Welcome to Next Gen Personal Finance's April 2016 Newsletter
It's Financial Literacy Month and welcome to the latest edition of the NGPF Newsletter (#17 for those of you scoring at home). This month our focus is on our best ideas to update your checking account lessons to reflect the modern realities of the financial system.
Checking account lessons are the most popular lessons on the NGPF website and based on the popularity of our recent checking focused webinar, we know that many of you are looking to refresh or supplement what you are currently teaching in this unit.
We love your feedback so please email me at tim@nextgenpersonalfinance.org to let me know which resources you found most engaging in the classroom.
Enjoy!
Tim and Jessica
From The NGPF Webinar Archive:
Updating Your Checking Unit For the 21st Century
"This was the best webinar that I have participated in this year."
"Very useful, current information. I really like how the presentations are geared towards what teachers really want and can do in the classroom."
In this webinar, you preview the wide array of hands-on activities and projects that NGPF uses to teach checking account management. You can also access our comprehensive resource listwhich includes interactive tools, data crunches and blog posts that can round out your current curriculum. -------------------- Coming soon:
Register here for our next free webinar "21st Century PD Using Our Online PLC Model." Listen to master teachers describe their experiences with professional development delivered through an online professional learning community (PLC).
In NGPF's case study "Bank On This," students take on the role of a high school student providing financial advice to a friend who wants to open a checking account. This provides a great capstone to your checking unit. Students will compare various checking account options, learn about parental influences on financial decision-making, decide whether to opt-in to overdraft protection and finally choose a checking account for a friend.
My detailed teacher notes describe my classroom experience using this case study at Eastside Prep High School. For those of you interested in bringing case studies to your classroom, check back to the NGPF podcast page later this month for a podcast with experienced case study facilitator Brandon Jacobson of Copper Hills High School (Utah).
Hands-On Projects and Activities
What could be more important than providing students with the skills to compare, open and manage checking accounts? Here are three activities to hone their decision-making skills:
Research which financial institutions offer the best services, what needs to be done before opening a checking account. This will include having the right materials, and knowing the right questions to ask.
In this Common Core Standards-aligned project, students will explore the ever-evolving line of online and mobile finance tools available to supplement their banking.
Ideas From the NGPF Blog
Here are a few blog posts that your students will enjoy:
Students watch videos showing the varied ways that financial crooks get their hands on sensitive information. Develop strategies to protect financial information.
Students learn about the various alerts that they can set up on their accounts and then choose those that will be most helpful to them.
From The NGPF Interactive Library
We know that students often learn best by doing, here are some tools from our Interactive Library to supplement your existing check writing activities:
Basic Banking Activities: Students learn how to manage basic banking transactions including ATM transactions, debit cards and online bill payment
Data Crunches pique student interest with a question they may be curious about. These resources provide a great way for students to analyze graphical data infused with personal finance concepts. Here are a few that you can use to kick-off your checking lessons:
Community Activity Next Gen Personal Finance actively supports the financial literacy community through workshops, sponsorships of conferences and teacher professional development events. See below for a representative sample of events that we attended in 2015 and early 2016. Please stop by and say hello if you plan to be at any of our upcoming events!
In 2016, we are committing $25,000 to support teacher professional development. If you organize or attend a workshop and are looking for sponsors, please let me know by emailing me at tim@nextgenpersonalfinance.org.
Upcoming 2016 Events
June 27-29: NGPF Summer Institute (Palo Alto, CA)
June 13 - July 22, 2016: Teach at Summer Bridge Program at Eastside College Prep (East Palo Alto, CA)
May 18, 2016: Workshop at Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA)
May 13, 2016: New Hampshire Jump$tart Classroom Connections (Merrimack, NH)
Previous 2016 Events
April 8, 2016 : MBEA 2016 Conference (Natick, MA)
April 5, 2016: Jump$tart 2016 Hill Day (Capitol Hill, Washington DC)
