We No Longer WONDER if Matt Flannery Prefers Madden or FIFA... But We Do WONDER...

My 6th grade boys had the amazing opportunity to visit Kiva.org this morning and it was a blast. We arrived just after 9:30 am and we started with a tour of the facilities.  After the tour, we grabbed seats in the middle of the office, listened, chatted, and asked questions.  

Halfway through the presentations, and a few "I spy with my little eye a CEO in the building", Matt Flannery came over to say hello to the boys.  They were pumped.  He grabbed a slap band from Nicolas, joked about Kapernick and the 49ers through a few pictures, and joined us for the next round of presentations.  

The boys loved visiting the Kiva offices and they enjoyed all of the presentations.  From engineer, to media, marketing and kiva zip, the trip truly offered something for everyone.  And in the end, when everyone in the Kiva office joined us to watch OUR video, the boys were amazed!  While some of them thought it was slightly awkard and embarrasing, it truly gave them the positive feedback that what they were doing mattered.  

 

Unfortunately, we had to leave...  and while we no longer wonder if Matt Flannery would rather play Madden or FIFA, (the answer is apparently Madden) the boys do wonder the following.  Will they ever get an answer?  Who knows...but it's always good to WONDER.  In the words of Socrates, "Wonder is the Beginning of Wisdom".  

I WONDER...

Why would you want to start a non for profit?

What are the most challenging things when starting a business?  

If I could ask one thing it would be why was so much money spent on the design of the building (which is very cool) when that money could probably have been used in better ways like raising salaries for employees or hiring more experienced web designers?

What was some of the biggest challenges you have met while working at kiva?

Does an update come to you when someone lends?

You make 70% of all your money from donations made to Kiva. How is the other 30% made?

How many voulenteers do you have?

Does Matt Flannery have an android?  

What was a big barrier for Kiva, and what was something that went really easy?

Were there ever times when kiva was not succeeding, and you felt so down that you just wanted to stop?

How many people use Kiva a day and what drove you to create Kiva?

What was your biggest challenge and how did you solve it?

Do you feel good in knowing that you are helping thousands of people get a better life?

How long does it take to start up a business like kiva and how do you do it?

How did the idea of kiva come to your mind?

When do you think that Kiva will be able to get into the harder countries (Russia, China)?

 

 

Let the games begin...EDUCATE OTHERS... reaching the public audience.

Focus:  Essential Element of Project Based Learning-Public Audience

One of the essential elements of PBL is finding an appropriate public audience to share your project with.  I have encouraged the boys to contact our entire community to share their experiences from the last few months and we spent the last two weeks gathering clips and filming. Take a minute, or 7 1/2, to watch it here.  

In addition, the boys are busy making appointments to visit the lower school classrooms. The goal is to share their knowledge of micro finacing, belief and understanding of the mission of Kiva.org and to promote sales.  I had the opportunity to witness two of my boys speak to the 4th graders this week and I was amazed by their knowledge, communication skills, knowledge and poise.  The 4th grade teacher asked me how I had prepped them, and I informed her I hadn't.  AMAZING is the only word to desribe it.  They ROCKED!

Upcoming Events:  

We are heading to Kiva.org in 10 days to learn more about the organization and tour the office.  We are stoked to learn about what goes on behind the scenes and to meet the dedicated employees.  Maybe even more exciting is that they want to hear what WE are up to! They are excited to view our video and ask questions of us.  

Watching the Boys Transform and Grow I Have Witnessed the Following:  

September:  6th Grader

October: Business Partner

January: Educator

Rising to as we speak: Global Citizen

 

Business Development/Reports:  

The groups have moved on to round two of purchasing and sales.  Some groups have upgraded products, others have shifted and changed styles.  But all in all, each group has made progress as they learn to balance opinions, feelings, and frustrations all in the name of making money to loan to others around the world.  Many of the groups have paid back 50% of their loans at this point and they 4 of the 6 groups have successfully made loans through Kiva.Org.  Feel free to check out their blogs here.  

We welcome Augustin (Phillipines), Teddy (Uganda), Sumini (Uganda) and Sikuzani (Kenya) to our community.  We wish you the best of luck with your business plans!  Check out all of Town School's loans here.  

 

Portfolio Stats as of January 30th

Follow me and my rockstar boys @gogogoggin

Goodbye to 2012 and Hello to 2013

The boys finished the year strong.  The garage was CRAZY with sales and the 5th graders continued to work on commercials for local non profit organizations that appealed to them after learning a little about poverty in our country.  I finished the year grateful for the students I work with, the colleagues who support me day in and day out and a school that appreciates and encourages project based learning.

6th Grade

In summary, the 6th grade boys sold almost every product they had.  While we have 4 frisbees and 1 rally rag still awaiting a home, we are sure they will go quickly when sales resume during "round 2".   The sale of these goods will eventually be used to loan to people all over the world on Kiva.org.  Each group is currently considering buying more product and expanding their business so the impact will be larger in the months to come.  

The Facts:  

6th grade boys brought in $747 from Sales.

By "paying" for advertising and operating costs here at school, we have secured $28.44 as a donation to kiva's operating cost.  

All in all if we closed up shop today that would give us $385.56 to lend to people all over the world.  

5th Grade

At the end of 2012 I wrote about the 5th graders journey through minimum wage and poverty. While we are still awaiting a petition, and some of the commercials, I am pleased to share the following commercials created by some of our Town School 5th graders.  They discovered local non profits that help children and families struggling to make ends meet and created wonderful commercials.  After a week or two of more traditional math, we will revisit our thoughts on these non profits and try and think of ways which we can contribute to the greater good of our community.  Enjoy!

Food Runners

SF Food Bank

Project Night Night

Glide Memorial Church

 

 

 

Kiva Marketplace Opens! Sales, Sales, Sales...

Wow!  The energy was unbelievable.  Even before I could get the classroom ready for sales students from the upperschool were crowding at the door of the garage with money in hand. Money that would allow the 6th graders to pay back portions of their loans and lend to people all over the world through Kiva.org.  

And once they entered the boys turned out to be good customers as well.  Due to good advertising, thoughtful product selections and excellent customer service I am proud to report the Day 1 financial update!  

 

Day 1 Financial Update

Town Style- $46

Frisbees for Freedom-$10.50

Watches for Wonder- $68

Big Time Bouncy Balls-$89.50 SOLD OUT!!

 TOTAL- $214

 

We look forward to lending through KIVA.ORG as soon as possible!!!

Check out the uncut excitement here...

The Holiday Season Isn't The Only Reason To Rush To The Mailbox-Products Arriving

It's been an exciting few weeks.  While I haven't been blogging about 6th grade Micro Lending, a lot of great things have been occuring in the garage during 6th grade classes. Most exciting is the arrival of product and this week's upcoming sales.  Kiva Market will be open and their is a buzz in the air.  I was excited to overhear a 7th grade Field Partner say, "buy a bouncy ball-I am their field partner".  The two grade levels coming together continues to amaze me.  

So, what's next? The boys are busy tying up lose ends.  They have created and updated operating spreadsheets for their finances,  put together lender portfolios, made and hung advertisements, created and updated blogs and sent thank you notes to their lenders. Things are moving and I am excited to see them handle the cash, work on customer service skills and stay up to date.  While only 4 out of 6 products are here the garage will be open for business in just 12 hours.  I can't wait.  

As the boys prepare to sell product, the consider what products they might buy themselves.  I think that the only thing they are bummed about in terms of the project is the $5 limit I have placed on purchasing.  We can't buy all of our items, that would be too easy:)  Being a borrower isn't always easy.  

Watch the excitement as product arrives here!  

Follow me @gogogoggin

 

It's A Livable Life? 5th Graders Discover Minimum Wage and the Working Poor

The past few days have been exciting in my 5th grade classes.  I continue to wonder how two sets of 10-12 kids, that spend so much time together on a daily basis, can process the same material so differnently in the classroom.  During my first two days of IT'S A LIVABLE LIFE, I discovered how different the conversations would go and I began to wonder where this project would take us.  

Welcome to my third driving question of the week:  How do we as future working citizens/permanent residents, ensure that there is a livable wage in our country?

This project was adapting during my 3 days at PBL World in Napa this summer.  Although if seeing 6:30 pm on Friday on Jackson is any indication, I am not sure 3 days was enough!  

Day 1:  Students Participate in Simulation Activity on "House Building" and choose amenities for their house accordingly.  Boys were given different "living" situations in the classroom as well as different supplies to draw their homes.  The actual drawing of the home really has nothing to do with it.  It's the emotion created when the boys start realizing the various levels of supplies and amenities that each group has.  So while the boys continue to wonder when they can finish their house and I continue to wonder when to find the time, I realize that the simulation did EXACTLY what I was looking for it to do.  

Within the simulation we discovered that the wealthiest groups had a lot of supplies and amenities that they just didn't need.  After awhile they discovered the possibility of giving to others.  The poorest of the groups felt wronged by the experience.  They grew bitter as they looked at the other groups around them and in one class they actually began to steal supplies.  This group ended up losing the stolen supplies and a given amenity to pay off their fine for stealing.  The group just above the poorest felt like life was really hard but began appreciating what they did have when they watch the poorest of the groups struggle.  The middle class group actually worked the hardest in the class during the activity.  They were the most focused on the task and paid little attention to the others positively or negatively.  

My Brainstorm of Words for this day:  Giving, stealing, decision making, arrogant, annoyed, sad, frustrated, bitter, jealous.  

 

Day 2:  The boys debriefed the simulation and looked ahead to what was next.  I offered the boys Situation Cards for their experience the day before. In all buy one case the boys situation had turned for the worse.  In one class the the wealthiest group was dealing with a natural disaster and they realized they had forgotten to chose insurance for their home.  This was the case in another group as well. The boys began to think about what was more important, an extra tv or insurance for the future.  Not one of the groups had chosen to save amenities and so each group lost except one.  One of the more interesting conversations we had to have was when the second wealthiest group got ahead of the wealthiest due to their positive card and the wealthiest groups loss of work.  They cheered.  While I realize it was the "game" of the simulation that they cheered for, we had to debrief why your neighbors job loss does't really have a positive effect on your wellbeing.  And in fact, for the poorest, that might mean less giving to charities that could help them.  This also led to a discussion on who works minimum wage jobs.

 

Day 3:  Today I introduced the driving question and the boys brainstormed things they felt they needed to know or wondered about.  They contributed helpful sites on Edmodo and brainstormed. It was surprising to hear them consider maximum wages and same wages for all, interesting to hear them discuss why minimum wage exists, who makes it, and why it is different in other states.  All in all, I am exicted about where this is going.  They started to question the global look at minimum wage as well, which was intriguing.  But we are going to look at that in January:)  

Stayed tuned for pics and videos... they will come:)  

Day 4: Computations-It is Math Class! 

Sucker for Punishment-Sucker for PBL! (Welcome 7th Grade)

3 Grade Levels-3 PBL's-What Was I Thinking???

For those of you that read my posts, you may have been wondering if PBL occurs in my two other classes. Well, they do.  And currently, they do all at the same time. I got home on Monday night exhausted from my day of PBL'ing. 5 classes, 3 three driving questions.  

Last Friday, I launched a PBL project with my 7th graders. 

As you prepare to interview for the position of school caterer at an all boys boarding school, how would you make your student’s happy and healthy on a daily basis?  

I created this driving question to assist the boys from last years 7th grade class to see that creating a kid friendly, healthy meal is harder than they think. This year's groups are up and running and they are coming up with some great stuff.  We spent Friday and Monday investigating our need to knows and coming together to discuss the components of our diet that would be important to consider.  


On Tuesday, the boys had a chance to announce their catering company and make their first introduction via Edmodo.  They have been told that it is important to be professional and that their introduction on Edmodo would be shared with the entire "hiring" committee.

The 5 groups names are:  

Gunner and Henri are S&C Catering Company (Sharing and Caring).  Our logo is two hands reaching out to eachother meaning that we are sharing our resources with kids and caring for the needs of their daily lives.  

Caleb and Kif have started a company called Strawberry Tree. We believe that we should serve healthy but delicious food.  We will also serve a vegetarian option for every meal.  There will also be slips of paper to say whether you like the meal or not after you eat the new stuff.

We are a delicious catering company that takes pride in creating the perfect balance between fat, protein, sodium, carbs and fibers. Our food is the highest quality and every ounce of our effort goes into making a tasty but healthy meal.  -Duncan and Jack

Hello. My name is Kevin and I work with Westley.  We are professional chefs.  We have a company called Kitten Food Catering, or KFC.  We make great food for kids that is healthy but also delicious.  We believe that food should be natural and hearty to provide nutriotion for hte active lives children.  Kitten Food Catering maintains the highest quality of food of all competitors.  Our food has great taste, best quality, and supreme nutrition.  When choosing a catering company for your school, KFC is your best choice. 

The boys are working hard and getting it done. I am excited to see their creativity, ability to estimate,calculate percents and in time I may throw another wrench in it too!  They are working on presenting themselves in a professional manner both in their oral and written work. Life skills and math skills working together.  

 

The Lessons You Can't Plan That Make the Most Sense

As the 6A boys wandered in to class today they had energy about them that just couldn't be ignored.  One of the groups was fully funded, another was at 58% and the last 41%.  I could sense a range of emotion from these 12 boys.

Excitement. Anxiousness. Confusion. Curiousity. Nervousness. Frustration. Competitiveness... and MORE!  

Much earlier than last year, I sensed my first lesson of empathy was a success. The boys tried to get me to change the rules on the lending process to allow for student loans and/or parent loans... They complained that the numbers weren't fair.  They questioned how come they weren't fully funded as their loan amount wasn't that much money at all.  And they argued with me on why getting a loan on kiva.org would be easier than getting a loan at Town.  Opportunity presented itself.  I sat back, listened, processed and began to think fast and furiously.  This could be a BIG moment.

For those that wonder how I am teaching Standards Math through Kiva.org, I was about to have my first Ratio/Proportion lesson with the boys, without a lesson plan.  Double Period Appreciaton!  

With the help of the boys we discovered that...

Town Style's Loan that is 100% funded by faculty/staff might look like this on Kiva:  

21 loans at Town School made up for $38 which means that average loan was $1.80.  

If we use $25 (smallest amount able to be lent throught kiva.org) to desribe that $1.80 loan, using proportions we discovered...

$1.80/$38 = $25/$527.  So Town School Style is actually looking for the equivalent of $527.  

So, Why would the group looking for $75 be frustrated and wondering if they should review their business plan for a smaller loan?  Because they are looking for the equivalent of nearly $1000??

 

More Math, 'Cause it's everywhere...LET THE STATS PROVE IT!

Kiva works with 169 Field Partners. That 169 Field Partners for 919,123 Borrowers.  We thought about our own personal attention at 6 Field Partners for 6 Loans.  Or 10 Field Partner Workers for 21 Boys. 

We analyzed stats on Kiva to discover that in fact the ratio of approximately 70 teachers to 6 loans was much better than on kiva.org where it was approximately 1,300,000 users to 500,000 loans.  70 to 6? or 13 to 5?  

We talked about whether or not our community was too small for our loans using proportions, ratios and statistics from our lending community and from kiva.org.  

We discovered that our community statistics were likely not unfair at all and I encouraged them to think about the 30 days that kiva allows users to be online. Will time and exposure make a difference? 

While we worked through some of these ratios and proportions I began dreaming up our next full project day and the work I had ahead.  Stay tuned for the worksheet that has them analyzing their lenders, average loans, daily loan graph, Average loan as it compares on Kiva, how the loan compares globally etc...percents, ratios, proportions!  It will be out this week!

Reflections from some of the boys on Edmodo.

I feel proud and satisfied with being the first group to be fully funded. My opinion has changed immensely since I first started the kiva project, I can sympathize a lot with all they people in need on kiva. I hope that our product of sunglasses will help support many people on kiva.

I feel a bit behind and nervous, because we have one of the largest loans, if not the biggest if we don't change our loan to 55 from 75. This has changed my thinking of how I view borrowers on Kiva. I now know how frustrating it can be to not have all the money or to be behind on what we thought we would be at.

I now realize how frustrating it must be for borrowers, because we aren't fully funded, even when we know the lenders. Lending 25$ to a stranger is even harder, which makes the chances of getting loans even less likely. I am decently happy, but we should have more money right now.

 I feel ok, considering that right now we are trying to lower our loan request. I now realize how borrowers on Kiva feel when they haven't received the money that they've requested.

I feel a little worried that we aren't as funded but also the loans are still coming. Also it seemed easy to get funded on kiva but I don't think that anymore it is a lot harder to get bigger loans lenders don't seem as keen to lending to people with bigger loans.

 It feels really good and I feel really prepared to be fully-funded. I feel so relieved once we don't need to wait any longer for loans and how anxious it must be for a borrower on Kiva. 

I feel behind but feel confident that we could be fully funded by the end of the week or by Wednesday next week. I am now greatful though for how much money and field partners we have compared to Kiva Borrowers.

 I fell like I am ahead of the groups and can get started. But at the same time I know that you don't have all of the money so far. It has not really changed but I now that if I were a borrower on kiva then i would be so exited and happy.

 I am quite excited at the rate of how fast we are being funded, and i am anxious to get fully funded and start building our business. Also I am really interested to see who else loans to my group and how much they loan. After reflecting on it, I now am grateful that I am not asking for as much money as $450-$1000+. I think that because it would be so much more easily repaid. In closing, it has made me ponder on how lucky we are to be in a controlled, safe enviroment.

Not being fully funded some what makes me frustrated. It makes me think about how the people on kiva must feel when their lives rely on the loans they receive. I'm also exited that we are getting very close in the span of only one week. It is good that we are only asking forg 75 dollars and not 750 dollars.

I feel really good being fully funded, I was a little worried that it would take long time but since our loan wasn't a lot of money we got it fairly quickly. I now think that we were all like borrowers and we all had different scenarios. People with less money only needed a few lenders but if you looking for a lot of money It may be harder to be fully funded. It is a lot easier to become fully funded in our community than in the kiva community. I very excited get our business up and running.

What's the Plan, Young Man?

When I thought about the second launch of this program over the summer, I was nervous.   I asked myself, "Could the same energy exist during year two as it did in year one?"  I continued to wonder as I consulted with others, and in the end realized that it was an opportunity to be less "off the hip" and more "in the know".  I realized that I could be more deliberate in my decisions and I could use more creativity in my lessons. I could anticipate more of what was to come and while these boys could never be my first group of entrepreneuars, they could make the rides as exciting.  

With the help of Kiva Council, I created a business plan worksheet that would help the boys think through important 

 

questions.  The plan made them thing through ideas, collaborate with eachother and come to decisions that would likely enable them to be successful in the months to come.   

What I couldn't anticipate?  Take a look at these plans!

Bouncy Balls:

Frisbee's:

Town Spirit:

Watch Pens:

 

Town Style:

Slap Bands

Kiva Council Kills It as Field Partners!

The development of the Kiva Council came at the end of last year when the boys asked, how can we extend this program into 7th grade?  The initial enthusiasm of working together at lunch to reinvest our funds took a world of it's own fairly quickly.  

Every two weeks, the boys decided to meet together to discuss reinvestment.  Approximately 9 boys committed to being part of our Kiva Council and have given up their lunch time in the name of Kiva. With all of the enthusiasm and hype, it soon became apparent that the boys could do more than just reloan their funds.  

While brainstorming with the current 6th graders on the driving question, "How Can We Model Micro Financing in Our Own Community?"  the boys came up with the idea that the Kiva Council could act as their field partners.  They could advise them through their process and support their company. Brilliant!  Kiva Council member can give better advice on a middle school business project than I can, that is for sure.  They are peers and consumers!  They know what works and what doesn't because they have been in those same shoes. Empathy.  Collaboration.  Leadership. Authentic!   

Yesterday, Kiva Council met to discuss our funds and I was prepared to let them know they had potential borrowers that needed their advice and I was prepared to let them know that they would likely be contacted in the coming day.  All of a sudden, I was not leading this meeting.  The boys ran downstairs, gathered their potential borrowers from the lunch room, and met with them in small groups to advise them on their projects.  23 sixth graders and 8 seventh graders spent lunch together collaborating on business plans, gathering useful information and thinking about their future companies.  

If someone asked me what the highlight of my week was... this my friends, was it!  Kiva Council Kills it at Field Partners.  Well done boys, you make me proud!

Kiva Council:  

 

 

Make A Loan-Change A Life

During last years launch, I realized how important it was to use an initial Kiva loan to begin creating empathy as we moved forward with our business plans.  Thanks to our Kiva Council for the $25 Kiva card they gave to each of my 6th grade math classes.  After discussing different criteria for making loans, the boys voted on what they would like to focus on for the loaning process.

Each of the classes felt it was important to choose someone with a short term repayment schedule.  They believed that this would be encouraging to them as they would likely see repayment quickly.  Excitement grew within as they realized it might enable them to loan again soon.  

6b's focus was on the poorest nations of the world.  We listed 20 of the poorest nations and used this as our guide.  They soon discovered a correlation between field partner ratings and these poor countries and the boys grew worried about scores of less than 3 on the 5 star scale.  In the end they lent to Jacqueline.  Jacqueline is from Uganda and she has a beauty supply store.  Earning money is important to her as it enables her to send her children to school.  In the future she hopes set up a beauty school.  

6a decided to concentrate on loans to women and countries in turmoil.  Each of the three groups picked borrowers that met 2 out of the 3 agreed upon criteria. They learned that in many cases the individuals didn't show their face in the pictures and they wondered why.  They empathized with lending groups and people with children.  However, in the end they chose to lend to Maria.  Maria is from Peru and she is an artist.  Maria's loan enables her to buy painting materials for her art business.  She enjoys painting landscapes of Cusco.  

It was a shame to not have the money to share with each of the individual's/groups that the teams selected but hopefully the project will progress and we will have more money to lend.  

If you recall our first loan from last year, it was to a woman named Grace.  The Kiva Council has coined these initial loans to the sixth graders the "Grace" loans and they are excited to track the loans themselves.

All together Town School math classes alongside the Kiva Council have made 45 loans through kiva.org and zip.kiva.org

 

The Brains Are Storming in a Variety of Ways

The boys are working hard in the garage!  Before leading the final, more traditional, brainstorming session I wanted to work with the boys on a variety of micro financing concepts and allow them time to process.  

The chalk talk on Day 2 provided the boys an opportunity to answer the questions:

What are some important characteristics of functioning business and/or business person?  

If you were given $25 to loan, what would be important to consider? 

If we had to create business plans to be approved by field partners, what would be important to consider?  

Grameen Bank-Discipline, Unity, Courage, Hardwork"  What principles should our trust group live by?  

You can can find pictures of our chalk talk brainstorm here:

 

 

After the chalk talk, the boys were placed into one of three brainstorming groups.  They used a mind map application to gather thoughts.  The groups were lender, borrower and field partners. I was impressed with their knowledge and ideas.  It is clear they have learned a lot about kiva and micro financing.  

You can find their mind maps here:

 

 

The last and final brainstorm of the week started with the Driving Question,

"How Can We Model Micro Financing in Our Own Community?"

The boys were extremely thoughtful and I am intrigued by what they came up with.  On the attached document you will find an outline of their thoughts alongside their initial less organized thought process.  

@gogoggin

Rockin' (Robin) One Hen... Tweet, Tweet...

After the first launch day, I asked the boys to create a headline or tweet that summarized our day. We are still learning what makes a good headline or tweet but I wanted to save the responses and share them here.  In the weeks to come we will reflect on headlines and tweets, as I hope to use some of them to share our work with the public audience (PBL Essential) on this blog and twitter.  

 

· Tweets


I learned that one small loan could make a bigger difference than I thought! #OneHen#Lending#GogginMath 

 I learned that one small loan could make a bigger difference than I thought! #OneHen #Lending #GogginMath 

 Goggin Math learns about micro financing and One Hen #OneHen #MicroFinance #GogginMath 

 Learned how much difference a small loan can make #OneHen #MicroFinance #Gogginmath 

Learned about one hen and micro financing. #onehen #microfinance

Learned about micro finance and did One Hen activity. #onehen

We participated in a One Hen activity and Micro Finance. #OneHen

Learned how far one small loan can go #OneSmallLoan

Learned how far one small loan can go #OnesmallLoan


· Headlines


6th Grade MicroFinancing

Gogginmath Math One Hen 

Town School math class has solved the problem!

One hen with goggin math 

"Ms. Goggin math class solves the ultimate problem" 

MICRO FINANCE IN GOGGIN MATH, AMAZING ONE HEN STORY 

GOGGIN MATH, MICRO FINANCE IS BIG 

 TRYING TO SOLVE HUGE MICRO FINANCING DIFFICULTES WITH GOGGIN MATH 

The mysterious problem….SOLVED!!!! 

Goggin Math explores the world of One Hen. 

“Goggin Math Class learns about microfinance and loans.”   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Day... Another Launch...Reflecting and Looking forward...

Today starts the first day of the rest of the year (or not)... fingers crossed.  I recall the initial launch last year and the comment I made to Rae was, "This may get bigger then I can handle". She assured me that it would all work out.  And it did.  Here's hoping to a fabulous year 2 with Micro Financing!

The weather in San Francisco today is foggy, wet and cold.  A great day for the boys to curl up in a bean bag and let me read a story to them.  Book of Choice? On Hen by Katie Smith Milway.  

The story One Hen is about a boy named Kojo from Ghana.  It is a childrens book that introduces the concept of micro financing. One Hen has a wonderful website that has lesson plans for all ages. Check it out!  

We talk so much about empathy, and how to teach it.  And while I felt completely in tune with the story of One Hen last year, this year was different and I didn't even know it until I started turning the pages.  As I told the story of Kojo to my boys, I couldn't stop thinking about the people of Sarapiqui'/Chilamate Costa Rica and my summer experience there.  Kojo could be any one of those children in that classroom at Linda Vista.  The description of the Ghana Village and it's people reminded me so much of long distance "family" and "friends" from this summer.  I kept wanting to pause and tell the boys about Daniel and his peppers and Myra and her cheese.  Or, Myra's husbands dream of horseback riding adventures and Daniels dream of the house on the hill... relaxing while his daughter runs tours after studying Eco-tourism in school.  It reminded me of the sacrifices families take for education and the distances people travel for things that we find around the corner from us.  I recalled my daily walks, evening chats, and the life and stories of the people as I turned each page.  

But, today I stayed on task and talked about Kojo despite the memories flooding in.  The other stories will make their way out in due time.  Want to read about them?  

Finally, I sifted through a ton of resources and came up with a 3 day plan for the launch.  PBL materials state that the launch should spark interest and ignite curiosity.  I am quite positive that the activiities planned will do just that.  At least I hope so!  

 

Day 1:  Friday, October 19. 

  •     Read One Hen

Day 1: Monday, October 22.

·         Investigation Sheet using Kiva (20 minutes)

·         I used to think, now I think.. (5 minutes) 

·         One Hen Roleplay (35 minutes) Role Play, Instructions

·         One Hen Online Activity

·         Homework: “Status Update”,“Tweet” or Headline onto EDMODO how you are feeling after today's activities. Of course, EARN BEADS!

Day 2:  Wednesday, October 24.

“How Can We Model Micro Financing in Our own Community?  “

·         Begin with Chalk Talk

Questions:

If we were given $25 to loan, what would be important to consider? 

If we were to create business plans, what would be important to elements to consider?

What important elements of a business would be important, what employment roles would individuals need to take on? 

What skills would be important for us to work through this project idea? 

·         Create an OUTLINE. 

Groups- 1) Process of borrower.  2) Process of Lender 3) Process of Field Partner

Share outlines on Edmodo for feedback. 

·         Homework: Feedback on Edmodo and “Status Update” “Tweet” or Headline onto EDMODO and One Hen Challenge... EARN BEADS!

 

Follow me on twitter @gogogoggin

 

Global Project Based Learning-Reflection of the 8 Essentials

As I consider my launch of "How Can We Model Microfinancing in Our Own Community?", I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the 8 Essentials of Project Based Learning and how they applied to last years project.  

 

Significant Content:
 Collection, Display and Interpretation of Data, Operations with Whole Numbers and Decimals, Variables, Formulas, Graphs, Algebraic Expressions , Number Systems, Algebra Concepts, Rates and Ratios, and Problem Solving Methods.  

21st Century Skills:  All found here: Collaboration, Written Presentation, Oral Presentation, Group Discussions, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving,  Agility and Adaptability,  Initiative, Effective Oral and Written Communication, Accessing and Analyzing Information, Global Education, Empathy, Imagination, and Leadership.

In depth Inquiry:  Students discovered what micro financing was, asked questions about how it works in the world, brainstormed the needs of individuals, and thought about the effects of Micro Financing on people globally.  

Driving Question:  How Can We Model Micro Financing In Our Own Community?

Need to Know:  Began with story of One Hen sharing the concept of Micro Finance at an entry level.  Encouraged greater questions about Micro Financing.  Students learned that Kiva exists in San Francisco and begin to understand that many people globally need loans and that banks are not always an option.  Learned the process of making a loan by investing in a loan early on.  

Voice and Choice:  Students are given time and space to decide how they can model this process.  They decide, after learning about Kiva to set up companies and model kiva in our community.  They develop online profiles, ask for finances to support business goals, and then create ads, websites or blogs, go into classrooms to advertise, as they see fit.  Total choice in how they went about sales, advertisements and marketing.  

Revision and Reflection:  This naturally happened as the project went on for a year.  We included feedback days to begin to understand how we could better our business, held lender meetings and used edmodo for feedback and reflection.  We used Edmodo as a place to share thoughts, concerns and ideas.  

Public Audience:  EVERYWHERE!  Classrooms at school, Kiva Open House at Kiva headquarters, youtube videos about loans presented at Parents Association Meeting and more.   We shared everything we learned as we went.  

 

Want to hear how this year goes?  Follow along on twitter@gogogoggin

"Boy" How Much Has Changed...

Over 6 years ago I remember having a phone interview for Town School for Boys.  I clearly remember one of the questions by C.S.  

"So, if I call Cindy at Harker tomorrow and ask her if she thinks you would be interested in working at a school that had a 1 on 1 laptop program her response would be, 'yes'?"

I nearly stumbled on this one. But as I began to laugh at loud, I knew I had the response up my sleeve.  As Harker considered their own one on one program I had been a little vocally hesitant about the logistics of what that would look like at such a large institution.  So in true Kristen form I told CS, "She will say "yes" as long as you until about 9 am to make that call".  Of course, I then explained my hesitations alongside my eagerness to grow as an educator with new teaching strategies and technologies.  

Fast Forward 6 Months...  

1 on 1 laptops were good, fun and enabled me to differeniate easily in the classroom.  They did the trick, and I actually liked them.  Alongside understanding what it was like to teach in an all boys school, I worked on ways to incorporate laptops on a weekly basis.  

Fast Forward 5 Years later... 

Summer of 2011, ipad in hand, I pondered how I could best use this device in my classroom. Math apps were "young", online manipulatives needed flash, Numbers felt tricky, and I initially worried.  I realized early on that it was time to think outside the box.  That ipads would enable me to do more interesting projects and communicate better with my students.  Now that I have two classes working with ipads it's getting easier.  And, more importantly it's getting more fun!  

Insert PBL here...

"As advertising excecutives for Goggin Advertising, how can you create an advertisement that will persuade existing and potential lenders to lend to your geographic area?"  

Requirements included the use of statistics and a bar, circle and line graph.   They did a great job!  

Well done BOYS... Boy have things changed around here:)  

North America:  

South America:  

Central America:  

Africa:  

Africa:  

Eastern Europe:  

Middle East:  

Asia:  

Interested? Follow me on Twitter @gogogoggin

Action!

As the boys continue to work on finishing the commercials (so far so good!) I continue to think about ways to enhance my classroom using resources online.  Was excited to see that One Hen has created more materials for their program and I begin to consider ways to use them.  

Board Game Anyone?  Perhaps sharing the board game with lower classmen?

The One Hen Bead Challenge!  Who wants to be involved?  

 In addition, Opportunity.org placed a great resource of ideas on the site that should me challenge my boys and their business plans this year.  (That is unless they find a completely different way to approach the question, "How Can We Model Micro Financing in Our Own Community?".  

I am excited to get moving into the next phase... stay tuned. So much to come!  

Examples Anyone? I think we need some.

After sending the boys off to do research and find direction, I realized that the boys may actually need some examples for their project.  After great discussions on what they could graph, interesting comments on findings, and listening to them wonder about the direction of their own Kiva experience this year, I decided to find some examples to share with them tomorrow.  I found these all interesting and while none of them actually fits the criteria of my project, they all offer ideas that may help.  

Commericials.  

A non actor commercial:  

Could we use our partnership alongside an "expert" to help?  

School project by older student: 

 

Print Ads.

Using people and locatoins: http://2outofthree.com/2012/03/kiva-print-design/

Using one person to help sell your area:  http://www.freelanced.com/freelancers/portfolio/slides.aspx?freelancerid=40757&sampleid=109180

Twas the Night Before PBL Launch...

Plan. Double Check.  Question. Edit.  Ponder.  Analyze.  Dream.  Wonder.  Anticipate.  Worry.  

Off the top of my head, those are the adjectives and thoughts floating through my head as I sit here on September 19, 2012.  I am about to launch my first PBL (Project Based Learning) of the year with my sixth grade math class.  As I continue the ongoing process of globalizing my classroom, I decided that I would incorporate graphing and statistics into my eventual PBL about microfinancing.  In order to do so, I decided to use this unit to study the geographic regions that kiva is currently working with.  These commericals and print ads may also shape the decisions of students here at Town in the future.  

The boys have placed into working groups, assigned geographic areas from the Kiva website and are doing initial exploration of Kiva.org tonight for homework.  They are responding on our edmodo site to the questions, "what did you learn?" and "what do you want to know?"  

I know that even this small adventure they are on tonight will teach them something that 2 or 3 years ago I never would have dreamt of supporting, encouraging and leading my class through. Yet hearing the statements in the hall, "What countries are part of ____?"  and "I wonder about ____!" put a smile on my face.  They are about to learn a whole lot.  

Tomorrow we launch here in the Garage.  New Space.  New Kids. New Driving Question.  

Driving Question:  As Advertising Excecutives for Goggin Advertising, how can you create an advertisement that will persuade existing and potential lenders?  

Let's do it!