Quick Links
Video Kids
Now I'm teaching video production. Here's everything you need to know to make great videos - More…
Library Media TV
Streaming videos from my library lessons - More…
My LMC Web
Comprehensive links supporting K-12 - More…
Biz Ed Web
Authentic business skills - More…
Math Minutes
Video tutorials and more for pre-algebra - More…
Early Literacy Web
Ready-to-Read, Ready-for-School - More…
Club TNT
Award winning network TV show - More…
My Music YouTube
Mr. B's guitar music videos - More…
During the early 1990's, there was a small dip in the economy and, since
the school reform movement of the day was School-to-Careers, many people
that were laid-off went back to school. This is how I became a
Business Educator.
At the time, and for many generations, UW-Whitewater had one of the best Business Education programs in the nation. This is because teacher prep & business training were at the core of its mission when predecessor Whitewater Normal School was founded in 1868.
While still a quality business teacher prep program, it has been downsized and is no longer exclusively staffed by highly-qualified doctral instructors. I am glad I completed my Business Ed Certification when I did and with the outstanding classmates that were enrolled with me.
I created my first websites to support the high school Business Education courses I taught. These were primative designs by today's standards. There was no YouTube at the time amd the world's most popular browser at the time, Internet Explorer version 6 (and all previous versions), did not adequately support interactive technologies.
In Spring of 2016, I decided it was time to consolidate my numerous web projects, eliminate the ones that were merely link directories, and create a new series of websites focused around four themes:
- Club TNT
- Library Media
- Business Education
- My Guitar Music
As always, BreitLinks, online under this domain since 2005 , still serves as a directory to provide intellectual access across these interconnected web resources. Here are the Business Ed projects that I am keeping online:
My Biz
Ed Web
www.myBusinessEd.com
Because I have been online sharing resources going on 20 years now, I
get many emails each day suggesting new links and ideas to enhanse my
websites. This motivated me to create a new website, distinct and
different from the collection of related webs at BreitLinks, to
systematically organize Business Education resources that support 21st
Century instruction and technologies.
Keying
Kids
www.keyingKids.com
As I "test the waters" interviewing for Business Education positions
this year, I have clearly seen a few emerging trends:
- Keyboarding, an essential 21st Century writing skill, and basic computer skills are not taught in middle or high schools anymore. To achieve Wisconsin DPI's expectations across the curriculum, students need to be introduced to keyboarding in the second or third grade.
- Students in Wisconsin public schools should be able to comfortably and reasonably accurately key at 5 times their grade levels. This means 5th graders should be able to key an entire page of text in one sitting working at about 25 words per minute.
- There is no need to apply the above standard (5 times grade level) once students leave the 9th grade. Being able to accurately write with a keyboard at 45 words a minute for sustained periods of times reflects world-of-work expectations.
Keying Kids is designed to prepare students to move into high school ready to be comfortable, confident, and competent using common productivity tools.
Mr.
B's Career Exploration Web
Originally created to support middle school career development,
I have since flushed it out with resources to support tweenagers,
teenagers, and adults. Of all my online resources, this page
generates more contacts from teachers, often post-secondary, requesting
permission to use and share my work.
Archive: My Business Ed Portfolio
This web is the original BreitLinks, though I stopped maintaining the
"Resources" section of links years ago. I keep this page online
because:
- Most of the activites in each content area of this web still represents authentic business skills, though the productivity tools used today are not the same (Most of the projects on this site were based on Microsoft Office 2000).
- The documents that students created in my business computer classes then still reflect the document types and standards used today.
- While it is common today to see school districts move to Google Docs, "cloud" storage, and Chromebooks instead of computers with hard-drives and more-powerful processors; the business world is not cloud-based nor does it typically use Google Docs.
The most popular productivity software in the world is still Microsoft Office. This may change, but it is the case today. MS Word, MS. Excel, MS. PowerPoint, and MS Access were specifically designed for business applications and business needs.
Google Docs and Chromebooks are an excellent way to seamlessly integrate technology across a school district's K-12 currilum. As a Library Media Specialist, I unquestionably and enthusiasticly support this.
As a Business Educator, we are left with the rhetorical question that has been at the heart of vocational education for more than 100 years now: Do we try to "lead" in technologies or do we follow?
My original Business Education Portfolio, the original BreitLinks, is still online because the project-based authentic assessments there can be adapted to different productivity tools used in business. They can be used independent of the platforms they were created with.
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