Since there is a strong link between health and learning, our nation’s obsession with food containing salt, sugar and fat is creating a generation of unhealthy students. A study published in the April 5, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American MediÂcal Association found that 17.1 percent of children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 were overweight. Being overweight puts children and teenagers at greater risk for a number of serious health conditions. Type 2 diabetes; risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure; other health conditions including asthma and sleep apnea, and psychosocial effects such as decreased self-esteem have been associated with childhood obesity in recent studies. Fortunately, healthy eating and a physically active lifestyle can help children achieve and maintain a healthy weight and reduce obesity-related chronic diseases.
Ed-tech grants target remedial college courses
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
With community colleges experiencing burgeoning enrollment, the recent announcement by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to award a $12.9 million grant for improving remedial education in math and reading at community colleges across the nation, is coming none too soon. The money will be used to train more educators in remedial education, create online “gatekeeper courses†for students and develope new materials for remedial math learning, which adult learners tend to lack. “Using a mix of learning approaches, we can use technology to make learning more accessible to a wider range of students,” said Ruth Rominger, director of learning design for the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (MITE). “We can create learning environments that let students work through the courses in a way that is suitable for their learning styles.”
Here are relevant statistics from the article below:
• More than 60 percent of students in community colleges need some kind of remedial class–most often, math training–before they can take credit-bearing courses, according to recent studies.
• A study published this summer shows that community colleges spend more than $1.4 billion on remedial courses every year.
George R. Boggs, president of the American Association of Community Colleges, raises relevant questions regarding two of the biggest challenges for community colleges are: “how to improve success rates for the millions of underprepared students who come through their doors, and how to harness the power of technology to expand capacity and enrich the learning processâ€[?] This grant aims to help address these issues.
ARTICLE:
eCampus News
Ed-tech grants target remedial college courses
Nearly $13M in Gates Foundation funding will support faculty certification and a range of other programs for basic college classes
By Dennis Carter, Assistant Editor
A Gates Foundation grant will create online “gatekeeper courses” for community college students.
Social networking soon could be used to help form a virtual community of campus educators charged with creating a national certification for teachers of remedial college courses, after the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced $12.9 million in new education technology funding for community colleges Dec. 3.
To view this entire article visit www.ecampusnews.com
Scholar Who Calls for Better Tests of Intelligence Wins Grawemeyer Award in Education
Keith E. Stanovich, professor of human development and applied psychology at the University of Toronto will be honored for his 2009 book, What Intelligence Tests Miss: The Psychology of Rational Thought, by receiving the 2010 Grawemeyer Award in Education. In the article below Mr. Stanovich says “such tests [IQ and SAT] are incomplete measures of good thinking because they fail to take into account the rational skills needed to exercise good judgment in daily life.†Schools tend to reward academic success, and students who don’t score well on standardized tests need to know that there are many paths to success and that they aren’t their test score.
Minnesota students acing yoga test
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Yoga is popular among the general population for its ability to help people relax, and more recently yoga’s benefits are catching on at schools nationwide. As the article below iterates, 100 schools in the state of Minnesota have faculty members trained to teach yoga to their students. They’re discovering that a calm child is better able to concentrate and perform optimally on tests and ultimately achieve academic success.
The article below also points out that “more educators are embracing yoga’s principles and methods and touting its benefits: improved self-esteem, self-awareness, acceptance and focus; learning to quiet the mind and shift to positive, peaceful thinking; better posture, flexibility, balance and coordination, and an increased ability to cope with strong emotions and calm down. Studies have linked yoga in schools to better grades, behavior, health and relationships among students.â€
According to school social worker and registered yoga teacher, Kathy Flaminio, “Kids like to move, and the need for movement is critical. Yoga just regulates the system. It brings hyper kids to the center, and lethargic kids wake up. You’re changing the nervous system, and we know that if kids are stressed they’re not using the entire brain to learn. When we slow down the nervous system and they’re able to be calm, they open up and are better learners.”
LifeBound’s title, People Smarts for Teenagers: Becoming Emotionally Intelligent, guides students through their journey of discovering self, creating strong, healthy relationships and managing stress and other emotions. The People Smarts program works well on its own or could be formatted to complement programs such as yoga in many Michigan schools.
Important Questions to Consider:
With many schools cutting physical education classes, how can we raise awareness about the benefits of yoga for boosting not only a student’s physical and mental health but academic success?
How else can teachers, principals, schools and school districts incorporate emotional intelligence into the classroom to promote academic success?
ARTICLE:
Minnesota students acing yoga test
By SARAH MORAN, Special to the Star Tribune
Star Tribune
November 29, 2009
It’s just another day in gym class, and 50 calm and focused sixth-graders are breathing deeply in and out. They sit cross-legged on colorful yoga mats, eyes closed and hands resting on their knees as soothing music plays in the background.
“Inhale slowly … and exhale, and feel your body fill with all that wonderful air,” says their physical education teacher, Rochelle Gladu Patten. “We know that yoga is a practice that brings your body and mind and heart all together,” she tells them. “And that’s what yoga means — to connect.”
Every Tuesday and Thursday, students at Susan B. Anthony Middle School in Minneapolis spend 20 minutes practicing yoga poses in Patten’s class. It’s just one of many Minnesota schools embracing yoga as word spreads about its benefits for students. More than 100 schools in the state have staff members trained to teach yoga to kids of all ages.
To view this entire article visit www.startribune.com
Developmental Psychologist Says Teenagers Are Different
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Teenagers are known to be moody and reckless, but why? As one of the leading experts in the United States on adolescent behavior and adolescent brain biology, Laurence Steinberg, a developmental psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia was interviewed in the article below for his insights on adolescent behavior. Studies of adolescent brain development over the past five years are showing that brain systems in charge of impulse control continue to mature into our 20’s. Dr. Steinberg’s lab has been testing people of various ages with computerized risk-taking tests while images of their brain are taken. They are tested alone and then with two friends watching them. Here are their findings:
“For the adults, the presence of friends has no effect. But for adolescents, just having friends nearby doubles the number of risks they take. We’ve found that a certain part of the brain is activated by the presence of peers in adolescents, but not in adults,†said Steinberg.
Dr. Steinberg recently received the Klaus Jacobs Prize and intends to use the $1 million dollar award to extend his work to “teenagers in other cultures so that we can determine whether the patterns are universal. There’s a longstanding debate over how much of adolescent behavior is biological or cultural. Perhaps this award will lead to more answers.â€
How can we as educators and parents do a better job helping adolescents navigate the emotional upheaval they experience, as well as model the behaviors we want our students to emulate?
How can we raise awareness among the education community about the need to incorporate lessons on emotional intelligence into the classroom?
How can we better utilize tools that are already available, such as LifeBound’s People Smarts for Teenagers, into the classroom to help middle school and high school students make better decisions and avoid potentially disastrous consequences from high-risk behaviors?
ARTICLE:
The New York Times
December 1, 2009
A Conversation With Laurence Steinberg
Developmental Psychologist Says Teenagers Are Different
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
Laurence Steinberg, a developmental psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia, is one of the leading experts in the United States on adolescent behavior and adolescent brain biology. Dr. Steinberg, 57, has won the $1 million Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize, which will be awarded to him at a ceremony in early December in Switzerland.
To view the entire article visit www.nytimes.com
Latin American Looks to Europe for Teaching Reform
Mexico’s higher education community is working to “combat soaring dropout rates, a lack of scholarly research, and the poor quality of many of the university’s academic programs,†with Proyecto Aula (Project Classroom), one of several reform efforts modeled after the European Union’s Bologna Process. This process “seeks to establish a common standard for university education and boost student and faculty mobility throughout Europe.†Dr. Jorge Balderrama, a physician, psychologist and professor, is helping lead this change, which “include instituting a flexible and multidisciplinary curriculum, a new emphasis on critical thinking and problem-based learning, and integrating research and technology into the classroom.â€
Teaching With Twitter: Not for the Faint of Heart
Twitter has taken the social media industry by storm, and a few teachers are trying to harness that power for education. In the article below, some colleges are testing a software named Hotseat, “which lets students key in questions from their cell phones or laptops, using Twitter or Facebook.†Sugato Chakravarty, a professor of consumer sciences and retailing at Purdue University is one of two professors testing Hotseat. Asked if students gain too much control of the classroom using Hotseat, Mr. Chakravarty replied, “students in class are online or texting on their phones anyway, so why not try to channel that energy to class discussion?†Monica Rankin PhD., an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, was looking to incorporate more student-centered learning activities in her U.S. History. After some trial and error, Dr. Rankin found that the most effective way to use Twitter to facilitate classroom discussions was to break students into small groups to first discuss the reading, and then have one person in each group tweet the most relevant comments from the group. The comments were projected on a screen for the rest of the class to see what others groups were discussing.
The Puzzle of Boys
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Girls have been the center of academic debate for years, but now that they make up over half of the college student population, some scholars and psychologists worry about the achievement of boys. The article bellows mentions many books published over the last 20 years on the subject. There is a debate over whether there is a real problem boys are facing today, but many of these books discuss varying degrees of masculinity and the need to shed the stoic, emotionally closed-off stereotype boys.
A psychology professor at New York University, Niobe Way, recently finished a book on her interviews of teenage boys about their friendships. In these interviews, Way discovered that boys frequently said they liked their best friends because “They won’t laugh at me when I talk about serious things.†This emotionally intelligent side of boys is seldom seen and seems to disappear during high school. The article below states that:
“Touchy-feely talk about friendships may seem disconnected from boys’ academic woes, but Way insists they’re pieces of the same puzzle. ‘If you don’t understand the experience of boyhood,’ she says, ‘you’ll never understand the achievement gaps.’â€
Although these studies contain conflicting data, how can parents use this information to raise emotionally intelligent boys?
What can teachers, principals and districts do to make learning more appealing to boys while encouraging emotional intelligence?
How can a middle ground be reached to pull out the best strengths of boys and the best strengths of girls?
ARTICLE:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
November 22, 2009
The Puzzle of Boys
Scholars and others debate what it means to grow up male in America
By Thomas Bartlett
My son just turned 3. He loves trains, fire trucks, tools of all kinds, throwing balls, catching balls, spinning until he falls down, chasing cats, tackling dogs, emptying the kitchen drawers of their contents, riding a tricycle, riding a carousel, pretending to be a farmer, pretending to be a cow, dancing, drumming, digging, hiding, seeking, jumping, shouting, and collapsing exhausted into a Thomas the Tank Engine bed wearing Thomas the Tank Engine pajamas after reading a Thomas the Tank Engine book.
That doesn’t make him unusual; in fact, in many ways, he couldn’t be more typical. Which may be why a relative recently said, “Well, he’s definitely all boy.” It’s a statement that sounds reasonable enough until you think about it. What does “all boy” mean? Masculine? Straight? Something else? Are there partial boys? And is this relative aware of my son’s fondness for Hello Kitty and tea sets?
These are the kinds of questions asked by anxious parents and, increasingly, academic researchers. Boyhood studies—virtually unheard of a few years ago—has taken off, with a shelf full of books already published, more on the way, and a new journal devoted to the subject. Much of the focus so far has been on boys falling behind academically, paired with the notion that school is not conducive to the way boys learn. What motivates boys, the argument goes, is different from what motivates girls, and society should adjust accordingly.
To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com
Games Evolve as Tools for Teaching Financial Literacy
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Financial literacy is not required for K-12 instruction, but it is an important real-world skill, especially amid today’s economic crisis. The President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy (founded January 2008) decided that it is the “policy of the Federal Government to encourage financial literacy among the American people.” In January 2009, the Council called for the United States Congress to mandate financial education for all K-12 students.
To improve financial literacy among students, online games are using simulations to appeal to today’s generation of gamers and provide easy integration in core curricula – a bonus since most teachers feel ill-equipped to teach financial literacy. The article below states “A game-based environment allows us to simulate these skills. [Students] can experiment for different outcomes, and they can, through trial and error, begin to develop those skills,†said Katherine Griffin, founder of Griffin Enterprises which created MoneyU, an online game that teaches financial concepts.
What can you as a parent do to promote financial literacy?
How can your child have a stake in their college financial planning now?
ARTICLE:
EducationWeek
November 16, 2009
Games Evolve as Tools for Teaching Financial Literacy
Online simulations emphasize skill development.
By Katie Ash
Although a majority of states do not require financial-literacy classes in K-12 schools, the nation’s recent economic struggles have spurred growing interest in the subject by educators—many of whom are turning to digital-game-based approaches to teach students about personal finance and investing.
“We are pretty much teaching the same things we were teaching prior to the recession, but the biggest difference is the general public is more receptive to the message,†said Laura Levine, a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy and the executive director of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, a Washington-based group of organizations that aims to improve financial literacy for students through research, advocacy, and educational resources.
Harnessing the power of digital environments might be an effective way to provide financial education to students, said Jack A. Naglieri, a professor of psychology at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va., who has conducted research on the effectiveness of digital games for learning.
To view this entire article visit www.edweek.org
Report Highlights Characteristics of Colleges With High Transfer-Success Rates
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Many students attend community colleges for general studies courses in hopes of transferring to a four-year institution to complete their bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, not all of these students continue on, which is especially true for minority and low-income students. The article below introduces a new report, Bridging the Gaps to Success: Promising Practices for Promoting Transfer Among Low-Income and First-Generation Students by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, that “highlights the work of six Texas community colleges with higher-than-expected transfer rates among their students.†In the report, the Pell Institute found that all six of the Texas community colleges shared three main objectives:
1. Structured academic pathways
2. Cultures emphasizing personal attention to students
3. College presidents and staff from as culturally diverse backgrounds as their students.
The community colleges worked in conjunction both with high schools and their nearby four-year institutions to encourage college coursework in high school to prepare students for college level work and to ensure credit transfer when transitioning to four-year institutions. Starting at a community college is an effective way for students to jump-start their higher education pursuits because it’s more cost effective than going straight to a four-year university or degree program, and these students have an opportunity to prove themselves at the community college level by acquiring strong study skills and qualifying their desire to pursue a higher education. Conversely, if they decide college isn’t for them, they haven’t wasted a lot of time or money, and they can use this information to hone what it is they really want to do for a future vocation or career.
LifeBound’s book, Majoring in the Rest of Your Life: Career Secrets for College Students is a tool for college-bound students, and Pearson Education’s Keys to Effective Learning can help students sharpen their study skills for college level work. Here are questions pertinent to today’s article:
How can community colleges nationwide implement similar objectives to the ones in Texas?
What else can be done at the high school level to help prepare students (especially minority and low-income students) for the rigors of college?
How else can community colleges and four-year institutions ban together to ensure a smooth and effective transition?
ARTICLE:
Chronicle of Higher Education
November 19, 2009
Report Highlights Characteristics of Colleges With High Transfer-Success Rates
By Jennifer Gonzalez
Washington
A new report by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education may provide clues on how best to shepherd students from two-year to four-year institutions.
The findings come at a time when the Obama administration has put out a clarion call to community colleges to educate an additional five million students by 2020, as part of his broader goal of increasing the proportion of Americans who are college graduates.
“In order to achieve the president’s goal and the goals of so many others, like the Lumina Foundation, you have to tap into this population,” said Chandra Taylor Smith, the institute’s director. “Community colleges are a critical component to achieving the goal of educating more people.”
To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com