Financial literacy and politics - making a meaningful marriage!

Financial literacy education and politics have not always made a productive marriage. Educators and politicians often have differing views of what is and isn't important to our nation's children, especially in areas outside the common core of English language arts (reading and writing), mathematics, social studies, and science. Teachers of elective subjects, including personal finance, have been fighting this battle for several years now as they lobby for their state and for the federal government to recognize personal finance education as a required core learning component.

On Tuesday, September 4, 2012, in conjunction with the Council on Economic Education, politicians, educators, business professionals, and members of the larger community will come together in Charlotte, NC at the Democratic National Convention at a Financial Literacy Policy Luncheon to discuss which states are closing the gap in financial literacy and which states yet have a ways to go (Link: http://www.councilforeconed.org/events/financial-literacy-policy-luncheons/). A similar program took place at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL on Monday, August 27, 2012 as well.

Events such as this are critical to the success and future growth of financial literacy initiatives. All educators must lobby their state and U.S. representatives and senators to ensure the voice of financial literacy and personal finance education is heard loud and clear. Organizations such as the Council for Economic Education (http://www.councilforeconed.org/) and the National Business Education Association (http://www.nbea.org/), plus numerous other content area teaching professional organizations are investing tirelessly in ensuring that personal finance education becomes a required educational component for all American children.

I encourage each and every one of you to contact your representatives and urge their support on this national issue. Plus, if you happen to be in the Charlotte area on Tuesday, September 4th, register to attend the Financial Literacy Policy Luncheon. The more of us that push for political support of financial literacy and personal finance education, the greater chance we have to positively affect the lives of children for generations to come!

Ready for a new school year? Get your social media on, because it is a key to future student success!

I hope everyone is ready for a new school year! Summer vacation is over and this weekend marks the official end of summer, even though by the calendar we still have about three more weeks. That bring me to the subject of social media use in the classroom. We've talked about social media in education extensively, yet I still wonder if teachers have truly embraced this advance in technology.

An article by NBC News' Education Nation entitled "Social Media Belongs in the Classroom" (Link: http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=5DE1F0EE-21AE-11E1-A9BF000C296BA163) discusses the ongoing debate about whether social media truly has a place in classroom instruction. As the article discusses, in a time when social media continues to advance its reach and scope across the business world, there are still teachers, schools, and even districts that ban its use in the classroom believing there is too high a risk in allowing it as an instructional tool. However, one important point that educational writers and bloggers alike continue to address is that not allowing its use in the classroom has the potential of discounting a student's education by not preparing them for the real world in the career(s) he or she will choose later in life. Whether we as teachers like it or not, social media is here to stay and we have a responsibility to engage students in a meaningful way through its use.

Common arguments against its use include:

1. Classroom discussion strengthens students' ability to communicate with one another and prepares them for workplace interaction
2. Students still need to be able to handle written communications properly
3. The use of social media can create classroom risks, such as cheating, bullying of other students, or other inappropriate communications

In fact, it is still fairly commonplace for many schools to block access on the Internet to pages such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. In addition, due to acceptable use policies within schools or districts, teachers have a difficult time developing appropriate lesson materials to include social media use because creating a way in which he or she can communicate with students can be difficult as well.

So, my challenge for today's post is to look for ways in which to develop classroom lessons that include social media activities and encourage students to use social media in other ways than just communicating with friends and family. Throughout this school, you will be provided with a multitude of new teaching ideas and tips on social media in the classroom and I want to hear all of your best tips as well. Together, we can help our students reach new heights in learning while also preparing them responsibly for the technology advances they will continue to be bombarded with throughout their lives.

Happy teaching and welcome back to school!

A conversation with teachers on personal finance education and the economy...

Recently, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke conducted a Teacher Town Hall meeting where he met with approximately 60 teachers from around the nation who teach economics or personal finance. Here is a video recap of the town hall meeting:

As an educator, I believe such interactions with key political and government officials are of utmost importance if we are to ensure key educational programs receive the proper support and funding and lead to better educational outcomes for all Americans.

A special congratulations to Brian Page (@FinEdChat), a fellow blogger and financial literacy educator, who had the distinct honor of attending this town hall meeting and sitting just three seats from Chairman Bernanke to his left! Thank you, Brian, for representing Ohio and all financial literacy educators at this important event.

Stay tuned to Personal Finance and Social Media in Education as we embark on a new school year! I am committed to bringing my followers another year of news, tips, ideas, and professional development opportunities.

Here we go...preparing a presentation on bringing social media into the business classroom!

Well, followers...among all my other activities coming up this fall, I've agreed to present at the 85th Annual Professional Development Conference of OBTA--An Association for Business Technology Educators (http://www.obta-ohio.org). I'll be presenting on ways to bring social media into the business classroom. This presentation will provide information gathered from a recent social media in the classroom study as well as ideas for using social media platforms with students to expand their awareness of social beyond just friends and socialization.

Continuing my summer of professional development, stay tuned to the OBTA Website for more details about "Flying to New Heights with Business Technology Education!" Conference registration is open to all OBTA members and registration information will be available on the website around August 15th.

I hope everyone is having a great summer! I'm looking forward to a new and exciting school year and to sharing many, many more tips and ideas on personal finance education and social media in the classroom!

International Society for Technology in Education - a great professional development opportunity!

Summer is always the time to review your professional development options and to determine your plan for professional development for the upcoming school year. I thought this would be a great opportunity to share more about ISTE, yet another professional organization for technology-minded educators!

If you're not familiar with ISTE, take a few moments to browse their website at http://www.iste.org/. You'll find yourself immersed in the variety of information available to ISTE members. You might even take the leap and join! Membership is comparable in cost to other professional organizations for teachers.

My motto regarding professional development is that the benefits one reaps from membership in any professional organization far outweigh the cost. I frequently find myself in conversation with colleagues who have made the decision not to join or renew their membership in an organization because of the cost involved. As a result, I am often defending my decision to join or renew my membership because of the benefits, real and perceived, that I receive each and every year. Not only do I receive the publications and have the opportunity to attend awesome conferences and events, but I also find the networking and connections to like-minded educators to be exceptional and well worth my small membership dues investment. I look at professional organizations just like I look at technology and its application in the classroom--we must be equally, if not more, prepared than our students and organizations like ISTE help us to be the best we can possibly be.

Professional growth is priceless and staying in tune with technology and its application to education is invaluable. Those teachers who take that extra step to involve themselves in professional development in organizations like ISTE become innovators and leaders in our profession. Be a leader in your classroom and make a pact today to develop your professional development portfolio for the upcoming year!

Are young people today really prepared for the financial challenges that go along with a college education?

Being involved in administration at an institution of higher education, I frequently find myself observing just how unprepared or underprepared young people really are about the financial challenges that will face them when they head off to college.

Students often find themselves overborrowing on college loans and living off the excess funding they receive. In career college settings where the average student age is approximately 26 years old, students even go so far as using excess student loan funding as a source of income to pay living expenses and to take care of everyday needs. To make the picture even more bleak, these sames students see nothing wrong with overextending themselves financially and even hopping school to school to try and increase the availability of funding available to them. Is this really what these young people should be doing? What, if anything, did these young people learn about personal finance education in their younger years?

This is an all too common phenomenon occurring every day in colleges and universities across the country. As educators, we simply must do better to help students better understand the financial challenges ahead. Default rates on student loans are at an all-time high and starting salaries of recent graduates are less and less commensurate with the accumulation of debt with which many graduates embark on their new chosen careers.

With back to school time just around the corner, be sure you build your lesson plans for next school year to include lessons and activities that present college funding options, explain the cost of education, and also prepare young people to deal with the student loan payments that are sure to come upon graduation.

I hope everyone is having a terrific summer thus far and hope you are energizing yourself in preparation for a new year of learning in personal finance education and social media in the classroom!

A great resource for social media news!

On a lazy (and very hot) Sunday morning, I stumbled across a useful website, Social Media Club (Link: http://socialmediaclub.org/). Something that intrigued me about this website was the variety of information it offered. The site offers a blog, a journal, a user newsletter, tips on social media education, and you can even create a local chapter of the Social Media Club--what a great way to bring social media into the classroom!

This site got me thinking about another social media idea--a social media-oriented student organization. Students are already so immersed in the social media generation and having a local school club that offers them both added learning experiences and social interaction with their peers and teachers brings learning full circle into a real-world application. Our students today most likely will be involved in some form or fashion of social media in the course of their future careers. Why not offer them an outlet that helps them develop social media etiquette and develop social media campaigns?

I think there are some real possibilities with this idea! I'm curious what my educator followers have to say about such a club. Is this something that could be implemented fairly simply and be successful? Let me know your thoughts!