Hi economics scholars! I appreciate your hard work and flexibility today, between Canvas and the fire drills, there seems to never be a day without some big distraction. Despite these annoyances, you worked hard and brought the type of effort I look forward to seeing throughout the semester.
Learning Target:
Learning Target:
- I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
- I can demonstrate an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of various economic systems.
- I can apply my understanding of economics on a contemporary social issue.
- RAP: To start class, I asked students to brainstorm and write what they know about #NoDAPL. We first watches this short clip from some of the water protectors in South Dakota, and then students wrote and discussed their responses with one another. Students were able to identify some of the major elements of #NoDAPL, but it was clear that we did not know too much yet.
- Main Stage: Our introduction served to preview what we would work on for the rest of class, examining the #NoDAPL movement and the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline through the lens of economics. To deepen our understanding of the topic, students watched this brief LA times video before watching this longer, more raw footage from Democracy Now! of the protests in September. After discussing these videos, we then read aloud this short USA Today article. All along the way we drew connections between our emerging understanding of economics and what we were learning about the Dakota Access Pipeline.
- Closing: To give students a chance to apply their understanding, I introduced students to our Making Sense of Economics assignment (Available in Canvas). This is a major assignment for me throughout the semester, designed to help students deepen their understanding of economics. We walked through the assignment step by step and I provided assistance to students stuck on the assignment instructions. The first Making Sense of Economics is due Monday, February 27th on Canvas.