A free, online, interactive course good for 1 CEU. Free resources included.                                                                                       

Furthermore, the course will introduce you to bundles of free, interactive, online resources and videos that you can bring to your students.

You will also become familiar with several easy-to-use lesson plan websites and join in discussions with other teachers from around North Carolina. And the course will be moderated by a real, live human being whom you can use as a resource in the future!

You will also get a free copy of the new What Personal Finance Is About book that will act as a mini-textbook for this class. The course is offered via Blackboard Coursesites, and is the result of a partnership between the North Carolina Council on Economic Education and the NC Department of Public Instruction.

These programs were made possible by the Council for Economic Education through funding from the United States Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement.

Click to register!

Economics and Financial Literacy Workshops

• Financing Your Future
• Financial Fitness for Life
• Teaching Economics and Financial Literacy Through Children's Literature
• Civics and Economics
• Problem Based Solutions
• Math and Economics
• Thinking Globally
• Virtual Economics
• Stock Market Game™
• Any program that is offered through the National Council on Economic Education. Please click here to view all NCEE programs.

Spring 2011 Stock Market Game™ Workshop Webinars

Introduction to the Stock Market Game. The primary purpose is to provide an active, motivating device for teaching fundamental economic concepts. The program is inter-disciplinary and includes standards based lessons and concepts in the areas of mathematics, social studies, economics, language arts, technology, and business.

Student teams, consisting of 3 to 5 members each, will manage a hypothetical $100,000 portfolio -- investing in common and preferred stocks traded on the NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ exchanges, including Initial Public Offerings and Mutual Funds.

Teams will compete for both regional and statewide honors in the following divisions: elementary, middle, high school, college and adult divisions. Awards will be given in the following categories: Portfolio Value & InvestWrite™ Competitions.

Getting Started with the SMG - February 24th, 2011 4:00 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. Register

Maximizing the SMG Experience:

Session 1:  “Investing 101: The Economy and You” – Tuesday, January 25, 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.  This session is designed for teachers who would like basic training with investor education.  Not only is it a “how to” guide for SMG, but it also serves as a roadmap for a person trying to find his or her way in the world economy.

Session 2: “Team Research: How an SMG group Works”  - Tuesday, February 1, 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.  Session 2 gives tips to teachers for how to organize groups, how much lab time to use, how to structure time for the SMG (there are more ways than one!), and how to direct the students toward meaningful financial research.

Session 3: “Best Practices Part I: Making the Most of the SMG” -  Tuesday, February 9, 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.  This session will seek to pass on the experience of veteran SMG teachers to those new to the game.  Participants will get tips for streamlining the use of the game in their classrooms—how to get the most from your minute.

Session 4: “Tips for Winning” -  Tuesday, February 15, 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.   The info you need to keep your edge on the competition!

In person workshops

These programs were made possible by the Council for Economic Education through funding from the United States Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement.

Cumberland County—1/20, 2/3, 2/10. Economics in Civics and Government—A must-have for principals who want to improve their school’s NCLB scores in Civics and Economics.  Get your new C&E teachers some training and ready-to-use resources! Each workshop participant will receive a free copy of the “Economics in Civics and Government” curriculum, which retails at $60.

To register, contact Cris Higginbotham at crishigginbotham@ccs.k12.nc.us.

Cumberland County—1/20, 2/3, 2/10. Focus: Understanding Economics in U.S. History—This resource uses a unique mystery-solving approach to teach U.S. economic history to your high school students.  These activity-based lessons give you a new, refreshing way to meet your U.S. History content goals, and infuse eye-opening economics material at the same time.

Each lesson plan is arranged chronologically and covers key economic and historical events, so you can easily integrate the lesson plans into your curriculum as you move through your U.S. History textbook. It's the best way to engage all your students in U.S. economic history, regardless of their interest or learning levels. All participants receive a free copy of the Focus: Understanding Economics in U.S. History publication, which retails at $60.

To register, contact Cris Higginbotham at crishigginbotham@ccs.k12.nc.us.

The NC Council Social Studies Conference – 2/24, 2/25.

The North Carolina Council on Economic Education—Your contact for everything you need pertaining to economics, personal finance and entrepreneurship education.

The Master of Arts in Economics and Entrepreneurship Education—An innovative program through the University of Delaware for training future leaders in economic, personal finance and entrepreneurship education.

The Stock Market Game—The SMG has been a favorite in classrooms since 1970, but it has only recently been shown conclusively to raise test scores in economics, personal finance, and even math—across grade level, race, gender or ability lines.

What Personal Finance Is About—A must-have resource for anyone teaching personal financial literacy. Serves as a starting-point, organizer, and mini-textbook for personal finance. Attendees receive a free copy.

Financial Fitness for Life—This comprehensive personal finance curriculum has available versions for any age level, K-12.  It is developmentally appropriate, moving from the concrete to the abstract, as well as fun, challenging and rewarding.  Furthermore, since it includes parent books, it reaches the whole family.  Available in Spanish. Attendees receive a free copy.

Teaching Financial Literacy—A New Online Training System for Teachers. This is part of an initiative from DPI and the NCCEE for universal mastery of personal finance concepts and teaching materials for NC teachers.  These online modules focus on helping teachers round out their skill set while connecting them with various resources for the teaching of personal finance in their classrooms.  And CEUs are available!

Cumberland County – 2/22. Middle School Geography: Focus on Economics—The perfect resource for middle school teachers who want to reach their geography goals, while adding a broader view of the world through economics.  Each participant of the workshop will receive a free copy of Middle School Geography: Focus on Economics, which retails at $35.

To register, contact Cris Higginbotham at crishigginbotham@ccs.k12.nc.us.

Cumberland County – 3/8. Wide World of Trade—If today’s students are going to succeed in today’s world, they will need to understand interdependence and globalization.  This resource is full of fun, active lessons that give middle school students the groundwork necessary to understand an increasingly complex world. If today’s students are going to succeed in today’s world, they will need to understand interdependence and globalization.  This resource is full of fun, active lessons that give middle school students the groundwork necessary to understand an increasingly complex world. Each participant of the workshop will receive a free copy of Wide World of Trade, which retails at $28. 

To register, contact Cris Higginbotham at crishigginbotham@ccs.k12.nc.us.

Cumberland County – 3/14. Virtual Economics 3.0—If you like the Council’s curricula and can’t get enough of them, this is the resource for you.  VE 3.0 is a library of more than 1,200 economics, personal finance and entrepreneurship lessons, complete with a convenient search engine.  Furthermore, the disc includes interactive multimedia demonstrations for classroom use. Each participant will receive a free copy of Virtual Economics 3.0, which retails at $100.

To register, contact Cris Higginbotham at crishigginbotham@ccs.k12.nc.us.

Cumberland County – 3/31.  Virtual Economics 3.0, continued from 3/14:

The Stock Market Game—The SMG has been a favorite in classrooms since 1970, but it has only recently been shown conclusively to raise test scores in economics, personal finance, and even math—across grade level, race, gender or ability lines.  This simulation prepares students in all the 21st-century skills, and perhaps most importantly, large majorities of students report enjoying the experience.  Learn what the motivation of fun and competition can do for your test scores!

The perfect resource for middle school teachers who want to reach their geography goals, but add a broader view of the world through economics. 

To register, contact Cris Higginbotham at crishigginbotham@ccs.k12.nc.us.

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County 3/28. Focus: Understanding Economics in U.S. History—This resource uses a unique mystery-solving approach to teach U.S. economic history to your high school students.  These activity-based lessons give you a new, refreshing way to meet your U.S. History content goals, and infuse eye-opening economics material at the same time.

Each lesson plan is arranged chronologically and covers key economic and historical events, so you can easily integrate the lesson plans into your curriculum as you move through your U.S. History textbook. It's the best way to engage all your students in U.S. economic history, regardless of their interest or learning levels. All participants receive a free copy of the Focus: Understanding Economics in U.S. History publication, which retails at $60.

To register, contact Patty Grant at pgrant@wsfcs.k12.nc.us. 

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County 3/28. Financing Your Future. Financing—Your Future is a complete personal finance program on DVD for high school teachers and their students. This personal finance program contains five videos that cover topics such as investing in one's own human capital, developing a banking relationship, understanding credit and debt, and creating a budget. Each video is complemented with three standards-based classroom lesson plans that teachers, parents and mentors can use to reinforce the concepts demonstrated in the videos.

To register, contact Patty Grant at pgrant@wsfcs.k12.nc.us. 

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County 3/28 and Guilford County 4/14. Middle School Geography: Focus on Economics—The perfect resource for middle school teachers who want to reach their geography goals, but add a broader view of the world through economics. 

To register for the WSFCS session on 3/28, contact Patty Grant at pgrant@wsfcs.k12.nc.us.

To register for Guilford County on 4/14, contact Kimberly Ibach at ibachk@gcsnc.com.

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County 3/28. Wide World of Trade—If today’s students are going to succeed in today’s world, they will need to understand interdependence and globalization.  This resource is full of fun, active lessons that give middle school students the groundwork necessary to understand an increasingly complex world.

To register, contact Patty Grant at pgrant@wsfcs.k12.nc.us. 

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County 3/28 and Guilford County 4/7. Teaching Economics Using Children’s Literature.—This is a standard go-to resource for any teacher who wants to integrate personal finance and economics into the normal curriculum.  Includes opportunities to teach math and language arts.  

To register for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, contact Patty Grant at pgrant@wsfcs.k12.nc.us.

To register for the Guilford County session on 4/7, contact Kim Ibach at ibachk@gcsnc.com.

Guilford County 4/7. The Great Depression Curriculum—A free resource created by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.  Uses contemporary economic research to deliver active lessons on the causes and experiences of the 1930s.  Includes primary documents and classroom simulations.  

To register, contact Jamie Davis at davisj4@gcsnc.com.

Collaborative Conference For Student Achievement 4/18-4/19  

The North Carolina Council on Economic Education—Your contact for everything you need pertaining to economics, personal finance and entrepreneurship education.  

The Stock Market Game—The SMG has been a favorite in classrooms since 1970, but it has only recently been shown conclusively to raise test scores in economics, personal finance, and even math—across grade level, race, gender or ability lines.  

Teaching Financial Literacy—A New Online Training System for Teachers. This is part of an initiative from DPI and the NCCEE for universal mastery of personal finance concepts and teaching materials for NC teachers.  These online modules focus on helping teachers round out their skill set while connecting them with various resources for the teaching of personal finance in their classrooms.  And CEUs are available!

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County 6/15—6/17. Teaching Financial Literacy Summer Institute  

To register, contact Patty Grant at pgrant@wsfcs.k12.nc.us.

Click here to view past workshop topics.