Virtual Business - Personal Finance Helps a Math Teacher Meet the Challenge of Creating a Personal Finance Course!
Susan Barocas, Math/Computer Science Teacher, Northampton High School, Massachusetts

When the business teacher at our school left, I was given the Personal Finance course to teach. I am a math/computer science teacher with no experience in business or economics, so I knew that teaching this course was going to be a challenge. Then I was offered the chance to use Virtual Business - Personal Finance as part of my curriculum. I needed all the help I could get, so I tried it.

Using Virtual Business - Personal Finance turned out to be the highlight of the class for all of my students, regardless of gender, academic level or interest in personal finance. Not only did the students get excited about its game like atmosphere, they became energized about learning the financial concepts contained in the simulation. My students got a feel of the emotions one might experience if a diploma was earned, or a promotion was granted, or a fined levied for late payment of taxes, or if their apartment was robbed - all from the safety of the computer lab.

Virtual Business - Personal Finance is self-contained and let my students learn by experience. My lack of knowledge in the personal finance area did not hold my students back from putting together a significant body of financial knowledge to apply to their own lives. Making the decision to use Virtual Business - Personal Finance, as a part of my class, was essential in helping me reach my own goals. I wanted to offer an experience in class that would make my students aware of how to manage their own financial lives. I also wanted the class to be a pleasant experience so that they would continue to think about the concepts we had explored.

Virtual Business - Personal Finance gets a thumbs-up from me, and every student in the class!

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Personal Finance turned out to be the highlight of the class for all my students!
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Northampton, MA

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