Learner's+Activity+-+Liz

Learning Activity Task Task: Students will work in groups of two (with the possibility of one group of three, should there be an odd number of students in the class) to develop a living budget. Partnerships could represent a romantic couples or platonic roommates sharing a living space. Members of the group represent future versions of themselves, one year after graduating college. Working with your partner, you are required to keep a monthly budget of all expenditures. After the introduction and initial selection process, this activity will cover six (6) weeks of class time, which translates to twelve (12) months of living. During this phase, partners will be selected. As individuals, research your future by answering the following questions: · What college have you graduated from and with what type of degree? · How much student debt have you accumulated? · What job do you currently hold or are you attending graduate school? · How much money do you make annually and monthly? As a team, research your living situation and answer the following questions: · Are you renting an apartment/house or have you purchased a house with a mortgage? · What is your rent/mortgage payment? · How much are your monthly utilities (heat, water, electricity)? · What are your collective living expenses? · Are you pooling your money to cover these expenses or do you divide the cost between members? It is the responsibility of the group to turn in a paper answering all these questions. After all papers are turned in, they will be assessed by me for validity. DO YOUR RESEARCH! Ask questions of your parents or older siblings/friends to get an idea of the amount of money you will be spending. I can change numbers that seem outrageous to make them higher or lower. It is perfectly within the limits of the assignment to say that you received a full scholarship, a high paying job, were gifted a place to stay, a “benefactor” who pays your bills for you, etc. Personal hardships will be assigned for each month of the project. Be warned, the amount of unexpected expenses will be proportional to how easy you have built your future selves. All teams will also be given a savings account; money that I am gifting you to cover bumps down the road. This account will be proportional to your lives, too. **__ Step Two: Life __** For the next six weeks, you will encounter a year’s worth of adult life. There will be the standard living expenses such as utilities, food, car payments, etc. Then there are the little twists and quirks that will be assigned to your individual groups. You will be responsible for following the project’s blog on blogger.com. The month will turn every Tuesday and Friday night. On these days, I will post the next stage of your life. Perhaps the water heater will break and it will have to be replaced. Some will get fired, some will get pregnant, and some might have their car break down. Not every twist is a bad one though; some will win the lottery, some will receive a promotion and raise at work, and some might be left an inheritance. All the twists represent the unexpected events that happen in real life. It is your job as a team to allot money in your budget to cover the expenses. Anything left at the end of the month goes into your savings account. During the course of the project, you will be posting to your team’s blog the monthly expense report. Reports are expected to be uploaded before I post the next month’s assignment. Included in the monthly report will be fraction and percents of your income in the following categories: · Monthly Bills · Luxury Items (eating out for dinner, going to the movies, shopping, etc) · Unexpected Expenses (my assigned twists) · Savings We will spend a portion of the class once a week to talk about the ongoing project. During this time, please voice any problems or suggestions you have. As always, you can e-mail me at anytime if your problem cannot wait until class to be addressed. At the end of the six weeks, teams will be given one week to write and turn in a formal report of the year’s expenses. You will include the fractions and percentages, along with full computations. With these percents, each month will also have a pie chart for a visual representation of where your money has gone each month. In addition to these computations which you have been doing over the course of the project, your team will provide one more representing the annual percentages with a pie chart. In addition to the formal report, each individual will include a few paragraphs about their experiences and opinions of the project. Feel free to be as open and honest as you like; you are not being graded on how much you agree with me. If you tell me you hated the project, this will not affect your grade. We will spend a few days presenting in class. Your team will have the opportunity to tell the entire class about your experience. Included in your oral presentation, please include your personal opinions and what you would have changed over the course of the assignment.
 * __ Step One: Introduction and Selection __**
 * __ Step Three: Report and Presentations __**