Day 17, 18 - Mortgage Project Continued

I have looked at Part 1 for each of my students and the biggest issue was that students chose a house and then described what they think they might need in 10 - 15 years. What I wanted was for them to think of what they need, THEN find the house that fits their needs. I don't really know how to get around that other than have students brainstorm in class, maybe, before they get to the lab. They get so excited about finding their dream houses! Also, many students did not pick a house that was realistic. I am not really sure, for the purposes of this course, that I care. They may decide, through the course of the project that the house that they chose will likely be beyond their means. On the other hand, it is fun to imagine! As long as they do the work correctly, I think I will allow it.

I am doing this project in Google Docs and having students share their work with me instead of printing. Since they need to include an amortization table, I think this is the best way to go. It also lets me "mark" part 1 and 2 before the whole thing gets submitted tomorrow and they get feedback along the way that is easy to incorporate into their document. It is also faster for me since I type faster than I write! I would rather have a "starting mark" and then be able to improve it once they finish the whole thing. These kids definitely need their confidence boosted and so I am trying to do that at every opportunity.

One other benefit that I am getting from this is I really feel like I am getting to know the students a little better and see more of their sense of humour. Some students were really specific in what they wanted "the house has to be 1 km from all neighbours", "I am going to have 3 children, 2 boys and a girl", and some just said things that were worded in a funny way "the basement is going to be a man cave which will be permitted by my wife". This made me wish that I taught some English! I definitely got to see another side to the students. And allowing them to look at their dream homes also helped me see what they value most right now. I am enjoying that aspect for sure.