I will be chronicling NGPF’s work in the classroom at Eastside College Preparatory School (East Palo Alto, CA) as we deliver our 24-hour Personal Finance course (see details on our first day here).

Here is how day 2 progressed:

• Background and Set-Up
  • Teacher Lesson Guide
  • Activity: Pick A Payment Method (from Day 1)
  • Handouts
    • Student Activity Guide – Day 2 Checking
    • Overdraft Fee Analysis Activity
  • Videos loaded on laptop ready to go
    • Spent: The Cost of Not Having a Checking Account
    • Compare Bank Accounts
  • Poll Everywhere polls loaded for Pick A Payment Method and Checking Features word cloud

• Completed the “Pick a Payment Method” activity from Day 1
  • Gave students 10 minutes to complete as not all had finished.
    • For those that had finished, they talked to another finisher to compare answers and discuss their rationales.
  • Used Poll Everywhere to highlight 4 of the 6 situations. The operational tempo was:
    • One student read the scenario aloud while the other students responded to poll (note that Poll Everywhere has feature that allows you to keep the results hidden which I used).
    • I unveiled the results and we had a quick discussion about the reasons they chose the specific payment method. Given that there wasn’t unanimity on any of the questions, it was good for students to share their reasons why.
  • To finish off this activity, I had students discuss the properties of a transaction that would be ideal for each payment type.
    • For example, cash would be good for smaller transactions or checks might be good if you wanted to keep a paper trail but may not be accepted by everyone.

• Handed out Day 2 of Checking Student Activity Guide 
  • Asked students to write down the features (one word answers) in the Discussion Prompt (#3 Activity) on their Student Activity Guide that matter to them when it comes to checking accounts.
  • Had them go to Poll Everywhere site where they created this Word Cloud, which led to discussion about the whats and whys of these various terms (very effective tool!):

• Watched the Spent video (as a group) and started at about the 7 minute mark (rather than 9 minute mark in the Lesson Guide) as there was a good description of how overdraft fees work (#3 Resource). This five minute snippet of the documentary led to some great questions and reactions:
  • How can a bank fire you?
  • Can you ask your employer to pay you in cash so you don’t have check cashing fees?
  • What’s it called when money from your employer goes directly to your account? What if you don’t have an account then how would you receive your paycheck?
  • The students were aghast at the costs over a lifetime of being unbanked ($40,000) and how the banks manipulate payments in order to maximize overdraft fees.

• Watched video “Compare Bank Accounts” (as a group) and then discussed differences between traditional banks and credit unions (#4). 
  • Students discussed their experiences at both traditional banks and credit unions
  • I talked about how ownership structure (shareholders vs. members) has a profound impact on how these institutions operate

• Students went to their Chromebooks and went to Motley Fool article “Traditional Banks vs. Credit Unions vs. Online Banks (#6).”
  • Encouraged students to skim the article and pull the necessary information to complete the chart in their Student Activity Guide
  • Students completed chart of pros and cons for each banking type working individually
  • Asked for show of hands about what type of bank each of them uses (or would use) and their rationale
    • Might have been another good Poll Everywhere poll; didn’t sense much interest in online banks because they weren’t familiar with them; many assumed they would not be FDIC insured

• Students completed the Overdraft Activity (#8) 
  • Could have done better job preparing the class for the activity as start-up wasted about 1-2 minutes.
  • Divided class into groups of three and assigned a specific bank to each of them.
  • Should have projected the NerdWallet article and explained what students should look for when it comes to analyzing bank overdraft policies; also opportunity to define key terms
  • Questions about what a overdraft protection transfer is which required an explanation
    • This is when the bank seeing that your checking account balance is overdrawn automatically transfers money from your savings account and charges a fee for that (typically around $10-12)
  • None of the students caught the Hint at the bottom of the activity which required them to reorder the transactions from highest to lowest (which maximize overdrafts for bank!)

• Used wrap-up to discuss what students learned about overdraft protection through this activity

Additional notes

• Anna’s section:
  • I followed the same outline as TIm and used the Choose a Payment activity as a means to recap the previous lesson.
  • Watching the Spend video was a bit of a downer (I warned them ahead of time) – I think the footage following actual individuals make several stops to pay bills hit home the point about fees associated with the unbanked.
  • We spent more time talking about the difference between traditional banks/credit unions/online banks
    • This group was surprisingly traditional in their views. None seemed comfortable with online banks even though they all wanted their banks to have online tools and products. One student banks at a credit union and appreciates the personal touch (tellers know his family and engage in genuine small talk), others want to have the option of going into a brick-and-mortar bank just in case (e.g., one student lost his debit card and his bank was able to freeze the card and issue a new one).
  • With only about 5 minutes left, I opted not to start the overdraft activity since it does require a lot of set-up. I wonder if there’s a way to simplify the activity. or maybe a completed example? I’m not sure how to get back to this. In any case, I think the students have a keen sense that there are many ways to incur fees with checking accounts.

• Jessica’s section:
  I have a much less conversational teaching style, I think, so we started at the beginning of the Day 2 lesson and made it through everything except the very last resource. For Key Takeaways, I asked the whole class and then had 5 students give me one important thing they learned today, and I got AWESOME responses:
  1. Because the fees are outrageously high, be sure to never sign up for overdraft protection. Instead, keep track of your money and only spend what you have.
  2. There are many reasons people choose a different bank option, and you have to weigh those factors before you make a decision.
  3. Always keep more than enough money in your account, so that overdrawing is never a concern.
  4. Choosing to not have bank account at all causes a lot of inconveniences and expenses in your life.
  5. The typical checking account has over 30 fees included, so always read the fine print.

  BAM! How’s that for some key learning! HAHA. They also did a great job with the multiple-choice questions attached to the checking account agreement. Results are available in Gooru.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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