It was great to see Barbara recently at the JumpStart National Educator Conference in D.C. We had a few conversations there about her favorite classroom activities and I encouraged (pleaded?) for her to come on the podcast and share them with the community. So, you will learn about ideas that work in Barbara's classroom as well as her earliest money lessons and how she incorporates morals, values and ethics into her course. I know that you will walk away with ideas by listening to this engaging, creative and passionate educator! Enjoy!

Details:

• 0:00–0:55 Introduction
• 0:56–4:52 How Barbara learned to stretch a dollar
• 4:53–10:34 Teaching personal finance in schools on a dime
• 10:35–14:06 “No one is going to look after your money the way you are”
• 14:07–16:44 The fiscal issues with implementing personal finance classes
• 16:45–18:53 Barbara’s tips and tricks for teaching money saving habits
• 18:54–21:54 The best resource… is her students
• 21:55–27:33 Students wake up & smell the cost of coffee—and more!
• 27:34–29:24 Self-reflection leads to learning life lessons
• 29:25–31:34 Making personal finance relevant to the lives of students
• 31:35–32:26 Favorite thing purchased for less than $10
• 32:27–33:03 Her biggest money mistake
• 33:04–33:36 What she wished she knew when she was 18-years old
• 33:37–35:06 How to be productive with leftover change
• 35:07–44:16 Teaching students to be conscious of what’s going on in the world
• 44:17–44:56 Conclusion

Websites mentioned:

• Izzit.org: educational videos to teach critical thinking skills
• Venmo, a free person-to-person money transferring app
• Acorn, a free finance app that helps you invest your change into index funds
• Penguin Plunge for the Special Olympics, fundraiser in her community; I have a standing invite:)

NGPF resources mentioned

• NGPF: Budgeting in College
• Payback: NGPF’s new game about paying for college
• NGPF blog (Question of the Day)
• NGPF lesson on Philanthropy
• NGPF’s Semester Course

Notable Quotes:

• “I was overwhelmed (after the first semester) about how much the students wanted to learn about money.”
• In regards to teaching personal finance in high school: “These are the seeds we need to plant down the road...because if you start making good decisions now, you’re going to continue to make good decisions.”
• “There are two things in life that you’re going to have to take care of because no one else is going to: your reputation and your credit score.”
• “[Personal finance] is not just in the classroom.”

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