This post is sponsored by Intuit.
The past year has been rough on us all. In a whirlwind, most of us were forced to change our daily routines, our shopping habits, the way we eat, the way we work, and the way we learn. Dealing with the effects of this pandemic has been especially rough on students and teachers.
Students have had to adjust to being at home just about all of the time while learning in a way that they are not used to… on a computer screen full of other faces. Many kids did not even get to personally meet their teachers this year.
And if this is hard for the students, imagine how hard it is for the teachers. Usually, teachers get to know their students, learn their quirks, their strengths, and their weaknesses, and make a true connection with students during in-person instruction. Now they are trying to figure all of this out over video. I know teachers, and I know it is not easy for them.
Anything to help students and teachers get ahead is appreciated. Intuit, maker of financial products TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Mint, has launched the Design for Delight Teacher Toolkit to teach career preparedness skills to high school and college students. After looking through the kit, I think it includes lessons in important skills.
Although I have been working most of my adult life, I have also been a business owner most of my adult life. And like many, I learned a lot of what I do by being hands-on. When I was in high school, we learned a few business skills, and it did help me. Teens now need the same. Having the right skills means being off to a good start in adult life. And nurturing business sense is extremely important.
Design For Delight Toolkit
The Intuit Design for Delight Toolkit is a design thinking workshop created for educators and students. It makes it easy for teachers to design their own course and create a lesson plan using the included materials to start students on the right path to financial and career readiness. With it they can teach students the basics of design thinking in an interactive, problem-based formal. The kit includes instruction materials, a presentation deck, worksheets, posters, brainstorming cards, and method cards. It includes everything that teachers need to teach a class and can be used virtually or in-person.
The kit is free to download, and it’s easy to get started. Head on over to the Intuit Education website to get started.
These lessons teach valuable customer relations and problem-solving skills that business owners need to be successful. Workshops take students through lessons identifying problems that customers face and come up with solutions to solve them.
One example shows a male walking down a long road and asks what problem he must be facing.
The students’ jobs are to come up with solutions to solve his problem. What does he need? How can we help him? How can your business help him?
This is how most businesses start. The owner sees a need that potential customers have and figures out a way to solve it. Products or services are then created to fill the need.
That is just one part of what Intuit is doing to help teachers prepare students for the real world.
The Career Readiness Program
The career readiness program teaches students how to use QuickBooks. Every good business owner needs to know how to keep track of their inventory, invoice, and expenses. QuickBooks has been a leader in helping business owners do this for years. More than 7 million small businesses currently use QuickBooks. Students can simulate starting a business or start a real one using the included tools while learning real-world business skills. Teachers can easily review student work in the QuickBooks Educator portal.
Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop are free for educators and students. QuickBooks helps you track income and expenses, create invoices, track mileage for your business, maximize tax deductions, create and send estimates, and other functions needed to ensure financial success in your business.
At the end of class, students will receive a QuickBooks certification.
If you are a teacher please visit the Intuit Education website for more information and download your free Design for Delight kit. It’s easy to get started. Download the kit, check it out, and consider using it in your classroom.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Intuit. All opinions are my own.
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