Two summer institutes set for 2016
JMU will be offering summer institutes in personal finance and economics this year. Although the primary audience consists of those teaching the required economics and personal finance course in high school, both classes are also useful to wider audiences. The personal finance institute is great for teachers considering their own financial plans, while the economics institute works well to deepen the background of a variety of history and social studies teachers at various grade levels. Here are the upcoming institute dates, together with links to extended course descriptions:
Personal Finance: June 27-July 1 (Five-day format)
This institute is particularly helpful for those teaching the personal finance portion of high school Economics and Personal Finance as it covers detailed content instruction including banking, credit, consumer rights and responsibilities, insurance, taxes, and financial planning. Content instruction is delivered by experts from the various fields and participants receive curricula for use in the classroom.
Teachers also take the W!SE Financial Literacy test and have the opportunity to earn this Teacher Certification at no charge.
Participants receive 40 recertification points from successfully completing this institute. They also receive a number of resources for use in the classroom including a Virtual Economics Version 4.5 flash drive with over 1,400 activity-based lessons searchable by grade and topic, 51 key economic concepts, and a glossary with over 500 terms. ($160 value).
Lunch and refreshments provided.
Register online for Personal Finance Institute
Economics: July 11-13 and 18-20 (Three-and-three-day format, with extended weekend between)
Participants experience first-hand how the “economic way of thinking” turns basic economics concepts into “life skills” that enable them to make more meaningful and productive day to day decisions. A detailed analysis of how market economies work and the personal and societal implications of economic indicators – inflation, unemployment, economic growth, etc. – will also contribute to more informed decision-making as consumers, producers, savers, investors, employees, and citizens. A broader analysis of economies as a whole will conclude the program, allowing participants to make better sense of world situations.
While the institute is geared toward the high school Economics and Personal Finance course, other high school and middle school Civics & Economics teachers will find it useful.
Participants receive 42 recertification points from successfully completing this institute. Participants also receive a number of resources for use in the classroom including a Virtual Economics flash drive with over 1,400 activity-based lessons searchable by grade and topic, 51 key economic concepts, and a glossary with over 500 terms. ($160 value)
Lunch and refreshments provided.
Register online for Economics Institute
And here are the sponsors who make it possible!
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GEM Fair set for March 9
Mini-Economies from across the region will converge on James Madison University March 9 for a simulated international marketplace, the Global Entrepreneurship Marketplace Fair (GEM Fair). Union Bank & Trust is now the presenting sponsor of the GEM Fair. The venue is JMU’s Festival Conference Center. Planned events include a Roll Call of the Mini-Economy nations, market session, and an awards ceremony. For more information on the next GEM Fair, contact Lynne Stover at (540) 568-3248 or send email.
Common Sense Economics set for March 21
There are still a few seats remaining for the day-long workshop set for March 21 at the Ice House in Harrisonburg to introduce participants to the highly acclaimed Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know about Wealth and Prosperity. Participants will learn how to use the book and associated instructional package to improve the teaching of economics at any level. At commonsenseeconomics.com you can preview the entire package: electronic resources, quality supplements, economic examples, quick links to cool stuff, and information on a full multi-media course package that can be used in a seated or online setting. The workshop runs 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and includes lunch and free materials. Participants receive 6.5 certification points from completing this workshop and signed certificates will be provided. You may register now at this link.
Special note: Common Sense Economics is especially valuable to Virginia teachers because, unlike similar books, it includes a section on personal finance that covers such topics as budgeting, saving and investing.
Stover appointed judge for national awards
JMU’s Lynne F. Stover has been appointed as a judge for the 2016 curriculum awards sponsored by the National Association of Economic Educators. According to NAEE, the awards “recognize superior economics, personal finance, and entrepreneurship resources for classroom use.” Stover’s selections will be combined with those of other judges for the presentation of this year’s awards at NAEE’s joint meeting with the Council for Economic Education in Phoenix. NAEE’s mission is to be the premier professional organization advancing the growth, service and recognition of economic educators as they expand economic and financial literacy. The Council aspires to be “the leading organization in the United States that focuses on the economic and financial education of students from kindergarten through high school.” The annual meeting of NAEE and the Council is the largest gathering of economic educators world-wide.
Social Education issue to feature Wood’s work
The upcoming March/April issue of Social Education will feature an article coauthored by JMU’s William C. Wood. Wood’s article, coauthored with Mark C. Schug of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, dealt with international reactions to the Federal Reserve’s recent small increase in key U.S. interest rates. Titled “The Fed-Watchers,” the article describes reactions by central bankers from other nations related to the international value of the dollar and its effects on exports and imports.
Social Education, with an international audience of social studies educators, is the flagship journal of the National Council for the Social Studies.
The JMU Center for Economic Education’s teacher outreach program is a sponsored program of Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that seeks to promote economic literacy and understanding of the free enterprise system in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
The JMU Center for Economic Education is an affiliate of the Virginia Council on Economic Education.