Emotional equations breaks down typical emotions into components much like a math equation. By learning emotional equations one can think about the ingredients fueling the emotion and make behavioral changes to change the emotion constructively.
In adult life there are many practical questions that require problem solving skills and a little math. This lesson has students figure out the benefits and costs to joining a shopping club like Sam’s Club. Guide your students through a real life case study that requires lots of critical thinking, a little math and the chance to use Excel!
The holiday season can be stressful for us as the students get riled up in anticipation of school break, classes get shorter making it hard to cram our lessons into half days, and our personal lives get busy. I personally view holidays as a way to celebrate with students and take some of the pressure off of the normal academia pacing that at this time of the semester can leave us all exhausted. Here are a few holiday ideas to either help your department raise money, fit in some extra holiday excitement, or comply with a half day schedule.
This lesson follows a case study of a busy couple that is challenged by one of their coworker’s to figure out whether it is cheaper to make sandwiches or buy them from Subway. Students get a chance to apply their critical thinking & problem solving skills to a practical problem as well as get a chance to learn basic math in Excel.
Teaching personal finance can be a challenge especially if you have all the old, outdated resources that emphasis doing just about all your budgeting, check writing, goal setting, etc on paper. Students start the eye roll as soon as you hand out the “how to write a check” worksheet. Granted, they should know how to fill out a check even if they only use their debit card now. The world is changing and we want students to be turned on to being good financial stewards. This means we need to help them find technologically advanced ways to keep track of their spending, budget, and set goals. One of my personal favorite free personal finance websites is Mint.com.
Teach your students how to budget using the simple method of envelope budgeting. This interactive lesson is great for graduating seniors who need basic money management skills before they take off on their own. Budgeting doesn’t have to be so scary.
I got this idea from my high school health class and have used it ever since in the classes I teach. The fish bowl activity is for any class that you want to have a orderly discussion for most of the block. The way it works is that you have some students sit in a circle facing each other then you have the rest of the class sit out side them facing them listening.
Need some ideas on how to construct your course or write curriculum? Here are a few examples from other Family Consumer Science programs!
Time Frame: Minimum 2 days in class project work + presentation days Objective: Evaluate the effects of gender on life in America and around the world. Set Using the Smart Board or a white board ask the class to brainstorm…
We have come to a critical place as educators–to embrace technology or try to beat it down by forcing kids to keep it in their lockers or not bring it to school. While technology should not distract from learning it can enhance it if we let it. Here are some Apple App’s to aide in teaching Family Consumer Sciences.
