Is Paying Kids for Good Grades Wrong?

There have been several experiments by school districts at paying students for attendance, good behavior, and good grades. The most recent attempts in Washington, D.C. and New York City have shown some promising results. Money is a powerful incentive. Click on the title link, read the article and leave your thoughts about "money for grades." Posts should be 50-75 words.

Is it time to retire the penny?

Has the venerable $.01 piece outlived its usefulness? Check out the website for some of the arguments in favor of eliminating the penny. What do you think? Also check out this guys hilarious rant against the penny.

The second video is from a guy who loves pennies. Which side are you on?

It's a Small World After All

Here is a great quote about the interrelatedness of the global economy, and it comes not from a famous economist but from someone you all know. 

"Did you ever stop to think that you can’t leave for your job in the morning without being dependent on most of the world? You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom and reach over for the sponge, and that’s handed to you by a Pacific islander. You reach for a bar of soap, and that’s given to you at the hands of a Frenchman. And then you go into the kitchen to drink your coffee for the morning, and that’s poured into your cup by a South American. And maybe you want tea: that’s poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you’re desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and that’s poured into your cup by a West African. And then you reach over for your toast, and that’s given to you at the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. And before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world. This is the way our universe is structured, this is its interrelated quality." Martin Luther King, 1967 

Your assignment this week is to find 5 items that you use in your everyday lives and determine where they are produced. Look on the bottom for the "Made in ..." stamp. 
List the items and the country where they are made. Be creative. You'll be surprised at the journey that some of these common items have made to get into your hands.