Accounting II Independent Study

I know I can say I am a teacher because of my high school accounting teacher Mrs. Nancy Nelson.  I had never been in a class where what ever was explained I "just got it".  When I went to college it took me a long time to decide upon a major.  Accounting or be a teacher (my mom was elementary ed).  Half way through my sophomore year it hit me, I SHOULD TEACH ACCOUNTING!  What a ride it has been.

I tell me classes every year that I am a teacher because of accounting.  But I also remember my senior year of high school I could not take accounting II because it was only offered the same hour as band.  How could I choose between the two.  I had been in Band since 5th grade but I LOVED accounting.  Mrs. Nelson talked to me and said I could take it independent study.  Work on my own reading the book and complete the assignments.  She gave me a general calendar (but I went ahead a little) and I took tests when I got to them.  I was in such appreciation of Mrs. Nelson making this accommodation for me that I do the same thing for my accounting II students. But now I offer accounting II as an independent study during the hour that I am teaching Accounting I.  I know they have a lot more questions than I did and that  is OK.  As a teacher I go through and record every section of the book for students to watch to learn how to complete the assignments.
I know not all students watch it, but I make it there available for them.  I do the same thing in Accounting I, when I teach a section I record it and publish it to the web for students to watch when they are absent or to review prior to the test.

This does take me time, but I hope it is empowering students to take command of their learning and use the tools available to them.

Thank You Mrs. Nelson for inspiring me to be the person that I am today!  Your confidence in me has taken me many places !

Here is one of my videos for Accounting II;

CISCO Academy Webinar

Tonight I was in on a Webinar learning about how the current structure of my CISCO PC hardware essentials class is going to change.  It looks like they are trying to streamline the management and organization of how schools/institutions use and manage their current CISCO courses.

Because of the limited amount of courses I offer this will change my one course and it was discussed at a much larger scale than is related to me.  I want to be kept up to date on changes but it was difficult for me to engaged because I am such a small role in their big cog of educating students on computer skills.

This is the recorded Webinar

Here is a video some of my student did in my CISCO course.  I really enjoyed watching students  develop the storyline for the video.

Classroom Set up-day 2, technology coach?

So before and after my work today on Quickbooks I was also trying to setup my classroom.  Things that I know I still have to do, receive and put away all the ordered material.  Including stamping all the new books for Office 2010 that we are getting.  Separate books for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and of course Publisher.  That fun still awaits me.

I did have the privilege of talking with our district technology guru today (what a nice guy :) ).  I shared with him a problem that I noticed on my machine, and thought might cause some problems for teachers/staff unable to find a solution.  So here it is: when I click on my documents it gives me an error message saying it can't be found.  I can very easily find it by clicking on my computer and then clicking my drive on the server, but any spot in windows that says my documents use to go to my drive on the network now doesn't work.  Andy (the nice computer guru) changed some things (I know technical term) on the network in order to manage it better (YEA!), but this is what cause the problem.  The direct point to my files on the server location is wrong, so I think it will be wrong for everyone at the high school ??  So is it better to know and fix now, I hope so otherwise there will be a lot of tech support tickets going out on it.

I also talked with Andy about getting my computer up to Windows 7.  My entire lab is Windows 7 and I thoroughly believe I should be demonstrating within the same environment that that the students are working in. So we had a big discussion on Windows Licensing and and nice new automation to work with Windows using a KMS update (I am hoping that I am remembering it correctly) and how this great automation system is not working and he is working to determine what the issue is.  Good Luck!

After my quickbooks session I was then able to meet with my Principal and Vice Principal to discuss the schedule for next year and what it looks like for the business department.  My district has been great on maintaining high moral for employees through the issue happening in Wisconsin and to teacher unions, so I was nervous to find out what they really wanted from Cindy and I.

Reduced funding means reduce staff.  How is this happening?  Not hiring back all the retirees that left, some positions are going unfilled and others are being filled by half-time staff, but I always hear on how they are looking to best suit the needs of the students.  Cindy is going to be working a some capacity in the Middle School.  She has done this previously and is very willing and excited to do this.  The problem being is they don't know what she is teaching or even what grade.  Let me tell you this dose not sit well with her.  Cindy is a great planner and likes to have the time to think through what she will be doing and what is the best way possible to attain this.  I know she will be do a fantastic job, but I was really hoping that this meeting would alleviate some of her stress, alas not yet.

I had for most of last year meet with the principal for 1 prep period a week talking about technology and where we can go and what Seymour can do.  I know we missed weeks, but I can't say how much this has helped our communication.  Prior to last school year I didn't feel appreciated or valued for my knowledge or contribution to the school, so I am glad to have put the time in to build that relationship.  So what does that mean for my schedule?  I am now going to have time during the day to teach teacher technology!  Yippee!  I have lots of ideas, exciting (just hope I don't lose contact wit my FBLA kids).

I did ask for a statement or sheet from my principal and vice principal on their goals/vision or thoughts on what they would like to have accomplished during my time.  I have ideas, but I need to make sure that we are both on the same page.  So if you have ideas on how I can help get the technology train moving.  Let me know.  I know one of my first steps is Google Apps up and running for students and staff and the school (then training them on how to use it).

So busy day 6 hours on my previous post on quickbooks and 3 hours on this.  Don't forget you can click on the link on the right to see my total hours work today.  Current I am 221.5 hours since school got out.  That is over 5.5 weeks if you say you work 40 hours a week.