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Period 1 - Markus Sherman
#1
Thank you for participating in TIRP service-learning outreach!

Your reports are the basis for academic credit. Whether or not you are seeking a credit option, reports are required as a record of your teaching complex issues in local schools.

1. For each report, select Post Reply. (Do not select New Topic)
2. Copy/paste from your Word file and save a copy until after the semester is over.
3. Before pasting, confirm that you have met the minimum of at least 500 words.
4. Each report must be submitted within 3 days after each session.

Remember:
a. The webboard is public. Do not refer to students by name; instead call them Student A, B or C. If you include names, commentary or observations, you will need to revise your post.
b. Guiding questions for reports are provided in section F of the Requirements & Guidelines.
c. If you include too much focus on the step-by-step process of the lesson rather than content, you may be asked to revise your report.

A CALIS staff member will review your report each week and post a message below of the scoring for your performance evaluation.
We welcome any questions or concerns you have about scoring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Report 1
On time: 2/3
Substantive: 6/6
Student specifics: 6/6

Total: 14/15

Great first report, Marcus! I love how you guys used the spectrum to gauge the students ideas put them relative to each other on the board! Also, interesting they named the I-phone as incredibly expensive and acknowledge we are in a "buying frenzy" where we buy things we don't always need. Awesome job! - RW 10/17


Report 2
On time: 1/3
Substantive: 6/6
Student specifics: 6/6

Total: 13/15

Great job with the student engagement! It seemed like you guys circulated well and made the material very relevant to the students' lives! Keep up the great work! Smile - RW 10/30

Report 3
On time: 2/3
Substantive: 6/6
Student specifics: 6/6

Total: 14/15

Awesome third report, Marcus! I like how you guys brought in relevant examples like Walmart when talking about capitalism because this makes it easier for the kids to understand these vocabulary concepts! Keep it up! Smile - RW 10/30

Report 4
On time: 1/3
Substantive: 6/6
Student Specifics: 6/6

Total: 13/15

I really enjoyed reading your reports and teacher feedback forms! I am so glad that you had an great experience with TIRP! I am sad that this is the last time grading you and working with you, but have an awesome time abroad! Keep being a great TIRPer! Smile - RW 11/7
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#2
Session 1

Our TIRP topic for the four sessions at CAMS is Political Economy. Seeing as Almeida’s period 1 class is a government class our plan was to stress the importance of the role that the government plays in the operations of the economic market. For our first session, we used the Political Economic Systems framework, the Capitalism Do’s and Don’ts concept sheet, and the Spending our way to Wealth Case.
Trevor and I began the session by introducing ourselves and the TIRP topic, we then had the students go around the class and introduce themselves briefly. The students were very engaged for a first period class full of seniors so we decided to test their previous knowledge of economic systems before handing out the first worksheet. We asked the class if anyone could summarize what they thought capitalism, socialism, and communism are. Student A quickly raised her hand and said, “communism is when the government controls all of the business.” Student B said, “socialism is like the in between of communism and capitalism.” We explained to the class that in a socialist economy there is government ownership of public utilities and social programs to ensure equal opportunity, so it is a blend between capitalism and communism. Student C then spoke on capitalism and said, “Capitalism is where people can do whatever they want.” We took his point and elaborated to express the idea that in a capitalist market private owners control land and there are few social programs in place to even the playing field.
After the introduction of all the economic systems we moved on to the Capitalism Do’s and Don’ts activity to look at what a capitalist market is capable of. To introduce each of the bullet points on the activity Trevor and I asked a leading question. To introduce the idea that capitalist markets depend on consumption we posed the question, “How many of you walk in to a store and buy something, knowing full well that its wildly overpriced?” We gave the class a few minutes to talk about it in their tables and circulated. The students came up with some great responses, Student A said IPhones and really all technology, Student D said gas, Student B even brought up personal hygiene products. We covered all of the points on the do’s and don’ts sheet in this fashion and moved on to the spending our way to wealth case.
To introduce this case, we drew a continuum on the white board with all of the election years of the presidents mentioned in the reading and had the students raise their hands and share which president matched with which election year. We did this to see what time periods each of the presidents sat in and identified world and U.S events that defined each period. For example, we discussed the 9/11 attacks which then related to Bush defining spending as patriotic. We popcorn read the case and highlighted the different factors that identified each presidents’ economic stance and how it affected the United States during that period. The students were eager to answer questions and were very keen on the real-world applications of the concepts we introduced.
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#3
Markus Sherman
TIRP Report 2
October 24, 2017

For our second session at CAMS we built on what we had covered in the first session and focused again on capitalism. We used the Capitalist Market: Four Conditions for Efficiency worksheet to introduce the topic and Followed up with the NPR: Seattle’s Bag User Fee Spurs Backlash, NPR French Strikers, and NYT: What Donald Trump Should Know cases. Our focus questions for the session were, “what are the four conditions that a capitalist market needs for efficiency?” and “What are the governments options for handling a capitalist market.”
To begin the session, we started by doing a quick review of what we covered in the previous session. Trevor and I asked the students if they could give quick definitions of Communism, Socialism, and Capitalism. Student A said that Communism is when the government controls all the resources, Student B subsequently said Socialism is when the government controls the main resources but there is also private ownership, and Student C finished and said that Capitalism is when people are free to do what they want. We then transitioned to focus again on capitalism and introduced the four conditions worksheet. We went through and explained that the market needs the idea of private property, a level playing field, perfect information, supply response, and demand response. Because these concepts are fairly abstract we offered some examples and asked the class to think of any that would make these concepts more relatable. For example, to illustrate the point that the market does not provide public goods we asked if the students if they drive, and they said yes. We followed up by asking if any of them would be willing to pay for those roads knowing that other people also use those roads without paying. Student D said that that would be unfair because they’re still using the roads. We finished up the introduction worksheet with the rest of the examples and moved on to the cases. We used the NPR Seattle case as guided practice with the whole class before splitting them up into groups. We popcorn read through the case and stopped periodically to highlight the important factors. After the reading, we went through and filled in the chart on in the four conditions worksheet. We asked the group what the market failure in this case was and Student D said that the externality cost of the plastic bags, i.e. the effect on the environment is not accounted for in the price of the bag itself. We finished going through the worksheet for this case and had the class split into their tables. We gave one half of the class the French Strikers worksheet and the other half the Donald Trump article. Trevor and I circulated to make sure that the students were understanding the material and were able to fill in the chart correctly. The students were able to fill in the chart from the readings and recognize in each case where the market failure, government failure, and policy options were. For example, poor leadership as the government failure in the Trump case. We brought the class together at the end to debrief and introduced briefly what we would be talking about in the next question.
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#4
Markus Sherman
TIRP Report 3
October 24, 2017

For our third session at CAMS we focused on the idea of conscious capitalism. The students were really interested in this topic and we actually ended up having an entire class wide discussion about the stakeholders in a capitalist system towards the end of the session. We introduced the topic with the NPR: Whole Foods Founder John Mackey on Facism and ‘Conscious Capitalism’. Our focus questions for the session were “what is conscious capitalism? And “what are the incentives for being a conscious business/enterprise?”
We opened the session with some general questions about capitalist enterprises and what it means to own a business in a capitalist market. We then asked the class if anyone could define what they thought conscious capitalism was. Student A answered and said that its running a business according to ethical principles. We used this as a jumping point to start popcorn reading the case.
When the reading brought in the concept of stake holders Trevor and I asked the class if they knew what this meant. Student B answered and said that they’re people who own the company, right? We answered him and said that stock/shareholders are one category of stake holders but we knew that we were going to cover it at the end of the session so we moved on in the reading. When the reading moved on to introduce evil companies, we took an opportunity to ask the class what they felt made a company evil. Student C offered that companies like Walmart and Nike that use sweatshops to make their products are evil because they don’t treat their workers properly. Student D offered that companies are also evil because they charge ridiculous prices just to make more money, in turn taking advantage of the consumer. We continued through the reading and had a few more question and answer periods like this one and finally arrived at the questions. We went through the first three questions as a class and the students answered them quickly citing the text for evidence. Trevor then wrote spaces on the board so that we could identify all of the stake holders in an enterprise. The students were able to come up with the more obvious ones very quickly, but were a little more hesitant when it came to the remaining stakeholders such as the government and society as a whole. As a class, we discussed each stakeholders actual stake and what they stand to gain or lose with a company’s success. After this discussion students started to realize the role consumers play in supporting “evil” companies and how some stakeholders stand to gain massively from these “evil” practices. The class was unbelievably interactive and gave some very thoughtful responses. I really appreciated the participation from all parts of the classroom and the students’ ability to connect the information we covered in previous lessons to the new information presented in this one. I am excited to see how the final session goes.
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#5
Session 4

This was our last session at CAMS and Trevor and I decided that we wanted to continue our discussion of capitalism through the lens of a possibility of a green economy. Our focus questions for the day were, “what is a subsidy? What is a tariff? And what are the benefits and costs of China flooding the solar panel market?”
To start the session trevor and I decided to show the students the Catching the Sun trailer. We did this to introduce the concept of a green economy and how that plays into the idea of conscious capitalism that we introduced the previous session. The students were immediately interested in the video. After the trailer ended we debriefed and asked if the students knew who Van Jones is, and what they feel the state of solar power is in the United States. The students did not know who he is so we explained that he was an advisor to the president on the green sector and a social entrepreneur intent on fighting unemployment and climate change with a green solution.
We then handed out the cheap chinese solar panel case and had the students popcorn read. We mainly wanted to focus on the economic principles of dumping, countries economic decisions that defend against foreign influence, and energy independence. We stopped the class during the reading to ask what the reading means when it uses the term energy dependence. We also posed the question, are china’s practice good or bad for U.S producers and consumers? Student A said that energy independence is being able to do what you want without relying on someone else for power. We commended him for this answer and quickly used America’s dependence on oil as an example. As we moved on in the Reading students were able to identify that Chinese dumping can hurt American solar producers because they will not be able to compete with Chinese prices. We introduced the concept of “market share” and asked the students if they could give a short definition. Student B said that it is a company’s control of the market. We furthered his point and explained that a company’s market share is the amount of the market that they sell to versus other companies in the same market. At the end of the reading we went through some of the reading questions quickly and then skipped to question eight, “As part of the US economic recovery, should the US government subsidize its own solar panel industry?” We let the students read the question and had them discuss in their tables amongst themselves. When we came together as a class and had the students raise their hands if they felt that the US should subsidize its solar industry. The class was split about in half. We asked if any of the students that thought the US should subsidize could explain their reasoning, Student C said that she believes the US should help its producers while at the same time supporting the green economy. Student D interjected and said, what about the benefactors of the oil and coal industry. I was excited to see that the students were seeing the issues from both sides.
We finished by opening up the class to a discussion about college. The students asked some insightful questions and we answered them to the best of our ability. We left our contact information on the board so that the students could ask us questions if they wanted to. Our sessions at CAMS were extremely successful and I hope the students learned as much as we’d hope.
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