Financial Literacy

I teach 21st Century Skills with middle school students and high school Economics. In both classes, I try to find creative and engaging ways for students to connect with the material and learn valuable financial literacy skills.

With middle school, I have used Banzai - an online program that allows students to work through a variety of situations dealing with saving and spending money, with the particular goal of saving for college. Another program I have used online is Hands on Banking for all age levels. They have a program for kids, teens, young adults, and adults. I have my 6th graders start with the kids version, which is primarily games, and then I have each grade after that work their way through the next version, with the goal of having more difficult and valuable skills to their age group.

A project I do in Economics with my seniors is a Final Portfolio that requires students to plan for college and budget for loans, create resumes and cover letters, complete mock interviews, get an apartment, pay for insurance, create a budget, etc. This is a long term project that allows students to have a general idea of "real" life scenarios for how to live on a budget.

These are just a few of the current activities I use to help students with financial literacy; I hope to find more programs, especially on the computer, that teach students the value of money and how to avoid bad debt.