Terrific Tuesday...

Today was a great day...my title is cheesy because I couldn't think of anything else. I went and worked out this morning, had a good day with my students who worked hard. Dave was awesome and picked up the girls from school so I could stay with some of my students until almost 6pm so they could finish a project that is due tomorrow. Dave called me and was half joking that he was paranoid he took the wrong baby home...apparently Sophia came home in a different outfit than the one she went to school in...actually it wasn't even her outfit at all...I think that is why Dave was so paranoid...of course Sophia is Sophia, but he said he kept having to look and make sure.

The girls were in the best mood when I got home. Sophia keeps saying and waving hi to everyone. Isabella keeps trying to get her to say mama and dada...there is nothing cuter than a big sister (2) trying to teach a little sister (1) how to talk. I even joke around and ask Isabella to show Sophia how to walk...she does it...it is too cute.

We are super proud of Isabella...she is fully potty trained...she goes all by herself, doesn't always tell us, just will go. She has even going on the big potty. She pulled up her stool and sits on it, wipes herself, and then washes her hands. She sometimes asks for big girl panties and sometimes I will say, "do you want me to find your big girl panties?" and she will answer...no, I want underwear...they are the same, but I haven't figured out what she thinks is the difference.

I took advantage of the 3 hours after school that I was in my classroom (the kids were working on laptops creating an animoto) to work on my ap macro economics Monetary Policy lesson.....I am super psyched because after school today I realized that I finally understand most of the topics...I understand federal funds rates, open market operations, crowding out, loanable funds, etc...There really aren't any good resources available for social studies teachers who are told "you are going to teach AP Macroeconomics"...It is right up there with Statistics and Physics as far as difficulty level. Sure, they might send you to a college board seminar, but usually the presenters are teachers who have taught it forever and assume you understand the subject completely. I found this awesome AP Macro teacher in Dallas who sells resources he has put together. I used my own money, bought the material and just studied it and figured it out on my own. I told Christa I want to teach AP Macro for dummies to new teachers of the subject who don't quite understand....To demonstrate how hard it is, here is an actually AP College Board question from the 2010 exam...I am super proud of myself because now I understand how to answer each and every part!!!!

1. Assume that the United States economy is currently in long-run equilibrium.
(a) Draw a correctly labeled graph of aggregate demand and aggregate supply and show each of the following.
(i) The long-run aggregate supply curve
(ii) The current equilibrium output and price levels, labeled as YE and PLE, respectively
(b) Assume that the government increases spending on national defense without raising taxes.
(i) On your graph in part (a), show how the government action affects aggregate demand.
(ii) How will this government action affect the unemployment rate in the short run? Explain.
(c) Assume that the economy adjusts to a new long-run equilibrium after the increase in government spending.
(i) How will the short-run aggregate supply curve in the new long-run equilibrium compare with that in
the initial long-run equilibrium in part (a) ? Explain.
(ii) On your graph in part (a), label the new long-run equilibrium price level as PL2.
(d) In order to finance the increase in government spending on national defense from part (b), the government
borrows funds from the public. Using a correctly labeled graph of the loanable funds market, show the effect
of the government’s borrowing on the real interest rate.
(e) Given the change in the real interest rate in part (d), what is the impact on each of the following?
(i) Investment
(ii) Economic growth rate. Explain.

I need to get to bed early because tomorrow will be another long day- report card pick up from 5 to 7. My student teacher has her final observation from her region 4 lady...should be fun!