The Codec

Overview

The Why

Reinforced Values
Be Principled
Freedom
Knowledge
Opportunity
Passion
Responsibility
Sound Judgment

The Codec can help you and students remember all the important points from any activity, simulation, field trip, etc. It also has the added function of connecting those experiences directly to the Foundational Values and Economic Principles of the Youth Entrepreneurs curriculum.

For YE purposes, think of The Codec as a way to make sure the 8 YE Foundational Values and the 10 Economic Principles in the YE curriculum are the constant focus. Again, The Codec is just a basic graphic organizer and graphic organizers are everywhere.

Intro

The goal of the Youth Entrepreneurs classroom is to allow students to learn by doing. We want students to learn from the experience. Much of learning is as simple as not forgetting. Think of The Codec as a simple graphic organizer to help you not forget the importance of the Foundational Values and/or the 10 economic principles.

Social and Emotional Skills

1. When leveraging The Codec, students are developing skills in the Self-Awareness competency. The Codec asks students to reflect on where they saw the Foundational Values and/or economic principles present during an activity or experience. As they reflect, they are examining their behavior and “identifying emotions” they felt, as well as “recognizing strengths”. Through this, students are developing greater “self-confidence” and “self-efficacy.”

2. As students reflect, they may recognize what strengths and weaknesses they exhibit in respect to the Self-Management competency. They may have noticed they lacked the ability to demonstrate behavior in line with the Foundational Values due to “impulse control” or “stress management”. The Codec can help students identify where they need to grow, leading to the opportunity for personal “goal setting.”

Preparation

• Decide how you would like to leverage The Codec:
  • When preparing for an activity, choose which of the 8 FVs and/or 10 EPs you want to focus on. Use The Codec to make your notes for how you plan to tie the lesson to your chosen values and principles. This will help you to stay focused when connecting the activity to the values and principles during debrief and discussion.
  • When preparing to teach and setting goals for the entire classroom experience, make notes/bullet points of the most important subtopics for each of the values and principles. Your notes don’t have to be very detailed but using The Codec in this way gives you a starting point you can refer back to (and change/adapt) as you move through the experience. This will assist you in keeping your over-arching learning goals in mind as you plan and carry out the curriculum.
  • Have students use The Codec as a tool for reflection after any activity, lesson, experience, etc. Ask students to pick one or more of the values and principles and write their observations in the boxes. These can be shared with you, their peers, or added to class notes. The idea is that students get to choose which of the values and principles to reflect on and The Codec gives them an organized place to put their thoughts.
  • For a larger project or capstone, The Codec can be an easy goal setting tool. Ask teams to complete each of the Foundational Values by answering the question, “How are we going to [insert Foundational Value] in this project?” For example, “How are we going to gain Knowledge through this project?” Or “How are we going to Be Principled throughout this project?” For the 10 Economic Principles, “How does subjective value impact our solution to this problem?” or “Does scarcity impact what is causing this problem? If yes, how can we solve for it?”
  • The Codec can also double as a pre/post-test. When students begin their YE experience, have them write their own explanations of each of the values and principles. Then, throughout the experience, check for understanding by having students do the very same exercise. Comparing growth in understanding around these values and principles at regular intervals can provide you with insight into the growth that is taking place in their worldview.
  • ProTip: This is a quick list to get you started. There are an infinite number of ways that you could use The Codec.
• Decide how you would like students to share once they have completed the Codec.
• Post the activity to your classroom platform for students to access and complete or set up a Zoom session to walk through the activity with students.

Directions

• Prior to beginning the activity or content that students will reflect on using the Codec, share that a follow-up will be them completing The Codec to reflect on their experience.
• Complete whichever activity you have selected or share whatever content you had.
  • Protip: The Codec is a great reflection tool for current events. Consider sharing a current event article or video and asking students to reflect on the FVs and 10 economic principles, where they were present (or lacking), etc.
• Share The Codec with students through your classroom platform.
  • It may be beneficial to review any of the concepts within the Codec they may not be familiar with.
• Allow time for students to complete the Codec according to the method you selected during your prep.

Debrief

Student reflections can be shared directly with you, their peers via virtual breakout rooms in a platform like Zoom, posted via a discussion board on your classroom platform, collaborating within a Google Doc or Padlet, etc.

• Where did you see [insert Foundational Value] during this activity?
• Where did you see [insert Foundational Value] lacking during this activity?
• How did your behavior align with the Foundational Values?
• How did any of the 10 economic principles impact this activity and/or your behavior?