How Teachers Use NGPF: A Month In the Life of the NGPF Website
By Tim Ranzetta
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Nov 06, 2018
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Research, Teaching Strategies, Personal Finance, Interactive, Activities, Paying for College
A huge thank you to educators who have shared their excitement about our website and PD offerings to their colleagues. You have helped us expand our impact as we have added over 10,000 teachers to our platform in just the last 12 months. The largest source of new teachers: "word of mouth." This allows NGPF to spend less on marketing our services and more on serving teachers with FREE curriculum, PD and advocacy efforts.
This jump in teachers has translated to tremendous growth with our...
NGPF Podcast: Tim Talks To Gwen Tulin and Victoria Golden of Brain Arts Production (Chicago, IL)
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Oct 12, 2018
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Podcasts, Tips for Teachers, Personal Finance, Activities
Brain Arts Production is the brainchild—pun intended—of Gwen Tulin and Victoria Golden, who have a passion for using the dramatic arts to educate young people about money. This Chicago-based nonprofit has a mission to help students build financial literacy skills through the creative method of learning by doing. The organization teaches students money skills through projects such as pitching a business in a Shark Tank scenarios or staying on budget while producing a short film. Gwen...
View from the Trenches: The Checking Account Decision-Making Process (Without A Parent)
By Guest Post
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Oct 08, 2018
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Checking Accounts, Teaching Strategies, Tips for Teachers, Activities
Thanks to NGPF Fellow Charles Kafoglis for sharing this recent checking activity he did with this students which yielded some surprising results.
Here's the view from the trenches:
Each year, in my unit "Bank On It", I use the NGPF Activity to have students describe and compare checking accounts. They must compare checking accounts from three different types of banks: national/regional/local, credit unions, and online banks. One of the three banks must be their current...
Bringing Creativity Into Your Classroom [from inGenius: A Crash Course on Creativity]
We know that the job market of the future will reward creativity. It's one place where we still enjoy advantages over machines. You may be wondering, "how can I teach my students to be creative problem-solvers." The good news is that there lots of talented people trying to solve this problem. Today I am happy to share some ideas that I picked up from Tina Seelig's book, inGenius: A Crash Course on Creativity. In this book, the Stanford d.school professor [NGPF fellows consistently vote the...
NGPF Activity: Failure is Part of the Entrepreneurial Journey
Spielberg, Disney, Einstein, Edison and J.K. Rowling. See if you can match up these wildly successful people with their early failures (answers at bottom of post):
a. Was a broke, depressed, divorced single mother simultaneously writing a novel while studying. Had her original manuscript rejected by 12 publishers (bet they regret it now!).
b. As a child he didn’t start speaking until he was four, reading until he was seven, and was thought to be mentally handicapped. He was later...
Activity idea: The Effect of Peer Pressure on Your College Finances
During the college application process, students are told over and over again by family members and teachers that there are clear steps to follow:
1. Maintain a competitive GPA2. Take plenty of AP courses3. Score well on the SAT4. Partake in lots of extracurriculars
It’s easy to see why so many students obsess over GPA, sign up for SAT prep courses, and take on extra AP classes during their junior and senior year.
Perhaps it’s because money is such a taboo that students are rarely...
Activity Idea: Engaging Parents Through Student Interviews
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jun 21, 2018
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Parent Conversations, Activities, Teaching Strategies, Tips for Teachers
Thanks to Danielle Stiebs of Oak Creek High School in Oak Creek, Wisconsin for sharing this resource during our first FinCamp PLUS in Madison this week. As personal finance educators, we all know the importance of parents/guardians as they have tremendous influence in money attitudes and behaviors of their children. We know from this Question of the Day that only about 61% of students talk to Mom and/or Dad about money. She has developed some great questions (and tweaked them over the...
Tech Tool Review: MyKidsBank.org
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Jun 05, 2018
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NGPF Fellows, Teaching Strategies, Activities, Checking Accounts, Interactive, Personal Finance
Teachers who attend our Summer Institute in Palo Alto become NGPF Fellows the following school year -- this Fellowship includes presenting with us at PD sessions, offering NGPF feedback on products, writing guest blog posts, ... the list goes on. Today features a Tech Tool Review from Jill Wilson of Glenwood Springs High School in Glenwood Springs, CO. Here's what Jill has to say...
Tech Tool: MyKidsBank.org (Artificial online, electronic banking tool)
Cost:
Free, no advertising
Use...
Looking for engaging, end-of-year activities for your students? Here are 5 that will improve their financial futures!
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May 22, 2018
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Activities, Credit Scores, Investing, Paying for College, Student Loans
It’s that time of year again! Echoes of Alice Cooper jolt you from your bed. Schoooool’s OUT… a little while longer! You wolf down 3 cups of coffee and schlep to school.
The hallways are abuzz before first period. State testing has wrapped. Sunshine and summertime beckon from just beyond, and students seem to be itching to do anything but learn. You have to summon everything in your power to keep your students engaged this deep into the waning school year.
NGPF is here to...
Schools in the News
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Apr 26, 2018
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Schools In News, Activities, Featured Teachers, Behavioral Finance
Virginia announces 2018 Governor’s Challenge Champions in Economics and Personal Finance (Augusta Free Press)
Congrats to educators in the NGPF Community, Jason Bartholomew of Nansemond River High School and Patricia Adams of Glen Allen High School, whose students starred in this competition.
100 BEST W!SE HIGH SCHOOLS TEACHING PERSONAL FINANCE (w!se)
In 2013, W!se celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Financial Literacy Certification program and created the first...
Schools in the News
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Apr 19, 2018
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Schools In News, Entrepreneurship, Teaching Strategies, Current Events, Activities
Banking on the Future: Winooski Teacher Primes Students for Financial Success (KidsVT)
When it comes to teaching kids personal finance, Vermont gets a D. The 2017 National Report Card on State Efforts to Improve Financial Literacy in High Schools — put out by Champlain College's Center for Financial Literacy — dings the state for setting "modest levels" of personal finance education in state academic standards, providing no specifics on instruction and no oversight to the school...
Mini-Activity Idea: How To Avoid Financial Pitfalls
A great article from Of Dollars and Data that highlights six of the "tried and true" methods that make us susceptible to financial trickery or just plain bad decisions. On the subject of trickery, be sure to check out NGPF's release of SIX NEW Financial Pitfalls Projects that will increase your student's savviness.
So what are the six ways of influence described in the article (with the tag lines he provides):
Authority: Trust me I'm an expert.
Commitment and consistency: Just say...
What's the Catch?: The Case of Golden Valley Loan Company
If they won't regulate, we better educate.
Listening to Planet Money podcast (20 minutes) last week about an online lender, Golden Valley Loan, Inc. It was being sued by CFPB for "unfair, deceptive and abusive business practices." Under new CFPB leadership, the lawsuit has been dropped.
So, I went to Golden Valley's website to read the fine print of their short-term, high interest loans to see if I could find the "gotchas."
What a beautiful website...
Here's how they...
The "I'm Glad That I Have Renters Insurance" Activity (courtesy of Brian Page)
While on the subject of insurance, thank you to Brian Page for sharing his two-part activity to teach students about renters insurance. Once students choose their policy option they get one of those unwelcome surprises where they get to immediately apply what they have learned.
Here are links to Part I and Part II of the activity.
Renters Insurance has never seemed so exciting, so just remember, stay calm...
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Handout: Renters Insurance
Part I (20 minutes):...
NGPF Sweet Sixteen Day #4: Saturday Skirmish
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Mar 23, 2018
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Personal Finance, Activities, Investing, Interactive, Credit Scores, Budgeting, Behavioral Finance
The two weekend tilts are upon us! Who will join the 6 other Sweet Sixteen winners from the week? Time (and YOUR social media influence) will tell. Let ‘em hear your voice in the rafters, baby!
Vote in Today’s Tilts:
#4 Joining the Market vs. #13 FICO Score Simulator
#5 Spent vs. #12 Think You Can Beat The Stock Market?
FINAL Update on Sunday, March 25 at 7AM
In a major upset, #13 FiCO Score advances to the Elite 8 with a 27-11 trouncing of Joining the Market. Pundits wonder...
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