Content Area Websites Blog 7

The Biz of Football
http://www.bizoffootball.com/


The Biz of Football is a really cool website that looks into seemingly all business aspects of football. For those of our students that may have difficulty in relating the information taught in their business courses to real life applications, The Biz of Football provides an excellent platform to stoke their interest. Some of the many topics delved into by this website are the salary cap, corporate sponsorships, the NFL's television "blackout" policy, collective bargaining agreements and network rights fee's just to name a few. I feel that The Biz of Football would be of particular value to those students already have an interest in football but have yet to realize the extent to which business and football are intertwined.

Music Business Resources for Students
http://www.mustard-mg.com/



Similar to The Biz of Football, Music Business Resources for Students taps into the interests that some of our students have away from the classroom and relates them to the study of business. The site is produced by a music professional and is a compilation of his learnings from years of being in the music industry. Music Resources for Business Students has sections that include an industry overview, contracts, copyright issues, agents, do it yourself record labels and promotion among many others. This site would be a very valuable resource for connecting with our students that have an interest in the music business.

Essential Question and Answer Blog 6

How can having an understanding and appreciation for the cultures, backgrounds and values of our students help us as teachers to teach them more effectively?



In the article She's Strict for a Reason: Highly Effective Teachers in Low-Performing Urban Schools, the authors studied 31 highly effective teachers in nine low-performing urban schools in some of the most economically depressed neighborhoods in Los Angeles County, California. The study lasted for four years and attempted to answer the following questions.

Are there highly effective teachers in low-performing urban schools?
If so, what instructional strategies do they use?
What are their personal characteristics?

As implied by the title of the article the authors were able to find very effective teachers in low-performing environments. When the research progressed toward answering the second question posed regarding instructional strategies the results were surprising to the authors. What they found were very strict, intense academic environments where traditional, Objectivist instruction was thriving. That environment, however, was balanced by strong and respectful relationships and a strong belief in the abilities of their students. Lastly, in answer to their final question regarding the personal characteristics of the highly effective teachers the authors found that the teachers were strong, no-nonsense, make-it happen people who were optimistic for students’ futures, responsible, hard working, emotionally stable, organized, and disciplined.  Also identified were a set of core beliefs shared by the teachers about their students as listed below.
1. Every one of my students has much more
potential than they use;
2. They have not been pushed to use it;
3. It is my responsibility to turn this situation
around;
4. I am able; and
5. I want to do this for them.

The authors conclude that concerns about Objectivist methods of instruction may be unwarranted and that Constructivist methods should be highly questioned when instructing students in low-performing urban schools. While I respect the findings of the authors and don't doubt their validity, I think it would perhaps be even more valuable to inspect the relationship between the high standards and expectations these teachers set for their students and the corresponding high achievement of their students.

Poplin, M, Rivera, J., Durish, D., Hoff, L., Kawell, S., Pawlak, P., Hinman, I.S., Straus, L., Veney, C.  (2011). She's strict for a good reason: Highly effective teachers in low-performing urban schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(5), 39-43.

  

Content Area Websites Blog 5

Ben's Guide
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/subject.html#business
Ben's Guide is an excellent government resource for children to learn about business in an entertaining and interactive way. The site offers multiple links where students can learn about different business topics, play business related games and look up patents among other activities. This site would be an engaging way to enhance different learning units that students could access at there own leisure and pace.



It's My Life
http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/money/
This is a very useful site that covers topics such as earning money, spending money and managing money. What I liked best about this website is the game "Mad Money". In it, the student will be given a set amount money to spend in a given amount of time. There are opportunities to earn more money but also penalties which reduce time. "Mad Money" could be particularly useful when teaching a unit on supply and demand. By having a set budget to work with, the students will be forced differentiate between needs and wants and to appreiciate why products at different price points might have more appeal to certain consumers based on finite resources. Every kid wants there parents to buy the fanciest car but after playing "Mad Money" hopefully they'll understand why buying a Honda Civic might be more prudent instead.