Local Officer Training Day 2

Up to start the day at 6 a.m. after going to sleep at 1 a.m.  Boy do students love to be in a hotel room away from students.  We did have a productive night.  Our president had a great agenda put together for the day and we got through most of it (the rest we will conquer later).

Today started with a breakfast buffet provided with the registration (it was yummy lots of fresh fruit). Then into the opening session.  We were there for the session and watched students interact and then it was off to a meeting with just the business teachers.

Our DPI Consultant Jen Wegner is a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic supporter of education. She brought to our meeting some great resources.  Our meeting started by talking about the current condition of business departments in the state due to the decrease in funding and that a majority of our courses are not required for graduation.  That lead into Jen's first handout which was pulled together by another content area and was modified for Business & Information Technology (B&IT), Programs in Peril.  One of the biggest steps is to be Pro-Active, develop your professional support networks, be involved in district planning, and understand student motivation and interest.  There are 15 points on this document and as a non required teacher it really makes you think about your job and role in the entire education setting.

Then we covered the calendar for the upcoming year.  There were already lots of professional learning opportunities this July but still even more to come this school year.  Wisconsin Business Education Association  (WBEA) and DPI are teaming to offering spring updates.  They will be offered in 6 different locations around the state of Wisconsin and I made sure I got the date on my calendar to attend the one in Green Bay.  2011-2012 B&IT Calendar

Since the state of Wisconsin is in such peril for funding in for education every dollar is scrutinized and we discussed the use of the Career Technical Education (CTE) website which offers facts and data on the importance of all CTE (Ag, FACE, Tech Ed, and Business)  Here is a great video with highlighting the importance of all CTE 

Next we discussed the changing role of accounting in high school.  Do we teach accounting as it is in college or do we give an exposure to the area and then let them learn more at their high educational institutions.  Have a career research piece is important so students know all of the areas that they can do with accounting.  I am going to add more pieces to my course this year.  I have also made connections at Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) with having transcripted and articulated credit.  But the rules and regulations are constantly changing and it is hard to keep up with their changing rules.

We then covered dates and important changes for Wisconsin Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).  Have a state officer and working on the state conference planning committee I was already aware of many of these changes but still thinking about how to implement and have my local chapter have a successful year.

We then came to the sharing time.  OK, I admit I forgot to bring anything.  I will blame it on being at the lake for the 2 weeks prior to attending.  Michelle McGlynn and Jan Imhoff provided some great resources on classroom activities and Paul from Pulaski gave some handouts on running a school store.  Other great discussion was had about activities.  I always love hearing ideas and getting motivated for the school year.

The afternoon was left for us to work on projects.  I set up all of our officers with a gmail account and next I will be creating a calendar to share with the accounts so they know dates and responsibilities.

We left the Dells around 3:30 and drove home around 6.  So 12 hours on this great day of work.  The drive home students were energized and discussed ideas and projects for the year.  Watch out FBLA already has their homecoming float idea.

Local Officer Training Day 1

Having a state officer is a great opportunity for our school, it is also a time commitment.  A conference is being hosted to train Local Officers.  I had to make sure that the reservation for the hotel was completed as well as registration done.  This took about 45 minutes (including coordinating student travel and time frames).

On the first day of the conference I meet students at school at 10 a.m. and we got equipment and supplies from the business department.  We then had a 2.5 hour drive using the school vehicle to arrive at Wisconsin Dells.  Curfew for the night is Midnight.

During the day students learned about completing a program of work (planning for the upcoming year).  Setting goals, presentations skills and getting our local chapter officers ready to go for the year.

Prior to student arriving I worked on the computer getting caught up on work. Arriving at school at 8 a.m. curfew at midnight.

Hours logged   16 hours.

Office 2010

Technology I Love it!  Technology I hate it!  Ok, so which one is it?

The challenge of learning new skills and programs is so invigorating, but it is a constant upkeep of what needs to be learned and what is taught and what should be taught in my Business Classroom.

My colleague and I decided to switch our classroom to Office 2010 for next school year.  This change involves numerous impacts to teaching, because my classroom is a computer lab.

----Change -----
1. Articulated classes with FVTC (Fox Valley Technical College).  Currently we have articulated classes with FVTC for Word I & II, Excel I & II, Access I & II, and PowerPoint.  Due to the change at the technical school for their class offerings so we can not offer our courses the same way.  We had a choice of 3 credit articulated classes or individual 1 credit options.

I am so lucky that my colleague that took the lead on this.  She communicated with the college, text book rep and the online testing company we will need to use.  I would say to date I have put in 1.5 hours of work checking on work and discussing options with my colleague (I know that she has more than triple that amount of work)

2. New textbooks means new data for projects (as well as the time to get the price quote and have the school purchase the books).  Uploading files for classes Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint.  Each class would take a minimum of 45 minutes.  I tackled that project last year again I can't say enough about having someone to work with that is so AWESOME!  She said she would do this!  Thank you.  So even though I am not doing it I want people reading to understand what need to be done over 3.5 hours of work just uploading files that students can use in class.

3.  Learning curve!  I love to learn, but I know need to learn how to do what I already know with the new software.  There are lots of tutorials online, but also getting it loaded on a computer that I can learn at home. Plus making sure that my computer lab of 27 computers is updated to the most current software is also a step that must be checked.

4. Funding.  Working with our curriculum director we procured funds through Carl Perkins to purchase the textbooks.  This was numerous meetings and working with the CESA director for the funding to make sure all procedures were followed.

This post is different because it encompasses several days and discussions.  But this project started in April and is still a work in process.

Through out it all I would say I have 3 hour of work in.  But my great partner would have a minimum 10 hours on this project.

NLC Wrap Up

The National Leadership conference is over and it is so great that we had someone from Seymour on stage taking 4th place!  What a great reward for their hard work.

Wrapping up for the conference.  I had to go into school to verify payment for tours from all participants were received (what great kids, they were all done).  This took about 45 minutes (because of the paperwork that needs to be done to document everything)

Also needed to be sure that all the equipment was returned from the presentations.  Laptops, projectors, speakers, clickers, etc.  So far I am only missing 1 projector.  I will be texting the student to get that taken care of.  This follow up took about 30 minutes.

Writing of the press release so that students get recognized in the community for their hard work.  This took 15 minutes.

The Brat Fry that was held as a fund raiser still had numerous items that had be returned or put back to their proper spot.  I had removed them from my vehicle and placed them in my classroom, but it was a mess.  Luckly I had a student stop by and help me out.  What took me 1.5 hours was cut in half because of the help!  THANK YOU!!!

So this wrap up took 3 hours.

NLC - Day 7 Traveling Home

I have stayed in a lot of hotels for student activities and checking out multiple rooms with tax exempt status and paying with one check (yup not credit card) will cause problems.  I typically plan to spend 1 hour (minimum) checking out.  The line at the counter is long as the entire convention is checking out all on the same day and we are all checking out multiple rooms.  Luckily I don't have to do this too early because our flight home is not until noon.  I did arrange on Friday for our shuttle to the airport (we purchased round trip when we arrived -so I knew students had paid for it already and I didn't have to cover anyone running out of funds - yes has happened and I don't always get reimbursed).

Also the night before I had all students go in and check-in for their flight home.  If they were checking bags we paid for that using credit card to reduce problems at the airport.  We met in the hotel lobby at 9:30 a.m. and I had no problems checking out.  Thank you Hilton Orlando!

Shuttle was on time and we got checked in and through security without a hitch.  I was constantly reminding student about TSA rules and regulations.  I prepped the kids that we would eat lunch at the airport prior to our flight so they didn't eat at the hotel.

small plane from Chicago to Appleton

All flights were on time and great (not so lucky for Oconto Falls who' flight to Green Bay was cancelled in Chicago, nightmare anytime traveling, but try it with a group of teenagers who are all sleep deprived).  We did need to move briskly to our gate in Chicago because we didn't have a lot of time, but we made it.

A quick flight from Green Bay to Appleton and we were home.  All parents/rides were at the airport and students were able to get home safely.  Another successful trip for Seymour.  I was not able to get all equipment that day so know I need to coordinate the return on laptops, projectors, speakers, extension cords, remote clickers.  But that will be another post.

Last day of NLC only a 8 hour work day.  But I am home!  

NLC - Day 6

This day is much more relaxing.  The hard work is done it is now just wait until awards ceremony to find out places.  We start the day with a NorthCentral meeting where Seymour gets to vote on the new NorthCentral VicePresident.  The meeting starts at 9:15 a.m. and goes for and hour.  Following that it is DisneyQuest.  The entire Seymour delegation is going to play some games.  This activity will be about 4 hours and we pre-purchased the tickets and transportation

Upon getting back from there a quick bit for an early dinner and it is awards time.  This is where we find out how we did compared to the Nation.  The music is pumping kids are excited and all dressed up.  The awards program is broadcast live and parents back in Wisconsin watch to see if their child makes the stage.

All events are done in alphabetic order so that helps the students to know when to get excited and to notify parents on when to watch the live broadcast.

Seymour makes the state and places 4th in the Nation for E-Business.  So proud of their hard work and they get a $200 cash award for their efforts!

Seymour is 4th!  YEAH!

The awards program last around 2.5 hours and then we go back to the hotel.  The last night and kids hit the pool and the dance being hosted by the conference.  Midnight and it is curfew and bed checks.

16 hour day again.