We reviewed Natalie's first draft of her lengthy essay on fiscal policy as means of addressing income inequality. I made some usage suggestions , and we together reviewed some of the supplemental material I distributed to locate additional analysis and data to add to the paper. In that regard, Natalie asked about the role of labor unions and we discussed unions ,strikes and the recent decline in the strength of unions as a cause of income inequality. We then looked over material on the economic philosophy of John Keynes, Kenneth Galbraith, and Frederich Hayek . I made suggestions where to incorporate more details on this area into the essay. Last, we addressed the conclusion paragraph wherein Natalie is to make policy suggestions. While initially hesitant, she made sound policy suggestions such as government sponsored or paid college tuition and government sponsored universal healthcare as fiscal policy alternatives. On the tax side, I suggested she consider what amount of income should be significantly taxed and at what level. For the remainder of the class, Natalie read from the textbook about public goods such as roads and bridges and the means for funding public goods. For homework over the next week,Natalie is rewriting and working on her essay. Her first draft was a very good start!

Natalie needed help studying for a standardized test on quantitative reasoning, algebra, and statistics. We agreed that she would try to do problems on her own unless she didn't have any idea how to solve them. Otherwise, I was there to solve the problems independent of her and check whether the answers were correct. We completed 15 multiple choice questions and Natalie was very successful overall. There was no assignment.

In connection with our study of the various forms of business ownership, today I placed on the whiteboard the various types of organizational documents pertinent to each form of business .For example, corporations are formed by filing Articles of Incorporation, LLCs by filing Articles of Organization. I further discussed the role of corporate by-laws and the purpose of the legal requirement to file annual reports. We then online looked at the Secretary of State website and reviewed the actual organizational documents and annual reports filed by Publix, and One Way Cafe. Natalie was surprised at how much information that might be considered personal was available on line. In looking at the documents,however, I showed her how much of what is on line is really the same boiler-plate bland legal verses used by many business organizations. Nevertheless, these documents served as a great tool to discuss how shareholders elect a Board of Directors, how corporations issue stock, and how LLCs differ in that they are run by manager(s) and issue "units" of ownership instead of stock certificates. Natalie is working on a lengthy essay / economics paper due next week. As such ,there will no other homework this week. We will review her first draft in class tomorrow.

Natalie studied and took an open-book test on Modernism in British Literature. Today's focus was on William Butler Yeats. Natalie wrote a short paraphrase of a portion of his poem "Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen." She then continued on the "Project" of a creative Timeline for British Literature. I corrected and returned yesterday's 'Literary Terms Test,' and today's work on Modernism.

I checked Natalie's homework and found several errors but they seemed to be careless errors.
I then reviewed with her the various rules for determing divisibility by 2,3,5,9,10. She said she understood the procedure for those calculations so I arranged an assignment for her to do independent work. I then waited in the teachers' work room until she came to get me. I checked her work and she made some errors. She missed divisibility by 10, by 3, and by 9. When I told her about her errors, she explained that she didn't use the rules to get the answers. I gave her an assignment to help reinforce the lesson.

Natalie took notes on the advantages of the corporate form of owning a business over the partnership form of owning a business. Building on her work of yesterday which examined the income statement of a business, I explained how corporations can take advantage of the tax benefits of depreciating older assets. We further examined how the corporate form of ownership insulates owners from contract liabilities and provides an avenue to raise capital. Last, I mentioned how the LLC form of ownership has in great part replaced the corporate form of ownership for many smaller businesses. I distributed a study guide and questions I prepared on partnerships, corporations and LLCs ,and Natalie answered the questions on partnership after which we addressed the limited partnership form of ownership. For homework, I assigned reading on the corporate form of ownership and completing the study guide questions on corporations. We will go over the assignment on Tuesday and on Wednesday review Natalie's first draft of her economics essay.

I administered a literary terms test to Natalie. After completing it, she read 'The Heart of Darkness',(Joseph Conrad). Natalie stated that she was reading a translation, but that she found it a bit confusing and was unsure just why she was reading it.

I checked Natalie's homework assignment and she did all problems correctly. I then showed her examples of solving equations by multiplying or dividing by decimals. I gave her a group of selected problems to do independently and left for the teachers' work room to wait while Natalie completed the assignment. She came for me with about 8 minutes left. I checked her work which was mostly correct. I then gave her an assignment.

After checking Natalie's homework and finding it to be perfect, I demonstrated for her how to use addition or subtraction of decimals to solve one-step equations. I then gave her six problems to do while I went to the teachers' work room to wait for her to work independently.
After she came and got me, I checked her work and she had a few errors from not lining up decimals. I gave her a short assignment.

As Natalie has requested an essay writing assignment , we today spent the entire period reviewing the sources for her essay and formulating a detailed outline. Initially, we discussed the essay topic: Can fiscal policy address income inequality?" Then using the whiteboard, I demonstrated various ways to formulate a topic sentence and an opening paragraph. Next,using the whiteboard , I outlined the second area of the essay: divergent economic philosophies of the economists we have studied. We listed the economists and separated them by their view on the role the government should play in the economy. Based on the hand-out on income inequality ,we next ,in the outline, defined the term "income inequality" and listed its reported causes. Natalie copied the outline in her notebook , participated in class discussion on the causes of income inequality, and analyzed a chart showing unequal income distribution. Last, I placed on the whiteboard outline ideas for a final argument as to whether government spending and tax policy can reverse the trend of income inequality. We discussed the way Western European countries spend their money versus how the US government spends its revenue. The first draft is due next Wednesday and the final essay will be due on Thursday,March 14. In the interim ,we will in class address any questions Natalie has on the writing and study forms of business ownership such as partnerships and corporations . For tomorrow's class I assigned reading pages 516-519.