CEdu 521 Week 3: So Much to Apply to North Business Classes!

Upon completion of our third week of class, I find my mind creatively spinning with curriculum and project ideas for my Falls North Junior High business classes. I am using Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives for direction as I formulate new lessons/projects and take existing lessons and expand them into technology-based projects. The taxonomy documents we received in session 3 and the ensuing discussions helped me focus on adding more higher-order thinking skill activities to our projects and assessments.

Following are some brainstorming ideas:

1. Entrepreneur Profile: In the past, students have written a research paper in Word. In order to offer my students more choices to better meet their learning styles, I am adding the options to create and present a PowerPoint or role play and videotape and present a short monologue or skit. In both cases, I will create additional rubrics, for both the research element and the presentation itself. I am curious to see how many students take the opportunity to create something other than a Word document. Research can be done with online resources recommended by our school library or with books. In the past, students have written only about famous entrepreneurs in Word. I am thinking about asking my students if they would also be interested in interviewing a local businessperson or a relative/neighbor/friend who is an entrepreneur. I would provide guidance on appropriate questions to ask. Students who chose this authentic option would then pick from a Word document, PowerPoint, or videotape. The last two options would be presented to the class, causing an increase in the LoTI level.
2. Business Plan: This culminating semester project will undergo an increase in the LoTI level by simply adding a presentation to the class and/or local entrepreneurs. The business plan itself is a Word document, but students could create and present a brief, summarizing PowerPoint. In order to also increase the authenticity, students would be assessed not only on the presentation content, but also on their dress, communication skills, and persuasiveness as they seek start-up money from students and/or businesspeople posing as venture capitalists and angel investors. In fact, this sounds so exciting that I am considering it as a replacement for our scantron/essay final exam. By covering all of our units (marketing, human resources, finances, etc.), this will serve as an engaging, summative assessment.
   

The next step that I need to learn is creating valid and reliable assessments for projects. Our text gave me some ideas, but I look forward to further discussions with our cohort. In addition, I have begun collaboration with our Menomonee Falls High School entrepreneur teacher and with an eighth grade English teacher at North. At our in-service last Monday, I worked with both teachers on common assessments. I learned a great deal on project presentation assessments and was pleased to share what I have used successfully in the past.