Exponential Growth of Spring Zombie Brain Decay

Mother's Day weekend was phenomenal. From the giant-sized Frosty ice cream inflatable, to fishing off the dock at the cabin, to sunning my zombie-pale skin on a deck cushion until I looked more like a salmon filet... I was pampered by the hubby, my folks, and occasionally, my children. And now, only 16 days of school left!! (We made a count-down for my classroom door to staunch the flow of students asking over and over again HOW MANY DAYS LEFT OF SCHOOL)

We even have it marked with special days, like "Next Friday is Exploratory Day!" and "June 4th all Library Books are due!" and "Last Day of School: Valley Fair field trip!" so... technically there are really only 13 or 14 actual educational days left. And boy are we feelin' it! 82 degrees outside today!?

After having completed our review lesson, I took my math classes outside to do homework in the sun. There were naturally groups laying out to tan while they worked, and others finished with work frolicking near the soccer nets (luckily NOT trying to stick their heads through the gaps). And.... then there were the three gangly, 5'10" seventh grade boys CHASING BUTTERFLIES through the field. No joke.

They actually caught one and brought it to me. Alive. I was literally RITG (rolling in the grass) LMAO (expletive deleted). It really is a crying shame that more middle schools don't have playground equipment, or some sort of rec area for kids to go blow off steam. Just to run a few laps, or climb on something (other than my classroom desks and counters) and BE A KID! We do often forget, that even though middle schoolers have grown-up sized bodies at their disposal, there are still actual children living inside those big bodies with children's desires... to run and play and be free and have FUN.

So... the challenge of keeping zombified middle school brains from decaying past the point of no return is getting harder by the minute. Thus, it's CAREER PROJECT TIME! 

First Task: Brainstorm and create an ACTUAL, working resume to keep in Word format, and edit throughout the rest of their middle/high school careers. You'd be amazed how many activities, sports, awards, jobs and volunteer opportunities have been earned by even young zombies. 

Second Task: Research and choose a plausible professional career that they (students) are interested in; including how much schooling they will need, how much money they will make, and the demand for said career.

Third Task: Research and contact a college or trade school where students might likely obtain said training for the career in their second task. Find out how much  the annual tuition, books, room and board are; as well as how rigorous the admissions procedures are. What kinds of activities and skills do they look for?

Fourth Task: Research and/or contact a local bank to find out the typical interest rates on student loans. Write an equation for the duration and annual costs to attend school for the expected amount of time to obtain necessary degrees. Calculate inflation both for yearly tuition cost increases; as well as the compound interest accumulated on the loan over the 4+ years in attendance (this is an accelerated class after all!)

Fifth Task: Calculate the expected monthly payments required to pay back the college loan, and write a summary report comparing these payments to the income and lifestyle each student expects to realize as a young professional.

I will upload more information once I've detailed out a "real" project description and created a rubric. My zombie brain is already half dead and it's only Monday...