NGPF Podcast

I enjoyed my recent conversation with Kristen Goggin, a 6th grade math teacher at the Town School for Boys in San Francisco, California. Laura Matchett, our director of teacher engagement, “discovered” Kristen who had penned an article about the innovative approach she used in her classroom to develop students who think globally. Find out how she uses the micro-lending website, Kiva, as the centerpiece for her unit that develops entrepreneurial skills as well as empathy for entrepreneurs in other countries (did I mention math skills, too?). Her students use profits that they generate from their own companies to provide loans to start-ups thousands of miles away. Listen to this podcast and find creative ideas that you can use in your classroom too! Enjoy!

I had a great conversation with NGPF Teacher-Innovator Award winner, Todd Gragg, who discussed his award-winning project, "The Great Depression Game." Despite being a relatively new teacher, Todd has already demonstrated his passionate advocacy for financial education through his involvement with the Oklahoma Council on Economic Education and Oklahoma Jump$tart Coalition. In this podcast, you will learn more about his "Great Depression Game" which is a cross-curricular activity that helps students experience the Great Depression through the lens of family budgets. Enjoy!

Today on the podcast we hear from NGPF's Jessica and Sonia about the new One-Semester Course that they are creating. We often hear from teachers that NGPF has great content but also that there is SO much of it. Given how busy you are, we wanted to make it easy for you by developing the "greatest hits" of NGPF that you could fit into a semester course. Putting their problem-solving hats on, Jessica and Sonia are creating a One-Semester Course of exactly 90 lessons (18 weeks) of exactly 45 minutes each that you can use to teach your course in the fall. They have created the first four units of this course, provided PD in webinar format, and now join me on this NGPF podcast. We will go under the hood to learn how this new curriculum is being developed, the timeline for its rollout and how they incorporated teacher feedback to continue to improve their product. Enjoy!

Thanks to Andy for a great conversation on the NGPF podcast recently. To say Andy has had an amazing career is an understatement. To name just a few of his roles: Founder of a premier venture capital firm (Benchmark), successful venture capitalist, sought after entrepreneurship instructor (Stanford Graduate School of Business) and currently a co-founder and CEO of a financial services disrupter (Wealthfront). Andy shares the insights he has gained over his illustrious career as well as the reasons he is so passionate about Wealthfront's mission to democratize investing. Listen to this podcast to not only learn more about what makes a successful start-up but also the origin story behind Wealthfront and how automated investing is disrupting the investment management business. Enjoy!

Thanks for Nick Simmons for his recent appearance on the NGPF Podcast. I learned about Nick's work at the Hopkins Academy in Hadley, Massachusetts from a recent feature in the local paper that described his passion for personal finance. In this podcast, Nick shares his methods for teaching challenging topics like taxes and investing and how he uses technology in creative ways. Enjoy!

I first heard about the game Spent from podcast guest, Helaine Olen. She described it as one of the best simulations in how it immersed the player into what it feels like to live "paycheck to paycheck." After playing the game in our offices, we agreed with her, wrapped an activity around it with discussion questions and added it to our Interactive Library. Teachers are glad we did since we are constantly getting feedback like this about the impact of the game on students: "It helped students have empathy for those living from paycheck to paycheck. Students were often faced with choices for which there was no positive outcome, regardless of the choices they made... Students said they really struggled to make some of the decisions, many of which they would not have made had they had a greater income. Completing the simulation helped students understand that often those living from paycheck to paycheck are doing the best they can. They realized how unexpected events can simply leave a person living paycheck to paycheck penniless. Faced with the reality of what they experienced, students also committed they wanted to work hard to earn an income so they never face the reality they experienced in the simulation. Thanks to Jenny Nicholson of McKinney (a design agency) for sharing the story behind Spent in this podcast. She discusses the original goals of building the game for a local non-profit, how she developed the challenges in the game, and her personal connection to the game. She also describes her reactions to the unexpected feedback she has received about the game and the important personal finance lessons that can be gleaned from it. NGPF has recently partnered with Jenny and her firm (McKinney) to build a game modeled on Spent that addresses all the decisions that come with "going to college." She provides a teaser on what to expect from this game, which will launch in August. Enjoy!

Vince Roeshink has worn many different and interesting hats in his career, His current role as director of the Academy of Finance at University High School in Orange City, Florida seems the perfect culmination of a career path which has included stints as a stock broker and founder of a martial arts school (oh, and he has a black belt classification too). Vince is all about bringing the "real world" into his classroom. Learn how he does it in this entertaining conversation.

I enjoyed my recent conversation with Professor Meir Statman who teaches at Santa Clara University, just down the street from the NGPF offices. Meir conducted some of the earliest research in what we now know as behavioral finance. He discusses his book, Finance for Normal People, and shares his insights about how investing should be taught in school (spoiler alert: Keep It Simple!). He also describes his approach to playing the stock market game and why fees matter so much when comparing investment options. Enjoy!

It was great having Carmen Tall on the NGPF podcast recently to discuss her work at a non-profit, Mercy Connections, located in Burlington, Vermont. Carmen is the director of the Women's Small Business program. It was through that work that Carmen identified the need for a Financial Empowerment class to improve the financial skills of her clients. We had a great conversation covering a variety of topics; from Carmen's experience as an entrepreneur and how that shapes her program to how she creates a safe and open environment so difficult conversations about money happen. What is clear throughout the podcast is Carmen's passion for her work and how impactful that work has been in creating a thriving start-up ecosystem in Burlington. I can't wait to try the cupcakes when I am in town next!