NGPF is a vast treasure chest of free resources for teachers, but you might not know about these 10 NGPF secret gems. Grab your compass - we're going treasure hunting!

1. Using NGPF on Various Platforms Page

NGPF is a team player. Get tips for how to use NGPF resources on Google Classroom, Desmos, Nearpod, Microsoft Teams, Canva, Edpuzzle, and Pear Deck.

Treasure Map for how to get there: Sign into your Teacher Account > Account > scroll down to Implement NGPF In Your Classroom > Using NGPF on Various Platforms

2. NGPF Academy Transcripts

NGPF's Certification Courses are the only personal finance teacher professional development opportunities that are recognized for teachers' continuing education units (CEUs) in 41 out of the 44 states + DC that track them. See if your state recognizes NGPF Certification Courses for CEUs. The easiest way to showcase your NGPF Professional Development record is by downloading your NGPF Academy Transcripts!

Treasure Map to find your transcript: Sign into your Teacher Account > Account > My NGPF Academy > View Transcript. From there, you can view or print your NGPF events for this Academy Year (which started July 1) or all NGPF Academy Years.

3. Edpuzzle Versions of FinCap Friday

FinCap Friday is an end-of-week highlight that gets students thinking and talking about current events in personal finance... in thousands of classrooms around the world!

The standard FinCap Friday routine goes like this:

1. Mini quiz game about the current event to test prior knowledge
2. Video explainer about the current event
3. Discussion Prompt to get students buzzing

Did you know... you can deliver FinCap Friday episodes with 1) quiz game component and 2) video explainer joined together in one seamless step? With the Edpuzzle version of FinCap Friday, your students watch the explainer video, and the clip pauses to prompt them with the mini quiz questions. What a great way to mix it up and keep student engagement high!

Treasure Map to find them: ngpf.org > hover over Curriculum > FinCap Friday > scroll all the way down to FinCap Friday Library > Find all versions of every FinCap Friday episode in a Google Sheet.

4. Semester Course Syllabus

The NGPF Semester Course has become the nation's most popular free Personal Finance curriculum, which makes this hidden-in-plain-sight gem a true surprise! On the Semester Course page, click Course Materials to find all kinds of goodies, including a customizable syllabus for the course, standards alignment for national and select state standards, and beyond.

5. Unit Content Newsletter Templates

You're beginning a new content unit with your students. I bet you want to let your students' families, guardians, or loved ones know what they're about to be learning in your classroom, right? Right! And surely you have enough time in your schedule to write a whole unit newsletter every couple weeks, right? Totally!

Dream on, Christian. Here in the real world, teachers are incredibly busy, which is why NGPF has created newsletters for each unit.

Treasure Map: Log into your NGPF Teacher Account > Find any lesson > Click the Answer Key > Click "Customizable Parent Newsletter" (see example below)

6. Google Slides for NGPF Nearpods

To keep the NGPF course pages better organized, you can now find the corresponding Google Slides for every NGPF Nearpod Lesson by first adding the selected Nearpod Lesson to your account, then opening the lesson in Nearpod via preview or edit. One of the first slides will be the Google Slides template for that lesson! You can copy that into your Google Drive and, like magic, you'll have customizable slides for the lesson!

7. NGPF Certification Course Digital Badges

Show off your NGPF Professional Development achievements with digital badges! NGPF offers badges for all Certification Courses and for select PD challenges. Get certified in any NGPF course, then "wear" your badge in your email signature.

Treasure Map to find and download them: Distributed to you via email upon your passage of each NGPF Certification Course > check your inbox and/or spam folder > search "Badge."

See you in your next NGPF Certification Course!

8. NGPF Activities With Corresponding Canva Templates!

Canva for Education is growing quickly, with over 50 million teachers and students using Canva to bring collaboration, creative expression, and visual communication to the classroom. Did you know Canva partners with a small (but mighty!) nonprofit by the name of Next Gen Personal Finance?

Treasure Map to make this partnership fun (and useful):

• Search "Canva" in the NGPF search bar to find a list of NGPF Activities with corresponding Canva templates.
• Search "ngpf" in the Canva for Education search bar to browse a full collection of financial literacy templates co-created by Canva and NGPF!
  
  

9. A Secret Prize for Referrals

Last week's popular post, Decorating Ideas For Your Personal Finance Classroom, highlighted many opportunities for you to get free or low-cost posters, infographics, and bulletin board layouts for your classroom. This week, we're revealing a secret way to get 10 more printable posters! With NGPF's Refer page, you can invite 3 teachers to explore NGPF, and in return for your kindness, NGPF gives you the top secret link to 10 ink-friendly printable posters that feature notable public figures and their quotes about money.

As always, THANK YOU for inviting teachers to explore NGPF. Seriously - your kind acts of sharing this resource with fellow educators has made the NGPF community more vibrant every day!

Treasure Map for more poster-ific loot: Sign into your NGPF Teacher Account > Account > Refer a Teacher

10. Statewide Personal Finance Implementation Guidance

NGPF's affiliate nonprofit organization, the NGPF Mission 2030 Fund, is proud to advocate - in state school boards, state DOEs, state legislatures, and beyond - for a standalone personal finance course to be guaranteed for all high school students. As of writing, 23 states have made this life-changing commitment to their students!

Yet our team doesn't stop when the ink dries on the Governor's signature; that's when we get back to work supporting teachers, schools, and districts with rock solid implementation of this amazing course. Check out NGPF and Montana State University's Report - Best Practices Implementing Financial Education in High Schools.

About the Author

Christian Sherrill

Former teacher, forever financial education nerd. As NGPF's Director of Growth & Advocacy, Christian is laser-focused on our mission to guarantee all students a rigorous personal finance course before crossing the high school graduation stage. Having paid down over $40k in student loans in the span of 3 years - while living in the Bay Area on an entry level teacher's salary - he's eager to help the next generation avoid financial pitfalls one semester at a time.