CoffeyTalk: Current Topics in Education, Fitness and Dieting

Music Therapy Fosters Communication

Did you ever think music can be used to foster and develop communincation skills? As an Art teacher I know the power of the arts when it comes to enhancing the lives of people who have special needs and difficulty learning by traditional methods, so I found this article a great way to expose the benefit of music to the lives of our youth. Boston’s Berklee College of Music  has a program in Music therapy “which is used to help people with various medical conditions develop everything from language skills to motor coordination. It can also provide a drug-free way to regulate moods in people with depression or foster socialization in those with limited means of communication.”

I agree and think this is a great way to force language development through singing and socialization by ringing in groups and taking turns. A graduate of the program stated that it works on many senses at once. He says. “I’m using my hands, I’m using my eyes, I’m using my ears — I’m using all these different senses and I’m receiving something that makes me feel good,”.This theraputic program is useful for socialization. Click here to read the full article get get more details on this program.

Hands-on Learning Educational Program Implemented in Alabama

Alabama Governor brings education program to town

The above article is about, the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI)  which is the descendent of the Alabama Reading Initiative. AMSTI is an innovative means of instruction that emphasizes fresh methods, most notably hands-on activities. A sample lesson of this plan is:

“Instead of just reading about weather, students use hygrometers to measure relative humidity, recording digital thermometers to monitor the daily high and low temperatures, barometers to keep track of barometric pressure, and observe clouds to determine type and percentage coverage for their area. This information is entered into a computer database that allows the students to compare their data to other schools across Alabama and the globe and create their own forecasts.”

My thoughts: Reading this article and seeing the above lesson baffles me. I can’t believe this “educational program” is not being used by everyone. I have been around teachers, including myself who have been implementing educational lessons that includes hand-on learning for years now. I personally believe it is extremely important to the complete understanding of something and to the cognitive process. When you do something instead of reading about it, comprehension is much deeper and sticks with you longer. I am happy to see such a program be implemented BUT at the same time I am surprised that it hasn’t been thought of and adopted already. I wonder how many more states and schools across the nation stick to traditional methodolgy of teaching. It’s time to revamp if students are getting the opportunity to uncover knowledge for themselves through discovery learning and hands on activities!

School Schedules Try to Respect All Faiths

After coming across this article and reading it, I find myself more sensitive to the increasing diversity we are experiencing in schools across America and how the holidays of one religion is just as important as the holidays in another. I think it’s a great start that school districts are examining this diversity and trying to come up with a plan for their school schedules to include all religious holidays. Obviously we can’t observe each holiday of each religion in schools otherwise we would be home observing holidays as often as we are in school.

So what’s the BEST plan? I think it depends on the demographics of each district. Some districts may have more diversity then others. Some school districts have decided to stop observing religious holidays and other are planning to give students floating holidays to observe their own days without penalty. The floating day plan sounds like a good one except for the process of monitoring it. I also think that it would interfere with state and local testing and would restrict learning and teaching. Personally I do not see an easy fix to this issue and think it will require time by each district to come up with their own policy appropriate for their population.

School Cellphone Ban Violates Rights of Parents, Lawsuit Says

In a recent article in the NY Times I read about a single mother of three sons suing Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel I. Klein because of the ban they put on cell phones in New York City schools. She and several other parents are besides themselves and will not jeopardize the safety of their children as a result of this ban. As an educator I can see the many advantages of banning cell phones in schools but as a parent I support their arguement and would want my child to have a cell phone and keep in touch with me when walking and traveling by train and subways to get to and from school. Especially when traveling long distances in neighborhoods that are not very safe.

I was not aware of the city wide ban on cell phones in public schools in NYC until now and can see why this ban has many parents in an uproar. The article states “The parents argue, in papers filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, that the ban is so broad and blunt that it violates their constitutional right as parents to keep their children safe and to raise them in the way they see fit. The ban violates their due process right to personal liberty under both the state and federal constitutions, they said, because it interferes with the relationship between parents and their children, without a compelling education reason for doing so.”

Chancellor Klein support the cell phone banning poilicy and his spokemans, Keith Kalb states “It is our experience that when cellphones are brought into schools, they are used and disrupt the school’s learning environment,” Mr. Kalb wrote. “There is no constitutional right to disrupt a student’s education.”

It will be interesting to see the turn out in this case. I indeed believe students should have the right to have the device to protect themselves when getting to and from school. As for using it during school hours, things need to be monitored differently so the cell phones can’t be used for cheating and taking inappropriate pictures. There has to be a happy medium. Perhaps have a cell phone check in..like a coat check??

$100 Laptop

I have been keeping myself informed with Negroponte’s, who is the co-founder of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, innovative idea to pursue one laptop for every child. According to this article, It’s expected that the $100 laptop will revolutionize education in the poorest parts of the world, and may dramatically reshape education in the United States.  These computers will not be available for sale at retail stores, they will only be available when distrubuted directly by government initiatives. The first group to be targeted includes the following countires: Nigeria, Thailand, Brazil, Argentina, China, Eygpt Mexico and India. These laptops are also suggested to be available in the United STates for the poor families who can’t afford to have newest technologies.

The Plan:  “Negroponte’s nonprofit association, One Laptop Per Child, plans to roll out 5 million to 10 million of the $100 computers in 2007 and up to 150 million in 2008. It’s cobbling together funding through contracts with foreign governments, corporate sponsorships and other means. Eventually, the association, in partnership with technology companies such as Google, Nortel and Advanced Micro Devices, hopes to bring down the price of the laptops to $50 each by 2010. ”

The Specifications: “Negroponte’s prototype – stripped of features and “bloated software” that typically slow down laptops – comes with a 500-megahertz processor, four USB ports, and 500 megabytes of flash memory (about the amount in the smallest iPod . It operates on less than 2 watts of power – which can be generated with a hand crank – whereas most laptops average 25 to 40 watts, depending on the brightness of the display screen. The laptop runs on open-source Linux software, which is free and can be modified by users to suit their needs. The device could tap into Wi-Fi wireless networks for Internet access, and would use so-called mesh networks to link to one another and share a single Internet connection. Each laptop would act as a router relaying information to and from other computers.  For durability, the laptop would be enclosed in rubber to withstand spills and drops. “ 

I think the $100 Laptop is a great idea and the plan seems like it will provide opportunities to own a laptop in poorer countries for education. Will it bring all countries to the same level of education? Probably not. We have many states who still struggle with advancing education and student learning. Here are a few qeustions to ponder:

How will this initiative help our students here in America?

How will internet access be available in poorer countries so that students can benefit from these computers as intended?

Will a laptop really “revolutionize” education?

Immersing Non-English Speaking Students Into English Classes For One Year

English Initiative Advances by Karen Rouse

I came across an article that discusses a proposal made by a group of advocates in Colorado. They propose students (mainly immigrants) who are not proficient in English to be put into a program of study for one year to learn the english language. The intent is to keep these students out of the mainstream classes such as Social Studies, Math and Science and the primary focus is to get them proficient in the English language first before they are exposed to other areas of study. There are arguments saying it’s an “english” only method (it’s proposed as “english primary”) and takes away choice and rights from local school districts. What would happen to bilingual education or ESL? Especially in districts where the immigrant population  is high.

Under the proposal it’s stated that “some students – such as those who are 10 or older or have special needs – could apply for waivers to get bilingual instruction.” Also if 20 or more students in the same grade at the same school sign waivers, they too will get bilingual education. If fewer than 20 students sign the waiver the students who opt for bilingual education can be transfered to another district for the program.

Here are two opinions that are presented in the article that I have been thinking about:

“Bill Garcia, the initiative’s proponent, said students need to master English first so that they can grasp content in other subjects. “Children are not able to fully engage in the classwork and engage in the teaching if they don’t have a grasp of the language,” he said.”

“Jane Urschel, associate executive director of the Colorado Association of School Boards, is concerned the proposal interferes with the right of districts to local control. “It is very restrictive, and kids learn differently, and it’s a disservice to kids to say this can be accomplished” in a year.”

I agree with Garcia’s point and believe that language barriers hinder learning for students who cannot communicate well because their English language is limited. Currently, ESL programs and teachers plan for these barriers and modify tasks so that students who have language barriers can get the most out of what’s presented to them in classrooms by mainstream subject teachers. However, I have some colleagues in the ESL deparment who say there is still need for collaboration among ESL and mainstream teachers to fill in the gap when it comes to educating students who do not speak English well. Often the mainstream teachers do not know how to plan for the non English speaking student.

I  agree with Urschel as well. I believe that it’s restrictive and a disservice to kids who learn differently and can’t accomplish it all in one year to be placed into an environment expected to do so. I also believe it’s a disservice to kids to miss a year of mainstream education just to learn English. Ideally, it would be great if more time is put into creating a plan to narrow the communication and collaboration gap between teachers, so that lesson planning can be appropriate for each individual. Unfortunately, this means more district spending on in service programs for teachers. It will be interesting to see if this proposed program gets approval and what the outcomes are after implementation.

Weight Loss Community-Excellent Support

If you’re looking to join a weight-loss community, SparkPeople.com may be the place for you.

The site, which offers free advice on weight loss, exercise and nutrition, has launched a social-networking service where you create a profile, blog about your experiences and form friendship groups. This site is extremely user friendly and very comprehensive. This place has everything you need to succeed.

The site also offers: calorie counter and meal plans, exercise plans and more.

Personalized Fitness Plan & Exercise Demos Burn calories and tone your muscles with routines you can do at home or at the gym
Active Support Message Boards Get help from thousands of other people like you who are losing weight with SparkPeople.
Advice From Our Experts Our free diet programs are designed by registered dieticians and personal trainers, who are also there to answer your questions.
Member Created Goal Teams Find others with similar goals and work towards success together.
Recipes, Articles, Tips and More Hundreds of articles and recipes to learn more about eating right, staying active, and sticking to your diet plan

Simplified Spelling

It’s been more than 100 years since the topic of simplified spelling was entertained. The concept developed by Andrew Carnegie failed back then when it was tried by Theodore Roosevelt to be implemented. Can you imagine changing our whole system of spelling and phonetics to allow simplified spelling to be implemented? I believe that learning would be disrupted if we adopted this new way of spelling. We have already somewhat accepted the words “thru” and “nite” which stuck with us from the original attempt of simplified spelling. In the world of instant and text messaging we are using our own simplified forms of words to communicate like “u” for you and “lol” for laugh out loud. I think we should stick with traditional methods of teaching and learning the English language.

Can something like this really work with our students, so they can all be “better” spellers OR are we enabling bad spelling habits by implementing a new “easier” way of spelling?

Read more about this topic in this article from Newsday.

Trendy Fitness Methods

Many americans today are working, managing a household, tending to their children and family while trying to balance interests of their own into their lives for fun. Because of this many woman are jumping on the band wagon and joining the newer craze in Ladies Circuit Gyms. This type of program is designed to burn the maximum amount of calories in a short amount of time, usually a half and hour. These circuits are becoming more popular because most woman feel more comfortable working out in an atmosphere that is strictly for woman. Calorie burning in this environment takes place by doing a combination of strength training/toning and cardio exercises. Traditonal gyms like Gold’s Gym, New York Sports Club and Bally’s Total Fitness and Lucille Roberts are still popular. Those who are looking to get more variety in their workouts tend to migrate towards this fitness environment.

Exercising is a great way to relieve stress while getting thinner, stronger or toner.   There are many newer methods used today for weight loss, strengthening and toning that stray away from your typical ”gym” setting each providing their own benefits. They include Cardio Kicking boxing, Pilates, Yoga, Bellydancing, Martial Arts and Tae Kwon Do.  I have tried cardio kickboxing and I currently belong to a circuit gym. I enjoy them both for different reasons. Cardio Kickboxing is fast paced and incredibly disciplined in strength and balance. The circuit gym does not provide many options, however, I find that it works out the entire body while burning a lot of calories.

Many companies today recognize the benefits of a healthy employee and are instituting fitness programs and perks into their benefits program. Some companies also have a gym located on the premisis for employee use. What a great idea!

Identifying a Fad Diet

Some people may wonder if a diet they have heard of falls into the catagory of a fad diet. Fad Diets have certain characteristics that constitute them as a “fad” diet. A fad diet is usually a temporary solution to rapid weight loss. They sometimes consist of one major food group or type of food like the South Beach Diet, Atkins or Cabbage Soup diet. These three examples focus on one food or group of foods and denies your body a balanced diet. After a few weeks on a fad diet you may start developing nutritional defeciencies, moodiness and fatigue. When your body lacks the proper nutrition over a period of time it may not function properly because you are not making healthy weight loss changes. Low carb lifestyles are on the rise and gaining popularity. Even though these low carb diets produce results they carry potential health risks. To read more on these risks click here.

Fad diets usually provide instant gratification with results that do not typically last. They rely on testimonials and not scientific research, eliminate certain foods,usually starts with a shock to the body and they require a strict plan with little or no options in variety. There is an estimated two-thirds of Americans on a fad diet of some type at any given time. These fad diets usually do not have long term weight loss results. 

To read a recent article on NBC.com on fad diets click here.