Taking account
Last night was my first accounting class. I really like the teacher already, but I can tell it's going to be a challenging class. Part of the problem is that there are at least 5-6 accountants in the class (from undergrad studies). We are going back to the beginning and starting from scratch, which must be really irritating to people who are working as professional accountants, but because there's so much ground to cover, we're moving *really* fast (which sucks for those of us who are clueless). And when the teacher stops to see if people understand the concepts he's presenting, the "pros" jump in with the answers right away, which gives the impression that we've all mastered the basics. Also sometimes the teacher assumes the basics are as apparent to us as they are to him. For example, we had a list of line items, and we were reviewing where they would be located on financial reports. Some of the terms had "expenses" in the name, so the teacher assumed we'd all know that they'd be located under expenses. Only we weren't sure yet if they'd go there or be considered "liabilities". Luckily on that one, another student stopped the teacher and said "Hey, that isn't obvious to us! Where *does* it go?!" To his credit, the teacher is very happy to answer those questions, so we just have to speak up when we are confused.
The teacher mentioned the importance of being prepared for class, but he also mentioned that the book (which gets terrible reviews on Amazon) goes into far greater detail than what we would be covering, and that it would be confusing to read the text in detail ahead of time. I talked with him after class to discuss what he felt the best way to study the material might be, and he confessed that next week would be quite challenging as well, since we would be covering material from four chapters (although only one is listed on the syllabus), and the book tends to make it more difficult to understand. I think I'm going to try to read through the chapters though--if I can teach myself combinations and permutations, I'm pretty sure I can force my brain to digest accounting concepts. And I'd much rather be in a position where I understand the material at least somewhat before the class starts!
The teacher mentioned the importance of being prepared for class, but he also mentioned that the book (which gets terrible reviews on Amazon) goes into far greater detail than what we would be covering, and that it would be confusing to read the text in detail ahead of time. I talked with him after class to discuss what he felt the best way to study the material might be, and he confessed that next week would be quite challenging as well, since we would be covering material from four chapters (although only one is listed on the syllabus), and the book tends to make it more difficult to understand. I think I'm going to try to read through the chapters though--if I can teach myself combinations and permutations, I'm pretty sure I can force my brain to digest accounting concepts. And I'd much rather be in a position where I understand the material at least somewhat before the class starts!