Student Lending Analytics Blog

NGPF April 2015 Newsletter: Free Lessons/Activities and a Contest You Won't Want to Miss

Welcome to Next Gen Personal Finance's April 2015 Newsletter:  It's Financial Literacy Month! To celebrate Financial Literacy Month (#FLM2015), NGPF has been planning the following initiatives: Awarding $1,500 in prizes to teachers.  All you need to do is share your favorite online resources (video, article or interactive) and/or original classroom activity with an email to [email protected].  Click here for details.   Hosting a webinar on April 21st titled "How Do I Implement an NGPF Lesson in My Classroom?" Click here for details.    Posting a new Question of the Day every day on the NGPF blog   Example:  Who's Charging ATM Fees?  And How Much Are They? Adding a new NGPF Activity of the Day on the NGPF blog Example:  What if You Invested That Latte? Please don't forget that we continue to provide the following FREE content to educators: Lesson Library:  Over 70+ lessons with lesson plans, assessments and student activity guides Activity Bank:  Check out our engaging interactive exercises (over 80 available) NGPF Blog:  Updated daily, provides you with case studies, questions of the day and creative ways to incorporate current events into your classroom   Please send me an email ([email protected]) and let me know how we can help provide you with the resources you need to succeed in the classroom.    Finally, I want to apologize for the email that was sent yesterday in error titled "This Is Our Fake Newsletter." I am happy to send you our real April newsletter today and wish you a wonderful month! Regards, Tim  The NGPF Activity Bank We continue to garner positive teacher feedback regarding our latest product, theNGPF Activity Bank.  What do they like about the activities? Short 30-45 minute activities to extend your current lessons Easy to implement in your classroom Develops critical thinking and decision making skills through research, comparison of alternatives, analysis and mathematical calculations Oh, and we created Answer Keys (yes, they are free!) to make life easier for you. Please contact Jessica at [email protected] and let her know what you need.   Here are some of our most popular activities: Analyze: Student Loan Repayment Research: Opening A Checking Account WebQuest Debate: Should College Students Get Credit Cards? Create: Your Savings Goals Sign Up for Our Free Webinar on April 21st:  "How Do I Implement an NGPFLesson in My Classroom?" You've seen our newsletter, clicked on links for our lessons, but wondered how you would implement them in your classroom.  Attend this webinar and you will: Understand the 4 C's of NGPF lessons - Curated, Cohesive, Customizable, and Current Become familiar with our lesson format and navigation Learn teacher-tested implementation strategies  Click here for additional details and to register for this webinar that you won't want to miss.    Questions of The Day We love when we get comments like this one from Christie, who participated in our recent webinar: "The Questions of the Day are already prepared and spark interest as well as research skills.  I don't have to spend hours coming up with a meaningful list.  Love it!"   Here are Questions of the Day that have been trending on the NGPF Blog: What Are Three of the Most Dangerous Types of Identity Theft? What Is The Average Credit Score for 18-24 Year Olds? How Many of These Credit Card Myths Do Your Students Believe? What Is The Return on Investment For Your College Education? Featured Teacher:  Lisa Bender (Southern Garrett High School, Maryland)   This marks our first column featuring insights from a personal finance educator. Thanks to Lisa Bender from Southern Garrett High School (Maryland's Financial Literacy Teacher of the Year in 2014!) for sharing her insights on strategies that work for her in the classroom.  This interview has been edited due to space constraints (full interview here): What is your favorite activity with students?  "Would you believe me if I told you my favorite activity is teaching students about Taxes?  Without some planning and creativity, this could easily be a contender for the world’s most boring high school lesson, but when I use Take Charge Today’s “The Basics of Taxes” curriculum my classroom comes alive!" What is the most common misconception that you find among your students when it comest to money?  "I don’t think high school students see themselves as economic decision makers;  they’re still at the stage and age of life where they relate to the more simplistic idea that they fall into either the category of a Saver or a Spender. I think their misconception is that it’s alright to spend money without ever thinking about the consequences of their actions. When I poll them, it’s clear that many spend every dollar they have and don’t look to save." What concept do you find most challenging to teach your students? "Certainly investing can be considered one of the most challenging set of concepts to teach high school students. They have such little background knowledge on this subject, with few students ever having paid attention to the stock market. All of these lead to a challenging task for the classroom teacher. After implementing some traditional teaching strategies for getting students familiar with the vocabulary and content, an ideal way to allow students to fully engage in learning about investing is to have your class compete in the Council for Econ Ed Stock Market Game."

Chart of the Month:  What Do College Frosh Worry Most About? Be sure to check out this NGPF blog post for discussion points that accompany this chart.       Community Activity Next Gen Personal Finance actively supports the financial literacy community through workshops, conference sponsorships and volunteer teaching. We are based in the Bay Area but travel constantly so e-mail me at[email protected], if you are interested in discussing a speaking or sponsorship opportunity. Upcoming Events April 10, 2015: FBLA California State Conference (Santa Clara, CA) May 18, 2015: Personal Finance Workshop at Castilleja School (Palo Alto, CA) Previous 2015 Events January 21-23, 2015:  Collaboration with Harvard University Winter Session Personal Finance Course (Cambridge, MA) February 24, 2015:  Common Ground Personal Finance Workshop for Educators and Panel Discussion With Parents (Princeton, NJ) February 28, 2015:  FBLA Bay Section Conference (Daly City, CA) - NGPFprovided two workshops for FBLA Advisors and students March 24, 2015: Free Webinar "How To Find Personal Finance Resources" January-March, 2015: Pilot at Eastside Prep (East Palo Alto, CA) Follow Us on Social Media Twitter Facebook Google Plus Pinterest

NGPF March 2015 Newsletter: Chock-full of Lesson and Activity Ideas for the Personal Finance Educator

Welcome to Next Gen Personal Finance's March 2015 Newsletter  Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) is a non-profit organization that believes all young people deserve a free, quality education to develop their financial capability. We have continued to build out the NGPF Activity Bank (see below for additional details), and now have over 85 FREE activities that are engaging, educational and extend the learning for your students.   Next Gen Personal Finance now provides the following FREE content to educators: Lesson Library:  Over 70+ lessons with lesson plans, assessments and student activity guides Activity Bank:  Click the tab titled "Activity Bank" along the left-hand side to find over 80 interactive exercises NGPF Blog, updated daily, provides you with case studies, questions of the day and creative ways to incorporate current events into your classroom   Please send me an email ([email protected]) and let me know how we can help provide you with the resources you need to succeed in the classroom.    Regards, Tim  NGPF New Product Feature: The Activity Bank Check out our latest product innovation, the NGPF Activity Bank (click on "Activity Bank" on the left side of the screen): 30-45 minute activities to supplement your current lessons Easy to implement in your classroom Develop critical thinking and decision making skills through research, comparison of alternatives, analysis and mathematical calculations Oh, and we created Answer Keys (yes, they are free!) to make life easier for you.  Please contact Jessica at [email protected] and let her know what you need.   Here are just a few new activities that you should check out: Case Study:  Mystery of the $8 Million Janitor Calculate:  FICO Credit Scores Excel: Build A Credit Card Calculator Debate: Biggest Money Mistake You Ever Made Create:  A Famous Person's LinkedIn Profile Activity Bank Faves Research tells us that students learn by doing. Here are the top five activities in the NGPF Activity Bank (as of 3/9/15): ANALYZE:  Student Loan Repayment CALCULATE: Reconcile Your Checking Account COMPARE:  Select a Checking Account DEBATE:  Should Employers View Facebook Profiles? CALCULATE:  Shopping with Interest It's National Reading Month March is National Reading Month. We know that finding high quality, interesting, and student-friendly articles about personal finance for a high school audience can be time consuming. All month, Jessica is highlighting one nonfiction article from our library each day. She's selecting her favorites for immediate use in your classroom. Celebrate #NationalReadingMonth with NGPF!   Here are three articles that your students will enjoy: Why People Aren't Owning Cars   Everyone Loves the Lottery Investing 101   Want To Get A Good Job?  Better Learn Excel! A recent WSJ Blog post highlighted research that found a key skill in most jobs is the ability to work your way around a spreadsheet.  Here are some Excel activities to hone your students' spreadsheet skills:   Build A Credit Card Calculator Sum Your Monthly Budget Savings Brain Teaser Investing Activity:  Sometimes the Simplest Solution... The Mystery of the $8 Million Janitor Video Resources You know students love videos, but you also know finding great video resources can take time. At NGPF, we spend hundreds of hours looking for resources so you don't have to. Here are a few video resources that we uncovered the past month that we thought your students would enjoy:   What Investing Advice Would Warren Buffett Give Lebron James?(3 minutes) ...A retro pick "What Can Schoolhouse Rock Teach Us About Money?"(four videos; 3 minutes each) Are you overconfident? (5-6 minutes) Will the New Chip-Enabled Credit Cards Prevent Fraud? (2 minutes) Questions of the Day Here are questions to engage your students in current events and serve as great ways to catalyze classroom discussions before you jump into your lesson: Are Stocks A Risky Long-Term Investment? How are Credit Reports/Scores Changing? What is the Return on Investment For A College Education? How Much Income Do You Need To Be Rich? How Can Minors Check Their Credit Report (and why would they want to)? Post Your Favorite Personal Finance Article, Win A $50 Amazon Gift Card For National Reading Month, we want to know what personal finance articles you love to share with your students. Here's how to take home that prize: Like us on Facebook  Post YOUR favorite personal finance article.  The poster of the article with the most likes by Friday will win the $50 gift card.   Chart of the Month:  What's the Cost of College for 2014-15? Be sure to check out this NGPF blog post for discussion points that accompany this chart.       Community Activity Next Gen Personal Finance actively supports the financial literacy community through workshops, conference sponsorships and volunteer teaching. We are based in the Bay Area but travel constantly so e-mail me at[email protected], if you are interested in discussing a speaking or sponsorship opportunity. Previous Events: October 18, 2014: FBLA Conference (Santa Clara, CA) - NGPF provided a workshop for FBLA Advisors and students November 8-10, 2014: Jump$tart Conference (Los Angeles, CA) - NGPF participated as an exhibitor November 15, 2014: CBEA State Conference (Monterrey, CA) - NGPF exhibited and conducted a workshop for personal finance educators November 19-21, 2014: AFCPE (Bellevue, WA) - Exhibitor December 9-12, 2014: Pilot at Palo Alto High School (Palo Alto, CA) January 21-23, 2015:  Collaboration with Harvard University Winter Session Personal Finance Course (Cambridge, MA) February 24, 2015:  Common Ground Personal Finance Workshop for Educators and Panel Discussion With Parents (Princeton, NJ) February 28, 2015:  FBLA Bay Section Conference (Daly City, CA) - NGPF provided two workshops for FBLA Advisors and students Upcoming Events: January-March, 2015: Pilot at Eastside Prep (East Palo Alto, CA) April 10, 2015: FBLA California State Conference (Santa Clara, CA)

For Financial Literacy Month, NGPF Offering $1,500 In Cash Prizes for Engaging Online Resources/Activities

Next Gen Personal Finance is excited to offer cash prizes to personal finance educators as a way to honor their work during Financial Literacy Month and to share top resources and activities with the educator community.

Here are the details:

• Who is eligible?  Personal finance educators at high school or college level.

• What are the prizes?
  • Five (5) $100 prizes will be awarded for engaging online resources (videos, articles, interactives) that you have found on the internet and used in your classroom.
  • Two (2) $500 prizes will be awarded for original activities that teachers have created and used in the classroom.

• What do I need to include with my submission?
  • A link to the online resource OR a PDF of the activity that you have created
  • A short description of the key concepts taught by the resource/activity
  • A short answer to “What do your students like most about this resource/activity?

• Are there limits to how many resources/activities that I can submit?
  • Teachers may submit up to 5 resources and 2 activities.

• When is the deadline?
  • All submissions are due by April 24th
  • Winners will be announced on April 30th

• Who should I send my submission to:
  • Send all submissions to [email protected] with the subject line “NGPF Financial Literacy Month Contest”

• How will the submissions be shared with the community of personal finance educators?
  • NGPF will post top submissions on the NGPF Blog, Twitter and our Facebook page.
  • In addition, winners will be announced in our May newsletter.