The Gauntlet is Thrown: A Health Literacy Instructor Challenge!

Fresh from the Health Literacy Department - One of the best ways to teach health literacy and patient empowerment in the ESL, ABE or GED classroom is to guide your learners through their development of a personal health journal. A few years ago we developed the Doctor's Visit Toolkit. Inside, we provided general tips to be an empowered patient and templates for learners to practice completing common forms they'll see in the healthcare setting. Together with learners, we work our way through the Doctor's Visit Toolkit and upon completion, we encourage learners to bring it with them as a reference tool the next time they go to the clinic or hospital.
 

Through mid-July, we're challenging our Central Texas instructors to take on the Doctor's Visit Toolkit with their learners. Use it as an ongoing project that learners work on over several weeks. Once you've completed the activity with your class, send us an email with a sample of the journal you've created. Literacy Coalition employees and advisers will choose the top three models and share them in our next quarterly newsletter (scheduled for release on July 15th). The creator of the top journal will also have a featured article in the newsletter (distribution to 1000+ people) and win a prize package valued over $50!

Much of what you might include in a health journal can be found on our Resources Page. Email Peter if you don't have the 1st Edition of the Health Literacy Instructional Manual yet (that will be a great resource to get you started!) or if you'd like some templates of medical forms that were used in the Doctor's Visit Toolkit.


Things you might include...just to get you started:

1. Medication schedule chart
2. Medical history form
3. Family history
4. Sample insurance form
5. List of key vocabulary for navigating hospital or doctor's office (e.g., information desk, emergency, pediatrics, physician, etc.)
6. AskMe3 and other recommended questions to ask the doctor or nurse
7. Patient-empowerment tips
8. And much more! Talk with your students about what they want to learn regarding health information and get creative!  

Good luck and don't hesitate to call or email Peter if you have questions or want some resources to get you started! 

 
 

5000 advertisements a day!

The first time I heard about media literacy I was in my 6^th grade English class and our teacher was having us cut up magazines to recreate the advertisements with our interpretation of what it was they were trying to convey or sell. I have to admit I didn’t really understand why he was having us do it, but hey, we were getting to look at magazines and make collages during school, so I wasn’t about to complain.  Media literacy completely fell off my radar until I got to high school and became interested in the use of advertising in political campaigns to make voters feel something about a particular candidate whether or not it was a true reflection of who the candidate was or what they stood for. This got me wondering how much advertising influenced the decisions people make on a daily basis and the way we form relationships with other people as well as with the inanimate objects promoted in advertisements.

I bet most of you are thinking, “Hey, I’m an intelligent, well-educated person. I know how to make rational decisions. Advertisements don’t really have any influence on me.” Maybe, but we are living in an era of media saturation – think about how much time you spend on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest or email or surfing the net. Advertisements have become harder and harder to differentiate from other forms of media. Some estimate that we are exposed to close to 5000 advertising messages daily! So, whether or not you believe advertisements influence the decisions you make, it doesn’t hurt to buff up your media literacy skills so that you can be both a critical thinker and creative producer of media.

So what exactly is media literacy? Essentially it is a communication skill set that enables a person to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate information in a variety of forms (this includes both print and non-print media). It is not an anti-media movement but rather a movement to empower individuals as we make choices as students, citizens, workers, consumers, and (to tie this back to my role as Health Literacy Intern) as patients. One day there’s an article on how ________ food that is good for you and the next day there’s a new article about how it may cause _______.  One day low-fat diets are touted as the best prescription for weight loss and the next it’s low-carb diets. How am I supposed to figure out healthy eating with all the mixed messages? And all those advertisements for drugs that are supposed to help with anxiety, restless leg syndrome, insomnia, PMS.  How can I figure out if one is right for me? What if my doctor doesn’t prescribe the one I’ve seen on TV? Should I ask for a different prescription? Or for those of us who like to self-diagnose our symptoms, which websites are actually providing trustworthy information and how do I know whether I’ve just got bad allergies or a brain tumor when swollen, stinging, draining eye is a symptom of both? That’s where media literacy can help. It doesn’t have all the answers, but it will help us to think more critically about the messages we receive, question the source of the information and the motivation behind the message.

Interested in learning more about media literacy, check out some of my favorite media literacy advocates: Media Education Foundation,  Sut Jhally, Jean Kilbourne, Jackson Katz, the National Association for Media Literacy Education, Center for Science in the Public Interest.

In the adult literacy classroom you can help your students improve their media literacy by creating activities and discussions comparing advertisements and public health announcements. You can check out more in our Health Literacy Workshops for Literacy Instructors.

What do you think is the most important problem facing this country?

A CBS News/ New York Times Poll from March 7-11, 2012 asked adults nationwide, “What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?”

51% responded Economy/Jobs. Only 2% responded Education.

Can we so significantly prioritize one over the other and expect to see positive change? Perhaps the two really go hand in hand?

Before you answer, here are some important statistics to consider:

• One in seven adults cannot read a job application. (National Assessment of Adult Literacy)

• 67% of the service industry’s jobs in 1983 required a high school diploma or less; this will shrink to NO jobs for high school dropouts in 2018 (Help Wanted, see Figure 4.17, pg. 86).

• An estimated 80-90 million adults—nearly half the workforce—lack the basic education and skills to qualify for the jobs that are being created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. We cannot bridge that gap unless we invest in our nation’s adult basic education and literacy programs in tandem with job training and workforce development programs (National Coalition for Literacy). 

 In light of an economic downturn and daunting statistics such as those listed above, it would seem then that we as a nation would throw our focus onto educating the workforce. Yet, commitment to adequate federal education funding has been declining rapidly- at all levels!

Despite ongoing inconsistencies for federal dollars, and education program after program thrown on the chopping block, the Literacy Coalition of Central Texas has taken a stand for investment in education. LCCT has facilitated a collaborative planning process with adult literacy programs, Workforce Solutions Capital Area, and Austin Community College to create the new Workforce and Education Readiness Continuum (WERC).  By securing a 3-year contract with the City of Austin, the 13 partner agencies (Austin Adult Literacy Network) established a more coordinated system for adults to seamlessly transition through community-based educational programming, job training, and other support services. The WERC continuum launches in April of 2012, and will dramatically increase the number of adults receiving adult literacy instruction in Austin.

Stay tuned to our website willread.org. More information about how WERC will shape the Central Texas Community is coming soon!

Online Videos for Adult Educators

Spending hours on youtube doesn't have to be a waste of time... it can be educational! Here are just a few of my favorite videos for ESL, ABE, and GED instructors:

What happens in a tutoring session with a literacy student? The pros at Literacy DuPage have helpfully put videos of ABE and ESL tutoring sessions on their youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/LiteracyDuPage?feature=watch. Watch an example of word study, check out ESL experience stories, and more!

The Media Library of Teaching Skills for Adult Learning and Literacy compiles videos from all over the internet so that they'll be easy for adult education instructors to find. The project has created one of the best online resources for ABE and ESL teachers. Check MLOTS out at http://mlots.org/.

How do I teach grammar/writing/vocabulary? On Dr. Andrew Johnson's youtube channel, you'll find a variety of interesting and useful topics for teachers: learning strategies, tutoring basics, literacy for English Language Learners, multi-level literacy... the list goes on and on. Dr. Johnson is a professor in the MSU department of Education. He's also an engaging and opinionated speaker who is good at breaking down tough concepts. Check out his channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/andyaxe1976.

There are so many great resources and videos online that can't possibly list them all here today. Subscribe to our blog and stay tuned for more!

Ignorant, Stupid, and Poor!

Did I get your attention? Good!

I’m going to go a bit out of character here and into a bit of a rant. My colleague, Maegan, is right. The Success by 6 findings are troubling at best. Though, let’s be honest here, those findings are why we exist as a literacy coalition and why it’s our mission every single day to fight for those neighborhoods, those families, and those children. We work our tails off trying to connect individuals in need of literacy services with programs, to give those same programs the resources and help they need to do the best job they can for those individuals, and to raise awareness for the overall cause.

So where’s the rant, you say? Shortly after the findings of Success by 6 were released, a morning radio show in Austin attacked the very communities that need us most with hateful words like “ignorant,” “stupid,” and “poor.” These radio hosts (who shall remain nameless, using all my willpower to not link them here) even went so far as to say that the very people we work day-in and day-out to support and help are not worthy of pro-creation. I’m sorry, what?????!!!! These men have the power to reach thousands of people with their words, and this is what they choose to say? And we’re supposed to look up to them and give them our support by tuning in as we make our morning commutes?

I am appalled that this radio station feels these men are worthy of airtime when, instead of using their voices for positive change, they’re relying on their own ignorance and stupidity to infuse their listeners with venomous misconceptions.

Imagine if one of them had taken the 30 seconds needed to simply google “literacy services Austin” and then had taken another 10 seconds to mention just one of the seven agencies or programs that popped up, imagine how much good 40 seconds of their time could have done!

Just one person could have been listening who might have then picked up the Fight for Literacy Torch by donating, volunteering, or just plain old talking about the Success by 6 findings to a friend. For shame. Maybe we should take away their ability to procreate!

To end on a positive and uplifting story that highlights the human ability to surpass all limits, I leave you with this:

Home is the heart of the matter. It's where literacy begins.

Thanks to the massive new United Way initiative Success by Six in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles, the first data set about early childhood development as it relates to school readiness in Central Texas has been released.

The findings are troubling. The regional stats are bad enough: only 52% of children entering school in Central Texas are school-ready. But in some Austin neighborhoods, such as St. John's and Dove Springs, the rate is an astonishing 12-15%. That means that only 1 in every 10 kindergarteners in these neighborhoods arrives at school ready to learn.

So what do we do? Where do we even begin to fill in the gaps to get these kids more ready to succeed in school? I propose a logic model to begin the conversation:

If we know that a mother's literacy level is the #1 predictor of her children's success in school, then increasing parents' literacy rates will directly improve children's school readiness rates.

The Literacy Coalition is preparing to kick off a major campaign - Literacy Illuminates - to raise awareness of this issue and to connect parents and individuals to literacy services in our area. (Keep reading our blog to find out more about the campaign!) Success by Six is working to identify and strategize how to reach the kids in the target neighborhoods. But in the meantime, what can you do to help Central Texas kids succeed academically? Volunteer! Our partner agencies always need additional adult literacy instructors, tutors, and mentors. The Literacy Coalition even offers free training for volunteer instructors. Donate to the Literacy Coalition! For every $1 that's invested in us, we return $2.50 in resources to our partner agencies. That means we effectively double every donation that you make through our ability to leverage funds. Our community is mobilizing to address the impacts of low literacy in 2012 - especially as it affects our children. Won't you join us?

"I Stand for Literacy"

I STAND FOR LITERACY! This was the battle cry at the United States Conference on Adult Literacy last week. It was a great conference, one in which over 600 instructors, advocates, learners, program managers, and more came together to learn, share new ideas, inspire one another, and push the field of adult literacy ahead. It was inspiring to meet so many passionate individuals, fighters for this great cause!

During the opening ceremony, the conference host, ProLiteracy, asked audience members to share their stories. To share why each one of us stands for literacy. We heard some inspiring stories, some heartbreakingly sad, and some that just seemed obvious. That's where I think my reason for "standing for literacy" fits in, in the obvious category.

A mother's literacy level is the number one predictor of her child's success in school. An individual's health literacy level is the STRONGEST predictor of a person's health status. Twenty percent of the Central Texas population is reading below the 5th grade reading level! It's so obvious why we all need to stand for literacy. Literacy is the best avenue to a healthy, employable, empowered community!

So tell us, why do you stand for literacy? Share your stories with us here, and check out the ProLiteracy website to share your story with them, too!

I Stand for Literacy!

You can also hear other people's stories HERE

It made a difference to that one... (Part 2)

I must jump in and piggy back on what my colleague, Peter, wrote about: the issue of feeling too small. I manage the Literacy Coalition's digital literacy project, and it's easy to feel like we're not making a big enough difference--just a drop in the ocean. Thousands of hours have been devoted to trying to help people learn how to use a computer and the internet in hopes of moving them into more meaningful jobs. But how much good are we really doing? More often than not I need a reminder that we really are changing lives, even if it's just one. So as a weekend send-off to myself, here's what our digital-literacy learners have to say:

"There’s a whole world in the computer and I didn’t know that. I suspected it, but I had no idea how to access any of it. But these classes showed me how."

"[My new computer skills are] going to help me in school. Before I took the class all I did was check my email and my facebook. And that’s it. I’m entering university in the fall. And I’m going to use the computer for I suppose all my classes, any research I’m going to do."

"[Now]I can find anything I want. Simply type it in and there it is."

"I feel better about how I can use the computer. I don’t feel helpless now. I’m learning. It’s easy to catch on. Sometimes I get lost but I ask the teacher and he helps me get back on track."

"Now that I am doing the computer I’m thinking about going back to work. I’m thinking about writing a book on the computer.

We all need an ego boost once in a while.

Discussion Series: Social Innovations for Adult Literacy

Did you know that 1/3 of American adults own a smart phone and that African Americans and Latinos are more likely to use their phones for non-voice applications (games, videos, etc.) than whites? In today's rapidly changing world, we must expand our definition of literacy to include the influx of new media available at our fingertips. With new technologies emerging on what seem like a daily basis, how can programs change the way they're addressing communities' literacy needs to capture the skills necessary to stay competitive across the lifespan?

The National Coalition for Literacy is currently hosting a discussion series that addresses these issues of digital literacy head-on, starting with the most basic question: What is digital literacy and how can we best define it? There's a whole slew of guest bloggers and lively discussions taking place. Check it out!

Social Innovations in Adult Education

We’re not crazy, we’re just a non-profit.

I won’t lie, it’s not uncommon for us to get told that we should scale down our plans, or that we may be getting in over our heads. LCCT has been dealing with that feedback for years, and dealing with it very successfully.

Today, we met with another small organization doing very big things for the Austin community. The meeting reminded me of how small organizations can have such a large impact, and it never ceases to amaze me how these groups are making the most of their resources. The literacy programs in our network also do this every day, and it’s their support and dedication that in turn makes our influence on the community possible.

It’s difficult for some organizations and companies to understand the dynamics of the small nonprofit world. It’s understandable that we find ourselves up against doubts about our capacity, and our ability to reach a large audience from those outside of the non-profit world. In a non-profit, you have to be creative and open enough to transform limited resources into valuable services. Unfortunately, good intentions don’t always make successful organizations, and several end up closing their doors soon after they’re opened.

I’m proud to be part of a successful, 9-person organization that does the work of a mid-sized company. From my time at the Literacy Coalition, I’ve learned that the mutual respect and dedication built among a small group of hard working individuals can make for a surprisingly efficient non-profit machine. At LCCT, we’re open to changes that will allow us to make a greater impact on the community. We’re supportive of each other. We base our decisions on the people we serve. We believe in a solid work-life balance. We’ve built the trust of local non-profits and for-profits alike, and as a result have a network that helps us reach a variety of audiences. These are the things that have allowed LCCT to grow its services exponentially over the last three years, and we have no reason to slow down.

Less can most definitely be more. If you don’t believe me, take another look our previous blog posts, our Facebook page, and our website. Now that you know a little more about our inner workings, you’ll see all of those projects we’re working on in a whole new light.

Now I want to hear from other organizations in our shoes. What obstacles have you overcome as a small organization playing with the big shots? What are you proud of? What advice do you have for other small organizations?

Though It May Be Too Early to Start Shopping for a Halloween Costume...

It's never too early for LCCT to start gearing up for October's National Health Literacy Month! You might be thinking, "do they realize that October is almost five months away?" The answer is yes, but don't worry. We do have a reason! We've got big plans for Health Literacy Month and want to get everyone involved, so we're loading up the bandwagon starting now! That means there's no better time than the present for you to tell us about what you’ve been doing, or what you’d like to do to improve communication between Central Texas patients and their healthcare providers.

Your efforts are making a difference in our community, so don’t let them go unrecognized. No effort is too small! Tell us what you're up to and let us promote your commitment to improved health communication during National Health Literacy Month!

Here’s what we need to know: What are you doing to combat low health literacy? What projects or discussions has your organization started to address the problem in our community? Do you want to join the health literacy movement, but don’t know how to get started?

Comment and tell us about it! Let's put our heads together to make this Health Literacy the biggest Central Texas has ever seen!

Just the Facts: The need for digital literacy in our community

Did you know?

• Almost 1/3 of American households still lack a broadband connection.
• Adults age 25 and older with college degrees adopt broadband at almost triple the rate of those with only some high school education (84% versus 30%).
• The broadband adoption rates for White and Asian non-Hispanics exceed those for Black non-Hispanics and Hispanics by 18% or more.
• 73.4% of employed Americans are broadband users, compared with 61.9% of the unemployed and 50.5% of individuals not in the labor force.

For those of us comfortable in this tech-driven world, it's hard to imagine just how wide the digital literacy divide still is. Let's make digital literacy awareness and education a priority in Central Texas--it can only make our community stronger!

Volunteer for Computer Literacy!

I’m excited about LCCT bringing volunteers and students together through the Learner Web... and the launch date is almost here! I like to know what volunteers experience with different opportunities, and there’s only one way to find out. So I decided to co-tutor a computer class at LCCT's good friend and partner program, Manos de Cristo.

So far it’s been an interesting, fun experience, and I’ve learned a lot in a short time. With ESL and ABE, I’ve worked on giving concise directions, but now I try to say each step in 3 words or less. Of course, the most rewarding aspect is getting to know the students. Almost everyone in our evening class has a job, but they still go to class after for two hours, two nights a week. What motivates them? After our first class together, I asked them to do a quick notecard quiz. Here’s one question with their responses:

Why is it important learn computers and the internet?

“I want to learn email and pictures, I want to use the computer to look for information and not fall behind on the internet.”

“Porque quiero aprender mas ingles y tener mas oportunidad en mi trabajo.”

“I want to learn to manage files in order to easily manage my small business in the future.”

"To be updated with the rest of the world. So when my kids ask me questions about anything, I can be able to say something positive and answer. Learning basic computer lessons can help me achieve part of it."

If you can get online and find this blog, you can help the workers, small business owners, and parents in your community. Most tech-savvy people of my generation take their skills for granted, not realizing the amount or value of their expertise. By sharing your knowledge, you can share the opportunity and free information that the internet can bring. Volunteer to be a Computer Literacy and Internet Coach!

Graphs and Global Health - A Great Tool for Your Next Adult Ed Lesson

In our health literacy workshops for adult ed instructors we encourage instructors to incorporate at least one health topic into every single lesson. That may seem like we're asking WAY too much because as we all know, time is always an issue in the classroom. But it really isn't all that hard to do! Health is such a major factor in all of our lives; all day, every day we make decisions that affect our health and the health of the community as a whole. What we eat and drink, washing our hands, taking our meds, and on and on. Because our health is so intertwined with all we do in life, it's easy to incorporate health-related information into any lesson. Take for example, a lesson on graphs and charts - check out this great video. It's perfect for an activating background knowledge activity to spark discussion at the beginning of the class, or the focal point of the lesson, around which you could have students work together to create their own graphs!

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo

Try using this video in one of your next lessons. I bet your learners will be engaged in the lesson, and the video will foster active participation and lively discussion! Good luck!

Never a Boring Classroom!

Only one thing will get me out of bed early on Saturday—an LCCT training for literacy instructors. Maybe you don’t kick off your weekend by getting up early to talk about the fascinating world of language acquisition, but there are some seriously smart and fun people who do. The volunteers and staff instructors I meet through LCCT never fail to impress me with their passion, insight, and ability. Yet what I enjoy most of all is how our classroom becomes a community.

We’re like-minded: we all care about literacy and the people we serve. We’re driven toward a common goal: to learn and share what we know about good teaching. We reject that a classroom should be boring, repetitive, or pointless. We pursue the prop or image that engages people, the lesson that builds on itself, and we want meaningful communication most of all. Here’s a look at last Saturday’s ESL Instructor Training!

Interest Inventory Cards let students look at images and make associations: they depict people at work, a doctor, a person holding a map, etc. Participants rank them based on what’s important to learn in class vs. what’s less important. I’m amazed at how many different associations one picture can produce.

One picture on the cards has a little blond kid holding a boombox. People in the training have said this image represents music, technology, dancing, childcare, entertainment, spending money, and Justin Bieber. Now that I think about it, I guess those are all related.

Authentic materials are props to represent the real world in the classroom. A volunteer, Ray, uses an authentic toy cellphone to make an authentic imaginary phone call.

Hard at work planning an ESL lesson—this group’s topic was “Housing” and they did a great job. If you need to find a new apartment on craigslist, I highly recommend them!

Another group hard at work planning… wait, is that a Toblerone? This group is hard at work planning a lesson and eating a Toblerone.

Classrooms don’t have to be boring, and with the people who show up for LCCT trainings, they never are. We had teachers, writers, gardening enthusiasts, musicians… and each person had a unique story that would make them great company on the weekend. I wish I could write here about how awesome all of these people were, but I’m out of space. So if you want to meet great people who make the classroom a fun place to be, get involved with literacy! Go to http://www.willread.org/Get-Involved.html