Little Genius Factory
I recently asked my third grade students what they wanted to be when they grew up and got some amazing answers. One boy wants to be an investment banker. Another girl wants to be a baker. We've got aspiring basketball players, policemen, nurses, and veterinarians. I want my classroom to be a little genius factory.
Take my student that wants to be an investment banker. How much time does he spend actually analyzing the stock market? Zero. He just knows that investment bankers make a lot of money. What if he spent some of the school day researching people like Warren Buffet and and Charlie Munger? What if he understood stocks and what it means to own shares in a company? How about giving him some imaginary sum of money and letting him choose what stocks to invest in and watching to see if he is making or losing money?
Now let's take the baker. Imagine she creates a small business. She'd come up with a name, a logo design, website, packages for her baked goods, and business cards. Next, she goes to local bakeries, coffee shops, etc. and asks to put her goods on display to generate business. Imagine she actually generates business and makes a profit.
How about connecting the aspiring basketball player with the middle school basketball coach to see what it takes to make the team. How about connecting him with an NBA player or team! Let's get the aspiring policemen in touch with the local police department. Is there a junior police program to get involved with?
There are a lot of middle schools and high schools that have special classes focusing on entrepreneurship. I am experimenting on how to make it work in an elementary school setting. Is it overly ambitious to have 22 individual projects to manage? I don't know, but I am willing to try. What's the worst that can happen, failure? How can something be considered a failure when you have no idea what to expect?
The spark has ignited. Time to go chase it.
Take my student that wants to be an investment banker. How much time does he spend actually analyzing the stock market? Zero. He just knows that investment bankers make a lot of money. What if he spent some of the school day researching people like Warren Buffet and and Charlie Munger? What if he understood stocks and what it means to own shares in a company? How about giving him some imaginary sum of money and letting him choose what stocks to invest in and watching to see if he is making or losing money?
Now let's take the baker. Imagine she creates a small business. She'd come up with a name, a logo design, website, packages for her baked goods, and business cards. Next, she goes to local bakeries, coffee shops, etc. and asks to put her goods on display to generate business. Imagine she actually generates business and makes a profit.
How about connecting the aspiring basketball player with the middle school basketball coach to see what it takes to make the team. How about connecting him with an NBA player or team! Let's get the aspiring policemen in touch with the local police department. Is there a junior police program to get involved with?
There are a lot of middle schools and high schools that have special classes focusing on entrepreneurship. I am experimenting on how to make it work in an elementary school setting. Is it overly ambitious to have 22 individual projects to manage? I don't know, but I am willing to try. What's the worst that can happen, failure? How can something be considered a failure when you have no idea what to expect?
The spark has ignited. Time to go chase it.
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