Thursday, May 28, 2009

Last chance!

Hello. Today is unfortunately our last chance to finish our summative in class, because it is due tomorrow. I am a little worried about my website because I have not yet completed it, but I am doing my best so that I can complete it tonight and put it onto a CD, ready to hand into Mr.Case tomorrow. We got this period to finish off anything that we needed in order to prepare it for tomorrow. I managed to finish everything today, other than my website which still needs a few finishing touches. Other than that, I am truly happy that our summatives are complete! This week is the last week for all of them, and then we have to get ready for exams. And to be honest, in a way, I cant wait for exams because I am very eager for the school year to end, and for summer to arrive!
That's all for now.
Hope everyone does GRRRR-EAT on their summative
Bye.

- Peggy .

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Taxes. We all hate them but we have to pay them!

Where do you think Mr.Case gets his paycheck from? =P
Here's a good clue for you, from the taxes that our parents pay! Don't instantly think badly about this because this is how the economy works out. We pay taxes, and some of those taxes go to government funds, paying people's paychecks and even for yourself. The taxes that we pay go towards paying for teachers, fire fighters, police officers, roads, government and many more. In order for us to live in a less stressful world, we pay taxes, so that we can worry less about things that don't need worrying to do. We have to pay a set of taxes in Canada. PST is 8%. GST is 5%. All businesses have to pay one of these taxes, however, if you know that your business will not be able to make more than $30,000 a year, you don't have to pay GST. Not only are taxes a pain, but they help us in many ways. For example, a portion of the taxes that we pay goes towards OHIP, which is a health card, and therefore is free for us. If you ever wanted to visit a doctor, it would be for free, because of the taxes we pay. But if you went to America and visited a doctor there, it would cost you a lot, for every visit.
Even though we all hate paying taxes, it is something we all have to do no matter what, and in a way, if you think about it, it helps us out!
That's all for today.
Don't forget to pay your taxes!
Bye.

- Peggy .

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Great time to catch up!.

Can you guess what we are all doing in class right now?[ Well theoretically yesterday because today is Tuesday and I am writing this blog regarding yesterday's work!] That's right, we have a work period today, so that we can finish any part of the summative that we have not yet completed. Our summative due date is beginning to come to an end, because we only have a few more days to finish them, and we have to hand them in on Friday. Although, I must point out that Friday is a day 2, meaning BTT01 doesn't have business on that day, so I guess that we will have to come on our own time to hand it in!
Make sure you complete all the parts of your summative, because keep in mind that this is worth 30% of your mark, since we will gladly not write an exam for this course.
Anyways, I should get back to finishing the parts of the summative that I'm behind in, and start to think very seriously about how I'm going to present my final project.
That's it for today.
Bye.

- Peggy .

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Panick attack!

I apologize for writing a bit late in my blog, but I have just been so busy with finishing all my summatives, I don't even find the time to come on the computer. However, now that I have spare time on my hands, I will reflect back on the things we did in BTT on Friday. But before I start, I would like to point out that our business summative is due on Friday, and for some people, including myself, that's terrible news. Now you might ask why, and I can give you a few reasons. For one, I have not finished my website, or brochure. Both being very important parts of this summative. Two, I don't have a lot of time on my hands to finish them, and therefore will 99% end up staying up late at night to complete them, at home. Which brings me to my next problem: I don't have the programs I need in order to finish them! Problem number four: the library isn't always open for a long period of time whether after school, lunch, or before school, so I will have to work efficiently and quickly! And problem number five: I can never find the time to go after school because I am at work, or have summatives to complete. On the other hand, I am learning a lot about time management and organization. But I am sure that I will find the time to finish everything in time, because I am very determined to get the best mark I could possibly earn. Besides me panicking and somewhat whining, we did get time to work on our recent assignment. We all got the chance to ask questions about any difficulties we had, or finish any other part of this assignment that we haven't already completed. Writing a good business letter is important. Not just the way it looks, but the quantity of it, too. It is a big challenge for kids our age to be taken seriously when starting a business on our own. However, we can overcome some of the challenges and make our own lives easier. One way to do so is by writing a well though out and convincing business letter. If it is convincing and professional enough, we will be payed more attention to.
Take it from me, try to stay on task because its very difficult to catch up if you miss something!
Oh and also don't forget to add you new expenses to your budget because that will count too!
Bye.

- Peggy .

Friday, May 22, 2009

How good can you convince someone?

Yesterday in class we learned how to write a proper business letter, in order to send to companies so that they can take us seriously, and accept the business we have in mind.
In the end of this summative, you should think about how you are going to present your final copy, because it will count a fair bit towards your mark. If you hand in something that looks like you spent 5 minutes putting together, the chances of Mr.Case not taking you seriously is very high. However, if you hand in something that looks like you have put some effort into it to make it look the best in the class, it will be imprinted on Mr.Case's brain, and that's a good thing!
We are now in the process of learning how to write a proper business letter.
MLA means modern language association. A professional business letter uses aerial or times new roman as its font, and 10-12 font size. Once you chose the font size, try to use it throughout your letter, because it will look more professional and consistent. You should always start your business letter with the date on the left side of your page. *HINT: never put a date on your letterhead because then you would have to write every letter that same day and get them out to people!* After that, you should have the sender's address. Although, sometimes you don't need to put it because you already have it in your letterhead. Then it is, of course, the recipient's address. Then you begin your letter with a greeting, like Dear ''someone'' or anything else. Try not to make it look like the recipient is your friend, because that will not look very professional.
Writing a business letter is similar to writing an essay, however you only need three paragraphs instead of five. The introduction, middle and conclusion.
The introduction is to explain why you are writing the letter. It has to be written in a way that convinces the reader to read ahead, but also to attract their attention.
The second paragraph is the convincing part. You have to support the points you gave in the first paragraph.
And lastly, the concluding paragraph finishes off any other points or ideas, but leaves the reader thinking. Mr.Case has provided useful sites that we can go to, to look at examples of business letters. You can also go to google.com and type in business letters. Keep in mind that your business letter needs to be in MLA format. The proper way to write a business letter in MLA format is to either indent each paragraph or out space in between each letter, but never do both in one letter!
We have been assigned to write a letter to five people, using mail merge. try to convince them to use your product, and why it is good. Once you are finished with the letters, you have to print them to hand in, but also drop one off in the drop off folder, so that he can see you have used mail merge. Make sure you finish all your assignments, and if you are behind, try to get help because sadly, the assignments are due on FRIDAY, MAY, 29!!!!!!!
Good luck!
Bye.

- Peggy .

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Only seven people?!

Wow. Its been five days since I haven't written in my blog! On the bright side, the reason behind this is not that I am behind or have been lazy, but because we had a three day weekend, well four if you want to count Friday, this week. And on Tuesday we didn't have BTT so there wasn't really anything I could write about, until today. There were only about seven of us in class today, because everyone else was at Vanier for orientation. Therefore the ones that were here had to move a book shelf to the other side of the library! The way we did this was that we first took out the books from the bookshelf and put them on the floor, moved the empty book shelf, and then put all the books back again. It took almost all the period, which resulted in us not getting any sort of work done, but on the other hand, we got good exercise! However all that ''exercise'' went to waste when we got donuts and freezies! But it was very fun, so yeah.
That's about all I can say about what we did today in class.
Oh and the brochure and website are due soon, so try to finish them, and if you haven't handed in anything else, make sure you do!
Bye.

- Peggy .

Friday, May 15, 2009

Have you made your mark on Mr.Case's brain?

Today is the day before a long weekend, and personally I cant wait! For one reason, I have three days[Friday is my day off] to work on my summatives and try to complete most of them, as they are due the following week. And for two, I can use my free time to just relax a little, because there has been so much pressure lately, I've been short on sleep. But on the long run, I am very excited because the end of the school year is just four weeks away, and I cant wait for a long two month summer of relaxing and having fun!
Today in class, we talked about another way in which we can advertise our business other than a business card and letter. Something people wont throw away, or lose, or not care about. Its a brochure. It is a great way to talk about your business in a more detailed, yet simple manner. Brochure is next to being as effective as a web page, because business cards can get lost, and they don't contain much information about your business. A letter will usually end up in the garbage. But a site can be accessed anytime, and will provide the reader with a lot of information. Just like a brochure. We learned how to make our own brochure for our business on Microsoft Publisher 2003. *HINT: If you want to get a better mark, try not to use the templates, because Mr.Case has seen them all. And if you are absolutely stuck and cant make your own brochure, use the templates, but change things around to make it more like your own- unique and attractive.*
It is also a good idea to first make your brochure and then your website, because your brochure will contain everything your website will. So an easy way is to get all the information for your brochure, and once your done, you can simply copy and paste your brochure information onto your website. However, if you are REALLY lazy and cant even be bothered to copy and paste the information, what you can do is save a second copy of your brochure as a web page, and that will make it into a website. But if you do that, you might want to go into dream weaver and edit your site, because what might sometimes happen is that when you save your work as a web page, it might get messed up. Another key to a successful business is if you use a domain for your email rather than something@hotmail.com or something@gmail.com or anything like that. Your business will look more professional if it is something@somethingcool.com , it will be remembered more easily, and will be easier to access.
Here comes the hard part, the due date. Start thinking from now how you are going to present your information. Think about it, if you hand in a pile of disorganized paper, that has food stains everywhere and looks like your dog might have taken a bite out of it, do you think Mr.Case will take it seriously? Most likely, no. You want to try and make yours the best and most outstanding. Try to put all your information into a nice binder or folder or anything else, so that it will make its own mark on Mr.Case's brain! ;]
After all, that's what business is all about- COMPETITION!
Have a great loooooooong weekend!

- Peggy .

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Dont fall behind!

Hi there. It is a shame that I have to say that I have not yet printed out my completed form. Mainly because my printer recently ran our of ink, and also because I simply could not find the time to print it at school. With work after school and work in the cafe at lunch, and summatives, projects, tests and homework, I am eagerly counting the days until summer! Anyhow, I am going to print my form tomorrow morning at school and hand it into Mr.Case to take a look at it. I'm proud to say that I have completed my business card and letter, so I can say that I'm not falling behind.
Mr.Case is not here today, but has left us new work on the summative blog on the wiki. Honestly, I'm not too excited about the fact that we have to make our own website, considering my other one still needs improving, but I have no other choice but to do it. That's about all we did in class. We had time to finish our business cards, if we hadn't done so already and our letter too. Then when the bell rang at 3:00pm, all of us just ran out the door. =]
That's all the news for today.
Oh and I will be uploading P.N.S News eleventh edition tomorrow so check it out!
Bye.

- Peggy .

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

If you want to do it, do it right!

Hello fellow students of BTT. Today in class, we didn't really do much other than finishing up our letter heads and business cards. However, we got a little tip on how to do a letterhead professionally. If you think that your letter will be more than one page, it is better for you to change the settings of it so that the header will not appear on the second page too. The way you can do this is by going to file-page setup-different first page. By doing this, your letter will look more professional, and it is the proper way to do it.
We also got the task to go to this site: http://www.forms.ssb.gov.on.ca/mbs/ssb/forms/ssbforms.nsf/AttachDownload?openagent&TM=5_13_2009_9_29_08_AM&ENV=WWE&NO=002-14002&SEQ=5&VER=1
And once you are there, you have to complete the form, but do NOT submit it because even though you didn't pay for it, they will assume that you are going to pay and you might get in a big, complicated situation. Just fill it out, and print it, and save it somewhere so you don't lose it, because it will count for marks!
That's pretty much all we did today.
Make sure that you catch up on anything you are behind on because if your behind, your summative might not turn out as well as it should!
Bye.

- Peggy .

Monday, May 11, 2009

Professional or sloppy?

What better place to learn keyboard than at. . . . . MAGIC MUSIC?? Yes the one and only, keyboard teaching class in this area. Would you rather let your kids wonder around in the streets during summer and get a tan, and a possible chance of cancer, when they can be having fun in the safety of your home, and learn something too? All you need to do is contact peggysmagicmusicteachingclassnotsofaraway.com

Now your thinking wow! How on earth is anyone supposed to remember that LONG address? Of course, my website isn't like that, but lets say it was, then how would you be able to spread the word? Lets say you are outside and you overheard someone talking about keyboard lessons for their kids. You go over and offer them your business and tell them all the positives to it. Finally after a couple of minutes, you win them over. They agree to call you once they have discussed and thought about it. But wait! No one has a pen to lend you. There are no papers and no cell phones. What do you do? The answer is simple. You simply reach into your pocket and hand them a. . . business card! Think about how handy that would be, in a situation like that! As you have probably guessed by now, this part of our summative requires us to make a business card, that we can carry around with us, once our business is up and running. Business cards are a very effective way of advertising. It makes you and your business look more professional. If you have a good business card, then you will attract more eyes.
A letterhead has your logo and address of the business on the top. If your business card is catchy and is easy to remember, more people will pay attention to it. We looked at some creative business cards today. They include cards like: one is ripped in half, representing a divorce lawyer. One has teeth on them, for dental care and many more. Try to make your business card as creative and attractive as possible, because it will attract more customers and more marks!
Some of the information that you need to put onto a business card is: name, phone number, address, website, and anything else you think that might help people access your business better.
What we all need to do today is to start creating our business card. Try to make it as creative as possible. You start out by going to word, and inserting header and footer. Put ''my business card'' in the top, and start working on the rest.
That's everything.
Bye.

- Peggy .

Friday, May 8, 2009

How good is your name?

First period of the day, and what other way to start this wonderful day, other than doing summatives. Everyone should have already handed in their proposal and budget into Mr.Case. So today, we have a couple of steps to do. Now that everyone has their logo and name, we can start.
Step one: What we are going to do today is do a little research, to see if anyone else already has the name you have chosen for your business. Keep in mind that this is a very critical step to being successful, and staying away from an ''F'', because if someone else is using your name, it will be considered plagiarism, and you can get sued!
Step two: The most common form of advertising is web presence. You are going to want to have a URL to direct people to your page and business. You want to make sure that you have a name that is catchy and is easily remembered. Think about it, if you want to make a 30 second advertisement on the radio, you want people to first of all understand the name, and remember it, and second, they can spell it or take a good guess as to how your name is spelled.
A way in which you can see if your business name is valid, is that you can go to domain.com and check the availabilities. Once you have done that, print screen the page, paste it onto word and keep it in your home drive for future references.
Each website that you have, you have to buy the rights to use it, and own it. When you stop paying your bills, they will cancel your domain and you no longer own it.
Of course, we are not going to actually pay for the sites that we are creating, but are just pretending that we are using it.
I'm off to my next class, to worry about another summative!
Bye for now.

- Peggy .

Thursday, May 7, 2009

No time to lose!

This is my second post this week, even though we have had four classes, I was only able to attend two of them, because my partners and I were busy showing the future grade 7's of Woodbine around the school. However, I have asked around, and it seems like I haven't missed too much so far. On Tuesday, the class discussed summatives, and the things you need to do so that you don't fall behind, or worse, fail this course!
Yesterday, the class discussed the importance of having a logo, but the rules you need to look out for when making your logo and choosing a name for your company.
If you miss any BTT classes, make sure you catch up. This is a very stressful time for all of us, with all the summatives and exams to prepare for. We all get freaked out, and its very tempting to skip class or a day at school, but I don't think its a wise idea, considering how much you will miss, in one day!
I personally am struggling to get my logo and name finished, because I was not aware of it until today, and everything is due tomorrow morning at 9:00! Make sure you get everything in by then or else if its 9:01, it will not be accepted!
That's all for now.
Bye.

- Peggy .

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Like playing instruments? Try playing the Keyboard!

Here is what I have in mind for my summer job. Teaching keyboard. But before I can be sure on that, I need to go over many questions and obstacles to see if my business is worth it, and if I will gain any money by the end of summer.
Saying that I am a professional at playing keyboard is very broad, and would be considered a lie. But I can however say that I have certain skills that may be very helpful when teaching others. I have been playing keyboard since I was 9 years old. I attended various keyboard classes, but was never quit satisfied with the teaching skills. I then stooped attending the classes, and basically gave up. I stopped playing for about a year, but then was interested again when I learned that my cousin had attended classes when he was young, and had received various certificates. What I then did was ask my cousin if he could tutor me. He graciously agreed to teach me three days a week for as long as I wanted to. I started from scratch, bought new books, and started learning. My cousin tutored me for three years. Then I started becoming more familiar with everything, and no longer needed his help. I still get playing tips from my cousin every so often[because he now attends university and has limited time on his hands], but I think that I would be capable of teaching others my skills. Of course, I have to take into consideration that teaching all ages may not be a good idea, since I may not have the skills that some people require.
So in order for my business to expand and be successful, I have decided that I will be teaching grade two to five.
I don't want to say too much, considering this is a business I will hopefully be successful in, and don't want competition! =P
So that's all for now.
Bye.

- Peggy .