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Our school handbook describes a student mobile phone usage policy that we (especially myself) have rarely enforced fully. It states that student’s phones should be put away out of sight/out of mind during school hours. In the past, I have taken a more relaxed view of things, offering more freedom to older students and expecting greater self-control in return.

This hasn’t been happening. While some students can resist the siren song of a Snapchat alert, most cannot. They move from one distraction to another, education is suffering, and this is not teaching workplace-ready behaviors. Many students have become accustomed to filling every gap by opening their phone and mentally checking out. Nor am I the only teacher experiencing this; it has become a universal experience for teachers.

The good news is that my part of this problem is something I can control. I have been relaxed in the past, and will tighten up my enforcement going forward. In fact, starting Monday, all the teachers at the high school are tightening up their expectations about school cell phone usage.

Here’s what that means for parents: First, your student might not be able to reply to your during-class text messages as quickly as before, they will be able to respond before/after school, and during lunch. Please be patient with them. (If there’s a truly urgent emergency, please contact the high school office at 509-243-4151.) Second, when a student is on their phone at inappropriate times, it will be confiscated to the office. First for a day, for a week the second time, and a month the third time. (I hope none of our students are such slow learners as that.)

The juice is worth the squeeze. The upside we are after is this: increased student attention and focus, resulting in better academics. Also better relationships between students, and perhaps better mental health overall.

Thank you for your support and understanding. If you have any questions about this policy, please reach out to me.

Sincerely,

James Finkbeiner

Welcome, look below to see what your students are doing this week:

Entrepreneurship

We had a great time at the craft show on Saturday. Thanks to parents who helped, and all you who attended. The kids were excited to make some money and I think they all had fun. My goals were for them to gain some experience speaking to customers, negotiating, and to see themselves as capable as making money on their own. My goals were achieved 100%!

This week starts the first “big” project students will work on: A Wordle clone.

Business Communications

There’s a lot of excitement in this class as students begin their podcasts this week. My goals for the project are linked here.
If they push through with this project, these kids are going to learn so much.

Middle School Technology

Spreadsheets! They’ve learned some basics, but this week we dig deeper and do some real projects.

Welcome

Big things happening this week in Entrepreneurship and Business Communications. Look below for details about your student’s class this week.

Entrepreneurship

The craft show is THIS SATURDAY! Students have been working to prepare, both in the classroom and out. This week they learn about the “sales process” and negotiation skills.

Some have asked me, “Can parents come?” and the answer is ABSOLUTELY!! I would love to have parents help out, that would be a great thing. Plus… they need a ride! The craft show runs from 9-3 at the High School. Please have your entrepreneur there by 8am. They can leave at 3, or when they sell out.

Useful things for them to bring:

• Tablecloth
• product displays
• dollars for making change
• signage, price tags, business cards
• more products to sell! (can’t make money if you don’t make inventory!)

Economics

They are learning about economic systems this week: Free markets vs central control, how nations balance competing goals, and about the “circular flow” model of the economy. In other words, we are leaving “personal finance” behind (mostly) and focusing on “Economics”.

AP Computer Science Principles

Did your student tell you about that big Python test they bombed a week ago? Well, we’ve done some review, some reteaching, and now they can re-take the Python test this week.

Business Communications

This week begins the big podcast project. Students will work in groups to start a podcast on a topic of their choice, construct a website, and record about 10 episodes in the coming months. They will conduct interviews of guests, learn to keep a conversation going, and get used to hearing their own recorded voice. They will send professional emails to guests, write website and social media posts and write a formal report about the whole process. They will learn presentation skills, speaking skills and phone-call skills. They will increase their ability to work as a team, follow through on a tough project and create something in the real world that they are proud to show off.

Middle School Tech

They start Spreadsheets this week… I’ve been told, “Spreadsheets are better than video games!”*

Seriously, one of my goals is for every one of my students to know how to use a spreadsheet by the time they graduate. It’s just not that hard, and so useful!

FBLA

There’s an FBLA meeting this Wednesday, during lunchtime. We’ll talk about Basketball concessions and choosing competitive events.

Thanks to all who paid their chapter dues of $25 by the deadline of (ahem!) October 31… Others, please take care of that asap.

^{*the person who told me this is now an accountant… so there’s that!}

Welcome

Whew! Recovery from homecoming, am-I-right?

Look below for details about your student’s class this week.

Entrepreneurship

This week, students finish up the “Downtown Ventures” projects with a pitch to the class on Tuesday. After that, I’m excited to introduce the big project for this semester: The Asotin Craft Fair. Students will develop a product to make and sell at the upcoming Asotin Christmas Craft Fair on November 5th. We’ll compete to see who can produce the highest profit on their $10 investment (that’s the limit). Students are required to EITHER attend the craft fair and sell their products, OR contract in advance with another student to do so for them. We’ll have 4 1/2 weeks to prepare. Excitement is already running high: last time we did this, I had a couple students make over $500 that day.

Economics

MORE Taxes! We’ll spend part of this week finishing up on the tax content from last week (homecoming!) and then move on to learn more about budgeting our money each month. I covered this in Week 1 with them, but I like to hit it in more depth here.

AP Computer Science Principles

We’re going to finish up a move we started which deals with computer science themes. Then more Python skills.

Business Communications

Business letters are the theme of the week. There is the formatting, but a lot of what we focus on is writing the content of the letter.

Middle School Tech

Google Docs are awesome for collaboration. This week, they share documents and collaborate on a short project.

FBLA

FBLA meeting on Thursday this week… which is definitely not the “first Wednesday of every month”, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

Makerspace

open for student use!

Welcome

It’s homecoming week at Asotin High School. Also a short week, with no school on Friday.

Look below for details about your student’s class this week.

Entrepreneurship

This class begins the “Downtown Ventures” group project this week. For the next 5 days, they will develop a business idea that would be a good fit for Asotin. The setup is this: Develop a business concept (idea, summary, marketing, operations, and projections for startup costs and revenue) for which business you think would thrive in the old “Jane Richards” building on Second Street in Asotin. They will present their pitches (in business costume, no less) next Monday. I must have done a convincing pitch to the students, because one of them asked, “Is there really money available if we win?” (sorry kiddo! purely hypothetical this time)

Economics

Taxes! Starting with “what does government spend our money on?” and “How many different taxes can you name?” Eventually, they will learn about “tax deductions” and how to do the form 1040. Super-practical stuff!

AP Computer Science Principles

This week: the first steps to programming in Python. Everybody starts somewhere, and they will get an easy intro with plenty of “instant gratification”.

(Note: this used to be my LEAST favorite part of this class, but now that I’ve gained confidence by pushing my own knowledge, it’s actually my favorite!)

Business Communications

Emails this week: do’s and don’ts, tone and word choice, the limitations of email as a medium… and phishing

Middle School Tech

They will dig into some report-writing tools found in Google Docs this week.

FBLA

This Wednesday is the Homecoming spirit night at the football field. Starts at 5:30 (snacks) then starts for real at 6:00. There’s the annual competition between FFA, FCCLA, and FBLA.

Makerspace

open for student use!

Welcome

Look below for details about your student’s class this week.

Entrepreneurship

This week is about recognizing opportunities (and the difference between opportunities and “ideas”). There’s also a quiz this week on Thursday.

Economics

First we studied career choices, then how to apply for a job. Over the weekend they (hopefully!) recorded a video interview. Now we move on to pay stubs and the W4 form. We also talk about the role of “Incentives” in economics.

AP Computer Science Principles

Students will present to the class what they learned reading “Blown to Bits”. Also this week we’ll learn what it means that computers “do everything in ones and zeros”, they’ll count in binary and learn how it differs from the familiar “decimal” system.

Business Communications

They continue with practice on “business writing style”, focusing on writing with “Courtesy, clarity, and conciseness”.

Middle School Tech

They are rocking through their Google Docs lessons. This bunch is generally hard-working and eager to learn.

Welcome

Look below for details about your student’s class this week.

Entrepreneurship

Monday, the groups present their “Entrepreneurship Game” ideas to the class.

The rest of the week, we learn about Return on Investment (I’m trying to line up a guest!), and dive into the power of compound interest. I really love to expose a group of 15-year-olds to the idea of compounding growth. Some of them get it, and I suspect for some, it’s a life-changing moment.

Economics

Last week was about choosing a career, so this week is all about job hunting. We start with “What are the three things that are awesome about you for this job”, move on to resumes, cover letters and how to answer common interview questions. Fun fact: Other teachers in our school are SO good at teaching job hunting skills, that I have had to shorten this to ONE week instead of two. Most students come in with pretty much ready to go.

Also, shameless plug for AHS: from what I heard from several employers, other area high schools don’t do as good a job preparing their graduates for the job hunt as Asotin High School.

Finally, my experience has taught me that this is the week that some of my Econ students will start to fall behind. It’s the first week I assign any real homework, and some just don’t take that seriously. Particularly, they fail to produce a resume, cover letter, or written answers to some interview questions. And there is also an assignment to record a “video interview” over next weekend, which a couple students will blow off. I don’t want those choices to impact their chances at graduation from high school. Yeah, this is serious. Please double-check with them that they are doing the work this week.

AP Computer Science Principles

My computer scientists are reading a book this week. Blown to Bits is available for free download at that link. It is a book dealing with all the (often unexpected) ways that technology impacts our lives. There is a strong emphasis on privacy rights, copyright, and many of the issues surrounding artificial intelligence. About one-third of this class is discussion and exploration of this subject, and this book is the most comprehensive treatment of the subject I’ve found. (Five stars, would recommend!)

I’ll assign groups to read different chapters and report. But there will be significant extra credit opportunities for students who read the whole thing any time this year. They will have to read the book, and be able to hold a discussion with me about each of the chapters, at least well enough that I can tell they’ve read them.

Business Communications

Last week was our big English grammar, punctuation, capitalization and word choice emphasis. I gave a long list of homework, so extended the turn-in date to this Tuesday. Please monitor your student’s progress on these: reinforce good homework habits.

Then we move on to “business writing style” and the 3 C’s of business writing: Courtesy, Clarity and Conciseness. This week has quite a bit of homework as well, this is a full-credit Jr/Sr English, class after all.

Middle School Tech

My philosophy for learning Google Docs is a little different! Instead of giving students a list of step-by-step instructions, having them follow them, and everyone ending up with the same document; I do the opposite. I give them a finished document (actually a screenshot of one) and then tell them to figure out how I made it. Students generally have fun with this, but some do experience some frustration at times. But for most students, this is more challenging, more engaging, and they learn more difficult skills more quickly. The difference in understanding and retention between “I followed step 4” and “I figured it out myself” is striking and long-lasting. My job is to help them make progress when they get really stuck, and to make sure the they are learning the actual skills, not some shortcut workaround.

FBLA

Getting started with Gotcha game promotions this week. Explain Gotcha game.

Makerspace

Someone donated a life-sized Bob Ross cutout in the makerspace. Unfortunately, it was within the peripheral vision line-of-sight to Mr. Johnson’s desk – he kept thinking someone was watching him! We moved it; no need to jump-scare the principal!

Welcome

Look below for details about your student’s class this week.

Entrepreneurship

This week, Entrep will spend a couple days looking at pros/cons for being an entrepreneur, then spend the rest of the week creating some “Game of Entrepreneurship”. (board game, cards, video game, rpg, whatever). The point of this project is for students to express the advantages and challenges of entrepreneurship.

Economics

My Economists will spend the week looking at the question of automation in career choices: how do they position themselves for a future where many jobs are automated. Then they explore some of the economics behind why some careers earn more than others, and the importance of investing in your “human capital”. We discuss college from a “return – on – investment” angle and I will preach my usual sermon(s) against the scourge of student-debt.

AP Computer Science Principles

They have all used a program called “Scratch” before to create simple games through block-based programming. This week, they will learn about “agile development” as they work in groups to create a game according to the design specs set by another team. This adds a little challenge to this intro-practice activity and teaches them about creating for someone else’s point of view.

Business Communications

This week it’s GRAMMAR REVIEW week. There will be a fair bit of homework this week, most of it being rote handouts. I’ve warned students to “adjust your expectations” about homework for this week. For faster workers, there might be enough class time to finish everything, but for most, there will be some homework… I’d really appreciate parents checking w/ students about their progress this week!

Middle School Tech

Someone’s been teaching keyboarding at the middle/elem levels!

We leave behind the keyboarding part of the class, and move on to learning more skills with Google Docs this week. Students are having fun, and honestly, this is the best-behaved class of MS students I’ve had in years.

FBLA

We had a good start to the year with our first meeting last wednesday. If your student is interested in joining (or if YOU want them to!) have them talk to me. We meet at lunch on the first Wed of every month. Some have asked about costs: dues for the year are $25, our regional trip will run about $30 and our state trip in April will cost in the neighborhood of $200 (but there will be fundraising opportunities before then, some students fundraise, some don’t).

Makerspace

The 3d printers have been tuned and cleaned, my aids are ready… bring on the makers! Check out the Makerspace website for more details.

Welcome

Thanks for clicking through! (no really, knowing that someone clicked through my email link will motivate me to continue sending these)
Look below for details about your student’s class this week.

Entrepreneurship

This class is off to a great start, with the largest enrollment I’ve EVER had for entrepreneurship. The class focuses on beginning business skills and starting a small business. Some of the major projects they will complete include participating in the Asotin Christmas Craft Fair (Nov 5), the “who can make the most money in 2 weeks” contest I call “the $5 challenge”, and “Bigger n Better”, the trading and negotiation game we will run in the spring. Excitement is high for them and for me.

I refer to these students a “Entrepreneurs” every day, because I believe they already ARE; they are just looking to improve their knowledge and skills.

Economics

My Economists will spend their semester learning about career choices, making personal finance choices that benefit their whole lives, investing, and other personal finance topics. They also will learn about supply/demand, international trade, GDP, recessions and the business cycle, and yes, #inflation. This is the course where students come up to me years later and say thanks for teaching me about investing/taxes/etc… It’s super useful stuff.

AP Computer Science Principles

Our high school’s only Advanced Placement class is AP CSP, a mile-wide-foot-deep course on a broad range of computer science topics. It’s about 50% programming in Python (with HTML/CSS, mySQL, etc), 30% discussion of how technology impacts all fields of life, and 20% AP testing and prep. These computer scientists have a broad range of ability levels at this point; some have completed a whole course using Python, others haven’t yet. I am prepared for this! The class focuses on growth in their the fundamental skills, not on having every student end up in the same place at the end.

Business Communications

Another jam-packed class, this group of juniors and seniors will earn their ELA credit this year with me. I’ve tried to make this “the most useful English class you’ll ever take”… we’ll see if I’ve succeeded. This is a “Project-Based learning” class that breaks down roughly into the following progression:

Q1: Grammar refresher, Learning to write letters/emails with a business-like tone
Q2: the Podcast Project: Student-groups will start a real podcast with their own topic. They will interview people, write professional communications, build a webpage, and more. It’s going to be a challenge, but a real hoot!
Q3: student-driven projects: Students will have the opportunity to develop their own projects, as long as they (1)include an outside audience, (2)include written and spoken communications, (3)fit the timeline (and are appropriate, obviously). Examples might include: running social media for a company they know, starting a business, competitive projects like FBLA, building a website for an event or business, etc. … Note: this project is a real risk and a stretch. I might change the plan before we get here.
Q4: Career Research and Job Hunting Skills: personality tests, career research, resumes, interviewing. Culminating with the big Mock Interview event. If you’re interested in helping out for the Mock Interview, let me know!

Middle School Tech

These 7th and 8th graders are starting with typing and word-processing, moving through spreadsheets and 3d design, all the way into programming webpages in HTML/CSS and “coding” in Scratch. That’s a lot of ground to cover, and it’s really important that they learn to work hard while they’re IN class. Because with no tests and no homework, there is not really any other option!

An addition this year is “E-Bucks”, our class currency. They earn them whenever they act according to the Foundational Values, and can spend them at the four Auctions we will hold this year… There will be opportunities for parents to help support the auctions coming up. I’m really excited about teaching them about principled behavior, ownership, and the power of markets *alongside* learning basic computer apps.

FBLA

Future Business Leaders of America is my co-curricular club. FBLA teaches students leadership, how to speak/present, work on projects and how to rub elbows with driven students from other schools. Our leadership-team is full of ideas for this year, and our first meeting is on Sept 7th during lunchtime. If you think your student would be interested, have them come talk to me about it!

Makerspace

I also manage the AHS Makerspace. Located in the library, we offer workspace, equipment and helpers for students doing projects for class or (especially!) their own curiosity. Check out the Makerspace website for more details.