On to the Next One...

My class has recently completed week one of our BizMovie project! It is very interesting to see the process in action within the classroom.

Within our first week I observed the first group of teachers start off the project by introducing new vocabulary and creating the groups within the classroom into companies. Such a small project seems more fun than learning to the students, but without even knowing they are beginning to learn how to keep a company ledger, keep finances under control, and work together to compete for the most successful company!

As a future teacher this is showing me how important it is to allow students to not only think for themselves, but to work for themselves. Observing my students is one of the most rewarding sights to see. I cannot wait to see how the companies create amazing movies and work together to see how important it is to agree and disagree.

Starting the second week, a new group of teachers began to teacher, using a direct instruction lesson the teachers guided the companies into the start of their movie making business. One of the most important things I observed was rewarding groups with BizBucks (our form of currency) for completing homework, answering questions correctly, working cooperatively, and listening attentively when others are listening. These are aspects of the classroom that students should always follow but now that they are representing a company the students are excited to follow directions because they want to have the most BizBucks.

I can already tell this is going to be one of the most rewarding interactions I have within a classroom and I cannot wait to see what new things we do and how the students will interact together and create an empire for their companies!