SAVE MORE, SPEND MORE

We all love to spend money, right?    Few of us have unlimited income, therefore, people need to make decisions about what goods and services to buy in order to maximize satisfaction received from income.

Speaking of spending, how is it possible that the more we save, the more we can spend?

After the "Rule of 72" activity and the "Big Spender" activities, consider the following:

Reflect on Visual 7-3 "The Bigs Versus The Littles" which shows each family's spending over 35 years.     Look at the impact of their savings & spending choices over 35 years!

Begin a new Blog titled "Save More, Spend More" and address the following - using complete sentences, of course!

• Using the link to the above visual (also shown in class), 
• What do you notice in the 9th year?
• What do you notice about spending in year 16 between the two families?
• In year 35 which family has the higher income - and by how much?
• In year 35 which family has the larger savings account - and by how much?
• When making spending/savings decisions with a limited budget, what should consumers consider prior to spending?    
• How can a higher savings rate provide the means to spend more?
• What are your thoughts now about saving/investing for your future (marriage, children, retirement)?

ASSETS INCREASING YOUR WEALTH

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It is important to begin thinking about what you can invest your hard-earned money in and make your money can GROWand work for YOU.    Plan wisely and you can retire sooner than later.

Over the past few classes, we've been exploring rates of return on various assets.  




RATE OF RETURN = incoming generated by the asset during one given period.

ANNUAL RATE OF RETURN = Return/Market Value of Asset @ Beginning of the Year.

1.  Visit TEENSGOTCENTS and explore how you can become a mulit-millionaire!

2.  Create a new personal blog post titled "Become a Millionaire" and address the following:

www.canstockphoto.com

• Can the rate of return for an asset vary from year to year and if so, why?
• After playing the poker chip game - why was your overall expected rate of return 9% when our poker chips were red 4%, white 8%, and blue 12%?
• Explain what the average rate of return you can expect from your investment equates to.
• How can you use our class discussions, activity, and the information on the above web site to plan for your own retirement?    

NET WORTH & CASH FLOW

During the Inventory Game you physically moved in and out of a specific area (front of room) and noted the change in number of students in that area over time, as well as the inflow and outflow rates.

This game was to simulate your own personal assets (income) and your liabilities (bills) and their flow over different time periods.   In the game - students were cash and the front of the room was the wallet or purse.

In a new blog post titled "Net Worth & Cash Flow" discuss the following:

• Did the game help you visualize a constantly changing cash flow?
• What me some examples of cash outflow?   How does the time element play a part with these?
• What does the game suggest about how you might grow your own wealth over time?   What are key elements to do this?
• Describe what "net worth" is.
• Why would a person want their net worth to be larger - besides the obvious I have more stuff/money - think long term over your entire life and how it can assist you.

As always, use complete/topic sentences.

MAKING DECISIONS

We all make decisions each and every day - from deciding what to wear, what to eat, when to go to bed.    These decisions are small and relatively insignificant.   Other decisions are BIG and require a little more thought.

Making a good decision is not really about the actual decision, but the decision making process.   If you aren't methodical and thoughtful when making a decision, that is when you may see disastrous consequences!

Making smart decisions regarding your finances.   The following areas will soon be explored in Senior Seminar and test your decision making skills:

• choosing a car, house, Internet provider
• making a budget - how to spend your paycheck
• choosing investments (stocks, bonds, etc)
• choosing how much to save for retirement, college, buying a house
• choosing insurance coverage (risk management)

Create a new blog post titled "Making Decisions" and discuss the following in a minimum of 200 words, using complete/topic sentences:

1.  Discuss a few daily decisions you make that don't require a lot of thought.
2.  Discuss one BIG decision you've made this school year - what was it, how did you make your decision - what process did you use?   What were the results of your decision?

WEALTH

LUCK -- both with respect to initial endowment & to finding the right trading partner.







NATURAL ABILITY -- math skills to figure out which trades were beneficial and
bargaining/negotiating skills






EFFORT -- willingness to figure things out, find trades, keep playing







MOTIVATION -- desire to improve your position, win a prize,
succeed








These four factors were most important to you in the "Wealth" game.  These factors determined how much you increased your "wealth" value of your bag.

Guess what -- they will also be the exact same factors will be important in your financial life.   They are the basic determinants of wealth.

Create a new blog entry titled "WEALTH".    Summarize your experience with the game - your status at the beginning, your trading experience, and your final status.    Discuss how each of these factors played into how well you did (or didn't do) in the game.   Also relate each of these four factors in your personal life and how they currently influence/guide your financial decisions.  Also discuss how you can change your current behaviors in the future as related to your financial decisions.

Your post should be well-written with complete sentences and be no shorter than 300 words.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY !!!!

We are going to start exploring an important topic - MONEY.    Who doesn't need money everyday, in some fashion?    No one.    We all wear clothing, eat food, and live somewhere -- this all takes money.   You, a 17/18 year old student, may or may not be paying for some/all of these expenses yet, but someone is.     It is VITAL that you are prepared to deal with financial issues now and after high school.

Many of you have jobs now -- great!    If you don't - you most likely will soon.  Do you know how to spend your money wisely?

Do you pay yourself first?   What does this mean anyway???

REQUESTING LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

***The following was taken & edited from scholarships.com.

The Scholarship Letter of Recommendation

Ask the Most Appropriate Person Available
Don't ask your cousin or your parent's mechanic for a recommendation.  Ask someone relevant to the scholarship for which you are applying.  For example, if volunteer work is among the scholarship's criteria, ask your supervisor from the organization where you volunteered.

photo credit:  www.indiana.edu

Be Punctual & Considerate
Don't wait until the last minute and give the person helping you several days to complete the letter.  As soon as you know you are going to apply for a scholarship that requires a recommendation, start putting the necessary documents together then select and ask your ideal author/supplier of this letter if they would be willing to help you out.

All But Write it For them.....OK.....Write it For Them
Give your author enough material about you so that it will be quick and easy for them to oblige.  Alternately, you could just write it for them and ask them to sign their name to it.  If you take this approach, just remember that they are not likely to sign anything they don't want to be associated with - so speak well of yourself but keep it realistic and create a well written letter with zero typos.

MRS. MURRAY ADDITION:  I wholeheartedly agree that you should help your author by giving them plenty of facts to ease & speed the process, I do not feel you should write the letter yourself. You could provide the requirements for the scholarship, any questions the writer is supposed to cover, and a copy of "Requesting a Letter of Recommendation" form linked here.   SAMPLE letter request of recommendation.  For future reference, these are also available on my website.

Request the Letter is Printed on Your Recommender's Letterhead
Just to give your letterhead the authenticity the scholarship provider is likely to desire, have your recommender put the letter on their letterhead.

Bring Materials & Stamps
Whatever you do, don't make the person writing this letter for you hunt for stamps or an oversized envelope (much less buy them!!).  Be appreciative of their time and effort and show it by being as prepared and gracious as possible.  

Mind Your Manners
In addition to giving your recommender ample time to provide you with a good letter of recommendation, be sure to say thank you and realize this is a big favor they are doing for you that could save you from a lot of debt when you graduate college.

APPLYING TO COLLEGE

October is College Knowledge month!

This week I would like you to take a look at the list of college that are currently accepting free applications.   CLICK ME.

I then want you to choose one college that is currently accepting free applications and apply - EVEN IF you don't know if you want to go to that college OR any college.   The purpose is to practice and see how it works.   Maybe you'll change your mind.   And it's FREE!

When you receive a verification that you've submitted your application, please print it out & turn in to me.

You will also need to update your MCIS checklist.

EXPLORING MCIS

Now that you have your personal log in for the Minnesota Career Information System (MCIS) you will being exploring it thoroughly.    Mrs. Garvin and I will track your progress through the system and you will receive points for your effort.    No one else will look at your information.    BE HONEST when completing surveys.  This site is designed to HELP you with all the decisions you need to make in the very near future.

There are 5 main sections in MCIS that you will need to explore.    Under each main category there are subsections you must work through.

LEARN ABOUT MYSELF

• Reality Check
• Career Cluster Inventory
• IDEAS
• Interest Profiler
• Skills
• Work Importance Locator
• Assessment Link

LEARN ABOUT WORK

• Choosing Occupations
• Career Fields
• Career Clusters
• Occupations
• About the Military
• Green Jobs

LEARN ABOUT SCHOOLS

• Programs of Study
• Minnesota Schools
• US Colleges & Universities
• School sort
• Paying for School
• Financial Aid
• Scholarships 

LEARN ABOUT EMPLOYMENT

• Resume Creator
• Job Search
• Job Success

USE YOUR TIME WISELY TO GET THROUGH THIS WEBSITE -- YOU HAVE VERY LITTLE TIME AND MUCH TO DO.    SUCH IS THE LIFE OF WORKING & COLLEGE.  

You have SOME class time to work on this - but not limitless.   USE YOUR TIME SMARTLY.

MULTI-TASKING

Before going farther into reading this post -- I want you to think about what "multi-tasking" is, if it is important at your age, in your future?  

In YOUR OWN blog, create a new post titled "Multi-tasking" and discuss your pre-thoughts about:

• How is your generation different than previous generations regarding multi-tasking?
• Do you think you are good at multi-tasking?   If so, give some examples.   If not, why not?

You should have a decent, well-written paragraph.   After your post - SAVE it, do not publish yet as you will add more to it below.    This assignment will result in ONE BLOG entry.

NEXT:   Take the short quiz on Quizstar.   (www.quizstar4teachers.org)   Your log in is:    first.last   (example:   sally.smith)
Your substitute will give you the password.      CLICK ME to get to Quizstar.

Recall that Quizstar quizzes/assignments are only open for a short time - be sure to complete on time or you will be locked out.

NEXT:  Watch these videos.    Grab your headphones if you have them.

Try these activities:

CHALLENGE #1

CHALLENGE #2

BLOG:   After you have taken the quiz, watched the videos and completed the challenges - have your thoughts on multi-tasking changed at all???     How did you do on the activities?    Add to your personal blog.  Use complete/topic sentences - do not give me yes/no answers.  Hit the orange PUBLISH after your a done.

DUE DATES:

MonWed class:  Monday, September 29th, 4p
TueThur class:    Friday, September 29th, 4p

COLLEGE !

EXPLORING COLLEGE

I would like to share some interesting information with you about college.   Whenever ANYONE gives you information, you should question the statistics and data.  I have referenced the sites used to compile this data - as anyone with true facts will do.   Note that there are many other references that have similar or skewed data.  Data will always vary from web site to web site.

I could stand up in front of you and present this material, but I won't.  (Don't cheer!)   In this class, as in college or on the job, you will be given material to review and learn on your own and be prepared to use/discuss/be quizzed on at a later time.

It is vital that you take this seriously, DO IT, and do not procrastinate.

You will view this material presented, use it later in a blog post, and be quizzed on it.

1.   First, create a folder in Google Drive (using waostudent.org account) and title it "LAST NAME - Senior Seminar"  example:    MURRAY - Senior Seminar

SHARE this folder to Mrs. Murray as an EDITOR.

2.  Second, complete the Personal Readiness Evaluation for Postsecondary (PREP) Profile.   You will find a hard copy of this on the front resource table.  Complete it and turn it in (basket in front of room).  

3.  Third, you will begin exploring a college you are interested in attending.  Complete the Exploring College Website worksheet.   To download - click on the link, then FILE/MAKE A COPY.   You will then complete this worksheet on your computer, and then move it to the Senior Seminar shared folder.  

If you already know where you plan to go in the fall - you will still look up information.  If you are not planning to go to college right away/ever, I would still like you to look up information but use a vocational training center that can give you some sort of specialized training for what you WOULD like to do after high school.   For instance, if you want to be a diesel mechanic, look up a where you can get this specialized training.  See me if this is you and I'll guide you individually.

YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

ACTIVITY TIME!
(1) Click on THIS link and explore the website to learn more about your digital footprint.  Complete each of the activities.
(2) Google yourself as outlined in #2 above.
(3) Create a new blog post titled "My Digital Footprint" and report on what you learned in the activities and when you Googled yourself.   What kind of on-line accounts/profiles do you currently maintain?  Did you find any that you forgot about?    What do you plan to do differently in the future to protect yourself?

ORGANIZATION

johnnywhoa.deviantart.com

STAYING ORGANIZED!

It is now week two of your senior year!  Do you already feel like you are swimming in assignments? Are you meeting your deadlines?    You are just getting a taste of what your college/full-time work experience will be.

Learning to stay on top of homework in college (or tasks on the job), is often a challenge, even for conscientious students.  You no longer have a mom or dad looking over your shoulder (or JMC) checking to make sure your assignments are complete on time.   Your daily schedule is going to be erratic and unstructured, without the comforting daily routine you had in high school.    Your professors will be too busy teaching hundreds or thousands of other students to care if you complete the coursework!

It is entirely up to you to keep your head above water.   BUT HOW?

PLANNER

Failure to turn in work = a zero.    How can you keep track of all your assignments and not miss a deadline????    Different methods work for different people - you will have to find one that works for you, such as:

• "old school" paper planner/calendar
• apps on your phone
• Google calendar

When your professor hands you the course syllabus, immediately write down all important dates, such as mid-terms, final exams, assignment due dates, etc. 

WALL CALENDAR

A huge paper wall calendar is a great visual - use a color coding method.   For instance, all exams and big papers in red, assignments in blue, study groups in green, etc.

FOLDERS/BINDERS

Carry a backpack everywhere you go at college.  Inside your backpack you should have a folder/3-ring binder for each class.  Each class should have its own color.  Put all handouts, diagrams, and assignment papers in the folders as you receive so they don't have a chance to "disappear."

YOUR ASSIGNMENT!

Create a new blog post and title it "Keeping Organized" and discuss the following:

• How do you keep track of your assignments this year?
• Is this method working for you?   Why or why not?
• How do you think this system will work for you at college/work?
• Research and explore one app for your phone/tablet/computer that might work for you and report on its features.
• What advice do you have for peers & underclassmen (7th - 11th graders) about being organized?

WELCOME !!

WELCOME TO SENIOR SEMINAR!

This site serves several purposes.   

1. I will share important information and lessons with you.
2. I will give many of your assignments here (but not all).
3. You can refer back here whenever you need, from wherever you are (even your phone).

You should get in the habit of checking this site each day - this will keep you current on information and assignments.    Assignments posted here WILL be graded.    You will NOT be hounded, badgered, cajoled, nor begged to check this site - it is your responsibility to stay on top of your course work.   This is to prepare you for college and/or the working world.

 I have HIGH expectations in this class, but am confident you have the ability to succeed!  

Some assignments/tasks will have firm due dates (college applications, financial aid, balancing a checkbook) and others will be due on the last day of the semester. Does this mean you should put assignments off?   I wouldn't!!!!!   It will be next-to-IMPOSSIBLE to pass this course if you procrastinate or ignore assigned work.

If you are organized you should have little problem keeping up in the class and receive an A!!!.   If you tend to procrastinate - you need to know NOW that you WILL find yourself in a bind at the end of the semester and will likely fail this course.    Keep in mind this is a required course for graduating from WAO High School.

STAY FOCUSED.    STAY ORGANIZED.

This site is here to help you.   Mrs. Murray is here to assist you - but not micro-manage you nor hold your hand.   

WAO's goal is for you to be prepared for college and/or the working world.   This class will prepare you.    You may dislike me during this semester - but you'll thank me later.    

Whenever you see this guy holding the sign - you know you have an assignment/task.

REMINDER:   always, always, always use your waostudent.org Google account for all school work.   Your log in is firstname.lastname@wao.student.org.      If you forget your password Mrs. Murray cannot look it up, only reset it.

CREATE YOUR PERSONAL BLOG 

Your blog will be ongoing throughout this semester and will be graded.  This is your opportunity to create a positive digital footprint and demonstrate effective written communication skills.  You can use your site in the future as an example of your knowledge of web 2.0 tools -- show off your skills to a supervisor or professor!

The video below is a great tutorial - but sound is very low.   Feel free to get your headphones out or simply follow along.

• use blogger.com to create your blog.   You must use your waostudent.org account to create it! 
• customize your blog - template, color, photos - keep it school appropriate
• example of exemplar blog:  ** CLICK HERE **
• after you've created and personalized your block, make sure to "VIEW BLOG" to see if you are happy with the layout and design - you can always tweak it as we go
• hit "VIEW BLOG" and copy the URL in the address bar
• send the URL to Mrs. Murray and it will be added to the blogroll to the right of this page - you will be able to see each other's work, but will not post comments

on your mark....get set......GO!