Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Day 17: Our Departments
Today we broke up into departments or jobs. They are:
Most of the kids had more than one job. After we divided into departments, we got to work. I took the buyers to the grocery and Italian market to buy the supplies and food, and the marketing team was busy at work back at SEAMAAC. Lillian, one of the older students, did a great job creating our colorful Power Point Presentation. When we came back, we saw that the marketing department made a beautiful t-shirt and poster.
1) Food Prep - Washing and preparing the food. Making the smoothies and kabobs
2) Food Buyers/Delivery - Helped buy and carry groceries
3) Salespeople - Handle money and solicit customers
4) Art & Marketing Department - Responsible for making uniform, posters, flyers
5) Presenters - Presenting our business idea on Power Point
6) Quality Control Specialists - Making sure that the food is handled properly
Most of the kids had more than one job. After we divided into departments, we got to work. I took the buyers to the grocery and Italian market to buy the supplies and food, and the marketing team was busy at work back at SEAMAAC. Lillian, one of the older students, did a great job creating our colorful Power Point Presentation. When we came back, we saw that the marketing department made a beautiful t-shirt and poster.
Day 16: Shopping around for the best deal
The kids joined me to the Italian market today. With a pad and paper in hand, they sought out the freshest looking, and cheapest fruits. We found that there were great deals if we walked to the fruit stand on 9th Street instead of 7th Street.
When we came back to SEAMAAC, we wrote down all the prices on a big piece of paper. I knew that that Friday the School was having a flea market so I decided to get a table and throw the kids in the fire, and test out the business since they were so excited about selling. We had a lot of organizing and work to do in less than two days, but I knew it was possible and that it would be a great learning experience.
When we came back to SEAMAAC, we wrote down all the prices on a big piece of paper. I knew that that Friday the School was having a flea market so I decided to get a table and throw the kids in the fire, and test out the business since they were so excited about selling. We had a lot of organizing and work to do in less than two days, but I knew it was possible and that it would be a great learning experience.
Day 15: The Taste Test
Today the kids had a lot of fun.
I brought in all sorts of fruit, vegetables, dip and sandwiches. The students helped me prepare some healthy snacks and we all got to try them. Then we put together a menu and gave the snacks some fun names, like at Jamba Juice.
The menu consisted of:
The reason for doing the taste test is because I told the kids, "if you don't like eating it, chances are other people won't like it too." I wanted the kids to sell something that they believed was healthy and tasty themselves. Unfortunately, the veggie pack was not the hit which I had hoped. Many of the kids did not like green peppers and found it unsatisfying.
The monkey sandwich got mixed reactions. The kids did not like how the bananas looked.... they get brown quickly after you cut them up. And one of the youth leaders who sampled it said it made his mouth dry and sticky. We knew that we had to serve a drink with this, thats where the idea for making smoothies came about.
Fortunately, the fruit kabobs were a hit and the kids were able to make it themselves. I gave them a challenge. I told them to try and sell a kabob to the elders and the staff in the building and whoever can make the most money wins. Our biggest winners were Valerie and Anthony who were able to make $1 each. They shared their technique: Greet people respectfully (preferably in their own language... Anthony greeted his customer in Cambodian) and tell them how juicy and tasty it is and that you made it yourself. Adults like to encourage and support young people and are more likely to buy (and pay more) from a cute kid.
I brought in all sorts of fruit, vegetables, dip and sandwiches. The students helped me prepare some healthy snacks and we all got to try them. Then we put together a menu and gave the snacks some fun names, like at Jamba Juice.
The menu consisted of:
The Veggie Pack - celery, carrots and green peppers in a snack bag with ranch dip in a cup
Fruit kabobs - strawberries, grapes and apples on a skewer
The Monkey Sandwich - peanut butter and bananas on raisin bread
The reason for doing the taste test is because I told the kids, "if you don't like eating it, chances are other people won't like it too." I wanted the kids to sell something that they believed was healthy and tasty themselves. Unfortunately, the veggie pack was not the hit which I had hoped. Many of the kids did not like green peppers and found it unsatisfying.
The monkey sandwich got mixed reactions. The kids did not like how the bananas looked.... they get brown quickly after you cut them up. And one of the youth leaders who sampled it said it made his mouth dry and sticky. We knew that we had to serve a drink with this, thats where the idea for making smoothies came about.
Fortunately, the fruit kabobs were a hit and the kids were able to make it themselves. I gave them a challenge. I told them to try and sell a kabob to the elders and the staff in the building and whoever can make the most money wins. Our biggest winners were Valerie and Anthony who were able to make $1 each. They shared their technique: Greet people respectfully (preferably in their own language... Anthony greeted his customer in Cambodian) and tell them how juicy and tasty it is and that you made it yourself. Adults like to encourage and support young people and are more likely to buy (and pay more) from a cute kid.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Day 14: We have a name!
Last week the kids voted and decided that they wanted to create a fruit and healthy snack stand for our business.
Today I split the class into small groups and on different pieces of paper, I wrote these questions:
1) What is the name of our business?
2) Where and when will we operate?
3) How much will we charge for our product?
4) What are some healthy things that you know how to prepare?
5) What are some ways we can market our business?
6) What is the mission of our business? How will it help our community?
7) Who is our target customer?
Each group had a different colored marker and they brainstormed together to come up with ideas and record them on the pieces of paper that were taped around the room. Each sheet had one of the above questions on it. Then the groups rotated and went to the next question until each group answered all the questions.
At the end, we decided to name our stand "Fruittropolis"
Today I split the class into small groups and on different pieces of paper, I wrote these questions:
1) What is the name of our business?
2) Where and when will we operate?
3) How much will we charge for our product?
4) What are some healthy things that you know how to prepare?
5) What are some ways we can market our business?
6) What is the mission of our business? How will it help our community?
7) Who is our target customer?
Each group had a different colored marker and they brainstormed together to come up with ideas and record them on the pieces of paper that were taped around the room. Each sheet had one of the above questions on it. Then the groups rotated and went to the next question until each group answered all the questions.
At the end, we decided to name our stand "Fruittropolis"
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Day 13: The Lemonade Stand game
I did Business Quizzo today again to test the students on new terms. It was a really tight game today, Lil' Azn Gangstas beat Gurl Power.... Sike Naw by 1 point. The boys seemed very surprised and excited to win. Everyone got a prize though. I handed out the leather clipboard/notepads from United Way today and they were really excited about that.
For the 2nd half of class, we broke up Junior 1 and 2 and I showed them the classic "Lemonade Stand Game", the kids each started off with $3.00 and had to decide how much of that they would budget to signs, and how many cups of lemonade they would make and how much they would sell it for. It was heart-warming to see how much the kids got into the game. Alicia made the highest amount...... $60.37 from $3.00 starting budget! Maybe she should be teaching this class! I'm glad I did this because I think the kids learned that business isn't smooth, you have your good days and bad days, rainy days and sunny days.
The second group did an exercise downstairs where they researched the phone book and looked up how many businesses there were in certain categories, a) How many locksmiths? b) How many comic book stores? c) How many taxi services? Then they had to see where there is no opportunity and in what field there is opportunity.
For the 2nd half of class, we broke up Junior 1 and 2 and I showed them the classic "Lemonade Stand Game", the kids each started off with $3.00 and had to decide how much of that they would budget to signs, and how many cups of lemonade they would make and how much they would sell it for. It was heart-warming to see how much the kids got into the game. Alicia made the highest amount...... $60.37 from $3.00 starting budget! Maybe she should be teaching this class! I'm glad I did this because I think the kids learned that business isn't smooth, you have your good days and bad days, rainy days and sunny days.
The second group did an exercise downstairs where they researched the phone book and looked up how many businesses there were in certain categories, a) How many locksmiths? b) How many comic book stores? c) How many taxi services? Then they had to see where there is no opportunity and in what field there is opportunity.
Day 12: Guest Speaker
The kids got the opportunity to meet a real business owner and also practice interviewing techniques today.
Jeff Wiesner, owner of the graphic design company Abacus Studios came to visit SEAMAAC and talked about how he started his business and showed the kids his portfolio. Each child thought of one question and got to go up and ask Mr. Jeff. Our other guest speaker, Roland, who owns REload messenger bags could not come, but Jeff (who is friends with Roland) brought in some of his bike messenger bags and talked about his business as well. Jeff talked about how businesses are started with an idea, and then how you analyze and develop that idea.
Jeff Wiesner, owner of the graphic design company Abacus Studios came to visit SEAMAAC and talked about how he started his business and showed the kids his portfolio. Each child thought of one question and got to go up and ask Mr. Jeff. Our other guest speaker, Roland, who owns REload messenger bags could not come, but Jeff (who is friends with Roland) brought in some of his bike messenger bags and talked about his business as well. Jeff talked about how businesses are started with an idea, and then how you analyze and develop that idea.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Day 11: Advertising and Budgeting
Today we started off talking about Communication, so I started off with the game "Whisper down the lane." We sat in a big circle and I started off a sentence. When it went around 15 kids and 3 adults, the sentence came back to me as "Party in the Pervert." The sentence I started off with was "Clifford and Barney are red and purple."
We broke off into groups and Ms. Iris and Mr. Peter did an exercise where the kids critiqued some advertisements in magazines. They wrote what they liked and didn't like.
I took the kids upstairs and we learned about personal budgeting and we plotted the numbers in Excel and each kid created their own Excel sheets. Some of the ways they made money were Chinese and Vietnamese New Year, birthdays, practicing the piano and Christmas. Some of the major expenses at this age were sneakers, uniforms, candy and junk food and video games. Did you know that the Legend of Zelda still costs $50? I thought that wasn't bad because it cost the same amount when I was a kid.
At the end of the day we did a little bit of Module 5: Where to get money. I am excited about Wednesday because we are getting our first two guest speakers to come in.
We broke off into groups and Ms. Iris and Mr. Peter did an exercise where the kids critiqued some advertisements in magazines. They wrote what they liked and didn't like.
I took the kids upstairs and we learned about personal budgeting and we plotted the numbers in Excel and each kid created their own Excel sheets. Some of the ways they made money were Chinese and Vietnamese New Year, birthdays, practicing the piano and Christmas. Some of the major expenses at this age were sneakers, uniforms, candy and junk food and video games. Did you know that the Legend of Zelda still costs $50? I thought that wasn't bad because it cost the same amount when I was a kid.
At the end of the day we did a little bit of Module 5: Where to get money. I am excited about Wednesday because we are getting our first two guest speakers to come in.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Day 10: Sick
I feel horrible today. I know we have so much to cover over the summer and I hate missing work. But I got a stomach virus and had to miss work today unfortunately.
Maybe its all the Sapporo Ichiban I've been eating from the local Asian grocery?
Maybe its all the Sapporo Ichiban I've been eating from the local Asian grocery?
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Day 9: The Partnership Exercise
Lillian told me everything I needed to know from our first telephone call. I was looking over my notes that I took during our conversation and I should have listened to her. She said,
So today, I had them do an activity that lead to a conversation about partnership. I was very pleased with the results (the product) of the activity, but realized that the toughest part for the students was choosing a partner. Some kids wanted to have groups of 3, and I said you can only have 1 partner, so I partnered up some of the students who were left and they were visibly grumpy. I told the kids to get up and sit next to their partner and one girl sat on the steps and said "I am not getting up from this spot." I was taken aback since she is a great student and well-behaved, so I made a boy from the class go sit next to her.
Next, each pair of students had one piece of blank paper and a pencil. Their assignment was to take 4 minutes and draw a house. But the kicker was that they had to both hold the same pencil, and to make it even tougher -- they couldn't talk. All the kids stood up to the challenge. Although there were a few cheaters (kids whispering, or one child not really guiding the pencil -- just touching it) the majority of the students followed the directions.
At the end of 4 minutes I told them all to stop and hold up their houses. I was very impressed at how artistic and detailed they were. Some had house numbers and flowers on the windows. Some had big driveways and trees, a sharp contrast from the boxy rowhouses you see in this particular South Philadelphia neighborhood.
We passed around the drawings of the houses and I asked questions to the group like, "Did you feel like you were being a leader or a follower?" Most kids said a little bit of both. I asked, "How did you communicate with your partner without talking?" One child raised her hand and said "I could read her (partner's) mind." Another said, "I tried to help him and tried to tell what he would do next and pushed the pencil along."
I asked them how they felt doing the exercise and although most of them said it was fun, there were two kids who were disappointed because they did not know their partners well. I said that its really important to try and be respectful and nice to your business associates whether or not you like them because in the grown-up world, we don't choose who we work with. One pair of boys said they noticed two boys sitting close to them cheating and whispering, and I tried to relate that to business ethics, and what they would do if they were a business owner and noticed that another business owner was cheating their customers.
After the partnership exercise, I decided to test them on what they learned so far in the class and also have some fun. I chose key terms from the modules and turned it into one of my favorite bar games, Quizzo (but without the alcohol of course!) The first step was for the class to break up into groups of 4-6 students. Then each team had to make a name..... they got pretty creative! Their names were Lil' Azn Gangstaz, Da Chozen1z, Ice Cream Girls, and Gurl Power...... Sike Naw!
There were 2 rounds and each round had 10 questions in it so the perfect score they could get is 20. All teams scored above 50%. Here is an example of some of the questions I asked:
1) A person who identifies an opportunity, takes risks, and comes up with an idea and brings resources together to set up and run a venture to run a product or service is ___________. (an entrepreneur)
2) The computer program we used to create our survey spreadsheets is called ________. (Microsoft Excel)
3) The longest street in Philadelphia is ___________. (Broad Street)
4) This person created and started MySpace. _________ (Tom Anderson) -- almost EVERY TEAM got this right!
5) In business, a want backed by the willingness and ability to pay for it is called a __________. (demand) -- this one got lots of creative answers.... determination, discount shop, document, desire
I think this Business Quizzo thing went well and plan to continue it and do it for 30 minutes once a week. It actually helped with the Mr. Bones Modules as well. Today as we were going through Module 4, I told the kids "Pay attention, because I might put some of these new terms in our next Business Quizzo." The class was noticably quieter after I said that.
The kids were also excited to find out the results of the Community Survey. We found out that:
83% get around by car
50% go home with their parents after school, the rest go to the library or after-school programs
75% have a school store
87% like Anime
88% do not use their community recreation center
50% come from English-speaking households
47% speak Vietnamese at home, 43% speak Cantonese, and the rest speak other Asian languages such as Tagalog, Mandarin and Khmer. Many also speak English.
"The kids are very active and prefer physical and tactile experiences and get bored with lecture."
So today, I had them do an activity that lead to a conversation about partnership. I was very pleased with the results (the product) of the activity, but realized that the toughest part for the students was choosing a partner. Some kids wanted to have groups of 3, and I said you can only have 1 partner, so I partnered up some of the students who were left and they were visibly grumpy. I told the kids to get up and sit next to their partner and one girl sat on the steps and said "I am not getting up from this spot." I was taken aback since she is a great student and well-behaved, so I made a boy from the class go sit next to her.
Next, each pair of students had one piece of blank paper and a pencil. Their assignment was to take 4 minutes and draw a house. But the kicker was that they had to both hold the same pencil, and to make it even tougher -- they couldn't talk. All the kids stood up to the challenge. Although there were a few cheaters (kids whispering, or one child not really guiding the pencil -- just touching it) the majority of the students followed the directions.
At the end of 4 minutes I told them all to stop and hold up their houses. I was very impressed at how artistic and detailed they were. Some had house numbers and flowers on the windows. Some had big driveways and trees, a sharp contrast from the boxy rowhouses you see in this particular South Philadelphia neighborhood.
We passed around the drawings of the houses and I asked questions to the group like, "Did you feel like you were being a leader or a follower?" Most kids said a little bit of both. I asked, "How did you communicate with your partner without talking?" One child raised her hand and said "I could read her (partner's) mind." Another said, "I tried to help him and tried to tell what he would do next and pushed the pencil along."
I asked them how they felt doing the exercise and although most of them said it was fun, there were two kids who were disappointed because they did not know their partners well. I said that its really important to try and be respectful and nice to your business associates whether or not you like them because in the grown-up world, we don't choose who we work with. One pair of boys said they noticed two boys sitting close to them cheating and whispering, and I tried to relate that to business ethics, and what they would do if they were a business owner and noticed that another business owner was cheating their customers.
After the partnership exercise, I decided to test them on what they learned so far in the class and also have some fun. I chose key terms from the modules and turned it into one of my favorite bar games, Quizzo (but without the alcohol of course!) The first step was for the class to break up into groups of 4-6 students. Then each team had to make a name..... they got pretty creative! Their names were Lil' Azn Gangstaz, Da Chozen1z, Ice Cream Girls, and Gurl Power...... Sike Naw!
There were 2 rounds and each round had 10 questions in it so the perfect score they could get is 20. All teams scored above 50%. Here is an example of some of the questions I asked:
1) A person who identifies an opportunity, takes risks, and comes up with an idea and brings resources together to set up and run a venture to run a product or service is ___________. (an entrepreneur)
2) The computer program we used to create our survey spreadsheets is called ________. (Microsoft Excel)
3) The longest street in Philadelphia is ___________. (Broad Street)
4) This person created and started MySpace. _________ (Tom Anderson) -- almost EVERY TEAM got this right!
5) In business, a want backed by the willingness and ability to pay for it is called a __________. (demand) -- this one got lots of creative answers.... determination, discount shop, document, desire
I think this Business Quizzo thing went well and plan to continue it and do it for 30 minutes once a week. It actually helped with the Mr. Bones Modules as well. Today as we were going through Module 4, I told the kids "Pay attention, because I might put some of these new terms in our next Business Quizzo." The class was noticably quieter after I said that.
The kids were also excited to find out the results of the Community Survey. We found out that:
83% get around by car
50% go home with their parents after school, the rest go to the library or after-school programs
75% have a school store
87% like Anime
88% do not use their community recreation center
50% come from English-speaking households
47% speak Vietnamese at home, 43% speak Cantonese, and the rest speak other Asian languages such as Tagalog, Mandarin and Khmer. Many also speak English.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Day 8: Finding out our community needs
The digital divide is a crazy thing. I always thought it was an economic divide but today I learned that it goes deeper than that. Some parents don't want their children to have access to technology. They are afraid of technology.
About half the kids have email addresses and MySpace accounts. The rest don't have email addresses. Some said their parents don't allow them to have MySpace accounts.
So I helped the students who don't have established email accounts to start them on Gmail and then they filled out the Community Needs Survey on Survey Monkey. After they completed that, their job was to forward the survey to as many friends as possible. I am taking statistics in Grad School now, and the scientific term for that technique is called "Snowballing", which is a fast way to get participants in a desired community. You find a small sample, and they tell people they know.
Simultaneously as I had a group in the Computer Lab, Ms Iris worked with the other group downstairs on a project in Module 4 which was to take an established business and re-design their business card to make it more exciting.
About half the kids have email addresses and MySpace accounts. The rest don't have email addresses. Some said their parents don't allow them to have MySpace accounts.
So I helped the students who don't have established email accounts to start them on Gmail and then they filled out the Community Needs Survey on Survey Monkey. After they completed that, their job was to forward the survey to as many friends as possible. I am taking statistics in Grad School now, and the scientific term for that technique is called "Snowballing", which is a fast way to get participants in a desired community. You find a small sample, and they tell people they know.
Simultaneously as I had a group in the Computer Lab, Ms Iris worked with the other group downstairs on a project in Module 4 which was to take an established business and re-design their business card to make it more exciting.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Day 7: Plotting our map
We continued Module 3 today and continued our color-coded map. We broke down the map into categories (like a mall map). Red construction paper for the Health & Beauty stores, Yellow for the restaurants and food establishments, Green for Home and Hardware, etc.
I felt like I should have planned more activities today because we got done Module 3 quickly and after the map was completed the kids were growing ancy and started running around.
I felt like I should have planned more activities today because we got done Module 3 quickly and after the map was completed the kids were growing ancy and started running around.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Day 6: Neighborhood Walk
Today might have been the best day so far at SEAMAAC. It was a warm and sunny day and the kids were excited to walk around. Before we left, we talked about the rules and how we are representing SEAMAAC. They all behaved superbly.
Every student was armed with a pencil and paper and we walked around for a few blocks and wrote down every business we saw, what they sold, their name and location. We walked into a huge Asian grocery store on 6th and Washington.... which the kids were very excited about. I was excited too, since I have never seen a grocery store like this before. The prices were surprisingly cheap as well.
A few children asked if they could buy stuff. I said "Sure, if you have money." A few girls brought some lychee candies and banana chips and were kind enough to share with the class. One boy followed me around the grocery like a little kid, and said "Ms Devalina, can you buy me this?" He was aggressive and sweet at the same time.... it was hard for me to say no. So I said "I really like your technique Anthony, I think you are gonna make a great salesman!" I bought some fruit to share with the class for being so good.
Since it took us so long at the Supermarket and we started getting stares, I decided to not to into anymore stores, just walk around. We got done a lot more, but the kids started getting hot and thirsty so we decided to turn back. One outgoing child
who is interested in opening a drug store, walked into a drug store and interviewed the owner. I was very proud of him.
When we got back to SEAMAAC, the kids drew a map of the neighborhood and we started plotting the stores on the map.
I felt like the kids had fun today and had smiles on their faces, which made me really happy.
Every student was armed with a pencil and paper and we walked around for a few blocks and wrote down every business we saw, what they sold, their name and location. We walked into a huge Asian grocery store on 6th and Washington.... which the kids were very excited about. I was excited too, since I have never seen a grocery store like this before. The prices were surprisingly cheap as well.
A few children asked if they could buy stuff. I said "Sure, if you have money." A few girls brought some lychee candies and banana chips and were kind enough to share with the class. One boy followed me around the grocery like a little kid, and said "Ms Devalina, can you buy me this?" He was aggressive and sweet at the same time.... it was hard for me to say no. So I said "I really like your technique Anthony, I think you are gonna make a great salesman!" I bought some fruit to share with the class for being so good.
Since it took us so long at the Supermarket and we started getting stares, I decided to not to into anymore stores, just walk around. We got done a lot more, but the kids started getting hot and thirsty so we decided to turn back. One outgoing child
who is interested in opening a drug store, walked into a drug store and interviewed the owner. I was very proud of him.
When we got back to SEAMAAC, the kids drew a map of the neighborhood and we started plotting the stores on the map.
I felt like the kids had fun today and had smiles on their faces, which made me really happy.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Day 5: Another Hump Day
I planned to do the neighborhood walk today, but was disappointed to walk out of my house and see how rainy, hot and humid it was. Especially depressing after such a beautiful weekend. So we stayed in and did more of Mr. Bones. I felt like the kids were losing interest more by this point and felt like I didn't have control of the group as much as I did last week. I felt like I had to do something without letting it slowly spin out of control.
So I brought out the thumb drives and had the kids present their "All About Me" presentations. They really enjoyed sharing that. But even then, its hard for them to sit and watch for a long time. A few of them wanted to work more on it, so we broke up into groups and some kids worked more on their Power Point Presentations and the rest worked on editing their business logos and store fronts.
Later that day more kids presented their business ideas and drawings.
So I brought out the thumb drives and had the kids present their "All About Me" presentations. They really enjoyed sharing that. But even then, its hard for them to sit and watch for a long time. A few of them wanted to work more on it, so we broke up into groups and some kids worked more on their Power Point Presentations and the rest worked on editing their business logos and store fronts.
Later that day more kids presented their business ideas and drawings.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Day 4: A Hump Day
Today was one of those days that things didn't go as well as I would have hoped.
It was my first day using the projector and I think the kids liked Mr. Bones and Module 1.... but after 20 minutes or so, I saw kids laying down and starting side conversations. I realized that the modules might be too long to do in one sitting. We didn't do any splitting up into groups or using the computer lab. We pretty much sat in the circle the whole time. I gave the kids a break to go outside, but then we came back in and presented our business store fronts and logos.
Iris, Peter and I judged the kids on creativity/originality, clarity, and positive impact on community. The kids asked the presenter questions like "how many people will work in your business?" and "How will your chicken shop be different from the others?" I felt like the kids were getting ants in their pants and losing attention, so I stopped after 3 kids and called it a day.
It was my first day using the projector and I think the kids liked Mr. Bones and Module 1.... but after 20 minutes or so, I saw kids laying down and starting side conversations. I realized that the modules might be too long to do in one sitting. We didn't do any splitting up into groups or using the computer lab. We pretty much sat in the circle the whole time. I gave the kids a break to go outside, but then we came back in and presented our business store fronts and logos.
Iris, Peter and I judged the kids on creativity/originality, clarity, and positive impact on community. The kids asked the presenter questions like "how many people will work in your business?" and "How will your chicken shop be different from the others?" I felt like the kids were getting ants in their pants and losing attention, so I stopped after 3 kids and called it a day.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Day 3: Creating Spreadsheets
My kids at SEAMAAC overall I feel are much more shy than my West Philly kids. So I wanted to work on some public speaking. Also I am having more kids trickle into the program. Overall, I am happy to see the same faces everyday.
We started the day playing a game where everyone stood in the middle of the room. Then I asked questions with two possible answers, such as "Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla?" All the kids who prefered chocolate walked to one side of the class and all the kids who prefered vanilla walked to the other side. If you liked both equally you had to stand in the middle. I continued doing this with a few other questions such as "Do you prefer basketball or baseball?" then later I let the kids get in front of the classroom and ask the questions. The point I was trying to make is that everyone has different preferences and how we need to take these preferences into account when creating our business. Then we had a contest.
The contest built upon a short lesson I did on surveying techniques. I wanted the kids to get up and interact with each other so I had each kid come up with a question with two possible answers on a piece of paper, and the kid to get 10 responses (with signatures) the fastest wins. Everyone completed their survey and later I pointed out some of the things I liked that the kids did. For example, saying "thank you" after someone answered your questions, or verbally asking "Can you please fill out this survey question?" instead of shoving a piece of paper in the person's face.
Then each child got up in the "speaking chair" and presented the results of their survey.
For the technology portion, I broke the class up in two again, and taught the kids very basic Microsoft Excel, and how to input the data that they collected. I was very impressed by how easily they got it! I think later on, I would like to move on to created graphs and pie charts.
Like Monday, Iris took the other group and they created on paper their "Dream Store Fronts" or "Business Logos."
We started the day playing a game where everyone stood in the middle of the room. Then I asked questions with two possible answers, such as "Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla?" All the kids who prefered chocolate walked to one side of the class and all the kids who prefered vanilla walked to the other side. If you liked both equally you had to stand in the middle. I continued doing this with a few other questions such as "Do you prefer basketball or baseball?" then later I let the kids get in front of the classroom and ask the questions. The point I was trying to make is that everyone has different preferences and how we need to take these preferences into account when creating our business. Then we had a contest.
The contest built upon a short lesson I did on surveying techniques. I wanted the kids to get up and interact with each other so I had each kid come up with a question with two possible answers on a piece of paper, and the kid to get 10 responses (with signatures) the fastest wins. Everyone completed their survey and later I pointed out some of the things I liked that the kids did. For example, saying "thank you" after someone answered your questions, or verbally asking "Can you please fill out this survey question?" instead of shoving a piece of paper in the person's face.
Then each child got up in the "speaking chair" and presented the results of their survey.
For the technology portion, I broke the class up in two again, and taught the kids very basic Microsoft Excel, and how to input the data that they collected. I was very impressed by how easily they got it! I think later on, I would like to move on to created graphs and pie charts.
Like Monday, Iris took the other group and they created on paper their "Dream Store Fronts" or "Business Logos."
Monday, July 16, 2007
Day 2: Teaching Power Point
Today was my first "official day." I am so happy to have the support of the wonderful staff at SEAMAAC. I truly feel lucky to have them. In the morning I met with my two supporting teachers, Iris and Peter and we went over the lesson plans for the day. Since we have such a large group, we decided to break up the 30 students into 2 groups according to age --- Junior 1 and Junior 2.
I talked briefly about what the business project will be like and we played the name game again. Lillian joined us and we brainstormed about some business ideas. Lillian emphasized the importance of community, and what we can do to better our community and honor our heritage.
Some of the business ideas the kids came up with were....
1) a lead pencil store
2) a pet sitter
3) a person to give rides
4) a video game fixing service
5) a grocery store
6) a swimming pool
7) a rent-a-bike service
8) a zoo
After our morning circle I took one group of kids up to the computer lab and did a brief and simple tutorial of Power Point. Then I introduced the kids to the thumb drives that were given by PECO and gave them an assignment to create their own Power Point presentations: All About Me. They were really absorbed into this activity and did a great job. Many wanted to keep working on this project and make it better. I told them they had to make at least 5 pages and they included information about their families, friends, favorite foods and tv shows. Simultaneously, Iris had the other group downstairs in the classroom and the kids worked on Module 1 on paper. I know this must not have been exciting for them but we didn't have a projector.
Then we switched groups. I was very impressed by how at-ease these kids were with computers. It made me hopeful.
I talked briefly about what the business project will be like and we played the name game again. Lillian joined us and we brainstormed about some business ideas. Lillian emphasized the importance of community, and what we can do to better our community and honor our heritage.
Some of the business ideas the kids came up with were....
1) a lead pencil store
2) a pet sitter
3) a person to give rides
4) a video game fixing service
5) a grocery store
6) a swimming pool
7) a rent-a-bike service
8) a zoo
After our morning circle I took one group of kids up to the computer lab and did a brief and simple tutorial of Power Point. Then I introduced the kids to the thumb drives that were given by PECO and gave them an assignment to create their own Power Point presentations: All About Me. They were really absorbed into this activity and did a great job. Many wanted to keep working on this project and make it better. I told them they had to make at least 5 pages and they included information about their families, friends, favorite foods and tv shows. Simultaneously, Iris had the other group downstairs in the classroom and the kids worked on Module 1 on paper. I know this must not have been exciting for them but we didn't have a projector.
Then we switched groups. I was very impressed by how at-ease these kids were with computers. It made me hopeful.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Day 1: First day at SEAMAAC
Today Justin and I visited the site in South Philly. The kids were very well-behaved and respectful. We played a name game with a ball and toured the site. The friendly staff at SEAMAAC invited us to a family barbecue and Justin shooted hoops with some of the boys as I sat and talked to the girls. The kids were very sweet and polite. They brought me over food and drinks so I didn't even have to wait in line!
The day before, I spoke to the director Lillian over the phone and she gave me some useful advice for working with this community and age group.
Justin and I toured the computer lab, which was typical for a Philadelphia school. Not the latest computers, but workable. Justin struggled a little installing the software, but after some time we got the software from ED Tech to work. The only problem now was that we had to get speakers and a projector.
The day before, I spoke to the director Lillian over the phone and she gave me some useful advice for working with this community and age group.
Justin and I toured the computer lab, which was typical for a Philadelphia school. Not the latest computers, but workable. Justin struggled a little installing the software, but after some time we got the software from ED Tech to work. The only problem now was that we had to get speakers and a projector.
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