Fran Thew's musings on the NAF curriculum and the World of Computers. Blog by franthew

In this blog, I will address problems that I encounter in my computer classes as well as seek feedback on the use of the new NAF curriculum.

Posts: 6 | Created on August 27, 2008 | 1

What's in a name?

By franthew in Fran Thew's musings on the NAF curriculum and the World of Computers. on Monday, September 14, 2009 5:29 PM  
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Sometimes we wonder if anyone out there is listening to us! Well if you are a NAF teacher, the answer is most definitely a YES!!! The old Principles of Finance course made its debut 2 years ago. Many NAF Finance teachers around the country tried the course and felt that it was a little too advanced for a beginning course. Students just didn't have the background that was presumed by the course and a lot of background teaching had to take place to ensure that the students "got" it. NAF listened and created a new Principles course to provide that background and changed the name of this course to "Advanced Finance." At the same time, the course got a new face lift to take into account the comments made by you, the teachers. So last year, teachers taught the Advanced Finance course and found the name to be confusing! Students expected AP or at least honors credit for an ADVANCED course. So NAF went back to the drawing board and questioned many of you on what the course really should be called if it was misleading to call it ADVANCED FINANCE. Thus, the course now has a new name - APPLIED FINANCE - since that is really what this course does - it applies the principles learned in the first course to actual business practices! So yes, NAF does listen to its teachers - and I am very grateful to them for being so tuned into what the teachers say they need and want in their classrooms. How unusual a concept this is! Asking teachers what works best in their classrooms and making sure that those needs are met has not ever been a priority with previous curriculum writers.

What do you feel are the strengths of your academy?

By franthew in Fran Thew's musings on the NAF curriculum and the World of Computers. on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 6:14 AM  
Tags: benefits of academy naf academy | 1 Comment Post a Comment

I asked my students what they liked best about being part of an academy and got a wide range of answers - most not having much to do with the academic side of it. They talked about being first in line to graduate, getting to go on cool field trips like the college tours, and being in classes together for all their subjects. I was looking for things like having guidance counselors dedicated just to the academy that know every student by name, having the academy theme throughout the academic subjects, having internships and project based instruction that make the relevance to the real world impossible to miss, and the assistance of an advisory board to support our programs. What do you think makes your NAF academy special? How does it help prepare the students for their future lives in the real world better than standard classroom education?

Project Based Instruction

By franthew in Fran Thew's musings on the NAF curriculum and the World of Computers. on Friday, February 20, 2009 7:57 PM  
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I have long been a proponent of the use of projects in my computer classes. I have found that students retain the information that they apply to the real-life situation much longer that they remember anything that they have heard me repeat in the classroom. That is one reason that I REALLY LIKE the new NAF curriculum. One of the three main "pillars" of the curriculum is the use of project based learning. In the Advanced Finance course that I am working with, everything that the students learn during the course revolves around a scenario in which the students act as consultants for a struggling MP3 company that has outgrown its original plan. To be able to assist ECPak , the students explore such key topics as cash flow, the business life cycle and capital. They learn to recognize the legal forms of business organization and grasp the pros and cons of business ownership. I could lecture about these topics until I am blue in the face but most of what I say would be soon forgotten. However, when the students have to apply the information and come up with solutions to problems, they not only remember it, but talk about it with their families - they OWN it! All of the new curriculum operates like this - students applying knowledge to real life situations, internalizing the concepts, making them real and alive. If you haven't tried it, please do. If you have been using the curriculum, please share your experiences with us. Are your students as excited about project based learning as mine are? We would love examples of what goes on in your classroom!

NAF Curriculum

By franthew in Fran Thew's musings on the NAF curriculum and the World of Computers. on Friday, January 16, 2009 1:15 PM  
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The first 6 courses in the new NAF curriculum have been out for almost a year now. Now that you have had a chance to use the courses, you probably have some definite ideas about what you like and what you would change. One of the things that I really like about the curriculum is that fact that it is project based. My students are not the same as they were 20 years ago. They no longer seem capable of sitting and listening to the teacher, diligently taking notes, and regurgitating the information accurately on assessments. (Of course, they probably didn't remember the material for very long . . .!) Anyway, I have found that students retain the material much better if they learned it by actively participating instead of passively listening to someone else. My students love the class because everyday they have to participate and it is relevant to the real world. In the Advanced Finance class, they are acting as consultants to assist an entrepreneur with his MP3 business as it grows. They love the idea of learning content to be able to assist this fictional entrepreneur. They get to work in groups just the way they would in real businesses and apply their knowledge to a real problem. They also know that their final project will be similar in scope where they will be consultants hired to select a company to receive funding. They will have the opportunity to apply what they have learned while making this selection and then they will use their presenting skills while presenting their PowerPoint to actual business people. I wish I could have taken classes like this when I was in high school. I guess the next best thing is the opportunity to teach like I wish I had been taught!

Applied Finance Course

By franthew in Fran Thew's musings on the NAF curriculum and the World of Computers. on Monday, October 13, 2008 1:01 PM  
Tags: advanced finance aof curriculum thew | 4 Comments Post a Comment

Last year NAF introduced a new Finance Academy course called Principles of Finance. This course evolved into what is now called Applied Finance while a new Principles of Finance course is being written this year. Is anyone teaching the Applied Finance course this year? I would be interested to hear what you like about the course and its format and what problems or challenges you might have encountered while teaching it.

Please let me know what your experiences have been with this course. 

Using AIM and Text Messaging Protocols

By franthew in Fran Thew's musings on the NAF curriculum and the World of Computers. on Monday, October 13, 2008 1:01 PM  
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I have encountered a lot of situations where students use the shortcut language used in text messaging when creating formal documents. Their reports and essays are sprinkled through with the use of 4 (for), 2 (to, too, two), u (You), r (are) and more. They admit that they forget that there are different types of writing each with different conventions and levels of formality. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Even more important, has anyone come up with a solution?
 

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