PTDHS

We used colored card stock for the sliders and very thin duct tape on the ends.

 

 

 

I am suffering from Post Tongue Depressor Harmonica Syndrome after today's Homeschooler's program. This was an easy craft to do, made needlessly complicated by adding live music played by my brother-in-law, Bear, on the library's Yamaha and all the rhythm instruments we use in storytime. Everyone was successful at making their harmonica - many danced, using the rhythm scarves and the streamers I had put out.
But I am exhausted.
It's barely 2 o'clock and I don't know how I made it this far. I can't even work up enough energy to complain about it. So, here's Bear playing something he played here today. I think.

Leverage

I've been agonizing over the homeschooler programs for 2012 this past week.  January and February fell into place on their own, but March and April are a struggle.  My first idea was the robotic hand made from corrugated cardboard, rubber bands, straws, string, and several rolls of tape.  The age range makes these programs difficult.  Whole families show up and I have to have something or things that will provide interest to K through 12.  Gah!

My next project idea was from a book on levers, because, well, robotic hands are levers, right?  The project is absolutely charming.  A bird flies away as a cat jumps out at it.  It took hours to color the scenery, not to mention work out the mechanics.  The instructions only pertained to assembly of the scenery, which is complicated enough.  The instructions for the mechanical innards amounted to, "You read the book - figure it out yourself."  Now, I only have these kids for an hour, even if I cut all the levers out and hole-punch them for them, coloring and assembly would take too long.

But it so cute! ...

Birdie sits on the ground until ...

... cat leaps out of the bush.

I went back to the book and found the wooden example of the pecking chickens that provided the pattern for the innards and decided that would be simple enough.  So this will be the project:

Pecking chickens

This one was made with enlarged clip art glued to card stock and cut pieces of card stock with those great brass fasteners.  As you can see, there was a bit of trial and error involved.  Some scrap corrugated cardboard will be involved in the actual project, pre-cut.  More fiddly work of coloring, cutting out the chickens, gluing them to card stock should fill up the hour.

SCLA Part 7 - What We Were All Waiting For: Music and Movement in Storytimes

Although I let Karen and LeVerne go to the Bouncing Babies session and I did something else, I had to go to this.  And we had so much fun, even though I was still yawning a lot.  LeVerne showed up with the pillows I'd "won" in the silent auction and the three of us cuddled together and prepared to have a good time.

Parachute for movement activities

It would be nice to be able to play the guitar for programming, but at my age I may have waited a tad too long to start.  So much for Strings and Stories.  But you can do the same stuff with just singing, which is what I do.  They use rhythm sticks (have plenty of those!), boomwhackers (OMG, don't have those!), shakers, scarves, and a parachute with beach balls on it.  They use some books we already have and I made note of a couple more I will try to use or acquire.

Boomwhackers (sorry, this picture seems to have disappeared)

This isn't the sort of thing you can describe, because there's not so much talking as there is doing.  We need lots more stuff like this going on to make it worth going.  Or maybe someone could upload inspirational storytime stuff to YouTube.

Digital Youth, Part II: Megan Deana

The second speaker in the morning was Megan Deana from Global Kids. Megan started out with a degree in computer science and then moseyed to education (presumably because she'd be making too much money in computer science) and got a job through LinkedIn that led her to the non-profit group, Global Kids, whose mission is to transform urban youth into successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Ninety percent of their students graduate from high school. Digital media is just a part of this.
Megan works with the Online Leadership Program, a student-centered program, which leads the kids to things they need to know in order to be successful, collaborating with different kinds of people. They learn about global issues by building and playing socially conscious video games. They spend the 1/3 of the first semester discussing what topic they want to cover. They learn what goes into making a game by partnering with a game designer professional [Don't think our library can manage that].
One group created "Ayiti: The cost of life" where players help a Haitian family living in poverty make decisions in work, education, etc. to better their situation. [Far cry from the 1960s board game about living in a ghetto, eh? I remember going straight into prostitution on that game.]
Another program is the Virtual Video Project. They do a machinima video on a topic of they're interested in. They meet twice a week, lured in with subway tickets and snacks. They learn storyboarding, scriptwriting, character development, and set designing (digitally, of course, because this is machinima). Example is "A Child's War" - where they interviewed experts and put together a fictionalized account using Second Life. They learned presentation skills, pitching their ideas to Ashoka Youth Ventures.
Global Kids guides the kids, facilitating not teaching.
They learn how to create a "safe space" in which to interact, and decide their own rules on this, defining respect as no cursing, no put-downs, no weapons [well, duh!].
Use a technique called the human barometer, where spaces are set out (say, on different levels) for "for," "against," and "undecided." And they have to explain why they are moving from one level to another.
There is a Ning for educators interested at RezEd: the hub for learning and virtual worlds.

The Lovely Teen

Pat Feehan came to do a program for our Staff Education Day on Services to Teens. Love Pat! She alluded to a book by Margaret E. Edwards, The Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts. Teens are terrible, aren't they? Actually, I don't see enough of them in my dept. to say so. Having taught teenagers, though, I know they can be stroppy, but I understand that they are just trying to develop their own personalities separate from their parents. They want instant gratification, they make terrible judgment calls (that part of their brain won't be fully developed until after their early 20s), they react immediately and irrationally to an external stimulus ... but who doesn't?

More from Pat channeling Margaret E. Edwards:
Teens by age groups:
Ages 11-13, the "me bubble"
These teens are increasingly concerned about their appearance. Anyone remember those Villager clothes from the 60s? Bass Weejuns? (Note: Met Catherine Bass back when she retired to Hilton Head - nice lady.) They seek independence from the family, but they're too young to drive a car. Will need parking places for bikes, scooters, and skateboards ... plus signage forbidding use of same in the parking lot. They display rebellious or defiant behavior - which they're just trying on for size. In 25 years they'll be doing the exact same thing as their parents. The importance of friends increases, the use of same as a support system and for literature recommendations. So don't think they'll take the word of a 50+er on what makes a good book. Their ego dominates their view of all issues (like, whose doesn't?).
We need to exercise our empathy - remembering ourselves as teens. ... AGGGHHH!

Ages 14 - 16, Middle-Aged Teens
By this time they start to become slightly less self-absorbed. They'll have a driver's license and maybe even a job. They'll want to make decisions on their own (but, again, they don't have that crucial part of the brain fully developed so they'll think joining the armed forces or having a dozen children would be a good idea). They experiment with their self-image. Time for safety-pins poked through every part of the body and lots and lots of black so they'll look "different" from everyone else. They will take risks and see out "adventure." In the old days, they probably were just becoming sexually aware, but this seems to happen earlier and earlier these days (unlike the pre-industrial era - ha!). They are developing their sense of values/morality and are at their most malleable. Mwah-ha-haaaaaa! I remember the lovely manipulating job I did on my students at that age. If nothing else, they left my class with an ability to place "Set" (reg. tm.) and a suspicion that there is a conspiracy against the theory that there was one original language. Gawd, I love kids!

Ages 17 - 18
These kids allegedly view the world idealistically and become involved in the world outside of school or home. Time to make those picket signs and join the college students at the sit-in! Can't be left out! Their relationships stabilize. They see adults as equals (HA!). They seek to firmly establish their independence.

So, now we have to keep up with pop culture (just when I'd hoped I put that behind me) so we'll know what they'll be interested in. And the books they are interested in are the ones most likely to be challenged: violence, sex, drugs. Wow! All the stuff I generally try to avoid in my reading.
But they like boundaries. Otherwise there's nothing to push against. You can't rebel if there is nothing to rebel against.

Ideas for a Teen Area:
First of all, call it Teen because they hate Young Adult.
What does your area look like when you walk in? Is there a display of topical teen subjects (sex, drugs, STDs) so they don't have to embarrass themselves asking about it. "I'm, uhhh, doing a paper, yeah- that's it- on ... Gonorrhea ... and I need a book on the symptoms."
Programs: Ask them what they want. Set up a Teen Advisory Board (we used to have one, but I think the members grew out of it). Are you interested in [insert topic here]? Let's develop a program on it! (To help narrow it down.)
Have a game/internet treasure hunt with prizes.
Teen pick books for reading clubs and pick the films for movie nights.
Bring in speakers on colleges/careers/internships ... but let the teens decide, yadda-yaddah.

Pat teases us with PIE: Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation
Planning takes a long time. How does it fit in with your mission statement? What are your goals and objectives?
Implementation: don't just talk about it! Get off your butt! Start with manageable pieces.
Evaluation: It may take two years to get people in. Lots of times you won't make your goals. Don't give up. What's working? What isn't? Are you really doing what kids want? Keep slogging away. And remember that your community changes over time. What worked the past three years probably won't work the fourth.

The Golden Age of Teen Literature
There's a lot of cross-over from adult to teen and back. I know a lot of adults reading teen fiction because they love it. I love Terry Pratchett's Tiffany books. They don't seem much different from his adult Discworld stories, except they operate from a young girl's point of view. His series for boys, though ... phew! A bit basic! Or maybe they're aimed at even younger kids. Dunno. Anyway ... these books are frequently challenged because they contain truths teens can relate to. But adults find them too depressing or feel that the adults in these stories don't have enough authority. The identification of the reader with the protagonist is key.
Keep lists of teen series at the desk (like the Gregor the Overlander stories). Check good authors' websites for more goodies.
Tips on Booktalking:
Read everything about the author in reviews and the blurbs. Find a plot point or a unifying theme (what Pat calls a Hot Wire) to link with other books.

I've already started with my reading, some of which is reviewed in previous blogs.

All of this will become more important in the new library where there will finally be room for separate teen activities and materials. Right now they are crammed into the adult reading area, jerrymandering around Genealogy.