An Interview with Jennifer Allen, Jump$tart Teacher of the Year

Jennifer Allen was selected as the first State of Kentucky, Jumpstart Financial Literacy – Teacher of the Year. She is a teacher at Madison Southern High School in Berea, Kentucky where she teaches Business and Marketing courses and runs the school bank and school store programs. She has presented to colleagues on using free resources for teaching various aspects of Financial Literacy (see her presentation PowerPoint below). Ms. Allen’s work as a Financial Literacy educator provides an important model, as she teaches both formal classes, and runs school-based activities (the bank and store) that provide important opportunities to apply what’s learned in the courses as well as other content, hands-on. In this interview Jennifer describes how she runs her program, identifies important free resources she’s found for it, and gives important advice on how to run a highly successful Fin Lit program on the high school level.

Links:

• Kentucky Teacher – (Posted November 2011)
  http://www.kentuckyteacher.org/news/2010/11/ky-jumptart-names-financial-literacy-teacher-of-the-year/
• If It’s Free, It’s For Me (PowerPoint) attached
• Junior Achievement http://www.ja.org/
• The Economics of Seinfeld (Yada Yada Yada Econ.com) http://yadayadayadaecon.com/
• National Endowment for Financial Education (Nefe) http://www.nefe.org/

Leave a comment here on the blog/site

• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2011. All rights reserved.

See TransformationEd.com for full details of speaking engagements and opportunities to meet Dr King and Mark.

We enjoy meeting our podcast community!

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

[Photo By Michael Patrick, Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel]

Resources Related to this Episode

• Article in USA Today:
  • When students at Carter High School in Strawberry Plains, Tenn., forget their lunch money, they don’t have to worry about going hungry.Instead, they wander over to one of the five tellers who work at the student-run bank, where they can withdraw money from their savings accounts or fill out short applications for a $5 loan, all without leaving the building, says Lynn Raymond, a banking and finance teacher at the school.
  • Read more here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-03-31-schoolbanks_N.htm

• Carter High School in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee –
  • http://carterhs.knoxschools.org/

ON THE ROAD

Upcoming Events by Kathy and Mark

• USF Faculty Presentation- Tampa, FL Feb 23, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• Induction into Hall of Fame for International Adult and Continung Education- Dr. King, Toronto, Canada, April 6-8, 2011
• NCEA Conference Presentation – New Orleans, LA, April 26-27, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• AERC-CASAE Conference Presentation- Toronto, Canada, June 9-12, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• ISTE Conference Presentation – Philadelphia, PA, June 26-29, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• International Technology conference- Portugal – July 2011- Dr. King (not yet confirmed)

Leave a comment here on the blog/site

• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2011. All rights reserved.

See TransformationEd.com for full details of speaking engagements and opportunities to meet Dr King and Mark.

We enjoy meeting our podcast community!

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

Author!   Author!

Join us for an insightful interview with Deborah Hopkinson, the celebrated author of children’s fiction and nonfiction.  Deborah discusses with us the inspiration for her new book, “Saving Strawberry Farm,” and the lessons it has embedded within it related to financial literacy.

• What’s this book about?
• What new projects is this author of more than forty books working on?

Tune in and turn it up to find out more about integrating financial literacy in literacy and other content areas

Resources for this Episode

• Ms. Hopkinson’s Website: http://www.deborahhopkinson.com/
• Publisher’s page on the book Saving Strawberry Farm
  http://www.harpercollins.ca/books/Saving-Strawberry-Farm/?isbn=9780688174002
• Penny Auctions (Living History Farm)
  http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/money_10.html
• Iowa Calls Halt to “Penny Auctions” http://newdeal.feri.org/timeline/1933c.htm
• Timeline: What’s a Penny Auction? http://newdeal.feri.org/timeline/1933c2.htm
• Dust Bowl History
  • http://dustbowlhistory.blogspot.com/2008/02/book-review-saving-strawberry-farm-by.html

• Middle and High School Appropriate Books by Deborah Hopkinson
  • Up Before Daybreak (Social History of Cotton)
    http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/tradebooks/editor/lsandell_april06.htm
  • Shutting Out the Sky: Life in the Tenements of New York
    http://www.bookpage.com/0310bp/children/shutting_out.html

More Related Resources and Articles

• Rutgers University EconKids 
  • http://econkids.rutgers.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=270&Itemid=155
• Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Teachers Guide/Curriculum
  • http://stlouisfed.org/education_resources/assets/lesson_plans/StrawberryFarm.pdf

Meet Deborah Hopkinson!

Deborah Hopkinson is the author of more than 40 books for young readers including picture books, short fiction, and nonfiction. Her historical fiction picture books often illuminate the lives of ordinary people or forgotten figures in history. She has won the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for picture book text twice. A frequent speaker in schools and conferences, she works to help bring history alive and encourage young readers to practice critical thinking and historical thinking skills.

Deborah’s award-winning works include Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, winner of the 1994 International Reading association Award; A Band of Angels, an ALA Notable title which also won the Golden Kite Award and was a Jane Addams award honor book; Under the Quilt of Night, winner of the Washington State Book Award, Bluebird Summer, a Golden Kite Award Honor Book, and Girl Wonder, winner of the Great Lakes Book Award and a 2004 Jane Addams Award honor book

Her 2006 book, Sky Boys, How They Built the Empire State Building, was an ALA Notable and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor book, while Up Before Daybreak, Cotton and People in America, won a Carter G. Woodson Award and an ALA Notable book. Shutting out the Sky, Life in the Tenements of New York 1880-1924, was an honor book for the NCTE Orbis Pictus award, a Jane Addams Award honor book, an IRA Teachers’ Choice, and a James Madison Award Honor Book. Apples to Oregon won the Golden Kite Award and Spur Storytelling Award and was an ALA Notable book.

Sweet Land of Liberty was named an IRA Teachers Choice and a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2008 . Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek, a Junior Library Guild Selection, published in Fall 2008, received three starred reviews and was an ALA Notable book and was named winner of the Comstock Award.

A three-time Oregon Book Award finalist, she won in 2009, receiving the Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award in 2009 for Keep On! The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole. Also in 2009 Home on the Range, John Lomax and His Cowboy Songs, received two starred reviews and was a Junior Library Guild Selection, as was Stagecoach Sal, which was named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009. Other new books in 2009 included Michelle and First Family, both illustrated by AG Ford. In 2010 Deborah published The Humblebee Hunter, about Charles Darwin and his children, which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Deborah received a bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Massachusetts and holds a master’s degree in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She lives near Portland, Oregon, where she serves as Vice President for College Advancement for the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

ON THE ROAD

Upcoming Events by Kathy and Mark

• TSEA Conference Keynote- Austin TX – Jan 27, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• FETC Conference Presentation- Orlando, FL, Feb 3, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• USF Faculty Presentation- Tampa, FL Feb 23, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• NCEA Conference Presentation – New Orleans, LA, April 26-27, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• AERC-CSAE Conference Presentation- Toronto, Canada, June 9-12, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• ISTE Conference Presentation – Philadelphia, PA, June 26-29, 2011- Dr. Kathy King

Leave a comment here on the blog/site

• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2011. All rights reserved.

See TransformationEd.com for full details of speaking engagements and opportunities to meet Dr King and Mark.

We enjoy meeting our podcast community!

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

Ms. Rodgers is the Project Director of the RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PROJECT ON ECONOMICS AND CHILDREN, and has spent the past several years heading up this project with her coauthor.  Listen as she explains the origins of her project and the depth of the study she’s gone through to bring us one of the most user-friendly and useful resources for children’s financial literacy on the web.

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PROJECT ON ECONOMICS AND CHILDREN

MISSION:
The website for the Rugters project provides teachers, parents, and volunteers with ideas for using children’s literature to introduce economics to children.  We review new books from leading publishers and makes selections for “Book of the Month” and “Top Five” categories.

Unlike many of the existing websites on economics education, EconKids focuses on younger students in elementary school.  Its user-friendly design can help to generate quick teaching ideas that are based on current research in economics and education.

WEBSITE FEATURES:

Top 5 Books By Concept. Instructors can click on an economics concept to get a list of our “Top Five” choices for acclaimed children’s books that use enjoyable stories to teach an economics lesson. The selection of all books is based on objective research criteria and on direct experience in teaching with the books.

Book of the Month. Some of these books are not to be missed.  Check our current and previous picks for “Book of the Month” when looking for excellent book ideas in devising reading strategies and social studies lesson plans.

New Books. Stay up to date with this link to high-quality, newly-published children’s books with valuable economics lessons.  Our original reviews  focus on how economics concepts are woven into each book.

Research. Interested readers can download working papers on economics education directly from the EconKids website.  The research papers focus on pedagogical strategies, economics content standards, assessment tools in economics education, and how children learn economics.

Content Standards. This page contains links to all the states’ content standards in economics.

Text-to-World Connections. These books can be used to explore “text-to-world” connections in which students relate the ideas from their books to the economic world around them.  Examples include the 2006 Nobel Prize winners for Peace and for Economics.

Helpful Links. Here you will find a short list of organizations with the most useful resources for promoting economic and financial literacy among students of all age.

(Taken with Respect from the EconKids website)

The project’s website,” EconKids”: http://econkids.rutgers.edu/

Research by Yana and colleagues about teaching Economics/Financial Literacy through Literature: http://econkids.rutgers.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=33&id=91&Itemid=193

Dandi Daley Mackalls “Rudy Rides the Rails” book and resources.

A professional writer for over 20 years, Dandi Daley Mackall has written dozens of articles for popular magazines and published around 400 books for children and adults alike, with sales of over 4 million. A frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, she lives in rural Ohio with her husband, three children, horses, dogs, & cats.

- Review of Rudy Rides the Rails: http://econkids.rutgers.edu/component/content/article/117-unemployment/810-rudy-rides-the-rails-a-depression-era-story

• Dandi’s website: http://www.dandibooks.com/
• A) http://www.socstrp.org/issues/PDF/4.2.11.pdf
• B) http://www.dandibooks.com/Teachers_guides/Rudy%20Teacher’s%20Guide.pdfTeachers Guide/Curriculum to implement with Rudy Rides the Rails

Continuing the global conversation about personal

financial literacy for educators on

Talking Financial Literacy Podcast

Facebook page for Financial Literacy:

Welcome to the Talking Financial Literacy Community @ Facebook. We hope folks will join us to share links, photos, comments and discussion. But the discussion board will especially be a space to share resources, plans for integrating financial literacy in classes and support as all of us pose new ideas. Who will be first and second to share who

they are, their basic interests in this area and any needs or resources?

Invitation for Listeners to Participate in the Show

Listen to the details in episode 31 and then email Mark and Kathy about what you have to share. Email us at podcast ( at) talkingfinlit.org

ON THE ROAD

• Dr. Kathy King spoke at Westmoreland Community College in Youngwood, PA 8/16/10

Upcoming

• AAACE Clearwater, FL – Oct. 2010
  • - Dr. Kathy King presentations (several on technology)
• TSEA Conference- Austin TX – Jan 27, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• FETC Orlando, FL -
  • Dr. Kathy King featured presenter Feb 3, 2011-

Leave a comment here on the blog/site

• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2010. All rights reserved.

See TransformationEd.com for full details of speaking engagements and opportunities to meet Dr King and Mark. We enjoy meeting our podcast community!

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

Join us for an exciting episode as we speak with Marina Leight about her recent experiences as a volunteer educator. Marina Leight, is a VP with a major US media company. This past year she “volunteered” to teach a Junior Achievement course for her daughter, Alex’s 4^th grade class. Marina has a background in Education, having been a public school elementary grade teacher, and then moving on to become the Editor in Chief of Converge, a prominent Education publication.  This exciting experience with the fourth grade class spans problem solving, resource management, teamwork, and creative development, all while giving elementary-aged students a chance to see how finance really works!  Enjoy the episode and the insights it gives to the Junior Achievement program, and listen closely so you don’t miss the Surprise Guest!

Resources – Junior Achievement

http://www.jasac.org/programs.htm and  http://www.ja.org/

Continuing the global conversation about personal

financial literacy for educators on

Talking Financial Literacy Podcast

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Facebook page for Financial Literacy:

Welcome to the Talking Financial Literacy Community @ Facebook. We hope folks will join us to share links, photos, comments and discussion. But the discussion board will especially be a space to share resources, plans for integrating financial literacy in classes and support as all of us pose new ideas. Who will be first and second to share who

they are, their basic interests in this area and any needs or resources?

Invitation for Listeners to Participate in the Show

Listen to the details in episode 30 and then email Mark and Kathy about what you have to share. Email us at podcast ( at) talkingfinlit.org

ON THE ROAD

• Dr. Kathy King spoke at Westmoreland Community College in Youngwood, PA 8/16/10

Upcoming

• AAACE Clearwater, FL – Oct. 2010
  • - Dr. Kathy King presentations (several on technology)
• TSEA Conference- Austin TX – Jan 27, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• FETC Orlando, FL -
  • Dr. Kathy King featured presenter Feb 3, 2011-

Leave a comment here on the blog/site

• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2010. All rights reserved.

See TransformationEd.com for full details of speaking engagements and opportunities to meet Dr King and Mark. We enjoy meeting our podcast community!

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

More great resources to scaffold Financial Literacy Month with your classes and communities. From DOE on Youtube to HGTV reality shows(?) Kathy and Mark share resources, activities and perspectives for teachers in focusing on financial literacy materials. Discover how to use the videos and articles in this episode to build relevance and maximize learning. This is your personal invitation to be part of the Fin Lit Community- Let’s support educators. Visit the website for complete show notes and resources www.talkingfinlit.org This is your personal invitation to be part of the Fin Lit Community- Let’s support educators.

Continuing the global conversation about personal

financial literacy for educators on

Talking Financial Literacy Podcast

Resources and Articles Mentioned

• Schools to teach kids how to manage money, Hamilton Spectator
  • Financial literacy is to be incorporated into Ontario classrooms from Grade 4 to Grade 12. Parliamentary assistant Leeanna Pendergast will provide a report …
• BUILDING YOUR FUTURE - The Actuarial Foundation has released Building Your Future, an engaging and relevant financial literacy curriculum to help teens master the foundational elements of personal finance and to prepare for life after high school
  • At a time of widespread economic turmoil and financial challenge, it is more important than ever that teens are given the knowledge and skills they need to manage their money wisely and to make smart decisions for the future.
  • “Building Your Future helps students easily grasp the essentials of personal finance, gives them multiple opportunities to practice core skills and showcases the real-world impact of the financial decisions they make. Each chapter is classroom ready, with a Teacher’s Guide that provides handouts and answer keys, instruction and assessment suggestions, definitions and resources that align with national mathematics and personal financial education standards.
  • To help teachers incorporate these materials into their instruction, the Foundation is making Building Your Future available in PDF format. However, as a nonprofit organization we are able to provide printed copies of the booklets at a break-even cost of just $2.50 per booklet.” from the site

• HGTV reality show provides …
  • Relevant connections for middle school and high schoolers
  • Property Virgins connections in this episode

• Americans Nearly Flunk Financial Literacy Test
  • FOXBusiness
    The first-of-its-kind survey, funded by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) non-profit Investor Education Foundation
  • How to Teach Kids About Money
    Of all the lessons taught by the financial crisis, the most personal has been that Americans aren’t too slick with money. We take out home loans we can’t afford. We run up sky-high credit-card debt. We don’t save nearly enough for retirement By Barbara Kiviat Monday, Jan. 25, 201

• Great You Tube video
  • Why We Should Teach “Personal Financial Education” (Financial Literacy) in Schools

• Financial Literacy Supplements from NIE
  • Are you ready for the real world?
  • Be Money $mart
  • Consumer Jungle Teacher Guide….
  • and much more
    

Facebook page for Financial Literacy:

Welcome to the Talking Financial Literacy Community @ Facebook . We hope folks will join us to share links, photos, comments and discussion. But the discussion board will especially be a space to share resources, plans for integrating financial literacy in classes and support as all of us pose new ideas. ho will be first and second to share who

they are, their basic interests in this area and any needs or resources?

Invitation for Listeners to Participate in the Show

Listen to the details in episode 26 and then email Mark and Kathy about what you have to share. Email us at podcast ( at) talkingfinlit.org

ON THE ROAD – Coming Events

• April 2010 — Kathy at Purdue University (IN)
• April – June 2010 –Kathy at RTI SUMMIT @Chicago & Orlando
• May 2010- Kathy NYCABE Keynote N Y City
• May 2010 — Kathy at AERA 2010 (Denver, CO)
• June 2010 — Mark and Kathy at ISTE NECC 2010 (Denver, CO)

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site

• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2010. All rights reserved.

See Transformationed.com for full details of speaking engagements and opportunities to meet Dr King and Mark.. we enjoy meeting our podcast community!

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

CLICK TO {{{ LISTEN }}}

• What were their surprises as they wrap up the first segment of the series?
• How can teachers best make use of the series?
• What needs and gaps did they uncover in the journey of exploring financial literacy resources?
• How has our world of economics and politics transformed during this 12-16 months?
• What could a sequel series of segments offer?

This episode becomes a fun, quick-paced recap of great resources, highlights and packs in more surprises for our listeners, both new and returning! Join us for this  comprehensive episode.

 Continuing the global conversation about personal

financial literacy for educators on

Talking Financial Literacy Podcast

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Our archive of illustrious guests and episodes     
  • Convenient: Available on demand:  24/7
  • Portable: Take use with you via MP3 player, iPod, cell phone or CD
  • Flexible: Use for teacher PD, student enrichment, parent and adult education classes

• We express a special thanks to the McGraw-Hill Companies who have so graciously sponsored this first round of the series as a philanthropic effort. Thank you for offering such a rich resource for teachers, students, community and parents.  ~~ Kathy & Mark
  

• We expect to be providing some more resources on this topic in the near future based on discussions with potential supporters. ~~ Kathy & Mark

• Keep this feed live in your feedreader and podcast reader (iTunes, etc) and check back to the site for updates and announcements!)
  

• We wish you all success in bringing financial literacy lifelong learning to life for your students!
  

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site

• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2009. All rights reserved.

CLICK TO {{{ LISTEN }}}

You will find many money-saving and powerful suggestions for how to prepare for mortgages as adults and pose it for young people to understand the need to prepare now, for instance: building a credit history, savings and banking literacy!

Mark and Kathy also discuss the details of how to use mortgages and this life need as a vibrant classroom learning focus. Resources, lesson ideas and discussion abound.

Join us as we bring an expert on board to provide complete information in a form for all to understand.

 Elizabeth (Lisa) Zelasko contact information:

Countrywide Bank, FSB
Home Loan Consultant
Office: 201-556-4724
Fax: 866-433-2940
Email: Elizabeth_Zelasko@Countrywide.com

 WEB: http://countrywidelocal.com/elizabethzelasko

 Resources for this Episode

• Countrywide Bank, FSB Resources
  •  http://my.countrywide.com/

• Lisa’ Countrywide Bank site with calculators and articles
  • http://countrywidelocal.com/elizabethzelasko
  • Current rates for various mortgages
  • Payment calculators
  • and much more

Mortgage Calculators

• Amortization Tables
  • Also http://calculator-loan.info/mortgage-calculator.php

• 

• Mortgage Calculator shows annual tax and insurance fee, too.
  • Annual tax and fee plus Mortgage Calculator (All Fees)

•  Credit Worthiness Calculator
  • At Bankrate.com

• Calculator: “Calculate Your Debt-to-Income Ratio”
  Comparing your earnings against your spending , also known as a debt-to-income ratio, is one of the most popular approaches for evaluating if you have too much debt. Lenders, for years, have looked at debt-to-income ratios to get a better grasp on a person’s current financial picture to determine credit-worthiness.
  • Debt-to-income ratio calculator

Other Resources

•  Informational Website
  • “ Understand Your Debt-to-Income Ratio or Creditworthiness”

•  How to Calculate Your Debt Utilization Ratio
  • Debt Utilization Ratio Calculator

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2009. All rights reserved.

CLICK TO {{{ LISTEN }}}

The emergence of simulations has taken the game industry by storm, but having fun while learning to be a CEO and become adept at financial literacy?
This isn’t our traditional school days! Instead, media companies have developed accurate, compelling simulation games which put learners(of all ages) into the director’s chair as they guide their company to success.

• Will they make the right decisions?
• OR will they be swayed by false information, incorrect projections or allegiances?

Kathy and Mark provide another riveting episode of Talking Financial Literacy in which they tour several of the best online games related to financial literacy learning.

Listen in for abundant resources, perspectives on critical thinking and constructivism all to continue our quest for developing better understanding and practice in personal finance. You will discover

• Several free online video games which teach entrepreneurship through virtual reality simulations
•  Educators’ inside looks at ease of setup, use, application and benefits of these programs.

Article
• From Entrepreneur.com

“Game Plans”

A very different use of games for “financial learning” File under Innovative Thinking

“Now Bellevue, Washington-based SimplyFun offers its own line of games, puzzles, puppets and other family activities. The exclusivity of the products is essential to direct-sales success, according to Molen and DeGiulio, because the products don’t have to compete with any others and the consultants don’t have to compete with retail stores. “We want to make it easy for the consultants to be successful,” says DeGiulio. To that end, they provide training in person, online, by video and through conference calls; choose not to charge their consultants for their website or require them to keep any inventory; and offer incentives to encourage their consultants to reach certain goals.

But they also realize that attracting and keeping consultants is about more than just money and rewards. “For your consultants to be excited and passionate about what you’re doing, they have to feel attached and connected to your mission,” says Molen. “Our mission is to promote play and get people to laugh, create memories and connect through face-to-face fun.” Guided by that mission, they have signed more than 1,000 consultants in 45 states, and the company saw 60 percent growth last year.”

Resources

• Johnny Money Financial Simulation - website and game

From NIFB website: “Now available from the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation, Johnny Money Online Game is a FREE Internet-based small business simulation game that engages students as they explore the risks and rewards of business ownership. Johnny Money is the newest of the Entrepreneur-in-the-Classroom programs, which are designed to enable educators to talk about entrepreneurship in their classrooms.

Goals/Objectives: Students will be able to:
* Utilize experiential learning as a tool to aid in retention of entrepreneurial concepts
* Create, maintain, analyze and influence the essential factors in a successful virtual small business
* Experience, engage and interact with entrepreneurial decisions and events in a virtual setting”

• Industry Masters Online Simulation- YouTube video
• Industry Masters Online Simulation- also watch this one !
• JA Titan Simulation – website and game    

Set in the year 2035, JA Titan creates a world in which players are CEOs of their own companies. Originally conceived in the 1980s as the Management and Economic Simulation Exercise, or MESE, JA Titan is a widely recognized business simulation for high school students. During game play, students must run a manufacturing company and master six key business decisions: price of product, production levels, marketing expenses, research and development costs, capital investment level, and charitable giving. Various corporate assistants “help” the player through each phase, or “quarter,” of game play. In 2000, JA Worldwide™ (Junior Achievement) launched JA Titan under its current name as a Web-based product. ….

Success in JA Titan is measured by a “Performance Index,” an evaluation of each fictional company’s performance based on the following:
* Retained Earnings (50%)
* Supply and Demand Potential (20%)
* Productivity (10%)
* Market Share (10%)
* Growth (10%)

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008. All rights reserved.

Youth and Entrepreneurship Interview with Dan Rabuzzi

NFTE 2007 Marketing Video

Join us for the second part of this informative and inspiring episode with Dan Rubuzzi, of NFTE. In this episode Dan continues to shareg his considerable experience and expert perspective on the current state of financial literacy learning, needs, and resources. You will gain much from these practical examples, resources and ideas you hear!

In addition, Mark and Kathy discuss some critical news items and resources to round out a rich episode to assist and guide educators, students and learners of all ages advance their understanding and mastery of personal financial literacy, and in this case entrepreneurship!

Global discussion of the ever changing needs emerging from the world of personal finance

Talking Fin Lit Episode Part 1 of Interview Click here

Lead Article

Pretend money may produce real academic gains
Students at a Washington, D.C., KIPP charter school earn pretend paychecks for completing homework, behaving well and improving academically and can trade the fake dollars for small items at the school store, like pens and pencil cases, or exchange it for rewards like being allowed to wear casual clothes on Fridays. The rewards motivate the children initially and help them develop better study habits; eventually, however, success becomes its own reward, say the program’s backers, such as principal Sarah Hayes of KEY Academy, which now sports some of D.C.’s top test scores despite its population of low-income, disadvantaged students. National Public Radio/Associated Press (6/13)

Resources

ZEROMILLION- Many articles here

• http://www.zeromillion.com/young/

The Evolution of a Young Entreprenuer2008-05-01 Ryan P Allis
Do You Have What It Takes?

2008-03-25 Ryan P Allis
Assimilation Into Organizational Communication

2006-05-04 Christin Gulick
Life Lessons For Young Entreprenurs

2005-06-17 Gary Drumm
5 Keys to Breaking Into Entrepreneurship

2005-05-12 Leigh Goldberg
Following the Way of the Entrepreneur

2005-03-30 James Coombs
Climbing Out of Your Comfort Zone

2005-03-21 Leigh Goldberg
ETC………………………

Teen Business Link from SBA

• Small Business Administration: this site is full of ideas and resources
• http://www.sba.gov/teens/

Raising Entrepreneurs

• Teaching, parenting and guiding students into fin lit
• http://raisingentrepreneurs.org/blog/

Teaching Kids About Money and Business

Good blog with post in the following categories:

o Business Concepts
o business Ideas
o Mindset
o News
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o Schooling
o Teaching Ideas
o Young Entrepreneurs

So you get a variety of discussion perspectives on the above from interested individuals…

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You may contact Mark and Kathy by

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• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

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• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008. All rights reserved.