A True Purple Cow...

If I worked for McDonald's I would start doing this on off ramps

Making sense out of Seuss

While reading Dr. Seuss books with my daughter I started realizing how much his books related to business education. Take Horton for example, not only is there a reference to shirking but the quote of the book can be taken so many ways. "A person is a person no matter how small" could be related to a niche is niche no matter how small...and "We are here, we are here" a motto for all entrepreneurs, managers and business educators. The Grinch has an subliminal theme of giving to charities because "maybe Christmas does not come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more..." Of course, "The Places You Will Go" is all about careers but yet once again can be related to sales, management and entrepreneurship. So the next time you are reading to your child, nephew, cousin or whomever take a look at Dr. Seuss and see what you can find if you actually ate a new product such as Green Eggs and Ham.

Does anyone do a scavenger hunt at a DECA/BPA conference?

I have been thinking about doing this for some time at our state conference. Post a comment and let me know if you have done this and what items you have your kids search for.

Similarities of Logos

Similarities of Logos

Today after reading AdAge and sharing information to my students, we immediately became confused on the idea the Pepsi logo looks like the one that Obama developed for his campaign. After further review, I question the idea that logos are similar. On BNET there is the list of the four logos (pictured). It created a unique discussion in class about the colors of logos and also the importance of shape.

Another activity that is great to use is the Retail Alphabet Game. It can be a great activity to use in the classroom.

WOW!!! They are reading and actually like doing it and so do I...

I have always wanted my students to read more business books but I did not want them to do the same old silent reading with a study guide and concluding with a test.  While at a district wide meeting I learned about literacy circles, so I decided to give them a shot.  I decided to have my senior advanced marketing students read Jim Collin’s Good To Great.  The first discussion day was the better than I expected!!!  Even the students who are normally class shirkers were participating and seemed to be very involved.  I can not wait to see what else happens using literacy circles.  If you want to see my hand outs feel free email me.   

 

 

What can I do to reinforce the concepts taught in my Accounting Class?

As an elective teacher we are faced with having to disguise the learning in our classes. Our students get plenty of worksheets from their math and english teachers. We need to accomplish the same thing but without the worksheet listing the concepts.

In Accounting I like to use Monopoly to do this. We play every week to reinforce the concepts studied that week. Playing Monopoly in accounting is nothing new. I am not the first to do this but I am at my school. The kids love it and the game can grow with you. There is a small initial investment for the games or you can even have the kids bring one in from home. Have the students work in teams of two and create a team or company name. Then you need forms. You can create or download these or you can even buy them. I start with the 5 column General Journal and then add in the General Ledger. Once you get to the sections on financial statements you can have them create worksheets, Balance and income statements along with post closing trial balance sheets.

You can make this work for your accounting classes at all levels and its not to late start. You don't have to play every week but when you tell your students that you are going to be playing Monopoly your students will have fun. You need to walk around a monitor the class as they may not want to track their transactions.

The First Day Of A New Semester.

If you think about it, the first day of a semester is just like the first time you walk into a new store. Within the first five minutes students will decide whether they will want to be in your class or not. Thus, I do not hand out a syllabus the fist day I try to take advantage of the opportunity and make my classes stand out.

One way I attempt this is on the first day of class, I ask the students why do they have a job? I will get answers ranging from to make money, to pay bills, to pay for college, etc... after letting the students run out of ideas on why they have a job I tell them they are all wrong. Informing the students that the only reason they have a job is because of the customer. I use the circular flow model and explain how the customer starts everything as well how there are different types of customers (B to B).

What different activities do you do to start off the semester?

Thanks for reading and remember it takes ALL of us to make all of us better educators.