For those who have not heard of him, Jeff Rubin is the former Chief Economist for CIBC (it is rumoured he lost his job for this book), and got recent attention for his latest book, "Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller." This work forecasts that the price of oil will reach $225 a barrel by 2012, and he postulates taht this oil scarcity will lead to the end of globalization. He is known for a book he wrote in 2000 in which he predicted oil prices would hit $50 a barrel by 2005, predicted the residential real estate market bust in the early 1990s. He was named Canada's top economist a number of times according to the Globe & Mail.
As business teachers, you should be aware of his recent work. For an interview and a review, see
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/ask-jeff-rubin/article1141087/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/why-your-world-is-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-smaller-by-jeff-rubin/article1148668/
Saturday, September 26, 2009
PBS Frontline - Assorted
Please browse the video resources at PBS Frontline - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/ - these can be viewed online, and there are many teacher resources available to support them. Some interesting topics include:
- Marketing and Ethics - The Persuaders, Merchants of Cool, and Is Walmart Good for America - deal will many salient issues.
- Finance - in the 2009 collection, quite a few on the financial meltdown; plus "Can You Afford to Retire" is interesting.
- Marketing and Ethics - The Persuaders, Merchants of Cool, and Is Walmart Good for America - deal will many salient issues.
- Finance - in the 2009 collection, quite a few on the financial meltdown; plus "Can You Afford to Retire" is interesting.
Marketing - Merchants of Cool
PBS Frontline - Merchants of Cool - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/
This is a great video which can be viewed online free of charge.
It can be used for many different business courses - but has a good connection to marketing.
Note the additional features - interviwes, written information, and so forth.
This is a great video which can be viewed online free of charge.
It can be used for many different business courses - but has a good connection to marketing.
Note the additional features - interviwes, written information, and so forth.
Brain Research
While still in relatively early stages, brain research can be applied to education and learning. Understanding where students are in their physiological development can help us both understand some student behaviour, and help us structure lessons so that they are developmentally appropriate. This research is also useful for parents!!
Here are some resources I particularly enjoy.
(1) "Please excuse the mess" was originally publised in the Globe & Mail. It's available at: http://www.educ.uvic.ca/epls/faculty/rowles/please.htm
My favourite part of the article is the finding reported that "while being shown the face of a man in fear [,] The part of their brains that lit up the brightest as their minds worked to make sense of the image was not the prefrontal cortex, the centre of rational judgment used by the adult brain to sort out complex nuances of emotions. It was the amygdala, an almond-shaped knot in the middle of the brain that is one of the key areas for instinctual reactions such as fight or flight, anger or "I hate you, Mom."" So, as a teacher, I must remember that a teen may not accurately interpret my facial expression, so I should also articulate what my facial expression attempts to covey (e.g., "That's funny").
(2) PBS Frontline - inside the teenage brain - watch it for free, or read about the research at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/
(3) Time Magazine's "Secrets of the Teen Brain" - a great article, loaded with practical tips that can be applied to the classroom. http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101040510/
To me, a particularly useful finding was that teens are unable to internalize long-term goals - so a statement like, "This is good for your future career" is meaningless at their developmental stage. They understand the sentence, but they canot internalize this. Rather, focus on short-term goals or consequences to be effective. See examples in the article.
(4) "Mind Tricks" (an article in New Scientist) describes some simple experiments you can do to understand how your own brain processes certain types of information. See http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19526221.300-mind-tricks-six-ways-to-explore-your-brain.html?full=true
Here are some resources I particularly enjoy.
(1) "Please excuse the mess" was originally publised in the Globe & Mail. It's available at: http://www.educ.uvic.ca/epls/faculty/rowles/please.htm
My favourite part of the article is the finding reported that "while being shown the face of a man in fear [,] The part of their brains that lit up the brightest as their minds worked to make sense of the image was not the prefrontal cortex, the centre of rational judgment used by the adult brain to sort out complex nuances of emotions. It was the amygdala, an almond-shaped knot in the middle of the brain that is one of the key areas for instinctual reactions such as fight or flight, anger or "I hate you, Mom."" So, as a teacher, I must remember that a teen may not accurately interpret my facial expression, so I should also articulate what my facial expression attempts to covey (e.g., "That's funny").
(2) PBS Frontline - inside the teenage brain - watch it for free, or read about the research at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/
(3) Time Magazine's "Secrets of the Teen Brain" - a great article, loaded with practical tips that can be applied to the classroom. http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101040510/
To me, a particularly useful finding was that teens are unable to internalize long-term goals - so a statement like, "This is good for your future career" is meaningless at their developmental stage. They understand the sentence, but they canot internalize this. Rather, focus on short-term goals or consequences to be effective. See examples in the article.
(4) "Mind Tricks" (an article in New Scientist) describes some simple experiments you can do to understand how your own brain processes certain types of information. See http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19526221.300-mind-tricks-six-ways-to-explore-your-brain.html?full=true
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
OBEA - Conference November 7 Newmarket
OBEA's Fall Conference will be held at Newmarket High School on November 7, 2009.
Details at http://www.obea.ca/
Details at http://www.obea.ca/
Personal Finance
Investor Education Fund – Fair Play and Taking Stock in Your Future, Funny Money, SmartMoney Management Program, and many more resources Hard copies of some resources included. Order additional materials from:
http://www.investored.ca/en/TeachersResources
Bank of Canada
Counterfeit detection kit
Poster
Financial comic book Order all from
http://bankofcanada.ca/en/banknotes/education/index_schools.html
CFEE materials http://www.cfee.org/cgi-bin/go.cgi?lang=en&file=/en/reslearn.shtml
Understanding your Consumer Rights and Responsibilities CD Included – order from Ministry of Consumer and Business Services
Marketplace Standards and Services Branch, (416) 326-8800 or 1-800-889-9768
http://www.investored.ca/en/TeachersResources
Bank of Canada
Counterfeit detection kit
Poster
Financial comic book Order all from
http://bankofcanada.ca/en/banknotes/education/index_schools.html
CFEE materials http://www.cfee.org/cgi-bin/go.cgi?lang=en&file=/en/reslearn.shtml
Understanding your Consumer Rights and Responsibilities CD Included – order from Ministry of Consumer and Business Services
Marketplace Standards and Services Branch, (416) 326-8800 or 1-800-889-9768
Software Resources
Professor Teaches Not a free resource, but very cost effective from Staples.ca. See http://www.professorteaches.com/ to view
Microsoft Lessons and Tutorials http://www.microsoft.com/education/tutorials.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/canada/government/education/default.mspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/school/FX102781621033.aspx
Microsoft Lessons and Tutorials http://www.microsoft.com/education/tutorials.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/canada/government/education/default.mspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/school/FX102781621033.aspx
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