Gumba of Liberty
01-19-2012, 06:43 PM
I teach high school economics in central Virginia and last week I (finally) got into the unit on Money, Banking, and the Fed, which (as you could have guessed) is my absolute favorite. Today is the 7th day of my unit. I have 45 minute periods so I broke the unit down like this so far: 1. What is Money 2. Commodity Money vs. Fiat Money 3. Full vs. Fractional Reserve Banking 4. Bank Runs and Bank Panics 5. The Federal Reserve System (The Fed) 6. The Federal Reserve System (The Banking System) 7. The Federal Reserve System (The Official Story)
Today I told the students that we would be looking at the Fed from multiple perspectives to gain a full understanding of how the system works. I told them in the next two days we would look at the Fed from opposite perspectives. The first perspective with be the official story given by the Fed and by university economic professors and the second perspective with be an alternative perspective from economists not tied to the Federal Reserve System.
Today was my lesson on the positives of the Fed. I showed a video released by the Fed called "The Fed Today" and had the students read an article by the San Francisco Fed that explained why we "need" the Fed. They were to find the key reasons they article stated we need the Fed.
I had a beautiful moment with a student when class ended. As we were both leaving the room one of my favorite students said to me "I finally figured out who the worst President was." I said, "Yeah who is that?" (I had no idea where we was going with this because he always talks to me as we leave class) He said, "It was Woodrow Wilson, the one who started the Fed." I said you don't like the Fed? [As he walks away] "No, no I don't like it at all."
I try to be a very fact-driven and unbiased teacher but that comment put a big grin on my face. This is my first year teaching and I went into it because the summer after my freshman year of college I saw Dr. Paul and went through a philosophical transformation. I knew I needed a role in the Revolution and because I couldn't shut up about it, I figured I would get paid for it. My goal is to spread the message while having the students question everything around them. Even if I only reach one, days like this feel good :)
Today I told the students that we would be looking at the Fed from multiple perspectives to gain a full understanding of how the system works. I told them in the next two days we would look at the Fed from opposite perspectives. The first perspective with be the official story given by the Fed and by university economic professors and the second perspective with be an alternative perspective from economists not tied to the Federal Reserve System.
Today was my lesson on the positives of the Fed. I showed a video released by the Fed called "The Fed Today" and had the students read an article by the San Francisco Fed that explained why we "need" the Fed. They were to find the key reasons they article stated we need the Fed.
I had a beautiful moment with a student when class ended. As we were both leaving the room one of my favorite students said to me "I finally figured out who the worst President was." I said, "Yeah who is that?" (I had no idea where we was going with this because he always talks to me as we leave class) He said, "It was Woodrow Wilson, the one who started the Fed." I said you don't like the Fed? [As he walks away] "No, no I don't like it at all."
I try to be a very fact-driven and unbiased teacher but that comment put a big grin on my face. This is my first year teaching and I went into it because the summer after my freshman year of college I saw Dr. Paul and went through a philosophical transformation. I knew I needed a role in the Revolution and because I couldn't shut up about it, I figured I would get paid for it. My goal is to spread the message while having the students question everything around them. Even if I only reach one, days like this feel good :)