Instructify

BY BILL FERRIS

Here in North Carolina, we’re coping with a budget shortfall. Valuable programs are facing cuts, and a lot of people are going to lose their jobs. I don’t envy Governor Bev Perdue or anyone else making these decisions, as pretty much any decision they make will make life worse for a lot of people. You can help convey the stakes of the situation to your students with the Balance the Budget Challenge, a game from the North Carolina governor’s office that lets us common folk try to balance a budget with a $2.4 billion deficit.

The Balance the Budget Challenge presents you with dozens of options that can cut the state budget. Should you raise tuition to universities or community colleges? Release a few thousand prisoners from jail? Or perhaps you’d care to eliminate all school-nurse jobs in the state? You can also take measures that will promote long-term growth but raise the deficit in the short term — for example, you could increase financial incentives for business to move to North Carolina. When you’ve finished the challenge, simply press a button to submit your budget proposal to the Governor.

What struck me the most about the BTBC was the sheer number of cuts you need to make — after I cut what seemed like a massive amount of programs, I found I still had a few hundred million left to go. Lest you start on a slash-and-burn campaign in the hopes of “winning” the budget, the game also presents you with the consequences of your decisions — that is, you get to see an exact tally of how many people you just sent to the unemployment line.

My only complaint about BTBC was that it asks you to make cuts to education before any other category. Obviously some category had to be listed first, but I nearly gutted the public education budget altogether before I realized I had six more pages of possible cuts to consider. I have no idea if anyone in power actually reads these proposals, but front-loading the game with cuts to school spending potentially sends a message that North Carolina citizens see educational spending as expendable.

That complaint aside, I recommend the Balance the Budget Challenge as a fun, if sobering look at how a state budget operates. It does a good job of teaching about both fiscal responsibility and the human consequences of financial decisions.

Balance the Budget Challenge

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Try to balance the state budget with the Backseat Budgeter

BY KEVIN HODGSON

Following the money is almost always easier said than done. A big push of the federal stimulus package was to prop up school districts beset by fiscal difficulties in the economic downturn, to the tune of at least $62 billion. But where did the money go?

EdMoney Schools Database is designed to track that money flow, and it is pretty interesting to see the breakdown. The site has an interactive map for each state, or you can type in geographic locations to see where the money is going. I checked out my state of Massachusetts, and used EdMoney to track the $1.5 billion awarded to it under the stimulus plan. Of that, only about $590 million has been spent. I then went even deeper, digging into my own school district’s allocation of funds (we’ve spent about 90 percent of what we were awarded by the state, it seems). Interestingly, when you get to this level in the database, it allows you to compare your own district with other districts of comparable size. The site also shows various news stories related to the stimulus in education and visitors can register and submit stories of how the federal funds have helped (or hindered) schools.

The site is funded in part by a grant from the Gates Foundation, and its data and analysis comes from a group called the Education Writing Association, which seeks to improve education reporting to the general public. The site says, “We will code stories and tips by state, school district, and schools to help reporters and their communities understand how these funds are being spent.”

EdMoney Schools Database

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Mo’ money? Find out where federal stimulus money for education is going

BY CHRISTOPHER PANNA

Everyone would agree that it’s important to learn about personal finance, yet many kids grow up without the skills to manage their money. This is probably because the topic was never put in the context of a pig riding a jet ski. Play Debt Ski with your students and they should see things more clearly.

The game dresses basic economic concepts in a cartoonish summer look. You have to steer the pig through an obstacle course, helping him grab as many coins (income) as possible. Along the way you also need to pick up necessities while avoiding too many luxuries (though they make your pig happy). At the end of the course your income and expenses are tallied, leaving you with savings or debt. You can then buy upgrades to your ski, but beware the pitfalls of credit cards! This is one of the most teachable aspects of the game, as there are credit limits, minimum payments, and interest on unpaid debt.

Pass all eight levels and you’ll get a final score based on the savings, debt, and happiness points you’ve accumulated. There’s no end to the score you can earn, which will encourage healthy competition among students. After playing Debt Ski, they can check out the game’s parent site, InDebtEd, which is designed to help college students navigate the jungle of student expenses. High school students will be there soon, so they might as well start learning personal finance now.

Debt Ski

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Students can manage their money at Mint.com

The Centsables fight against financial irresponsibility

YouAreHere teaches kids to be smart consumers

BY KEVIN HODGSON

Sometimes, just knowing where to go for a resource or piece of software is the hardest step to integrating technology. AlternativeTo collects resources and recommendations for free and open source alternatives to mainstream (and often costly) software/online tools.

Similar to Open Source Alternative, AlternativeTo has a plethora of options, and runs the gamut from free online backup systems for computer files to tools to make file downloads easier and safer. I like that the site allows you to sort programs according to operating system and user rankings. In addition, there are notes about questionable software — I’d avoid these programs, and it’s probably a good idea to do a bit of research on any of the tools you might download and use anyway.

The search engine on the site culls through its archives to pull up alternatives to what you are looking for. For example, I looked for “Word”  in the Microsoft Windows platform and received a long list of word processing-related software. Since this site is a social network, there are many brains at work here, sharing and commenting and giving feedback.

In the classroom

I don’t necessarily see a use for students at the site, but for teachers and school administrators who are under budget constraints, AlternativeTo might be a step into the Open Source world.

AlternativeTo

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Ditch expensive software with Open Source Alternative

BY REBECCAH HAINES

Teachers are so frequently looking for money for classroom projects, that one more post about a source of funding can’t be redundant. The newest source that I have found is called Digital Wish, “a non-profit on a mission to solve technology shortfalls in classrooms.” This funding source is great because it is specifically for teachers who want technology items in their classrooms.

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BY BILL FERRIS

It’s amazing how pervasive advertising is in our culture. There are the obvious means — billboards, commercials, newspaper inserts — as well as the not-so-obvious channels, like logos on clothing, branded shopping bags, giveaway products, and lots more. Though advertising isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s important for students to recognize it for what it is — a message designed to persuade them to give someone else their money. Admongo, an online game from the Federal Trade Commission, takes students on a journey into a virtual tower that’s crawling with advertisements. Along the way, the game teaches kids exactly how they’re being marketed to, and how to recognize it when it’s happening.

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BY BILL FERRIS

How much does your school spend on software? You’ve probably got Microsoft Office installed in the central office. Maybe the school newspaper uses Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. That’s a few thousand dollars worth of software right there, depending on the size of licenses you need. Open Source Alternative wants you to save that money by suggesting, well, open-source alternative programs that do the same things as their pricey commercial counterparts, but won’t cost you a dollar (let alone several thousand of them).

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BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

Understanding how to budget your resources and not spend more that you take in can help children create a foundation for success later in life. Unfortunately, the subject often seems boring and intangible for students — graphs of production curves, widgets, butter versus guns, the law of diminishing returns…I remember them all from my economics class, but at the time, they seemed to have no relevance to my personal situation.

But here we have The Centsables, an interactive training tool for explaining and teaching students about economic and monetary responsibility. The premise revolves around a group of financial superheroes, The Centsables, who explain healthy economic principles in a campy comic-book format that is engaging and fun for young students. (more…)

BY BILL FERRIS

YouAreHere, a site from the Federal Trade Commission, teaches 5th through 8th graders about being smart consumers. Your students will get to hang out at a virtual mall, learning lessons about stuff like scams, supply and demand, competition, identity theft, and misleading advertising in each store.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Once August hits, it’s time to gird your loins and restock your supplies for the fall. Since you’ll be buying supplies anyway, you can save some bucks and eat some donuts at Office Depot during their Star Teacher Appreciation Week beginning in late July and early August (exact dates vary by location — see when Teacher Appreciation Week happens in your area).

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BY BILL FERRIS

This week’s MBTN looks at inspiring TED videos for educators, how to sabotage your resume, saving for college, and free ebooks on personal finance. More after the jump.

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I have sincerely enjoyed my time here at Instructify, writing up my very smug and minimalist posts. I’m tired of my vast talents with wordery going unrecognized and I’m leaving. I quit! I’ll see you jerks never!

[Picks up newspaper. Spit take.]

Okay, um, hey, so it looks like the job market out there isn’t quite ready for me. I really need to pay closer attention to current events. About what I said before… I was just caught up in the moment, okay? You’ll need to excuse me; the urge to quit a job with some pizazz is pretty intoxicating.

The Tough Summer Job Market is a great posting by the Free Technology for Teachers blog. With graduation right around the corner, a lot of your soon-to-be-former students will find this information helpful. (more…)

I’m totally over this financial crisis business. People everywhere are homeless and jobless. Also, there are only so many ways to write an article without resorting to the overdone, “In today’s down economy, blah blah blah…” Nevertheless, it’s an issue that affects every one of us, which means that economic and financial education has never been been more important.

To help your students ease into the world of managing their own money, tell them about Mint.com. It’s a free site that helps users create a budget, track bank accounts, watch spending habits, and monitor investments. Mint will offer helpful suggestions on how to get out of debt or buy an affordable car.

Instilling good financial sense into your students now can help them make sound financial decisions in the years ahead. Mint.com can help them do exactly that. -BILL FERRIS

Mint.com

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Teach financial responsibility with Saving Our Futures

Get some game in the Stock Market (I immediately feel less cool after saying that)

Need to stretch your supplies budget a little farther? Or should I say, “further”? Lucky for me, I can find the answer by picking up a cheap copy of a language arts textbook at Hoot of Loot, an online classified ads section for educators. Teachers can buy and sell books, blackboards, furniture, and other schoolhouse miscellany. If you’d like to pick up some extra cash by selling supplies you’re no longer using, Hoot of Loot is good for that, too.

Hoot of Loot seems pretty new, as there isn’t a huge selection as of yet. Most of the items for sale are from Tulsa, the company’s home city. That information suggests that Hoot of Loot has added a lot of these resources themselves. New businesses often have great introductory prices, so what you lack in choice you may be able to make up in savings.

Time will tell if Hoot of Loot is a viable alternative to eBay or Craigslist, but if you give a hoot about saving money, it’s at least worth a look. -BILL FERRIS

Hoot of Loot

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Swap your Stuff at Zwaggle

Welcome to May’s random roundup. This month’s theme: Little Johnny, one-man stand-in for school-aged children the world over. After a year-and-a-half of hard work, we figured this overused cliche deserved a post of his own before he gets back to studying.

Time-savers for teachers
For other notes and resources the students need, consider giving this stuff to them as a whole, at the beginning of a session or semester. That way you only have to keep a master copy for Little Johnny who struggles to keep himself organized.

Learning exercise: Promote healthy living this school year
If you’re concerned about your students’ health, you can do something about it by extolling the virtues of healthy exercise. Ask Little Johnny how his little league team did over the summer. Do you have any joggers or climbers in your midst? Take an interest, and maybe they’ll get more active.

Search Visually, Safely with RedZee
RedZee filters out porn and other inappropriate content, so you don’t need to worry that Little Johnny will “accidentally” stumble across something he shouldn’t be looking at on a school computer.

Swap your Stuff at Zwaggle
But Zwaggle might be a good resource to pass along to parents. If you can make their lives easier by showing them where to find Christmas presents on the cheap, they might make your lives easier by encouraging Little Johnny to buckle down and try a little harder for his nice teacher.

Keep Your Grade Book Online with Engrade
If students (and their parents) can track their grades at any time, it may motivate them to stay on task throughout the class. Come parent-teacher conference time, you won’t have to deal with parents who are angry about Little Johnny’s surprise “D.”

Instructifeature: How to Stimulate Class Discussion Using Discussion Forums
In the classroom, you’re limited by clock. There’s only so much time you can devote to class discussion. Students feel the time crunch even more keenly—they’ve got to compose a thoughtful response in mere seconds. And while thinking on one’s feet is a valuable skill, how much better would Little Johnny’s answer be if he had more time to compose his ideas? Using discussion boards, students have the time they need to think of the best answer they can.

Photo credit: khalid almasoud on Flickr.