By Cory T. Wilson, Chair-elect, Mississippi Council on Economic Education; Attorney, Heidelberg Steinberger Colmer & Burrow.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has issued a proclamation designating April as Financial Literacy Month.

Chances are, I realize, the designation is probably not on your smart phone calendar, and it may not be the theme of many spring parties. But it merits attention and not just in April.

As millions of Americans endured the drudgery of filing their tax returns April 15, a few thoughts on financial literacy are in order. Of course, it takes more than a Master’s degree in finance to understand our byzantine tax code, so leave that to the accountants and the tax software folks for the moment. Financial Literacy Month is aimed at raising awareness of a problem more basic and epidemic. Read more…

POSTED: April 17, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Councils & Centers, Credit Cards, economics challenge, Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, personal finance, Politics, Students

By Max Isenberg, student at the University of Pennsylvania.

Education comes in all sorts of forms. In college, your main duty is to learn, be it in the classroom, through extra-curricular activities, or while hanging out with your friends. As a student, however, I have noticed things I never realized I needed to know. Living independently involves a lot of learning on the fly about what your parents once handled for you. Laundry, for example, was this nebulous process in which my mom turned my dirty, worn clothes into fresh clean ones; only when I had to run my first load in my dorm could I appreciate the nuances of the task. Read more…

POSTED: April 5, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: College, Credit Cards, economics, economics challenge, Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, personal finance, Students

Ensure your students learn real-world lessons by getting them involved in these fun activities, helping them calculate the cost of college, and teaching them to utilize the “economic way of thinking.”

In This Issue:

• National Economics Challenge
• Gen i Revolution
• Teaching the News
• This Day in History
• Calculating the Cost of College
• Quinoa Boom and an Economic Lesson

Read more…

POSTED: March 1, 2013 | BY: kduis | TAGS: economics, economics challenge, Gen i Revolution

In This Issue:

• Reduced prices on some of CEE’s best teacher resources
• 2013 National Economics Challenge updates
• Featured resource: Advanced Placement Economics, 4th edition
• Personal Finance Program for Young Learners
• Use EconEdLink for free classroom lessons
• 2012 McGraw-Hill Teaching Champions
• Give a year-end donation today
• Save the Date: The 52nd Annual Conference is October 3-5, 2013

Read more…

POSTED: December 13, 2012 | BY: kduis | TAGS: Annual Conference, economics challenge, visionary awards

CEE has been Teaching Opportunity® by leading the charge for economic education and advancing financial literacy for over 60 years.

Watch the video to learn more about what we do for our nation’s educators.

POSTED: November 9, 2012 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: economics, economics challenge, Financial Literacy, Lessons, personal finance, school program, Students, teachers, video

There is no better time than the slower days of summer to prepare for the school year ahead. Add some of these ideas to your preparation and you’ll start the next semester ahead of the game!

• The Council for Economic Education has a nationwide network of local affiliates that provide free professional development for teachers. If you are looking for help or guidance with materials such as Virtual Economics, Stock Market Game training and the National Economics Challenge – contact your local affiliate. All 50 states have economic education centers to help teachers find and use K-12 classroom resources, find ideas from fellow teachers that work with students and offer workshops and more opportunities to grow in the field.

• CEE’s 51^st Annual Financial Literacy and Economic Education Conference is October 4-6, 2012 in Kansas City, MO. GATE members receive $100 off the registration fee. This is the best opportunity to meet other K-12 teachers of economics. October 5-6 are conference days dedicated just to teachers. We have a full schedule of professional development, workshops, teacher roundtables and networking events. Join us for the opportunity of a lifetime to meet new friends and reunite with old connections. Register today!

• Economics is all around you. Every teacher and their students are CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, SAVERS and CONTRIBUTORS in the economy now! There are daily opportunities to tie classroom content to local events, activities and more. Check out EconEdLink for free classrooms lessons that make current events teachable moments.

• Never stop learning. In a recent survey, 20 percent of teachers stated that they do not feel competent to teach basic personal finance, and those who teach economics to high school students have often received minimal college instruction in the subject. Newspapers, magazines and books offer insight to the world of economics in an entertaining way. Start with Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, Freakonomics and Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness.  Fictional mysteries set in economics are fun to read; start with Fatal Equilibrium and Murder at the Margin.

Have a great summer and a successful start to your school year ahead. You CAN do this and become a better teacher in economics with a bit of planning and preparation!

Bruce Damasio

Maryland Council on Economic Education

Former GATE President and current GATE Advisory Board Member

POSTED: July 18, 2012 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Councils & Centers, economic education conference, economics, economics challenge, GATE, Lessons, teachers, training