Overview

Calling all Pennsylvania personal finance teachers! This virtual workshop is for you! Join us as a member of our first virtual workshop cohort. In this three-week session, we’ll explore the six big ideas from Pennsylvania’s Instructional Framework for Personal Finance and share best practices, teaching strategies, resources, and other ideas. Whether you teach personal finance as a standalone course or embed personal finance content into another course, we welcome you to participate in this exciting new professional development opportunity.

This virtual workshop will build off the successful format of our Making Cents Book Studies. Workshop materials and discussion will all take place in Penn State’s Canvas learning management system. You’ll have the opportunity to engage on your own time and earn between three and ten hours of Act 48 hours directly from the Pennsylvania Department of Education in return (see below for more information on Act 48 credit).

Program Details

Teaching Personal Finance: A 3-Week Resource Exchange is an asynchronous, virtual workshop where you will engage with fellow educators and Making Cents PA team members to discuss and share approaches to teaching personal finance at the high school level. The workshop will feature practical information, ongoing discussions, and supportive peer feedback. Each week, you will work iteratively to share and respond to others as you engage in two big ideas from the instructional framework. Rather than adding more work to educators’ busy schedules, this workshop provides you with the time, space, and flexibility to engage on your own schedule and share resources you already know and use.

Format

This learning experience is asynchronous and takes place within the learning management system Canvas​. This asynchronous program will not have any required live components and is designed to be self-paced. ​The program will follow a weekly schedule. Each week we will focus our discussions on a new set of big ideas. Completing assignments on the recommended schedule is not mandatory. However, doing so will allow participants to engage with and learn from the entire cohort, which helps to build a community of practice. Weekly topics include:

• Week 1: Money Management and Earning Income

• Week 2: Borrowing Money and Financial Institutions

• Week 3: Risk Management and Saving & Investing

Advanced Preparation

The only requirement in advance of the workshop is for participants to provide a Penn State username. If you have taken a recent book study with The Making Cents Project, your information will be on file. Once registered, we will assist you with getting a Penn State account if you need one. There is no pre-reading or other preparation required for the workshop.

Act 48 Credits

Successful participants will earn between three and ten hours of Act 48 credit. Active participation, contribution to the resource exchange, and a bit of self-reflection will be recognized by “above-the-minimum” Act 48 credits. Detailed information about how to earn the maximum number of hours will be provided. A certificate of completion will also be provided to those who actively participate.

Optional Live Discussion Sessions

Live Zoom meetings will be offered at various points in the workshop. These are entirely optional, but attendance in the sessions is one option for maximizing Act 48 credit.

Objectives

• Explore practical strategies and pedagogies for teaching personal finance

• Learn to integrate various financial education resources more effectively in support of learning goals

• Expand your “toolbox” of financial education tools and resources

• Share teaching strategies and approaches to teaching specific personal finance topics

• Identify and connect with other personal finance educators

Who Should Attend

The program is designed for secondary-level Pennsylvania educators, including those who:

• Teach a dedicated personal finance course

• Embed personal finance content into other courses, including math, economics, and family and consumer sciences

• Provide career readiness instruction or support

• Oversee the development of personal finance curriculum or wish to enhance their school or district’s financial education efforts

• Recently retired but wish to stay current and/or lend their expertise

Registration will take place on an individual basis, but teams of educators from a school or district are welcome. Please have each team member submit a registration form.

Workshop Facilitator

Hilary Hunt

Director, The Making Cents Project

Hilary Hunt is a national expert in financial education with expertise in curriculum development, teacher training, and financial education policy. She has served as director of the Making Cents Project—a cooperative effort of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Penn State University—since the project’s inception in 2011. In this role, she oversees the commonwealth’s K-12 financial education efforts including providing professional development for educators, curriculum consultation for schools and districts, and model instructional resources and frameworks.

Hilary is excited about this opportunity to bring together educators from across the Commonwealth to share ideas and discuss ways to engage students in personal finance topics. She is passionate about teaching young people to become informed financial decision-makers and meeting teens where they are in their financial journeys. She also firmly believes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to financial education. Each group of students, teacher, and learning environment is unique. So, too, is each approach to financial education. Hilary has designed this workshop to make sure every teacher will find value and resources they can apply in their own curriculum. In addition to what the educator participants bring to the table, Hilary will share resources and materials she thinks lend value in order to promote a wide variety of resources being shared and discussed. To learn more about Hilary’s background as a classroom teacher, curriculum consultant, policy maker, and more, click here.