Check out a week in the life at LLLA...

Monday: Mike chose the genre and era for Music Monday. He went with Hip-Hop, of course, and then hummed and hawed for nearly one minute until finally selecting 2010 to present for the era. It was a big decision for Mike! The entire class was elated because they LOVE Hip-Hop. Peter jumped in and shared a track, featuring one of their all-time favorite artists, Kanye West. Jake then shared NLE Choppa – not my thing, that’s for sure. I also heard Ken Karson for the first time, thanks to Mike. The class really enjoyed sharing their music, and I learned about a few artists I had never heard of before.

 

After the break, we dove into Creative Thinking. I asked the class to work in pairs to design an app – it could be business-oriented – and explain what it would do and how it would function. Here are their ideas:
- Peter and Paul created a new online mobile gambling app called ‘Lined Games’ with a different currency base system, specifically an in-game currency. They said that the games would also be more fun and relevant compared to traditional online gambling games. Some users could gamble on their video game merchandise. (I made sure to talk about the dangers of gambling addiction.)
- Greg Jake, and Tom came up with an app called ‘Drive Our Line’, which will help race car drivers see the best line for different sections on a race track – interesting idea!

- Samantha and Troy created an app to organize your clothes to help you find an outfit without the mess. One of the features would be that if you like an outfit you put together, you can save it – what a great idea!
- Mike and Norm thought up a trick-or-treating guide app for Halloween where kids could leave reviews for different areas and houses, so children would know where to go for the best candy – what a fun idea!
 

In the final period, we took up the discussion questions for Amy Tan’s “Rules of the Game” before reviewing the slide deck for writing like a pro. After going through ways, in which, to write more effectively, the class was given their creative writing assignment due in one week. Excellent Monday!

Tuesday: We began by taking up the business homework from the Start and Scale Workbook. The class was asked to complete the ‘Brand Kit Outline’. After looking at their homework, we discussed what the best platforms are for an e-commerce store. The two they were most familiar with were: Shopify and Wix.

After our discussion, we watched the Foundr Video, Store Options. From there, I put the class into groups to visit each of the sites covered in the video and decide which e-commerce store platform suits their business needs. They also created a pros and cons list for, at least, 2 Major Ecommerce Platforms. Norm presented a cool AI platform that creates websites. It is called 10Web – really interesting!

​

In the second period, we transitioned into Grammar and Writing, focusing on the comma splice. After I explained to the class what a comma splice was – with examples for how to fix the error – I had the class work in groups on two focused activities. We went over the answers together, and I helped anyone who was struggling with the mechanics – I included the slides in the LLL stream to study.

 

In the third period, I reviewed what a UVP is from our Foundr Business lessons. Then, we looked at Uber’s UVP. I asked the class to write a UVP for their product. They did a great job working on it in the allotted time.

Wednesday: We discussed Gretta van Riel’s quote: “When thinking about manufacturing, my biggest piece of advice would be to start local, then go global.” The class agreed that it would be wise to start local before going global. Paul made a good point, stating it also depends on what you're shipping. Tom added that if you are a successful entrepreneur already, you could potentially skip going local first, depending on the product, of course.

 

After our initial discussion, we watched a short Foundr Video, “Introduction to Start and Scale Manufacturing”. I asked the class to take notes during the video, listening specifically for what ‘you don’t want to do’. Jake did an excellent job notetaking and was able to restate the ‘don’ts’ from the video. From there, the class worked in groups exploring local manufacturers for their own products. After break, the class shared their findings before we read the article, “New Product Development Process in 8 Easy Steps”. Many good discussions rose during the reading regarding the importance of some of these steps. Once we finished reading the article, I put the class in groups to work with one another to validate their own business idea by reflecting on the specific questions outlined in the  lesson plan.

 

In the final period, we read half of “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. We will finish the story to begin tomorrow’s class.

​

Thursday: We spent the first period reading “The Most Dangerous Game”. The class really enjoyed the short story.  After the break, we transitioned into critical thinking and discussed where they would like to live when they grow up. I asked if they would prefer to live in a small town or city. Mostly everyone said small-town. Samantha said she would like to stay on the island and be close to family – being close to family seemed important to other students, as well. Other factors they would consider when choosing a place to live would be politics and the cost of living. We watched a YouTube video: 10 Best Cities to Live in Canada. The class enjoyed the list and were shocked at the cost of living in most cities.

 

In the third period, they worked in groups and explored Canada to find the perfect city for them to live in their twenties. We decided, as a class, that they would earn a salary of $35 – 40 thousand per year. With that money, they had to find an apartment in the city they chose and budget for transportation, bills, food etc. It was a real eye-opener! Overall, it was a great activity!