Online Art School

A new instrumental music program for at-risk preschool students in Osceola County, Fla., is aimed at helping develop language, motor, social and other skills to help prepare them for kindergarten. The students receive instruction from a professional violinist during 20-minute sessions held twice a week. This project really isnt about making them violin players, its about making them kindergarten-ready, said Debbie Fahmie, fine- and performing-arts resource teacher for Osceola schools.

The folks at Osceola may just be on to something.  Brain research indicates that students who are exposed to music instruction specifically string instruction have better attention spans, are able to see patterns, and have greater success with letter and number recognition.  Other research that explores the link between music and intelligence reports that music trainingspecifically piano instructionis far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children’s abstract reasoning skills necessary for learning math and science.

Findings published in the February 1997 issue of Neurological Research, are the result of a two-year experiment with preschoolers, led by psychologist Dr. Frances Rauscher of the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh and physicist Dr. Gordon Shaw of the University of California at Irvine. As a follow-up to their ground breaking studies indicating how music can enhance spatial-reasoning ability, the researchers compared the effects of musical and non-musical experiences with early intellectual development.  The experiment included four groups of preschoolers: one group received private piano/keyboard lessons; a second group received singing lessons; a third group received private computer lessons; and a fourth group received no training. Those children who received piano/keyboard training performed 34% higher on tests measuring spatial-temporal ability than the others. These findings indicate that music uniquely enhances higher brain functions required for mathematics, chess, science and engineering.

Experts maintain that these studies reinforce a causal link between music and intelligence.  Early experiences determine which brain cell (neurons) will connect with other brain cells, and which ones will die away. Because neural connections are responsible for all types of intelligence, a child’s brain develops to its full potential only with exposure to the necessary enriching experiences in early childhood.  Music training generates the neural connections used for abstract reasoning, including those necessary for understanding mathematical concepts.

On might think this could certainly change the way educators view, plan, and budget the core school curricula.  Since music nurtures the intellect and produces long-term academic improvements, it is difficult to understand why some educational organizations have chosen to cut music programs especially in early childhood.  With STEM initiatives on the rise, perhaps funding should also incorporate music and other arts that are so critical to child development.

Schoodoodle.com offers the best selection in educational materials to enhance instruction in preschool through high school.  Browse our selection of early childhood resources, , ebooks for teachers, classroom decorations, bullying and conflict resolution programs, and more.

Attention all grade 12 students! There is some updated information available about the graduation process in May 2012. Important dates and times are included regarding the actual graduation events as well as grad photos, cap and gown procedures, ticket purchasing, and more.

Today’s includes a regular daily update and a compilation of blog posts from over winter break.

Philadelphia Mayor Nutter traveling to Denver to learn about schools WHYY/NewsWorks Mayor Nutter and SRC Chair Pedro Ramos spoke at Dunbar Elementary Promise Academy yesterday of the trip, paid for by the Gates Foundation, to learn about cooperation between district, charter, and other schools.

To the SRC: Do the right things Daily News (opinion) Phil Goldsmith has advice for the SRC on the superintendent search.

3rd round of layoff notices for blue-collar school employees stirs ire Daily News The District is still negotiating with the union, which so far has not offered concessions to help the District balance its budget.

Why we have school nurses The Inquirer (opinion) School nurses have been treating students in Philly for over a hundred years, but layoffs for school nurses are happening in Philly and around the country.

What’s Poppyn: online youth media news show covers good stories from Philly’s teenagers Technically Philly POPPYN is a program for youth from the University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia at Temple University.

Inquirer Editorial: Time to build a legacy The Inquirer

A harder look at homework: Is it effective? How much is too much? The Inquirer

Blog posts from winter break:

On Blast Show for December 2011 On Blast Philadelphia Student Union’s December show includes segments on school closings, art in school, and more.

Living in and Breaking Out of Crisis Mode Practical Theory blog Break can be a time to catch up and plan, but it can be hard to break out of crisis mode.

Parent Grassroots Efforts for Education in Philadelphia [VIDEO] Philly School Search Video Len Lipkin’s talk at the State of Young Philly.

Quadrant I Building a (great) school blog Quadrant I is the area between “positive, fun, happy” and “orderly, organized, structured.”

To a Better School Year in 2012 City School Stories

The Anti-List End-of-Year Post Philly Teacher blog

How Judaism Affects My Teaching Making the Grade blog

The Jersey Barrier and City Schools Raising Philadelphia blog

State news roundup Keystone State Education Coalition

The second annual Miami Dolphins Dade vs. Broward All-Star Football Game presented by Under Armour and hosted by the Greater Miami Athletic Conference (GMAC) and the Broward County Athletic Association (BCAA) will be held at Sun Life Stadium located at 347 Don Shula Dr., Miami Gardens Fl 33056 on Friday, January 13th at 7:30pm. The game will feature stand-out student athletes from Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Proceeds from the game will be distributed between both counties to help support the funding of their football athletic programs. Admission to the game will be $12. Advanced ticket sales are available through your local high school in Dade and Broward County. The game is endorsed by the Broward and Dade County School Boards, as well as the Miami Dolphins.

“This game is about two things, helping athletes showcase their talents to have an opportunity to get to college and raise dollars for the BCAA and the GMAC to ensure schools have the resources they need to compete equally, “ said Twan Russell, Director of Youth Programs for the Miami Dolphins. “Proceeds will benefit the counties directly which is a great boost for the community and in line with the organization’s efforts to make a positive impact with youth programs in South Florida.”

Fans will have the opportunity to meet and receive autographs from Miami Dolphins players and Cheerleaders before kickoff.

“They [athletes] are not playing against their local high school teams – they are playing against the best,” said Broward coach Don Simon, “they will be able to be seen playing on a highly competitive level”

Don Simon added, “A game like this not only will showcase those kids but it will help us [Dade and Broward County Athletics] financially, we need people to come out and watch it, and it should be a great one”

Under Armour is the title sponsor of the Dade vs. Broward All- Star Game and will supply both teams with uniforms for the game. Fans will have the opportunity to win over $10,000 in prizes from Under Armour throughout the course of the game.

“Under Armour’s commitment to high school football is an integral part of our mission, said Leon Duncan, Under Armour’s director of Retail Media. “South Florida is one of the most important football environments in the United States. We want to do our part to make sure athletes have the ability to compete and they have the resources needed to do so at a high level.”

Prior to the game, the Miami Dolphins will be hosting a Drills and Skills Competition, where spectators can register to compete for the opportunity to win a $1,000 shopping spree with Under Armour. The competition will be divided into three age divisions, U10, U18, and 18+. The competition will begin at 4:30 pm, and last until 6:30, where registrants can participate on a first come first serve basis. All registration must be done prior to the event at www.DolphinsAcademy.com.

The counties will battle for the bragging rights for a year and the coveted Superintendants trophy. The annual game will be hosted at Sun Life Stadium.

“This game is an extension of the commitment we have to our student athletes, giving them opportunities to showcase their talents to colleges,” said Damian Huttenhoff, Director of Activities and Athletics for the BCAA. “We pride ourselves in helping all athletes reach their maximum potential.”

“We are excited about making this an annual event,” added Cheryl A. Golden, Instructional Supervisor for the GMAC. “We feel anytime you can positively impact our communities by raising dollars for sports and giving kids opportunities to better themselves is the right thing to do.”

Following the game, spectators are invited to participate in a Gatorade Junior Training Camp on the field, and have their photo taken. Fans will have the opportunity to win $1,000 Under Armour shopping sprees through promotional field goal kicks at the quarter breaks, random seat selections throughout the game, and the Drills and Skills competition before kickoff.

It is immediately apparent upon entering Die Bierstube that Shultzy’s does not possess a monopoly on the U-District’s supply of German beer and food. This bar, located in the far-northwestern reaches of the U-District at 6106 Roosevelt Way NE, possesses something approaching Old World charm — in addition to its fine Bavarian fare — that is disappointingly absent from the other “pubs” in its neighborhood. The pub ambience manifests itself in Die Bierstube’s dark, wood-paneled walls, worn, wooden tables, German-style tap fonts, and a clientele with an average age well above their mid-twenties. This bar, in short, begs you to pull up a chair and order a beer.

Die Bierstube’s strong suit is, unsurprisingly, its beer. Like Shultzy’s, Die Bierstube features a lengthy selection of imported German draught beers from centuries-old breweries like Spaten, Maisel, Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr. The dozen-odd beers are each sold in volumes of .3, .5 and one liter, and cost around $4.25, $5.25 and $9.75, respectively. Each beer is also served in a glass made by its respective brewery, which serves to greatly enhance the authentic German feel of the establishment.

For beer-lovers brave or foolish enough to give it a go, Die Bierstube proudly offers a two-liter chugging challenge featuring a giant drinking glass called “The Boot.” For around $20, a minimum of three people can fill up “The Boot” with beer and, once it is picked up, must drain the massive vessel before it is placed back down. German tradition states that the second-to-last person to drink from “The Boot” must pay for the next round, so challengers are given the incentive to drink as much as possible as the volume of beer in “The Boot” gets low.

The beer menu has a brew for everyone. The light Hacker-Pschorr Weisse is a good beginner’s beer with a light, though not anemic, body and a spiced aftertaste reminiscent of Hoegaarden. The Spaten Oktoberfest is perfect for a light-beer drinker who wants to try a darker variety that won’t offend his or her inexperienced palate. Hacker-Pschorr’s Dunkel Alt, an appetizing dark lager, tastes vaguely like a mocha porter without bitter coffee flavors. The mighty Paulaner Salvator was originally brewed by German monks as a replacement for bread during Lent and weighs in at 7.5-percent alcohol by volume. The Salvator, or “Savior,” has a thick, malty taste comparable to liquid bread, yet features a swirl of other flavors that even moderate-beer drinkers may appreciate.

Those who would rather sip a mixed drink than quaff an ale are able to do so: Die Bierstube features an abbreviated list of German interpretations of popular American mixed drinks, such as the Honig Dropf (Honey Drop). Mixed drinks cost between $6.50 and $7.50, a range that sharply contrasts those offered by lower-priced bars on the Ave.

Die Bierstube’s food menu is surprisingly authentic. Even simple and inexpensive menu items like the landjaeger, a thick, traditional German beef-and-pork jerky served with marbled rye bread, impress with their German taste. Perhaps the best part about Die Bierstube’s German fare is the prices. A light meal of currywurst or a bratwurst sandwich cost patrons around $7.

Die Bierstube’s inviting Old World-pub interior is complemented by one of the U-District’s strongest selections of beers and a solid menu of fairly-priced German grub, strengths that more than negate the distant location.

The verdict: Die Bierstube is a bar for beer lovers, plain and simple, and certainly one that every UW student should visit at least once.

The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011, edited by Hilary Ballon, recounts the history of the planning, implementation, and impact of the grid on New York City.

Conceived as a plan that was both logical and a reflection of the democratic values of the American republic, the grid has stood the test of time thanks to both its rigidity and its flexibility and has allowed for the citys geographical and economic expansion. As the book and the accompanying exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York reveal, the grid is a reflection of and has shaped the citys political, economic, and cultural character for more than two hundred years.

* The commissioners of the 1811 plan noted rather scornfully that they had eschewed the “circles, ovals and stars which certainly embellish a plan” in favor of “convenience and utility.”

* New York’s grid plan was to first to eliminate named streets altogether (the names came later). The rationality behind Manhattan’s street numbering system—Cartesian analytical geometry—also underpins early modern conceptions of space more generally.

* The key to the greatness of the grid is variety. It is not made up of evenly spaced, similarly sized blocks. The blocks, which are all 200 feet wide (north to south), vary in length (east to west) from less than 250 feet to more than 900 feet. Most east-west streets are 60 feet wide. However, seventeen of them are 100 feet wide. Most, but not all north-south avenues are 100 feet wide. Madison and Lexington Avenues (each 80 feet wide) were introduced after the 1811 plan to accommodate additional traffic.

* The original surveyors were regularly obstructed, attacked, and sued for damages for cutting branches to complete their work.

* The 1811 commissioners who laid out the grid had assumed that it would take several centuries for urban growth to reach above 155th Street.

* To early visitors, the grid was disorienting; the streets looked alike and offered no landmarks or mnemonic devices to distinguish one from the next.

* The commissioners’ original plan has undergone several changes demonstrating that although Manhattan’s grid may look rigid, it actually proved flexible. The grid provided the city with an organizing principle—orthogonality—which could absorb modifications within its rectilinear structure.

* In 1807, the assessed value of New York City real estate was $25 million. In 1887 the assessed value reached $1.255 billion.

* As the city opened, built, and paved streets through the East Side, it broke up the old country estates owned by prosperous New York families: the Beekmans, Schermerhorns, Lenoxes, and Rhinelanders. Some heirs unsuccessfully tried to hold the city at bay and maintain the integrity of their ancestral land, while others, such as James Beekman, divided their property into lots and increased their family’s wealth in the real estate market.

* In the 1840s Park Avenue consisted of squatter homes; in the 1860s breweries and factories dominated what was then 4th Avenue

* Boss Tweeds improvements to the city led to great (and illicits) profits for himself by skimming dollars and investing in the grid himself. For better or for worse, the mark of Tweed endures in the built environment of the city that we know today.

* Robert Moses pursued a decades-long program of slum clearance, replacing entire neighborhoods with superblocks under the banner of urban renewal. Although the housing superblocks fit neatly into the orthogonal street system, they completely changed the grain of the city. The oversize blocks did not have the grid’s walkable character, and because they were generally reserved for only one building type—residential—they lost the mixed-use quality of the building-lined street wall. In changing the scale and density of the grid, the superblocks destroyed what made it unique.

* Walking at a comfortable pace and factoring in some time spent waiting for traffic lights to change, a New Yorker can expect to cover a block a minute on foot.

* The term gridlock made its first appearance in public discourse in the New York Times during the crippling 1980 transit strike.