Accounting I Active Learning Center

Accounting I - The Chart of Accounts

This active learning center is a chart of accounts based on the company we are using in our Accounting I textbook. I outlined each account with it's corresponding account number and then made columns titled "Account Classification", "Normal Account Balance", "Increase Side, Debit/Credit" and "Decrease Side, Debit/Credit".

I decided to create this active learning center after our Chapter 2 exam when most everyone in the class had points deducted from the test because they did not complete the chart of accounts correctly. Students did not know at exam time if an account had a debit or credit normal account balance or if an account should be debited or credited if we want to decrease it.

During one of our class periods, I reviewed the information with the students and then had them complete the chart for each account one account at a time. If they were unsure of an answer or needed additional help, participation from the class was encouraged (but only if asked or needed).

The students responded well to the activity especially since we have some high achievers in the class who do not like getting points off an exam. I believe this activity gave them the opportunity to think through the concepts, remember what an accounts normal account balance is, and be able to analyze and to correctly identify if an account should be debited or credited depending if we want to increase or decrease the account balance.

As a summary review, without looking at the chart of accounts, I completed a formative assessment by asking specific questions about certain accounts to select members of the class. All answers were correct. In addition, since accounting is a course where you have to build on prior knowledge, students grasped the concepts of Chapter 3 and have continued to apply debits and credits correctly to accounts.

Educational Blogs

I selected Cool Cat Teacher Blog at http://coolcatteacherblogspot.com to read for this blog posting because this blog won the 2008 Edublog Award for Best Teacher Blog in 2008. The author, Vicki Davis, has also own various other awards and is a Google Certified Teacher and a Discovery S.T.A.R Educator. A teacher and IT Director at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia, Ms. Davis has co-created four award winning wiki-centric projects and is a co-founder of the Flat Classroom Conference that was held in Beijing, China in February 2010. This conference linked more than 2800 students from public and private schools by using powerful Web 2.0 tools including plns, wikis, blogs, digital storytelling, podcasts, social bookmarking, and more.

I read the January 20, 2011 blog titled "Make Your Classroom a Welcoming Place". In this post, Ms. Davis highlighted six things to do as a teacher in the classroom to make a safe, welcoming environment.

1. Watch - watch the body language of kids in your classroom and be aware of your comments or other students comments that might be offensive or hurtful. If you said or did something that may have been offensive, quietly apologize to the student.

2. Apologize - if you mess up, say your sorry. This will build rapport and show students you are human too.

3. Defend - Let the kids know they are safe in your classroom. If a student does or says something hurtful or offensive to another student, acknowledge it as such and do not ignore it.

4. Mute - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER say students grades out loud in class. Either good or bad grades as kids will be picked on either way.

5. Love - love the students with "Tender Love" nothing inappropriate but let them know you care.

6. Eye Contact - look students in the eye and call them by name. This will let kids know you cared enough about them to learn their name.

According to Ms. Davis, these little changes will make a big difference. I think she has some great ideas and things that we as teachers can easily incorporate into our classrooms. I believe it is so important to learn students' names to show them you care about them as individuals. I also believe in apologizing for mistakes and am not afraid to tell a student I might not know the answer to one of their questions. This makes us human and models to the student that it is OK to not have all the answers. I need to get better at watching and reading body language and determining how a student is reacting and receiving my teaching messages, comments and suggestions.

I am looking forward to following Cool Cat Teacher blog now and in the future as I believe she has valuable insights to offer me as an aspiring teacher.