This page reserved for sharing of creative classroom ideas, projects, and activities.
Share your own idea. If we use it here or in any of our other publications, we’ll automatically enter you in our 1-in-50 opportunity to earn a $500 reward. Entry is automatic. Each time we get to 50 published teaching ideas and/or best practices, we draw one winning entry. No forms, no cost. All you do is submit a creative idea. We’ll edit for brevity and clarity. E-Mail gleason@Mark-ED.org (Subject: Entrepreneurship Teaching Idea). Be sure to include your name and complete contact information.
Click here for an update on the number of submissions accepted to date.
For best practices in developing entrepreneurship programs, click here.
Inventing the future
I have my students get into groups of no more than three people and create an invention at the beginning of the sales unit. They must bring material to work on the invention each day that they are in class and keep a list of all the materials that are involved in producing their prototype. >From this list, they determine the variable cost and a price for the invention. The students then develop a sales presentation for this invention. The sales presentation must cover each step in the sales process and include a feature-benefit chart and two sales aides. After this step, the students must develop a promotional mix for their invention. The students must utilize each of the elements involved in a promotional mix, including developing a premium or incentive for their invention. The students enjoy being inventors.
Dena Howe
Muskogee, OK
Creative Critique
PBS offers a “Small Business School” that features small business case studies. I record (with proper clearances) shows focused on high-interest businesses–i.e. youth-oriented businesses. (One such example was T-Bone Films, an extreme-sports video company featuring skateboarding, sky diving, etc.) After watching the 20-22 minute segment, students work on a business plan guide that I prepare. They use the guide to critique various aspects of the business we viewed. The activity is fun, real, and a useful way to help them understand the incredible range of options available to anyone with a creative idea and a good work ethic.
Olivia Bracken
Wakefield, MA
New and Improved
As part of my product/service management unit, we discuss the importance of a continuing flow of new ideas into the product/service mix. To help illustrate the point, I identify one well-known company for each student in my class. (Try to select companies of interest to your students. Think Fortune 1000–e.g., Kodak, Coca-Cola, Honda, Limited.) We draw for names.
Students then go to the Internet to explore the nature of their companies and their newest additions/changes to the product mix. (Annual reports often contain information about products under development that may not be included in marketing literature for the general public.)
Based on the Internet research, each student prepares a short presentation outlining what s/he’s found and why the changes to product mix are (or are not) significant in this particular situation. I ask them to be very specific about the selling points (benefits) that might be associated with each change or addition to a given company’s mix.
We conclude the lesson with a discussion on the importance of keeping things (i.e., the product mix) new and exciting for established companies. We talk about the value of adding, improving, and eliminating individual products. The little bit of research done by each student adds considerably to both their interest in the topic and in their ability to make the discussion “real.”
Jill Bridges
Layton, UT
All New Mustard?
Many small entrepreneurs hang their hats on the development of a specialized product. Often, the product is based on a long-time hobby (e.g., homemade jewelry) or a particular talent developed over time (e.g., cooking). Many of these home-grown entrepreneurs have little marketing expertise; frequently, they haven’t even thought through who the potential market might be nor how large the potential. To that end, as we study the product management competencies, I invite several of these entrepreneurs in to discuss how they worked through the various steps of the process. Many times, my students are able to generate new ideas to help the entrepreneur move to the next level. A recent example is a person who shared her ideas about developing a mustard dressing. Input from my students was very helpful to her as she finalized her plans to get the new product on local store shelves.
Bill Rivard
Lake Region, VT
Reaching Down
Marketing teachers may be surprised to learn how much marketing education (particularly in the broad area of entrepreneurship) is happening in the elementary schools. We take advantage of the elementary teacher’s interest by volunteering to teach mini-lessons on a wide range of topics. As teachers work through a project with the young kids, my students take turns helping them learn the basics of resumes, merchandising, inventory, POS terminal operation, and more. Often, we end up helping them start and run (usually for a short time) their own school mini-store. Our efforts with the kids help reinforce lessons my own students are learning and help create positive PR for our program. In the years to come, I expect to see some of these students enrolled in my high school program.
Dennis Villeneuve
Rice Lake, WI
Investors Needed
Instead of a formal, written exam at the end of the year, my class develops a business plan throughout the year. For the "final," they update and rewrite the plan and then develop a presentation for their potential investors. Using PowerPoint or its equivalent, students demonstrate their selling and communications skills as they make the case for investment dollars. Their classmates then evaluate the plan based on criteria that might be used by a financial institution or other money-lender. The project serves as a terrific review for the year, adds a "fun" and useful dimension as they master PowerPoint, and allows each individual student to participate in all others’ projects. The best presentations become a terrific tool for showing off to the administration and other interested teachers or counselors.
Sandra Bell-Duckworth
Westerville, OH
Playing Safe
If students are going to run businesses, they need to understand how the law works to protect their customers. The more my students know, the less likely they are to get into legal problems as they assume managerial responsibilities in the real world. To make the point, I start with the LAP as an introduction. Then, students break up into groups and spend a day or two researching each of the key laws or regulations (Use the Internet!), looking for changes in the laws and, to make it interesting, for real-life case examples they can share. Oral presentations by each group are used to be sure that everyone gets a broad overview of the law and the issues associated with managing a business.
Brenda Clark
Jenison, MI