What an hour looks like
Six parts, in the same order every week. Roughly half of it is students doing something rather than listening.
- 01
Recap
Four cards from last week, cold‑called. Nobody stays quietly lost.
- 02
Core ideas
One at a time, each with a plain‑language definition.
- 03
Diagrams
A real chart per concept. Working tools, not decoration.
- 04
Activities
Three or four, taking up about half the hour.
- 05
Exit ticket
A written answer handed in on the way out.
- 06
Preview
One minute on next week, so students arrive curious.
Failing first is the point
The usual order is to define a term and then illustrate it. We run it backwards. A student who has spent ten minutes failing to sell wheat above the market price does not need to memorise what a price taker is — they have already been one.
It is slower per concept. It sticks far better.
Your team has a fixed budget and wants to launch a wireless carrier. You add up what the towers cost. You cannot afford them. Neither can anyone else in the room.
You have just discovered why Canada has three big carriers and not thirty. That is a barrier to entry.
What students actually do
Five minutes to twelve minutes each. The last activity of every session is a build: teams invent something from scratch and present it.
The Company Challenge
Pick a company you know. Find its land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship.
The Candy Auction
Everyone gets the same budget and bids for candy, one round at a time. Spend early on something you only half want, and you cannot afford the one you actually came for.
The Wheat Market
Everyone is a farmer selling identical wheat. Try charging more. Discover you cannot.
Where Does It Go?
A relay race building the longest valid chain of who pays whom, starting from a $20 hoodie.
Four Corners
Sort real businesses into the four market structures by walking to a corner — then defend it out loud.
Break Into the Market
Launch a wireless carrier on a fixed budget. Find out you cannot afford the towers.
Build Your Own Economy
Found a country, draw its circular flow, then respond to a crisis card that arrives unannounced.
The Start‑Up Challenge
Invent a company, choose the market you are entering, and name the barrier that will protect you.
Come and watch an hour
Saturdays, 10 to 11 am at the Glen Abbey Community Centre library. Not every Saturday — dates go out in the WeChat group.