Workshops at NCSS 2009 Give Teachers Tools to Enhance their K-12 Social Studies Curriculum with Economics and Personal Finance

National Council for the Social Studies teachers discover online tools and new print materials designed to infuse important topics like civics and government, money management, economics and ethics into their curriculum.

New York (PRWEB) November 12, 2009 -- The Council for Economic Education (www.councilforeconed.org) revealed its action-packed economics and personal finance workshop series scheduled for the National Council on the Social Studies Conference (http://www.socialstudies.org) on November 13-15, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia.

During the workshops, social studies teachers will explore proven teaching strategies and fail-safe tips for teaching economics and personal finance to students at all learning levels. Teachers will leave with ready-to-use lesson plans and activities that will help them jump start their economics (http://store.councilforeconed.org/economics.html) and personal finance (http://store.councilforeconed.org/personalfinance.html) curriculum.

"Demand for economic lesson plans has skyrocketed due to the recent economic crisis," notes Troy D. White, CEE's Senior Director of Sales and Marketing. "These workshops give teachers at all grade levels the tools they need to teach key economic events, both today and in the future."

Workshops

Fun and Easy Ways to Teach Economics in Elementary School

Teachers will learn that infusing economics into their elementary curriculum doesn't have to be difficult; in fact, it can be as easy as sculpting with modeling clay, (http://store.councilforeconed.org/playdougheconomics.html) reading popular children's stories (http://store.councilforeconed.org/teaching-econ-using-childrens-lit.html) and watching a fun DVD with an energetic dog puppet named Hershel.

On Friday, teachers are invited to join Kathy Miles, CEE Teacher Support Specialist and Harlan Day, Executive Director of the Indiana Council for Economic Education in their morning and afternoon workshops. In the sessions, teachers will learn how to seamlessly introduce basic economic concepts like scarcity, opportunity cost, supply and demand to their young students. Mr. Day will profile his popular and free Hershel's" World of Economics" DVD, and show teachers how the star of this video hit, Hershel, the dog puppet can get young students' tuned to basic economic concepts. Following Harlan's workshop, Mrs. Miles, will take teachers down the path of economic knowledge with a handy road map designed to integrate economics into basic subject areas. Teacher's will leave with an outline of must-have economics resources and ready-to-use activities and web resources they can start using right away.

Using Technology to Teach Economics

Teachers set aside their textbooks and make room for their computers during a series of technology sessions profiling the latest digital and online resources and materials for economics and personal finance. Teachers will explore helpful online teaching tools that are both free and intuitive, and they will test drive online teacher training modules, packed with teaching strategies, FAQ's, and classroom resources. In the first set of technology workshops led by John LeFeber, CEE Curriculum and Instructional Developer, teachers will explore two useful websites; Thinkfinity.org and Econedlink.org. Teachers will learn how they can infuse multimedia from these websites into their classroom, and discover easy search tools that will help them pull online lesson plans for economics and personal finance by concept, grade level and state standards. Later in the afternoon, teachers will visit with Mrs. Miles to learn about advanced professional development opportunities with new online training tools. Teachers will explore an online platform designed to put the power of professional development into their own hands, with self-paced modules, videos and training materials. Plus, teachers will learn how they can easily earn credits for their time and use these modules as teaching aids in their current classrooms. (http://store.councilforeconed.org/training.html)

Enhancing Your AP Economics Course

Getting students ready for the AP exam starts with a well-designed AP curriculum. (http://store.councilforeconed.org/apeconomics.html) In Mr. LeFeber's "Prepare Your AP Economics Course for Success" workshop, teachers will take a step-by-step approach to teaching AP Economics. First, Mr. LeFeber will take teachers through the process of selecting the right students for an AP economics class. Next, teachers will learn how to construct their syllabus to hammer down important economics topics covered on the AP exam. And, finally, teachers will learn how to hand-pick the right teaching materials and resources for their classroom and integrate rigorous, interactive lesson plans into their instruction. By the end of the session, teacher's will have a basic foundation for starting up their own AP economics class with ready-to-use lesson plans and a basic AP Economics course blueprint.

Understanding Economics in Civics and Government

During the highly interactive session, Understanding Economics in Civics and Government, teachers will discover that they don't have to be seasoned economics teachers to infuse economics concepts into their civics and government classroom. In this hands-on workshop, teachers will follow Mrs. Miles through a series of activities and lesson plans designed to help teach economics in civics and government classrooms. (http://store.councilforeconed.org/civics-and-government.html) Mrs. Miles will take teachers through one lesson plan, showing them step-by step teaching procedures, important objectives and concepts to cover, and how to select the right activities, visuals and lesson plans for each topic. The best part is that teachers will learn that teaching economics only requires the correct instructional materials, not require additional education on their part.

When Ethics and Economics Collide

For a quick ethics lesson, teachers are encouraged to join Mrs. Miles in her When Ethics and Economics Collide workshop, where she will profile a selection of ethical dilemmas and demonstrate how economics applies to each. Teachers will go over one lesson plan from a featured ethics and economics resource, and they will explore how to easily implement ethics into existing economics and social studies courses. Mrs. Miles will also show teachers how they can use these new ethics and economics resources with virtually no ethics and economics background. With clear teaching procedures, ready-to-use lesson plans and visuals, discussion and assessment questions, teachers can start teaching these new-found concepts right when they get back to their classrooms. (http://store.councilforeconed.org/ethical-foundations-of-economics.html)

Visit the Booth, Win an Ipod

During the break, teachers can visit the CEE booth and browse through a selection of popular print and digital resources for teaching K-12 economics and personal finance. They will also have the chance to sign up to win an i Pod shuffle.

For teachers interested in lingering at the booth bit longer, the CEE will show them how to get a free copy of the Personal Finance Prep Kit Guide packed with valuable teaching resources; save up to $85 and get free shipping on the K-12 Economics and Personal Finance Prep Kits (www.councilforeconed.org/ncss) ; grab a free registration code for the new CEE Online Training Modules; and get a $5 Starbucks card just for watching a quick product demo right in the booth.

About the Presenters
Dr. Harlan Day directs the Indiana Council for Economic Education (ICEE), an organization dedicated to economic and financial literacy.

Kathy Miles is a former business, economics and English teacher from Lakeview, Oregon. Mrs. Miles is currently a teacher support specialist for the Council for Economic Education. She was a also a DECA Advisor.

John LeFeber is a Curriculum and Instructional Developer for the Council for Economic Education.

Mark C. Schug was formerly the director of the UWM Center for Economic Education. He is a senior fellow with the Council for Economic Education and was appointed to the Governor's Council on Financial Literacy in 2005. His research and teaching focus is economic education and market reforms in education.

Workshop Schedule at Glance

Friday, 11/13/2009

Take the Eeek Out of Elementary Economics!
10:15 AM
International Ballroom B

An Economic Analysis of the Great Depression: Implications for the Recession of 2009
11:30 AM
GWCC A307

Economics Community meeting
1:30 PM
Omni Maple C

A Road Map for Teaching Economics in Elementary School
3:45- 4:45 PM
Room A311

Saturday, 11/14/2009

An Economic Analysis of the Financial Collapse of 2008
9:15 AM

Understanding Economics in Civics & Government
9:15 AM
International Ballroom B

Use Thinkfinity.org throughout your the Social Studies Curriculum
11:30 AM
GWCC A410 00

How to Design an Effective Personal Finance Course
11:45 AM
International Ballroom F

When Ethics and Economics Collide
1:30 PM
Ballroom F

What about EconEdLink?
1:30 PM
Gwcc A 307

The Latest Online Training in Economics, History and Globalization
2:45 PM
International Ballroom E

Prepare Your AP Economics Course for Success
4:00 PM
International Ballroom F

About the Council for Economic Education

The Council for Economic Education envisions a world in which people are empowered through economic and financial literacy to make informed and responsible choices throughout their lives as consumers, savers, investors, workers, citizens, and participants in our global economy.

The Council for Economic Education (www.councilforeconed.org) offers comprehensive, best-in-class K-12 economic and personal finance education programs, including the basics of entrepreneurship, consisting of teaching resources across the curriculum, professional development for teachers, and nationally-normed assessment instruments. Each year, the Council's programs reach more than 150,000 K-12 teachers and over 15 million students in the United States and in more than 30 other countries. These programs are delivered through a diversified system: directly from the Council, through a network of affiliated state Councils and university-based Centers for Economic Education, and through other partner organizations.

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Council for Economic Education
Martina Krivankova
212-827-3603
E-mail Information
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