Mr. Lushenko’s class

Computer Technology created table 4 on page 424 as a review.  They then continued work on their original “Things I like” PowerPoint presentation.

Accounting contacted their mentors via the www.icouldbe.org website.  They worked on one of the career preparation units.  They completed 26  Accounting Review questions.  They worked on Recycle Problem 8-1.

Virtual Enterprise learned to use Excel to create an amortization schedule.  They also completed a 10-question quiz that required them to calculate monthly payments, number of months required to pay, interest rates, and present value.  We passed out the t-shirts from the Bakersfield trade fair.  Students paid their online bills.

Computer Technology typed an original ½-page essay using one of these starting sentences:  “Here’s what happened on a trip I took.” OR “Here’s what I know about Australia.”  They then worked on their “Things I like” PowerPoint presentation (due Monday, December 14).

Accounting completed Mastery Problem 9-4 that had them journalizing and posting adjusting entries and closing entries and then creating a post-closing trial balance.  They then completed the ”Semester Review Parts 1 and 2″ handout that had practice questions in preparation for the accounting final exam.

Virtual Enterprise learned to use Excel to find these four parts of a loan:  the payment, the number of monthly payments, the interest rate and the amount owed.  They used these Excel functions:  =PMT, =NPER, =RATE, and =PV.  They also watched a 26-minute video titled “Taking Control of Your Credit” produced by PBS that taught them how to manage their finances and some of the dangers of misusing credit cards.

Computer Technology typed page 229, section 93D for speed and accuracy (about 12 minutes).  They then watched a sample PowerPoint presentation titled “Things I Like” and learned to copy images from the Internet to PowerPoint.  Finally, they received a new project called “Things I Like” that will have them create an original PowerPoint presentation of at least 17 slides that describes at least 15 things they like.  This project is due on Monday, December 14.

Accounting completed Application Problems 91-, 9-2, and 9-3 that had the journalizing adjusting entries, journalizing closing entries, and creating a Post-Closing Trial Balance.

Virtual Enterprise learned how to calculate how many months it would take to pay off a credit card bill given the amount owed, the APR, and the monthly payment.  They also learned to find a monthly payment that would pay off a debt if given the amount owed, the APR, and the number of months to pay.  They used Excel spreadsheet formulas =NPER and =PMT for these calculations.

Computer Technology typed page 208, section 85E for speed and accuracy (about 12 minutes).  They then created two short (6 slides each) PowerPoint presentations from handouts:  Animal Varities and Criminal Laws.  They made choices about slide design, slide layout, slide transitions and custom animation.

Accounting completed the On Your Own on textbook pages 196, 203, and 209 that required them to journalize adjusting entries, journalize closing entries, and create a post-closing trial balance.

Virtual Enterprise reviewed eight features of a credit card and learned how credit card transactions are processed.  They learned how VISA and MasterCard assist card-issuing banks and acquiring banks process transactions.  They learned what interchange fees are and what discount fees are and which bank charges which fee.  Finally, they learned to calculate Average Daily Balance and monthly finance charges.

Computer Technology typed page 202, section 83C for speed and accuracy.  They then began the PowerPoint unit by learning about slide design, slide layout, slide transition, and custom animation.  They learned two ways to make a new slide, how to rearrange slides in a slide presentation, and three ways to stop a running slide show.

Accounting learned to journalize adjusting entries.  They also learned which accounts are permanent and which are temporary.  They learned the process of closing temporary accounts at the end of the accounting cycle.

Virtual Enterprise learned the difference between debit cards and credit cards.  They learned about overdraft fees and debit cards.  They learned about FICO scores.  They learned about these 8 features of a credit card:  annual fee, grace period, maximum credit limit, over-the-limit fees, finance charges, minimum payment, late fees, and incentives.

Computer Technology typed page 186, section 77E for speed and accuracy (about 10 minutes).  They then completed their four letters from yesterday.

Accounting finished up the Reinforcement Activity from yesterday.

Virtual Enterprise held a wrap-up discussion about the success of the California Virtual Enterprise Network Trade Fair in Bakersfield.  Our group won four awards:  6th place in the state for Employee Newsletter, Honorable Mention for the Marketing Plan, 6th place in our division for Trade Booth, and 2nd place in our division for Salesmanship.  The 2nd place finish came with a plaque that will be displayed in the high school’s main office.  This was the first year that our high school has participated in a trade fair.  The students worked very hard on these competitions and I am very proud of each and every one of them.

 I was away from school today with the Virtual Enterprise class at the California State Trade Fair in Bakersfield.

Period 2 Computer Technology typed page 185, section 77B for speed and accuracy (about 12 minutes).  They continued with Excel lessons 11, 12, 13, and 14 and then typed up the sample Matsui letter with block style and open punctuation.

Accounting is working on Reinforcement Activity 1A, steps 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 (not step 4) on textbook pages 145-147 and workbook pages 117-124 and page 199.

Period 6 Computer Technology typed up the sample letter on page 131 of their typing book in block-style with open punctuation.  They then continued with the four letters from yesterday:  PERMITS, CANDY AND SODA, AUBURN, and PRESIDENT.

Virtual Enterprise is with me in Bakersfield.  Those unable to come are preparing a video commercial for the company.

I was away from school today with the Virtual Enterprise class at the California State Trade Fair in Bakersfield.

Period 2 Computer Technology typed page 183, section 76B for speed and accuracy (about 10 minutes).  They began work on Excel lessons 11, 12, 13, and 14 from the Assignments folder.  They then typed up the sample Matsui letter using block-style and open punctuation.

Accounting is working on Reinforcement Activity 1A, steps 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 (not step 4) on textbook pages 145-147 and workbook pages 117-124 and page 199.

Period 6 Computer Technology typed the sample letter on page 179 of their typing book in block-style with open punctuation.  They then continued with the four letters from yesterday:  PERMITS, CANDY AND SODA, AUBURN, and PRESIDENT.

Virtual Enterprise is with me in Bakersfield.  Those unable to come are preparing a video commercial for the company.

I was away from school today to escort the Business and Technology Academy sophomores on their field trip to the school district’s office.

Period 2 Computer Technology did not meet today.  They went on the field trip.

Accounting began work on Reinforcement Activity 1A, steps 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 (not step 4) on textbook pages 145-147 and workbook pages 117-124 and page 199.

Period 6 Computer Technology typed up the sample Matsui block-style letter with open punctuation.  They then used the same letter format to prepare original letters from information on these four handouts:  PERMITS (a letter to the chief of police of Isleton, CA about the gun permit policy in his city), CANDY AND SODA (a letter to the California Superintendent of Public Instruction about the ban on candy and soda sales to students in public schools), AUBURN (a letter to Congresswoman Matsui about the proposed Auburn dam), and PRESIDENT (a letter to President Obama about the war in Afghanistan).

Virtual Enterprise printed last minute documents, loaded their equipment and took the Amtrak to Bakersfield for the California State Trade Fair.

Computer Technology period 2 typed page 137, section 55D for speed and accuracy (about 7 minutes).  They then prepared for the Business & Technology Academy field trip to the Elk Grove Unified School District’s district office tomorrow.  They learned about which departments they will be visiting and what questions they might want to ask while visiting.  They learned they will talk directly to the district superintendent and discussed what type of questions would be appropriate in that situation.

Accounting registered for mentors using the icouldbe.org website today.

Computer Technology period 2 typed page 137, section 55D for speed and accuracy (about 7 minutes).  They then learned about the parts of a business letter and how to format a block-style letter with open punctuation.  They typed the sample block-style letter on page 130 of the typing book and started an original letter about the gun permit policy in Isleton, CA.

Virtual Enterprise made final preparations for their trip tomorrow.  They received and approved their uniforms, packaged their inventory, made plans to arrive at the Amtrak station by 4pm and finalized the hotel room situation.