September 2, 2021

Good morning and welcome back!
Can you believe those tornadoes and all that flooding last night?!

IB Juniors and Seniors
-In today’s lesson, you will learn to:
-Experience cognitive biases through thought experiments
-Identify various cognitive biases
-Give examples of cognitive biases in your own life
-Explain what cognitive bias is and how it can impact our decision making
Your Student Activity Packet is in Google Classroom.

Personal Finance
-In today’s lesson, you will learn to:
-Experience cognitive biases through thought experiments
-Identify various cognitive biases
-Give examples of cognitive biases in your own life
-Explain what cognitive bias is and how it can impact our decision making
Your Student Activity Packet is in Google Classroom.

From Morning Brew:
In Texas, Abortions Ground to a Halt

A Texas law went into effect on Wednesday at midnight blocking abortions roughly six weeks after pregnancy—before many know they are pregnant.

It is the most restrictive abortion law in the country and could lead many abortion providers to shut their doors. At least 85% of abortions occur after six weeks of pregnancy.

Reproductive rights advocates were hoping that the Supreme Court would step in before the deadline to block the law, which is more restrictive than the current precedent set by Roe v. Wade in 1973. That landmark ruling bans states from restricting abortion before the fetus is able to live outside a mother’s womb—roughly 22–24 weeks into pregnancy.

Late last night, the Supreme Court denied an emergency appeal from opponents of the law in a 5–4 vote, leaving it in place.
The enforcement system is highly unusual.

Typically, public officials like judges or county clerks are tapped to enforce the law. But Texas’s legislation empowers private individuals to sue anyone who performs or helps with illegal abortions, with the ability to collect at least $10,000 in damages for a successful lawsuit.

That’s not only a threat to doctors and clinic staff, but also to theoretically anyone involved in the process—such as a ride-hailing driver who drives a woman to her abortion procedure.

Both opponents and advocates of the law agree lawsuits would be financially devastating for abortion providers.

“This bill is 100% about putting fear in physicians and putting fear in abortion funds and intimidating us. This law threatens my livelihood,” Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, an OB-GYN and abortion provider in Texas, told NPR.
John Seago of Texas Right to Life, the largest anti-abortion organization in Texas, doesn’t dispute it. “The lawsuits would be against the individuals making money off of the abortion, the abortion industry itself.”

Looking ahead…the Supreme Court—now with a 6–3 conservative majority—will hear a pivotal abortion case in the fall over Mississippi’s request to enforce an abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy. — NF

You can sign up for Morning Brew here.

September 1, 2021

Good morning and welcome back!

IB Juniors and Seniors
In IB Business Management we often use Nearpod for student engagement within lessons.
Here is a video that shows students how to use Nearpod effectively.
1) Today, students will take a survey in Google Classroom. We will also discuss the top scams of 2020.
2. Students will discuss the Top Scams of 2020.

Personal Finance
In the Personal Finance course we use Nearpod for student engagement in lessons. Here is a video that shows students how to use Nearpod effectively.
Today, students will take a survey in Google Classroom. We will also discuss the top scams of 2020.

Internal Assessment Resources for IB Seniors:

From Morning Brew:
Why Oxygen is in Short Supply:

As if the Southeast US didn’t have enough to deal with already, hospitals are running low on oxygen for treating Covid-19 patients, and it’s causing ripple effects for other industries that use the stuff for their daily operations.

Big picture: The number of people hospitalized in the US with Covid-19 has exceeded 100,000 for only the second time in the pandemic. Because Covid attacks the respiratory system, patients with severe cases often require highly concentrated oxygen to help them breathe.

But diverting oxygen to hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients means it can’t be deployed for other uses. Uses like…

Water treatment: Earlier this month, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer asked residents to hold off on activities like power washing the deck in order to conserve water. Liquid oxygen is used to treat the water supply, but the city is running low because of the crush of Covid hospitalizations.

Florida’s Hillsborough County (home to Tampa) said last week that residents might notice a change in the smell or taste of their drinking water, since the water utility needed to switch up its treatment process due to the lack of oxygen.

Space: Turns out, to get to a place where there’s very little oxygen, you need a lot of it as a propellant for rockets. On Friday, NASA delayed the September launch of an earth-surveillance satellite because of the Covid-induced oxygen shortage. Other launches across the industry may be pushed back, too.

At a space conference last week, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said, “We certainly are going to make sure the hospitals are going to have the oxygen that they need” for Covid patients. But if anyone has some liquid oxygen lying around their basement, “Send me an email.”

Zoom out: It wouldn’t be a 2021 business story without a supply chain angle. Health officials say a shortage of truck drivers with the specialized skills to transport oxygen is compounding the problem.

August 31, 2021 – Welcome Back!! You’ve been missed!!

Hi everybody! Whether you are an IB student, a Personal Finance student or in my Homeroom, here you will find important updates.

IB Juniors and Seniors
In IB Business Management we often use Nearpod for student engagement within lessons.
Here is a video that shows students how to use Nearpod effectively.
1) Today, listen to the Stossel Report and then try the quiz (whole group activity) by clicking here. Topic: Socially Responsible Investing Scams

2) Is mortgage lending biased? Listen here and then discuss your thoughts.

Personal Finance
In the Personal Finance course we use Nearpod for student engagement in lessons. Here is a video that shows students how to use Nearpod effectively.
Homework: Bring in your signed syllabus.

Internal Assessment Resources for IB Seniors:

From Morning Brew:
Why Oxygen is in Short Supply:

As if the Southeast US didn’t have enough to deal with already, hospitals are running low on oxygen for treating Covid-19 patients, and it’s causing ripple effects for other industries that use the stuff for their daily operations.

Big picture: The number of people hospitalized in the US with Covid-19 has exceeded 100,000 for only the second time in the pandemic. Because Covid attacks the respiratory system, patients with severe cases often require highly concentrated oxygen to help them breathe.

But diverting oxygen to hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients means it can’t be deployed for other uses. Uses like…

Water treatment: Earlier this month, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer asked residents to hold off on activities like power washing the deck in order to conserve water. Liquid oxygen is used to treat the water supply, but the city is running low because of the crush of Covid hospitalizations.

Florida’s Hillsborough County (home to Tampa) said last week that residents might notice a change in the smell or taste of their drinking water, since the water utility needed to switch up its treatment process due to the lack of oxygen.

Space: Turns out, to get to a place where there’s very little oxygen, you need a lot of it as a propellant for rockets. On Friday, NASA delayed the September launch of an earth-surveillance satellite because of the Covid-induced oxygen shortage. Other launches across the industry may be pushed back, too.

At a space conference last week, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said, “We certainly are going to make sure the hospitals are going to have the oxygen that they need” for Covid patients. But if anyone has some liquid oxygen lying around their basement, “Send me an email.”

Zoom out: It wouldn’t be a 2021 business story without a supply chain angle. Health officials say a shortage of truck drivers with the specialized skills to transport oxygen is compounding the problem.

Welcome to my blog!

Hi everybody! Whether you are an IB student, a Personal Finance student or in my Homeroom, here you will find important updates.

IB Juniors and Seniors
In IB Business Management we often use Nearpod for student engagement within lessons.
Here is a video that shows students how to use Nearpod effectively.

Personal Finance
In the Personal Finance course we use Nearpod for student engagement in lessons. Here is a video that shows students how to use Nearpod effectively.

December 22, 2020

Today is the penultimate day before Winter Break and tomorrow is Spirit Day!

Personal Finance
After we finish comparing overdraft fees and completing the Exit Ticket, students will have a choice of the following online activities.

Visa’s Financial Football

All students, here are games for Personal Finance:
Play Financial Football
Most popular:
Consumer Jungle
Gen-I-Revolution
Bank It or Bust
More games (Refund Rush, Farm Blitz, Celebrity Calamity and Groove Nation).
Money Metropolis
Many, many games and activities for students!
Here is a link from the National Education Association with tons of resources and games for learning financial literacy.
Here are more links to games and activities from Educational World.
Try Dollar A Glass Lemonade.

Starbanks Adventure: This is now an app for your phone, see https://www.moneyconfidentkids.com/content/mck/star-banks-adventure-game.html

Here is another link to a new website featuring more Personal Finance Games.

October 26, 2020

LAST CALL: If you are interested in a career in National Security and International Affairs, there is a 6-day program in June at the University of Maryland sponsored by the National Youth Leadership Forum. See me if you would like to be recommended for this unique opportunity.

Personal Finance (2nd Period, 6th Period, 7th Period)

Today’s Topic: Wharton Investment Competition: COMPANY RESEARCH 2

First, students will work in collaborative groups to 1) decide which sectors students will focus on (each student must focus on one sector) and 2) students will decide if they want to purchase stock on the companies they researched earlier last week. Today students will continue doing research on companies in their respective/assigned sectors.
Students will trade stock at Wharton’s Stocktrak.com.
Here is the Approved Stock List.
Here is the Investment Competition Guidebook.
To continue your research, please the Company Analysis Form in today’s Google Classroom assignment.

Reminder: The 9 Business Sectors are: 1) Consumer Discretionary, 2) Consumer Staples, 3) Energy, 4) Financial Services, 5) Healthcare, 6) Materials and Processing, 7) Producer Durables, 8) Technology 9) Utilities

IB Business Management Juniors
Today’s Topic:
SWOT Analysis

Today students will finish making presentations on their SWOT analyses.

IB Business Management Seniors
Continue Unit 4.5 – The Four Ps (Product)
Today students will discuss the Product Life Cycle, Extension Strategies, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix and Branding.
Students will play this Sporcle Game to see if they know the Top 10 Brands in different product categories.

October 22, 2020

If you are interested in a career in National Security and International Affairs, there is a 6-day program in June at the University of Maryland sponsored by the National Youth Leadership Forum. See me if you would like to be recommended for this unique opportunity.

Personal Finance (2nd Period, 6th Period, 7th Period)

Today’s Topic: Wharton Investment Competition: Buying Stock

First, students will play this activity to see how difficult it is to time the market.
Next, students will work in collaborative groups to 1) decide which sectors students will focus on (each student must focus on one sector) and 2) students will decide if they want to purchase stock on the companies they researched earlier in the week. Once finished making purchases, students will continue doing research on companies in their respective/assigned sectors.
Students will trade stock at Wharton’s Stocktrak.com.
Here is the Approved Stock List.
Here is the Investment Competition Guidebook.
To continue your research, please make a copy of this Company Analysis Form.

Reminder: The 9 Business Sectors are: 1) Consumer Discretionary, 2) Consumer Staples, 3) Energy, 4) Financial Services, 5) Healthcare, 6) Materials and Processing, 7) Producer Durables, 8) Technology 9) Utilities

IB Business Management Juniors
Today’s Topic:
SWOT Analysis

Today students will finish making presentations on their SWOT analyses.

IB Business Management Seniors
Continue Unit 4.5 – The Four Ps (Product)
Today students will discuss the Product Life Cycle, Extension Strategies, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix and Branding.
Students will play this Sporcle Game to see if they know the Top 10 Brands in different product categories.

October 15, 2020

Personal Finance (2nd Period, 6th Period, 7th Period)

Today’s Topic: Wharton Investment Competition: Buying Stock

Today students will work in collaborative groups to make their first stock purchase.
Students will trade stock at Wharton’s Stocktrak.com.

IB Business Management Juniors
Today’s Topic:
SWOT Analysis

First, students will complete a text rendering activity on the Knowledge@Wharton High School article: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats: The SWOT Analysis
Students will work collaboratively to create a SWOT analysis on a favorite company.

IB Business Management Seniors
Continue Unit 4.4 – Market Research on Nearpod platform
Topics are Types of Secondary Research, Ethical Considerations, Qualitative and Quantitative Methods, Sampling Methods

October 14, 2020

Personal Finance (2nd Period, 6th Period, 7th Period)

Today’s Topic: UPenn Sessions

Today’s lessons will be delivered by professors and students from the University of Pennsylvania.

IB Business Management Juniors
Today’s Topic:
SWOT Analysis

Students will work collaboratively to create a SWOT analysis on a favorite company.

IB Business Management Seniors
Continue Unit 4.4 – Market Research on Nearpod platform
Topics are Types of Secondary Research, Ethical Considerations, Qualitative and Quantitative Methods, Sampling Methods

October 13, 2020

Personal Finance (2nd Period, 6th Period, 7th Period)

Today’s Topic: Dividends

Key article: Warren Buffet and Dividends

Infographic: Tips for Beginner Investors

What is diversification?

What is P/E ratio?

McDonalds: Sales Rise at McDonalds

Game: Beat The Market Game.

Here is The Approved Stock List.

Here is the Wharton Investment Competition Guidebook.

Finviz: see how the market is doing

IB Business Management Juniors
Unit 1.3 Notes are due today.
Today’s Topic:
Ethical Objectives
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
SWOT Analysis

IB Business Management Seniors
Start Unit 4.4 – Market Research on Nearpod platform
Activities include Brainstorm Bulletin Board, Time to Climb game
Topics are Market Research, Ad Hoc Market Research vs. Continuous Research
Types of Primary (Field) Research and Secondary (Desk) Research