New for You!

Resources And Professional Development

For information on the opportunities listed below, contact Nancy Harrison at nhh1@niu.edu or at 815-753-0356.

Workshops and Conferences

Financing Your Future Workshop  (High School) – Get on the invitation list TODAY!

Coming in November!  Financing Your Future Workshop for high school teachers. Visit the Hot Opportunities section of this Fall 2007 newsletter for more information.

Illinois Association of School Economics Teachers (IASET) Fall conference

The Illinois Association of School Economics Teachers will hold the Annual Fall Conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.  Mark your calendars for Friday, December 7, 2007 and watch for details to be coming your way soon! Your conference registration fee includes a one-year membership!

Illinois Jump$tart Coalition 3rd Annual Financial Literacy Conference

The 3rd Annual Financial Literacy Conference for K-12 teachers, scheduled to take place Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, will focus on financial literacy education, curriculum integration, methodology, best practices and much more!   Full time in-service K-12 teachers are eligible for sub pay reimbursement, renewable registration fees, and complementary meals.  Many sessions and exhibits will be offering free curriculum to teacher-attendees!  ICEE and our Governors State University Office of Economic Education will be among the many organizations presenting sessions featuring the newest and best curriculum materials available to teachers.  For more information about this exciting professional development opportunity, or to register for this workshop, please visit Illinois Jump$tart at http://www.iljumpstart.org/events.cfm .

Illinois Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Annual State Conference

The IAFCS will be holding their Annual State Conference at Bradley University and the Radisson Hotel Peoria on Friday, October 19 and Saturday, October 20, 2007.  Many of the breakout sessions and special functions will carry this year’s conference theme:   IAFCS:  Leading the Pathway to Family Well-Being.  ICEE will host an exhibit booth at the conference, and workshop presentations will be delivered from our Bradley Center for Economic Education.  To learn more about the IAFCS, please visit www.cast.ilstu.edu/iafcs; to learn more about or to register for the conference, visit http://www.castonline.ilstu.edu/iafcs/iafcs_annual_conference.htm; and to learn more about our exhibit and workshop sessions contact Nancy Harrison at nhh1@niu.edu or 815.753.0356.

3rd National Summit on Economic and Financial Literacy

The Summit is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 in Washington DC.  Save the date and make plans to attend and participate in this important dialogue on advancing economic and financial education efforts in our nation’s schools.  To learn more about the Summit, or to register on-line, visit  http://www.ncee.net/summit .

Teacher Workshops

The following workshops are discussed in detail on ICEE's professional development pages . You can also contact your nearest Center for Economic Education for the most up-to-date information on available workshops.

• Teaching the Ethical Foundations of Economics Workshop (UIC Center, choose from three fall dates)
• Teaching with The Stock Market Game (all Centers, dates vary, choose one date and location)

Curriculum

For more information on the following, contact your nearest Center for Economic Education or visit the NCEE store at http://store.ncee.net .

"Financing Your Future" ( High School)

Financing Your Future is a new personal finance program on DVD for high school teachers and their students that teaches about planning for the future through wise management of resources.  The program contains five videos that cover topics such as investing in one's own human capital, developing a banking relationship, understanding credit and debt, and creating a budget. Each video is complemented with three standards-based classroom lesson plans (15 lesson plans in all) that teachers, parents and mentors can use to reinforce the concepts demonstrated in the videos. The user-friendly lessons include hands-on activities that are complete with printable student activity pages, answer keys, and video summaries. See the Hot Opportunities section of this issue of E-CONnections for workshop information.

"Focus:  Grades K-2 Economics"

This 10-lesson publication features hands-on lessons that each include an overview,  correlation to content standards in economics, assessments, and real world activities, complete with visuals.  The Focus series demonstrates how economics and the economic way of thinking can enhance learning in a variety of subjects at all grade levels.  This publication features interactive activities; the application of economic understanding to real-world situations and context dominate the lessons. 

"Focus: Understanding Economics in U.S. History" (High School)

Focus:  Understanding Economics in U.S. History uses a unique mystery-solving approach to teach U.S. economic history to your high school students.  Sure to capture the attention of your inquisitive and energetic students, these activity-based lessons give you a new, refreshing way to meet your U.S. History content goals, and infuse eye-opening economics material at the same time.

"Thinking Economics" (High School)

Thinking Economics is a comprehensive standards-based economics curriculum for high school teachers.  It features 75 standards-based lessons for students, plus planning tools and testing materials for teachers. Using computers, students explore each economics lesson at their own pace under the guidance of the teacher.  Teachers use the print resources to plan in-class activites and simulations that reinforce the principles and challenge their students with advanced applications of “real-world” economics.

 "Test of Understanding College Economics" (TUCE-4)

The fourth edition of the Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE) gives teachers the tools to measure and analyze their students’ knowledge of college-level economics concepts.  The revised format includes two sets of 30 multiple-choice questions for content covered in micro and macro courses.  The TUCE comes with a complete Examiner’s Manual that includes scenarios for individual and group examinations, answer blanks, a compilation of test results and data to help compare scores to others across the nation, and detailed descriptions of analysis of the collected data.

"Teaching the Ethical Foundations of Economics" (High School)

The publication includes ten engaging lessons for high school teachers to use with their students that explore how ethics and personal ideals impact the economy.  Students will strengthen their knowledge of ethics and economic concepts, learn to think critically, and become better decision makers.  The User’s Guide includes an overview and ideas for integration.  Each lesson starts with an introduction to the issue at hand, a list of objectives with teaching instructions, is correlated to the National Standards for Economics, and concludes with a set of multiple choice and essay questions.