Al Samsa - business studies hero

Here is Al Samsa's rather comprehensive site with links for relevant business topics...http://www.samsa.biz/

Al is a teacher at Iroquois Ridge in Oakville, so his site is Ontario-focused.

Blue is the New Black

Maureen Dowd's opinion piece about some recent research on women and happiness.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/opinion/20dowd.html

"According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans’ mood since 1972, and five other major studies around the world, women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier.

Before the ’70s, there was a gender gap in America in which women felt greater well-being. Now there’s a gender gap in which men feel better about their lives."

It's interesting to hear how Dowd makes sense of the data. Enjoy!

John Stossel?! "Gimme a break"

Not my favourite TV personality, but he is generous in freebies for teachers. His personalized email says:

Order the New Stossel in the Classroom "2010 Edition" Free DVD: This year's free educational DVD is now available! The Stossel in the Classroom "2010 Edition" DVD includes both English and Spanish subtitles, as well as an accompanying Teacher's Guide (also in both English and Spanish) containing lesson plans, activity suggestions, handouts, and vocabulary. Place your order today! Past titles available as well.
http://stosselintheclassroom.org/selectdvd.php

He has videos available at the time of writing for 2007 through 2010 (free shippping!!), and the topics range from business to civics, to general news items. Teachers' guides are avaialble - but remember to look at the content CRITICALLY. In addition to being US-focused, his DVDs tend to be a bit biased to the right. Not a bad thing - but something you need to balance when using these in the classroom.

BPS Digest

Here is a great resource for a variety of purposes. The British Psychological Society (BPS) Digest summarizes peer-reviewed research from academic journals for a general audience. Access this resource at: http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com

A few interesting educational findings:
- "Real life" examples may not be best for teaching math
- Diagrams and figures are not effective in teaching History, but period films appear to be
- Classroom lighting can affect student performance

Some interesting "workplace" findings which could be VERY interesting for BOH include:
- Brainstorming is not an effective way to get group ideas
- Childless women are the most productive employees
- More satisfied employees do not appear to be better performers
- Company profits are linked to the facial appearance of CEOs

Accounting course online materials

I really like this teachers' site - tons of links to her MS Word files for each chapter.
http://www.fhs.d211.org/departments/be/amiller/Accounting/Accounting.htm

A great source to brush up your own knowledge, plus get things that you might use in the classroom.

Accounting Jeopardy - templates and questions

Here is a site with some downloadable accounting jeopardy templates in PowerPoint which you can customize. A great time-saver, and popular with kids.

http://www.lymansite.net/Acct/Jeopardy/indexAcctJeopardy.htm

This is one of MANY online - a Google search will yeild many more accounting jeopardy templates and questions. If you have a better one, please leave a comment!

Basic Personal Finance

Here's a resource for very basic economic and personal finance - http://www.moneyinstructor.com/skills.asp
Included are things like an "Economic Bazaar" in the classroom; templates for things like blank cheques, etc.

Also, for a Canadian perspective, see "Your Money, Your Life, Your Way" through the Ministry of Citizenship, Culture & Rec.
http://www.citizenship.gov.on.ca/owd/english/resources/publications/yourmoney/
There are 2 parts: A student brochure with tacit information, and a teachers' guide with lesson ideas which are interactive. Be sure to find the teachers' guide online. This package includes things like basic budgeting, and many other activities.