Award-winning Personal Finance teacher Gary Greenwood masterfully incorporates real-life financial skills like negotiating and reading the fine print into his classroom. In this podcast, Gary shares the secrets behind his classroom economy which he has honed over the years (Hint: Don't turn in an assignment late in Gary's class or it will cost you in classroom money!) Whether his students realize it or not, they’re building their financial management expertise for the future—and they don’t even need a textbook to do so! Hear the ways that Gary engages parents as well as what he reads to stay up-to-date on all things personal finance. Enjoy!

Details:

• 0:00–1:14 Introduction
• 1:15–3:14 Gary Greenwood, farmer and teacher
• 3:15–7:53 Job, paying for college, and automobiles
• 7:54–17:36 Setting up his course like a business
• 17:37–18:10 A word from NGPF
• 18:11–20:09 More on his classroom economy
• 20:10–22:26 No textbook? No problem.
• 22:27–27:23 Online resources for educators
• 27:24–28:35 His favorite resources to stay up-to-date
• 28:36–30:33 Secrets to his school’s Blue Ribbon Recognition
• 30:34–32:50 Student success stories
• 32:51–34:27 Creative ways to engage parents
• 34:28–37:30 A job fair to learn real-life skills
• 37:31–38:31 Parting words for his fellow educators across the US
• 38:32–39:38 Conclusion

Resources mentioned:

• Gary’s website: oldmanmoney.com
• MarketWatch
• Bankrate.com has some great calculators
• The General (car insurance)
• Kelly Blue Book (vehicle valuation & automobile research company)
• Robinhood
• Stock Market Game
• Barchart.com
• Video: The parking lot attendant worth half a million bucks

• NASDAQ (he also wrote some articles on here, too!)

QUOTES:

• “It’s the little things that make you think, ‘Well, yeah maybe I am getting through to these kids.’”
• “We got to teach this class like our life depends on it because it does!”

About the Authors

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.

More posts by Tim

Danielle Bautista

Danielle is a native of Southern California and a recent graduate from the University of Maine, where she braved the frigid winters—a feat in and of itself—and earned her Bachelor's degree in International Affairs. She has a passion for working with non-profit organizations and serving populations in underprivileged communities. When Danielle isn't writing NGPF blog posts, spearheading various outreach projects, or managing contests and flash surveys, you can find her doing some sort of outdoor activity, learning a new hobby, or cracking what she thinks are witty puns!

More posts by Danielle