class about the positives and negatives of the app, as well as what to look for in other available apps/tools.

Students then will be put into groups of two to three and given a name of a product or tool that has been designed to either prevent tracking, allow for more anonymous interaction, or one that does both. They will be asked to research the product, looking at both the provider’s web page as well as reviews from independent sources. With this information students will be asked to give a brief presentation to the class on this product or tool, explaining how it works, what it claims to offer the user, as well as positive or negative aspects of the program they have found in their research. As a final assessment, students will be required to write a response paper, rating the app/tool they were assigned based on security, cost, user friendliness, and effectiveness. If their specific tool is not one they would recommend, they will need to explain why, and offer alternative tools, explaining why they might be a better option.

The lesson will be differentiated in a few ways. I will set up groups heterogeneously to allow students to receive support from their peers. A printed checklist of the steps to take in the assignment will be provided to students as well as posted in the classroom. Groups will choose different programs/apps to review with their group, based on their interest or previous experience using these apps. I will provide individualized help to each group throughout the lesson, depending on need.

Once I have reviewed the results of student work on this assignment, I will assess skills that may need re-teaching (how to research information on the web), or what other areas of internet security should be covered.