Have you ever played Bingo? You may have played it at your local bingo hall or have even played Telly Bingo from the National Lottery. However, did you know that playing Bingo with students is an excellent way to develop their subject-specific vocabulary and improve their oral and written literacy? Given the huge amount of new terms that students encounter when they begin to study Business Studies, it can be a great way to learn new words in a fun way. Teachers can create Bingo cards using online tools such as My Free Bingo Cards. Teacher bingo calling cards are created as well as student cards. Students will start with a grid filled with terms. The game can then be played in a variety of ways:
Below are links to some pre-generated bingo cards for chapters in 'Time for Business'. When you click on the links below, select the 'Print 30 Free Cards' link. If you plan on playing Bingo with students each year, you might consider laminating the student cards so they can be reused in the future. Chapter 1: Making the most of your resources Chapter 2: Household Income Chapter 3: Household Expenditure Chapter 4: Financial Planning for Your Future Chapter 5: Household Budgets Chapter 6: Recording Income and Expenditure Business Studies Blog
Chapter 2 : Household Income Having completed the chapter on ‘resources’ I began to teach my students about the complementary topics of household income and household expenditure. From a teacher perspective this is very familiar material, but I used the anticipation exercises to establish the level of prior knowledge amongst my students. At the outset they had a relatively limited appreciation of the sources of household income, but this is hardly surprising given their age. Inevitably most students cited examples based on their personal or household circumstances. We discussed a range of income sources for households, including employment income, pensions and other social protection payments. The only element of controversy in our discussion was the suggestion (by some students) that social protection payments should not be a long term source of household income and reliance on this form of income should not be a lifestyle choice. I assumed this was a case of students repeating some of the things they have heard at home and I used the opportunity to focus student’s thoughts on the purpose of taxation and the role of government in income redistribution. I only dealt with this issue at a very simple and superficial level and some students showed greater levels of engagement with the discussion than others. Nonetheless, it was interesting to hear how clearly and passionately they were able to express their views. Overall, I was happy with the debate and accepted it was really just an opportunity for sowing seeds which can hopefully be harvested in future (Strand 3) discussions. On this occasion I felt however that the blending involved in these topics was too much of a detour for my students so I returned to the core topic of household income. In hindsight perhaps it was just too much of a detour for ME personally and maybe I should have allowed the discussion to explore those other avenues. I know I was concerned about the time involved and worried that we would drift too far from the lesson objectives. After all ‘time’ is a scarce resource, and I’m not exactly sure how best to use it on this first encounter with the new specification. The whole issue of time allocation has been a concern of mine ever since I started to write the textbook, but I’ll save that issue for a separate blog piece in the very near future. Benefit in kind income proved to be a little confusing for some students while others found the calculation of wages to be problematic. This section illustrated perfectly the challenges associated with teaching a mixed ability group and there was a huge variation in the ability of my students to deal with calculations. For this reason it may be advisable to adopt a step by step approach to these questions and have some extra material available for those students who are particularly adept at numeracy. Students understood the difference between statutory and voluntary deductions and were able to provide relevant examples of both. The distinction between disposable and discretionary income was not so easily understood, and on reflection I feel I could have explained it more clearly first time round. When the end of chapter self-assessment highlighted this confusion, I made a point of revisiting the topic, thankfully with more success. The family income plans (in the student activity book) were completed with little difficulty and these are important steps in the household budgeting process (see Time for Business chapter 5). Learning Outcome 1.2 states:
Identify and classify sources of income and expenditure, compare options available to best manage financial resources, evaluating the risks associated with each option and making informed and responsible judgements. In our view, the following are the key ideas and messages for this topic:
The overarching aim of this learning outcome is the development of effective financial management skills. The focus is on financial planning, risk assessment and the ability to choose between alternatives. Upon completion, students should be equipped to make informed financial decisions which are appropriate to their circumstances and life stage. |
Click below to return to the 'Time for Business' websiteArchives
February 2017
Categories
All
|