Health Literacy

Hi AmeriCorps Members,

I would like to highlight a few important items from the Family Health and Literacy guide written by Julie McKinney and Sabrina Kurtz-Rossi. This is important as you think about how to promote health literacy as a teacher or tutor with your learners. On page 8, the authors state your role as a teacher (tutor) is "to promote:

• Language and vocabulary skills to communicate effectively with health care providers.
• Students' confidence in their communication skills so they can advocate effectively for their family's health care needs.
• Methods of finding needed information, and critical thinking skills to evaluate the information they find. "

What is just as important is what is not your role. This is also shared on pages 8 and 9. "You don't have to be a counselor. You don't have to be a judge. You don't have to be a health expert."

Think about your appropriate role with your learners.

-Hazel

Numeracy & Context

Hi Literacy AmeriCorps Members,

There are a few things I would like to post about math to follow up from our numeracy training. Lynda Ginsburg presented wonderful tools for engaging learners in meaningful math. Last month we had the Saints winning the Superbowl, Mardi Gras, and your national conference. Now, I hope we can refocus and begin to share some of our lessons and strategies we have applied since the training.

One component of numeracy mentioned in NCSALL's occasional paper, The Components of Numeracy that I would like to highlight is context. It is important to remember there are various contexts in which adult learners employ math tasks. It may be family or personal, in the workplace, for further learning, or in the community. Some of these tasks may overlap while others will be very different. When we work with learners as tutors or teachers, we should work to make connections with these areas that learners may apply mathematical skills and concepts.

Sarah and I have talked about having AmeriCorps members sharing some of the lessons and activities you have created since the training. We will share these lessons and activities during the March 12th daylong training session. AmeriCorps members will also share lessons and activities from the health literacy training as well.

If you have any questions about information, please feel free to email me or post something on the blog.

Hazel

Literacy Lagniappe Tip #20: Self-Reflection on Teaching

Hello Literacy AmeriCorps Members,

As you know, this is my last week working with all of you as your literacy coach. It has been a pleasure learning about your teaching experiences and learners at the various sites and sharing literacy resources with all of you. Although you will be continuing your year of service for a few more months, I thought it would be appropriate to leave you with a short reflection template that may be useful. This short document was created by the Center for Teaching Effectiveness (CTE) at the University of Texas at Austin. A Template for Self-Reflection on Teaching will be a helpful tool as you think about your instructional strategies and your learners' responses to your lessons/activities.

• A Template for Self-reflection on Teaching
  Ask yourself the following questions immediately after teaching a class session that you’re interested in. The process should help you get some ideas about things you do well and things you could do better.
  1. What were my goals for this teaching session?
  2. How was I trying to achieve them? What instructional strategies did I use?
  3. How did I try to assess student understanding of this content? How satisfied am I with their progress?
  4. What did I see my students doing during class? Were they attentive, interacting, taking notes, etc.?
  5. What do other important actors in the class (e.g. other instructors, the teaching assistants) observe about this class session?
  6. What key areas should I target for improvement?
  7. What can I do to improve the teaching of this content/class?
  
  Best wishes to all of you as you complete your last few months of service!
  Hazel

Literacy Lagniappe Tip #19: Read Beans and Writes

Hello Everyone,

The Greater New Orleans region has a new literary magazine written by adult education students called Read Beans and Writes. For those of you who are not from New Orleans and find the title puzzling this may help: Red beans and rice is a famous New Orleans dish usually served on Mondays in the city. The title was created by Rachel Nicolosi, Director of the Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans to reflect both the spirit of education and New Orleans.

The magazine will serve as a place for adult learners to express themselves through the
power of the written word while improving their literacy skills. The Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans and Literacy AmeriCorps New Orleans will assist with the publication management and eventually the goal is to have the students do all aspects related to the magazine. Please visit RB & W online at the following link and enjoy essays, poems and recipes written by our adult learners.

Happy reading!
Hazel

Literacy Lagniappe Tip #18: Classroom Resources about Financial Literacy

Hello Everyone,

I would like to share a resource with you about economic education. The Florida Council on Economic Education (FCEE) has created a website http://www.fcee.org/classroom-resources/ with free material available to teachers who may be teaching financial literacy principles. The website provides classroom resources that include workbooks and DVDS at grade levels ranging from K-12th grade. There are two areas I would encourage you to check out: The Classroom Resources tab that includes career, workforce and vocational material to assist students with resume writing, tax credits, job placement and much more. (This may be especially helpful if you are working with high school students who may be looking to apply for a summer job.)
The other area is the Financial Literacy tab. If you go to http://www.fcee.org/classroom-resources/financial-literacy/ there is a free DVD and curriculum for grade levels 6-12 about financial literacy. This particular resource is relevant to our students in New Orleans because the DVD is entitled, "Katrina in the Classroom." There are four chapters about financial responsibilities that include budgeting, banking, savings and wise use of credit. It is especially important to share this information with your students as we approach another hurricane season.

Thank you Chas Durant for recommending this site to me!

Happy reading!
Hazel

Regional GED Graduation in New Orleans

Hello Everyone,

The Second Annual Regional GED Graduation presented by the Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans occurred Saturday, May 16th on the campus of Loyola University. Over one hundred students obtained their GED from local literacy providers this year and had the opportunity to walk across the stage in caps and gowns and celebrate their accomplishment with family and friends. Ten adult basic education and literacy organizations worked together to plan this event with graduates coming from Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes. Check out the link below featuring the story about the GED graduation.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/graduation_ceremony_honors_ged.html

Thanks to the AmeriCorps members for helping with the event!

Literacy Lagniappe Tip #17: More Information about Green Jobs

Hello Everyone,

I thought it would be helpful to post another tip about green jobs considering the current situation with the economy and many searching for jobs. The Finding Earth Works website http://www.findingearthworks.org/green.htm connects adult learners to information about the green economy, what it means and possible job opportunities. Alex Schroeder, an expert in the field of adult basic education and workforce development started Finding Earth Works. For those of you who talk to adult learners looking for jobs, please educate them about the green economy and green jobs that are available with sustainable wages.


Happy reading!
Hazel