Here are a few ideas of ways to start your Year 12 business lessons so you all get off on the right foot together (or as I used to say to my students you were all in a boat together and I was the one with the map but we all had oars). The A level moves so much faster than the GCSE and there is so much to cover, it's good practice to try and get students into good habits of mind right from the start...
1. Maximise usage of their mobile phone
Have a discussion of how they use online content and what they are currently watching. How can they now make good use of this powerful technology to absorb some business information?
TikTok search for the hashtag #smallbusinesscheck and #supportsmallbusiness if they only add these to hashtags they are already following then some business content may become interleaved with their current cats on skateboards content.
You can also get students to pool ideas about the social media accounts of businesses that they are following on other platforms such as Instagram. I ran this exercise with a group and I was surprised at the quality of the business accounts they were already looking at. You will be able to come back to this later in the year when teaching 'reasons to stay small' or 'small business' topics.
2. APPS for learning
At very least they should download the BBC news app (or use the online version see pic) and be reading it each week. I made a Kahoot quiz based on this every week with prizes and pitted one group against another. The competitive nature of the quiz meant that they read all the business news and so had lots of examples that they could add to their essays picking up application marks.
3. Free period is not a free period it is a 'study period'
Brainstorm a list of ways that students can use their study periods (other than chatting, napping, scrolling or eating).
Read something new (on the business app)
Watch a small business TikTok
Follow a new local Instagram business
Read through notes
Start making flash cards ("already?", "yes already, then when we have a test you will have all your revision cards ready to go") helps students to keep on top of the workload
Planning and organising notes, diary, to-do list etc
Homework
Talk through the latest topics with classmates
Create spider diagrams based on the material just learnt
Practice essay writing
Practice calculations
4. Ways to use the Revisionstation Teaching Resource packs
Our resource packs are great for class teaching but you can also load the student versions onto a VLE, moodle or shared drive. Look at all the ways they can help you with your teaching:
Use as catch-up activities if students have been absent
Use to set homework, there are lots of practice questions on the PowerPoints
Use to scaffold students that need extra support, the practice questions have answers and students may wish to use these answers as a guide for writing essays until they get the hang of it.
Use to set revision activities e.g. review 2.1.1 for a test on Friday
Use as cover activities if you have to be off for any reason
Use to help students who need to practice calculations to grasp the business maths part of the course
