Welcome to Next Gen Personal Finance's February 2016 Newsletter
With over 700 posts, the NGPF Blog is chock-full of resources and ideas that teachers can easily implement in the classroom. When I am asked the question, "What's in the NGPF Blog?," I often answer, "What's not in it?"
Our focus this month: Using the NGPF Blog to Supplement Your Classroom Instruction
My goal with this newsletter is to share examples of the dozens of ways that teachers are using the blog to enrich their teaching craft, engage their students and keep abreast of trends in personal finance. I will also show you how to navigate the NGPF Blog to find the resources you need in a timely and efficient manner.
Please drop me a note at tim@nextgenpersonalfinance.org to let me know how we can continue to serve you better.
Tim
Search For Current Events On Our Blog
We all know that personal finance is a constantly changing field and you want to be able to provide the most current and accurate information to your students. The NGPF Blog can help! Here is a sampling of the breaking news that you will find when you click on Current Events on the NGPF Blog:
Find That Awesome "Question of the Day" On Our Blog
Our most popular category search, Question of the Day, provides you with dozens of ideas on how to pique your students' interests with a thought-provoking question. Here's a sampling:
On the right margin of the home page of the NGPF Blog, you will find links to topics or key words that you can use for search purposes. This is a great place to turn for ideas as you are about to start a specific unit. Let's take Credit Scores as an example (teachers are constantly asking for engaging resources in this area).
Here are some questions to get your class off to a great start that can be found just by clicking on the Credit Scores link on the NGPF Blog:
When we started the NGPF Blog a few years ago, the intent was to provide almost a daily feed of engaging and timely resources for teachers. With over 700 posts and counting, we knew we needed to find better ways to catalog these curated resources. This has led to the creation of the popular NEW resource libraries which teachers (and students) love:
NGPF Video Library: Almost three hundred curated videos with brief descriptions and duration and sortable by topic, keyword and publisher
NGPF Set of Simulations: We keep adding to our engaging set of simulations that provide your students with hands-on experience for such tasks as managing banking activities and applying for a loan.
Data Crunch (Coming Soon!): Teachers want more ways to hone their students' analytical skills. With dozens of Chart of the Week resources curated on our blog already, we are conceiving a resource that personal finance (and math) teachers will love.
Top 5 on the NGPF Blog
Looking at the most popular posts on the NGPF Blog, it becomes clear that teachers find many different ways to utilize it. So, what posts are garnering the most teacher interest this school year (since August 2015)?
Thanks to all who participated in our Challenge by registering on on the new NGPF Q&A Forum. Thanks to you the forum is off to a great start with hundreds of answers provided to dozens of the most vexing questions brought by educators.
Here are the five winning states and the organizations they selected to receive a $500 grant from NGPF:
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.
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.
