Final Reflection (200 points)

And now let's wrap this thing up. We did a lot of experimenting with technique and delivery in this class this year, and without question the class was graded differently than classes you've previously been enrolled in. I had you create an online persona, pretend to shop in a grocery store, buy a book for a penny, play Minecraft, track expenditures, operate a micro business, and basically choose your second semester grade. Now I'd like you to discuss it. You have 2 options here:

1) Choose a partner (singular, that means ONE other person), and conduct a video reflection using the iPad where there is a discussion of the relevant topics or,

2) By yourself type a reflection of the relevant topics, one paragraph per topic.

If you decide to video yourselves, then the video must include both of you. The best method of this would be to find a secure place on campus (I'd be glad to help if need be), set the iPad up such that you both are in the 'shot", and then discuss the topics I've listed. I'm interested in your OPINION of how this class was conducted in these specific topics, as this is a reflection. The BOTH of you should say exactly what you appreciated, disliked, loved, or found useless about what we did this year. Be specific. Give details. And be yourselves. I promise, no one will ever watch these videos other than me. They will be deleted once I've viewed them, so be brutally honest. I'm using this to enhance the course further, so also try to be productive. Don't just say something 'sucked', give constructive criticism. In the end, the video should last approximately 10 minutes, give or take. 

Don't want to record yourself? No problem.  Just type it up, but this you'll need to do independently and will probably take double the time, depending on your typing speed. Do the same, though. Detail what can be done to improve, what you liked, etc... And be specific. Consider each topic calling for one paragraph of discussion from you. If you choose this option, type up a Pages document and email it to me as a Word document using the iPad. 

This is a very valuable task for me and this course, so I appreciate you taking this seriously. My goal is to give an experience for the student that is valuable and in some way cherished; your input here will go a long way towards that always being the case. 

The topics:

1. Voting methods and Fair division (the first few things we looked at)

2. Expenditure tracking

3. Taxes

4. Maintaining a budget

5. The task list itself

6. Voice thread 

7. Being graded by obtaining points instead of percentage of total

8. Actually running a micro business

9. Point values of tasks

10. Shark Tank

11. What you feel you got out of the course personally

12. Anything you wish was present in the course

Marketing Ploy (100 points)

Here, you need to detail your marketing strategy and actually show your ad.
To complete:
1. Develop a strategy to market your product/service
2. Detail that strategy in paragraph form on a document in Pages
3. Show the actual ad on the same document

Physical Description (50 points)

On your iPad, you need to show a diagram of the 'work space' in which you will conduct business. This might be a very simple diagram if your work space is limited to a small central location. If you're developing a product, you'll need to show where the product is developed, and if all you're doing to distributing a product, then the work space is the distribution center. Are you delivering a skill? Then you'll need to diagram a typical 'sale' where you'll show what you do as the work space. This needs to be done on the iPad, and it cannot be drawn on a piece of paper, followed by a snapshot of the paper.

Market Research (150 points)

For any business to succeed, detailed market research is essential. Knowing 1) who your customer is and 2) how many of those customers are in proximity to your business are critical to the survival of the business. This is true for a micro business such as the one you've created as well. The task here is a bit complicated, and requires a bit of speculation also. You  need to identify your market both by literal definition and a quantifiable count. First, identify who trying to sell to exactly. Parents? Single moms? Friends? High school seniors? Whoever it is, exactly identify them. Then determine where you'll find them (on campus, neighborhood, Facebook...), and then determine, as accurately as you can, how many potential clients are in that range. You might have to count the houses in a neighborhood(s), know the number of graduating seniors, or your # of Facebook friends. This task is to be done on a Pages document on your iPad and then shown to me upon completion.
To complete:
1. Determine who you're selling to
2. Determine where you'll find them
3. Determine how many are available
4. Detail all this in a Pages document
5. Show me

Goals and weaknesses (160 points)

Two tasks here where you detail both your long and short term goals quantifiably, and then identify any weaknesses that may stand in the way of your success.
With the goals, you need to identify what you would like to see happen in the short term (the next two weeks) as far as number of sales and income is concerned. This goal should be quantifiable (measurable). Please be realistic.
The long term goal is one that extends beyond the course/assignment. What do you foresee in the future as far as this business is concerned? Is it one-and-done? Will you expand it over the summer? Will you utilize it in your small business-owning life you foresee? Will this just become/continue to be a hobby?

Next you need to identify what weaknesses are present in your business. This could listed, detailed in a paragraph, or graphically shown. What is standing in the way of your success? Procrastination problems? Effort? Lack of funding? Impossible to market to the correct group? Whatever it may, everyone has something standing in their way. Detail it.

To complete:
1. In the comment section of this blog post, detail both the goals and the weaknesses, separated by a bullet point of some sort.

Keynote Presentation (350 points)

The end result of the business project, as far as points are concerned, is the portfolio and presentation. You will be required to 'present' the project to your classmates and there needs to be a write-up/summary. The summary consists of 6 distinct elements:

1. A cover page that has business name, logo, and slogan.

2. An executive summary that includes all the details on the template you've previously been given.

3. A detailed list/description of how the business operates. Describe the process from beginning to end of a sale.

4. A diagram of the process.

5. A financial sheets that details the receipts and outlays, shows how this business is profitable.

6. A marketing strategy shown with both an actual example of how you're expressing your business and a typed detail of how that will be noticed by potential customers. 

It must all be put in Keynote as a presentation, so you'll need to practice with the app a bit to master it (it's not that difficult). 

This task is spread out over 5 categories in IC, so it's critically important to do well.

Business/Payroll Quiz (25 points)

In the world of business/economics, there is a thing called "payroll" where employees are paid in terms of hours worked, direct salaries, or commissions. Car salesmen work on commission (industry standard is about 30% or total gross profit on each sale in case you're interested in becoming one). Labor intensive jobs usually pay hourly, a certain amount of money per every hour worked. And professional, degree-requiring jobs tend to pay on a salary basis, as these jobs are ones that go home with the employee and hours are difficult to define. These questions test your understanding of how such pay works, and what it would result in. As a member of the work force or an entrepreneur paying out or a white-collar professional, you'll need to be able to evaluate your own pay. Right down to the penny. Take this quiz and literally hand it in to me. I can provide it on a piece of paper for you (just ask), or you can figure out a way to transfer it from here to your iPad for you to work on there and then email it to me, whatever floats your boat.

 1. Bill Burke worked 46 hours last week. If he earns $8.75 per hour and

gets time and a half for all hours he works in excess of 40, find his gross

pay.

________________________________

2. Mary Carlson worked the following hours last week:

Monday—8; Tuesday—11; Wednesday—10; Thursday—8; Friday—2;

Saturday—5.80

If she gets $12.60 per hour and time and a half for all hours she works

over 40, find her gross pay.

____________________________________

3. If a person’s gross pay for a week is $618 and the person worked 40 hours,

find her hourly wage.

____________________________________

4. Sean Young earns $6.50 per hour and gets time and a half for all hours he

works over 40. If his gross pay last week was $318.50, how many hours

overtime did he work?

____________________________________

5. Su Lee earns $9.60 per hour and gets double time for all hours over 40

that she works per week. If she received an $80.00 bonus last week and

worked 47 hours, find her gross pay.

6. Maura O’Riley receives a commission based on the following scale:

5% on all sales up to and including $10,000

7% on all sales over $10,000 up to and including $20,000

9% on all sales over $20,000

If she sold $24,300 worth of merchandise, find her gross pay.

____________________________________

7. Ti Lu receives a regular salary of $500 a week plus a 61/2% commission

on all sales. If she sold $2623 worth of merchandise, find her gross pay.

____________________________________

8. Shawn McMurry earns a 5% commission on all sales. Last week his

gross pay was $326.15. How much merchandise did he sell?

____________________________________

9. Tiffany Jenkins sold a home for $64,875. If her commission was

$1816.50, find the rate.

____________________________________

10. Jose Hernandez earns a commission of 121/2%. If his gross pay was $7227.50, how much did he sell?_____________________________

good luck. This task is points awarded for correctness, so take your time and get them right!