"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Robert Frost
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Robert Frost
Welcome to the Business and Administrative Services CTE Online Resources Page. Below are some online resources and best practices that were used, to facilitate both classroom and online learning, within this pathway. Any comments or questions may be forwarded to Leah Prescott at lprescott@wellsville.k12.oh.us.
My name is Leah Prescott, and I am the Business and Administrative Services Teacher at Wellsville High School. This year I will be teaching: Introduction to Business Foundations, Digital Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Publications and Introduction to Technology.
I am from a small town located on the Ohio River, in the middle of Appalachia. We struggle with many disadvantages, especially with every student having access to technology. I have included some online resources below that worked well this year in the classroom and with online learning. Helping students become well rounded individuals, who are integral parts of society includes utilizing strategies and best practices, that encompass more than just book learning and note taking. Below are also my Top 5 Best Practices I found effective in both the physical and online settings.
This short video explains why I chose these Top 5 Online Resources, and how these helped me to meet educational needs in both the classroom, and distance learning.
Google Classroom
This is available to teachers through the District's Google teacher accounts. It is a wonderful tool to utilize, because it can be accessed on any device with WIFI. I was even able to access it from an Xbox, which makes it a versatile tool to use for teachers and students. This video is a Google Classroom 101 user guide.
Edulastic
I loved this online tool for pre and post testing, and collecting data. It was amazing, because with every assessment I was able to see the exact class percentages and trends. It also has user friendly tutorials! This video is long but gives an in-depth overview and how-to-use tutorial of Edulastic.
VLA through
Progress Book
This was a resource utilized by our school district. It made online learning so accessible. I was able to create my own lessons and curriculum scope and sequence, as well as, use or alter pre-made lessons and resources. The video above gives an overview of how to create Virtual Learning Resources in ProgressBook.
My Classroom Economy
This is a wonderful money management tool that can be tailored for different classroom needs. This also helped with obtaining "meaningful behavior" from students, while being able to tailor it for a differentiated structure. This video gives an overview of the how to use the system, but the system is versatile.
Zoom
For the COVID teacher who could live without Zoom, or a similar platform! It enables video conferencing, and will be a wonderful asset in the classroom next year, if we do blended learning. This is a tutorial of how to get started using Zoom for online learning.
This video explains why I chose to integrate these Top 5 Best Practices into my courses, and how they helped to actively engage students. Again these worked both in the classroom and with online instruction.
Engage Students
Engaging students early before every class was a great way to connect with them, and get their minds focused on what they were going to be doing that day. Engagement can mean a great deal, but is so important for my classes. When I started making this a habit, everyday, every class, things began to run well. The video above gives some tips on engaging students early.
Detailed Weekly Agenda
Usually this would be a handout, or I would post this on the Smart Board, as well as, publishing it on Google Classroom. This helped students know what was expected each day. During the shut-down I also published daily agendas and tasks through email, Progress Book, as well as, reminders on our school Facebook account. The video above shows how to post homework and a class agenda in ProgressBook.
Keep Content Relevant
Quality learning over quantity! No busy work! Keeping content relevant helps the lesson to flow. During the shutdown relevant content could be a YouTube Video or an online simulation. One of my favorite online business games is www.zapitalism.com. This was actually available through a Google extension. The above video gives a Part 1 tutorial of how to play the game.
PROJECT BASED - HANDS ON LEARNING
Learning by doing, having students work either in groups or independently, or with the entire class, fostered collaboration and critical thinking. I found that taking background knowledge learned in class, and using it to complete a project facilitated more long term memory for learned content.
REFLECTIONS
Having students reflect on actions, projects, or what was learned that day. I also implemented this online through the Google Classroom chat board. Students could respond to questions and comments.
The great thing about Career Tech Education, is that students get to be involved in their community. Students get to use the skills learned in the classroom, in the real-world. This is the first time in years that there has been a CTE program here. We are working on establishing an Advisory Board of diverse community, business leaders. Community is important here and we value the relationship we have with our local community members.
This year will be the first time we begin our CTSO and Advisory Board. Our CTSO which is Business Professionals of America (or BPA). This will be an exciting chance for students to work towards goals outside of the classroom, and really get to know their community.
Connecting with Advisory Board members and stakeholders virtually, during the Covid-19 pandemic, is ideal. By using the numerous meeting platforms I think connecting students in a more personable way, to business owners, will be easier. Making this a part of the curriculum even after distance learning subsides will, in my opinion, be a great asset to the program. In addition to this, I am working with a "soon-to-be" Advisory Board member, to help further their advertisement, through our Business CTE courses. I plan on making some of their advertisement projects, class projects, to incorporate collaboration between community Advisory Board members and project based learning.