As always, there are intersting things that happen on the first runthrough of a game. While in our minds we knew what would be the “right” thing to do, the kids had differnet thoughts.  For example, once they realized in the first period that their selection wasn’t too damaging, they didn’t upgrade, even when it would have helped them. They also weren’t that many groups that chose riskier investments, choosing to stick it almost all in the savings account.

I guess in the end though, we did our job and taught these kids what they needed to know. Whether it sticks or not is up to them, but I think that they’ve shown themselves to be smart enough to do so. Hopefully I can come back next semester and do the same thing.

When I started FLCP, I didn’t really think this would be the case at all. In the past, I’ve never had problems letting go of a group of kids that I’ve taught, because I knew that they would be fine, with their constant support from their parents and often affluent background (my past teaching experience was in suburban New Jersey, where I’m from). With these kids, it’s different. At home, if I asked a student to articulate a difficult decision they’ve made, I would probably get an answer about how they wanted to spend their summers–at home, at sleepaway camp, taking tennis lessons, etc. (At Penn, it’s worse; off the top of my head, summer destinations here are more like Santorini, New Zealand, or on a keyboard with the F1 button missing at an investment bank in New York.) We asked a student in a mock interview about a difficult decision, and she told us about how she made the decision, at 15 years old, to leave her dad and become a foster child because she hadn’t been to school in years. As much as we lecture these kids about budgeting and investing their money, I’m still convinced that they teach us way more about life (especially life outside the Penn bubble). This is how and why I’ve come to value the relationships that we’ve developed with our kids over the semester and why I would like to continue with the same group to see them grow.

As much as I appreciate FLCP being over in time to study for finals, it was weird to actually go to my Marketing lecture (which I’ve been partially skipping due to scheduling conflicts) today instead of waiting outside for a rowdy but well-intentioned group of kids on the corner of 38th and Walnut. I wish I could be here to revise their college essays in the Fall and be a resource like the ones that I had when I was applying to college. I want them to know that I learned as much from them as they did from me, if not more.

The last lesson was definitely my favorite. I created a Jeopardy game for the students to review all the material we had taught throughout the semester. It was a fun way to end the semester and stir up some friendly competition among the students. It was also great to see how far the students had come and just how much they had learned. The lesson was bittersweet as well as I sad to see the students go. Many of them asked if we’d be returning next semester, and I realize that for a lot of the kids, we genuinely made their day brighter, as they did for us. I can only hope that our efforts have a positive effect on them that extends even beyond the classroom, for good teachers truly impact a student’s life.

I am excited to return to FLCP next semester. I am thinking about teaching high school students instead next semester because the classroom environment is so different, but I’m reluctant to leave the kids at Wilson. Regardless, I know my involvement in FLCP will continue to further my understanding of the West Philadelphia community and the dire need for financial literacy in classrooms. I am so grateful to the students, the FLCP leaders, and my teaching team for a truly memorable semester.

The game turned out to be a success; despite our small class size for the day we reviewed.  The students were reasonably focused on the game, and between all of them, the correct answer was usually reached.  I was satisfied with the results of the review class and game, looking forward to seeing how the class would fare on the assessment.  Next class, we wrapped up the semester, bringing pizza and drinks for the class to enjoy after they completed their post assessment.  After grading the assessments, it was apparent that the class fared very well.  Based upon the results, it was clear that the class had made significant gains and learned a great deal over the semester.

As this was the last class of the semester and I’ll be graduating, it was the last time I’ll probably ever see the students. Hopefully I was able to help teach them a lot. Of course, they also taught me a ton. I learned a lot about being patient. I learned how to teach people with different frames of reference than I have. I learned how to (and not to) get kids to listen while you’re talking. I also had a few realizations. I realized how much planning goes into every high-school lesson…and that the actual lecture is half the battle (if that). I realized that kids are more intrinsically motivated than I gave them credit for.

Overall, FLCP has been very fun, and having the opportunity to reflect demonstrated to me that it was also a great learning experience.

The results of our assessment showed that our students absorbed the material. Part of this was certainly our students, but I think the success at UCity this semester can be largely attributed to how well our teaching team worked together. It was a challenge catering to a variety of abilities at first, but I think we did an effective job learning from our mistakes and designing interactive lessons that our students will benefit from later on. Even if they only remember a few key takeaways, I think every student in our class will benefit from FLCP in one way or another.

I would highly recommend this class to any Wharton student that enjoys tutoring or mentoring, particularly those who have not been exposed to an urban school. The educational gap in this country is truly astounding and the only way to truly get a grasp of this is by working hands on in an inner city school. I learned so much from the students themselves, who were all incredibly mature for their age.  Over the course of the semester I got to know 7 intelligent, hard-working students who hopefully are now better prepared to manage their personal finances, apply for jobs and student loans, negotiate more effectively, etc. I gave all of them my email address and sincerely hope that they send me their resumes for feedback when they are ready. Thank you FLCP coordinators for making my experience so positive!

It was based on the game of LIFE…sort of? Thinking about it in retrospect, not really. We set up the game so that teams of students would have specific occupations (teacher, nurse, engineer, entrepreneur) and have to go through a year of budgeting quarterly, the goal being to have the highest net worth at the end of the year. Before the rounds really started, they had to go through an interview system for their “job”. Of course we gave it to them, but their salary was based on their performance. Then, every round, they had to make decisions concerning their car, house, and insurance coverage. Then, with their remaining funds, they had to divide their savings into stocks, bonds, and savings accounts based on market headlines about certain stocks and bonds.

I know I spend a lot of time talking about my students, but I’d just like to give a shout out to my team on this one. I think the game was pretty creative and allowed us a different method of evaluating our kids in an alternative method from, you know, a test followed by going over it. Our students have pretty much proved to us that they’ll stand for no such nonsense…meaning they have to be heavily engaged or they’ll just not pay any attention at all. So with the game, we inspired some (friendly) competition and were able to motivate them to actually try, which was crucial in measuring their retention of information that we’ve taught them over the semester. It became clear that while some of them (the ones that were really into the game) performed well and made informed decisions, not everyone had paid attention to the importance of insurance or market headlines in making informed decisions concerning their allocation of their money. But, these ideas were reinforced at the end when we went over them.

I was pretty touched and surprised by how many times our kids told us they would miss us. I mean, I’ve gotten to know some of them better than others, and hope to stay in touch, but I didn’t think they’d ask me to friend them on Facebook! I hope they know to come to us with questions as they go on in high school or college

On Thursday, the competition continued. There were again, only four students but everyone wanted to get  100% on their assessments. Even though the post assessments weren’t technically graded, Rae checked the answers. Two of our students got 100% and the others only missed two questions! I was a bit worried because some of the questions on the post assessment were pretty tough.Yet seeing that two of our students were able to answer every question really made me happy. I was proud of the students as well as of the teaching team. We were able to teach the students something, something useful that’s going to stay with them in their future.

I explained to my parents how incredibly important it was for students to have a foundation in financial literacy. I was lucky enough to have mentors who gave me these essential life skills, but for many students in Philadelphia, this simply was not the case. My mother, who grew up in the Philippines, was a bit shocked to hear that basic personal finance topics such as credit, debit, and interest were bypassed in most elementary school curriculums in Philadelphia. I described my time with University City and Wilson students, from lesson planning to classroom dynamics to the characters of students that I met throughout the year. Interestingly, we ended our discussion on how she can teach my 7th grade brother everything I taught (he wasn’t too pleased).

To wrap it up, I’m incredibly grateful for my FLCP experience. It allowed me to feel a lot more connected to my city, meet some talented peers and students, and take on a challenging but rewarding task. ‘Til next year!