In my last post, I wrote about a Project Based Learning unit I created for 6th grade mathematics students! In the PBL unit, 6th graders will devise a plan detailing the necessary steps to open their own restaurant. They will document their plan and its journey through the use of Edublogs. In their plan and blog posts, students will compare the features and costs of a checking account and debit card offered by various local banks or credit unions in order to open a checking account for their new restaurant, identify the information included on their credit report, as well as explain why a credit report is important to a bank when applying for a loan for their new restaurant, balance the new restaurant’s checkbook by including deposits, withdrawals, and transfers that have occurred/will occur during the opening process, as well as compare the salaries of different jobs and the levels of training or education required for those jobs as students begin to hire employees and plan for the cost of their salaries for the new restaurant.
In order to aid students in their journey to opening a new restaurant, I created a podcast where I interviewed local business owners! In my latest podcast, I interviewed Mr. Adam Garza, owner of the restaurant, Gulf Coast Crepes – he and I discussed why he opened a restaurant, how he chose what bank to use, how he manages his restaurant’s expenses, and more! Allowing students to listen to a local restaurant owner allows them to glean new insight and understanding into what it takes to own a business in the real world! Plus, they will be able to take what they learned from the podcast and apply it as they develop their own plan for opening a restaurant!
I shared the podcast with students after they received the project’s instructions and before they started working on their restaurant’s plan. This way they have a model and some direction before they start their project’s journey. We also discussed the podcast as a class before they started working as well – it was important to debrief and share out thoughts!
To listen to the latest episode of the Learning Life Podcast where I interview Mr. Garza, check it out below!
Teacher's Corner 