Let's say you're an amazing, outstanding, award winning math teacher (I bet you are!), and you're planning to teach some Financial Algebra to your students so that they can learn everything they need to know to feel confident in their personal finance decision making skills. But what if you aren't feeling confident in the same? NGPF has tremendous PD opportunities -- all free -- that can help, especially as you embark on Units 7 and 8 of Financial Algebra, focused on credit!

Unit 7 - Types of Credit and Modeling Functions

On the math side of things, you'll be teaching your students the compound interest formula, recursive sequences, and how to build an amortization spreadsheet -- don't worry, we included videos on that one, or you can skip it. You've probably got those topics squared away. But, on the personal finance side, the topics include auto loans, mortgages, student loans, and credit cards. Maybe you've used some of those products in your personal life, and maybe you've had great or fraught experiences there. But NGPF also has plenty of support for each of those topics, such as...

• A self-paced On-Demand module, which should take you roughly an hour, called The Interest We Pay. In this session, you'll learn how the Fed impacts interest rates; fixed vs variable rates; the difference between interest, APR, and APY; how mortgage rates are set; amortization; and how interest is charged on revolving credit. These are some of the finer details you might not know as a typical auto loan holder or credit card user.
• An additional On-Demand module focused on Federal Student Loan Repayment. Repayment options are plentiful, with some reducing your monthly payments while others reduce your total payments. It's a lot to keep track of! Completion of an On-Demand module earns you a certificate and one hour of credit toward NGPF Academy, our PD incentive program!
• A 9-hour live certification course on the entire Paying for College process, which will go way deeper than just student loans but will come in handy if you teach juniors or seniors or if you have teens at home yourself! After the course ends, you'll take a 30-question multiple-choice exam and upon passing will be officially NGPF Certified in Paying for College, receive a digital badge, a certificate, and maybe even CEUs, depending on your state. Paying for College will next be offered during Summer 2023.

Unit 8 - Managing Credit & Fundamentals of Statistics

The math in unit 8 pivots from algebra to statistics and some of my favorite topics, including box plots and histograms. There are, of course, tons of fun activities you can do around those two topics, so enjoy that data organization deep dive! This lesson is full of extremely important credit topics though, such as managing debt (think about all those types of credit they learned about in unit 7!), credit history, reports, and scores, and why credit score matters so much. If any of those sound like shaky content, look no further: 

• Another On-Demand module, presented as a self-paced Nearpod, titled Building Credit. This one focuses on the traditional ways you can build credit by responsibly using a credit card, making on-time loan payments, etc. Please note that all On-Demand modules are only available for teacher PD, not for direct instruction with students! 
• New Trends in Building Credit which explores a few fintech companies that have developed opportunities for consumers to access credit without a credit card or credit score. Your students may have heard of some of these apps, so it's best to come prepared! 
• Did you know we also have a 9-hour live certification course focused on Credit? It combines the content from unit 7 about Types of Credit and unit 8 about Managing Credit into one course. It's one of our most popular courses and for good reason -- such vital information! The Credit cert will next be offered in summer 2023!

For every unit of the Financial Algebra course, we're confident that NGPF has completely free professional development to support you in feeling confident with the finance material. We also offer weeknight one-hour live events (the topics always change, so you'll need to check back regularly) and quarterly Saturday virtual conferences, the next of which is April 29th. We hope to see you at an NGPF PD sometime soon! 

About the Author

Jessica Endlich

When I started working at Next Gen Personal Finance, it's as though my undergraduate degree in finance, followed by ten years as an educator in an NYC public high school, suddenly all made sense.