By Tiffany Kiramidjian, Project Manager
For two decades, the Take Charge Today (TCT) program has been a national leader in the effort to bring financial education to educators across the U.S. so that our country’s youngest citizens can learn important lessons about managing money and give them knowledge, skills and tools to put them on the path to financial capability. TCT is a free, downloadable, ready-to-teach financial education curriculum for middle and high school students but is also used by other groups and organizations. An important feature of the Take Charge Today curriculum is that our materials are written and continuously updated “by educators, for educators.” TCT can be used as a full stand-alone curriculum program for up to a year-long course or used for a single lesson. In addition to an activity-based curriculum, we know the importance of helping educators become familiar with pedagogy strategies and feel comfortable with all aspects of our curriculum, so we offer professional development including virtual and in-person educator training events.
Mission: We believe that an investment in the personal financial education of both educators and their students is an investment in America’s future. This comes with the opportunity to strengthen financial decision-making skills of the next generation. We are committed to helping create a nation of financially literate youth and take the pledge to work with others in the financial education community to meet this challenge.
Moving Financial Literacy Forward
Here are some popular educator tools from TCT we hope you’ll find helpful to your teaching practice:
On-demand Virtual Professional Development: Check out our many archived webinars by visiting our Professional Development page on our website. If you join one of our live virtual PD events or complete the viewing of a recorded webinar, a certificate of completion is available. Two of our most popular webinar offerings include “Getting Started with Take Charge Today” and “Taking TCT Lessons Online.”
Industry Partnerships: TCT values all of the partners we interact with in the Financial Education space. We know we are “all in this together” helping to build a financially literate citizenry. One of the valued partners we would like to recognize is Intuit Education. Together we have created a series of hands-on, interactive simulations to allow students to extend their learning experience with real-world tools from Intuit’s popular Mint financial tool. You can find webinars we’ve hosted with Intuit Education leaders on our website.
Guest Speaker Series Video Chats: When the Pandemic began to take hold, TCT read and heard concerns from educators right away and wanted to help. Six of our Teacher Educator Chats from Spring 2020 are available to view, which include guest speakers discussing a variety of topics that focus on helping educators by sharing ideas. You can find them here when you create an account.
What’s New
Student Workbooks available in Google Slides: In addition to all of our student workbooks being available in interactive PDF files on the TCT website, they are also now available in Google Slides with text boxes, which makes them compatible with several LMS’s like Google Classroom and Canvas. Educators can save a copy of any of our Student Workbook files to their own Google Drive to be editable.
Service Learning Projects: Two brand new service learning lessons have been developed, “Get a Job Peer Clinic” and “Let’s Invest with Lawn Boy”, which relates to our “Investing with Lawn Boy” lesson plan. Additionally, 2 other projects have been updated and we have recommendations, ideas and opportunities for service learning within our lessons and ways to motivate students to serve.
Interactive Games, Activities, and Videos: several interactive online games and features have been created for teachers to conduct in their classes to reinforce topics. So far the following are available:
- “Understanding Credit Cards: Which is it?” A “this or that” game for the Understanding Credit Cards lesson
- Understanding Credit Cards Toonly: A video about credit card facts
- Eating on a Budget Menu Planning Template: this is now a drag and drop activity from the Major Expenditures lesson plan.
- “True of False Game: Major Expenditures”
Quizlet Study Sets – Vocabulary: all of the TCT vocabulary is now available in a Quizlet study set on the Quizlet website.
Accessible Information Sheets: all of the TCT information sheets are now available in an accessible format for screen reader software for the visually impaired.
Cover Pages: Each TCT lesson now has a cover page which introduces the lesson, outlines some of the suggested teaching tools and activities students can do.
Connect With TCT
- Create your free account today to begin downloading our resources!
- Contact us at takechargetoday@arizona.edu
- Like our TCT Facebook page
- Follow us on Twitter
Contact:
Tiffany Kidmajaian
tiffanyk@arizona.edu
Connect With Jumpstart
Financial Fridays
- Millennials, What Will You Teach Your Kids About Money?
- How to Teach Kids About Money With Debit and Credit Cards
- Financial Literacy Can Combat Poverty
- CNBC Features Intuit in Best Money Apps For College Students
- 25 States Trying to Add Personal Finance to High Schools
Coalition Corner
Can you help us thank our nation’s teachers? They have been heroes throughout the pandemic. Pushing through unprecedented times, rising in spite of the challenges, and continuing to ensure that our students have continued access to learning and resources.
Become a sponsor today! Your generosity will afford teachers the opportunity to be celebrated as the heroes they are. Your support gives them access to new tools, learning resources, and a community of other teachers that level-up their learning and the students they serve.
Click here to become a sponsor today! Thank you in advance for your generosity.
