Using Blogs in IB Business & Management

This year, I taught an IB (international baccalaureate) Business & Management course for the first time. This was my first experience with the IB program, and I was excited to have the opportunity. I felt that the year went well, but I am trying to devise new ways to improve my students' performance.

I am going to implement an interactive class website next year. The really unique thing I want to do with the website is include a blog where I post prompts related to something that was covered during the week, and students will be given a week to respond. I think requiring them to write weekly in this blog will give them more practice writing, which is essential for writing a long-term research paper called the Internal Assessment and passing the IB exam at the end of the year. Additionally, the components I've included in the rubric for the blog will require them to "dig deeper" in their writing, cite sources, and provide scholarly comments on the postings of their peers.

The components of the rubric were designed to push them toward a more collegiate level of writing. They will be graded on how completely they addressed the prompt, along with whether they referred to any real business issues in their entry. My hope is that the students begin to make more connections with current events or at least recognize that what they are learning in the textbook is more than just theoretical. I also am requiring them to include citations and hyperlinks to reliable sources because I want them to get more practice using the Internet as a research tool.

Negatives Turn to Positives

This week I've experienced some very unexpected and negative things, but I made a promise to myself that I would become a more positive and faithful person. That was the best decision I could have made. It seems like ever since I made that declaration, even the negative things that life has thrown at me have turned into overwhelming positives.

I have gotten such a pouring out of support from people this week. My heart is full, and I am more than persuaded that love, joy, and positive thinking are greater forces in the world than hate, bitterness, and negativity could ever be. I am also convinced that the "good" people in the world outnumber the "misguided" people. It's just that the good people whisper, while the others tend to scream.

Maybe someday the good and positive people will turn up the volume or get an amplifier, but maybe that's not how it's supposed to be. The Bible says the meek shall inherit the earth. Perhaps, people are meant to come to a positive way of thinking through kindness and gentleness, not by being bombarded by positive zealots.

Nevertheless, I feel more than blessed that I have experienced for myself the rewards of staying calm and allowing things to work themselves out. I hope that more people hear the whispers through the screams and are persuaded this way.

Bursting at the Seams

If you're like my school, one of the only high schools on the transfer list, this is almost not funny...

Teacher Appreciation Week

It's Teacher Appreciation Week, and I hope all the teachers reading this have had a good last few days. We've been getting treats each day, such as candy and apples, provided by our PTA. Today, our cafeteria staff made us breakfast. So, I'll admit that we have it pretty good here.

I recently found this blog post called "Screw Teacher Appreciation Week." The author has a problem with her child's teacher, and she is definitely not going to show her any appreciation this week or ever. What's even more interesting than what the author wrote are some of the comments from others.

Check out that post, and let me know what you think. Do you think the room mother's requests are out of line?

A Few Kind Words Go A Long Way

Yesterday was a particularly tough day for me. Besides some of my students behaving badly, I attended a meeting after school, during which someone insulted what I teach. This person basically implied that the business education classes I (and many others) teach were essentially a waste of time. Basically, this person said that due to block scheduling, students are spending less time in core classes and more time in classes that are not as useful.

Now, I understand what this person was "trying" to say, but after a long day, it just did not rub me the right way. I know that what I teach is an elective. I know that my classes are not a graduation requirement, but many students have found them to be very useful.

Nevertheless, the point of this blog is not to discuss the validity of business education courses. I really want to say what a difference another teacher made in my day.

Later, when I was walking in the parking lot toward my car, another teacher stopped me. She was already driving her car, but she pulled off to the side to speak to me. She said she has been so impressed by what I have done during only four years at the school. And she said she just wanted me to know how lucky our school was to have me on staff.

I almost started to tear up hearing her words. She didn't have to pause to tell me any of that. She was already in her car. She could have just kept driving. But she went out of her way to be kind to me. She could not have known how I was feeling, but what a difference she made in my afternoon.

I guess you never know what a few kind words may mean to a person. We should probably be more generous in offering them.

Mock Interviews with Students

Today, I held mock job interviews with my students. I have taught job skills to my classes each year, but this is the first time I've done mock interviews that were video-taped. The suggestion was made during one of our common planning sessions. Then, another teacher at my school did the mock interviews with her class. So, I decided to give it a try.

We only got finished with half the class. So, I can hopefully finish the rest of the class on Monday if students are not absent. I must say I underestimated how exhausting it would be. I tried to maintain the same demeanor with each student, but by the time I was doing my 10th student in the last class, I was pretty tired.

A few of the students really impressed me with what they had to say. Others, who I thought might really "ham it up" based on how they behave in class were actually pretty subdued. Once I'm finished with all the students, we will watch the video as a class and have some constructive criticism. I think watching themselves and their peers on the video is where a lot of the learning will really take place.

Though it has been a lot of work, I think this was a good lesson and a great time to use it. At the end of the year, teachers really have to try to find lessons that will be engaging. This one worked really well. I think I will do this each year toward the end of the term.