Biz World!

For those of you who have followed me for quite some time, you know that every spring, I take my class through an AMAZING simulation called “Biz World”.  I cannot stress enough the COOLNESS factor of this resource.  If you are interested in learning more, check out the Biz World website HERE!
I thought I’d give you a little photo summary of our first week with Biz World…and I’ll update you in a few days!  I have other posts from recent years if you want to see more.  Just use the search feature and type in “Biz”!  Check out some of these pics to see what we’ve done so far!
We began our unit by talking about business, what services and goods are, and what the qualities of a good business would be.  It was a fascinating discussion!
I explained the gist of the simulation (that we would be forming companies and making friendship bracelets–and taking our business from planning to marketing to manufacturing to sales.  I described the different jobs that were available in the companies (president and then 5 specialty vice presidents such as VP of finance, design, etc.)
Once I explained the job descriptions, we had a chat about how important it is to find jobs that address your strengths.  Love math?  VP of finance may be for you!  Love being creative?  Perhaps VP of marketing is your job.  Students then created a list of their top three jobs and prepared for their upcoming interviews.  
In the next few days we worked on our applications, wrote resumes on the computer, and had a brainstorming session about interviewing.  We did some practicing with friends and even at home.  I had several local businesspeople come in to conduct the interviews and students took it so seriously.  Many came all dressed up ready to impress!
I coached our interviewers on what to look for…and students brought their resumes and applications.  They were scored on this very informal rubric.   A few students REALLY impressed them–and I made sure those students got the jobs they most wanted!
They were nervous–but felt SO proud when they came back into the room!  To make it more “real” they were called to the office one at a time for their interviews.  
What came next? Looking at the lists the students gave me of their top choices, the feedback about their interviews, and then I formed their companies!  (Top card shown below is a “fake” name).  These name tents were printed and ready to put on their desks to surprise the students the next day!
 I couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they came in the door…and I wasn’t disappointed!  I put all the desks in groups as “companies” and assigned each company an area of the room.  
 The president of each company is in charge of their briefcase and the VP of Finance is in charge of the “safe” where they will keep their Biz Bucks–more on that soon!  
Here is how we left off on Friday-and this week is all about creating a vision for their company with a name, a logo, and motto, and more!  They will work to create a prototype bracelet and will be making a “pitch” to the venture capitalist to raise the funds necessary to get their companies off the ground.  I hope you’ll stop back soon to see how we are doing!  

Meg