Apps and Youth for OETC

Here is the link to the presentation that I gave to educators at the OETC conference on Tuesday, January 28, 2014.  It is an updated and refocused presentation of Early Learning Apps in the Library, focusing on apps for ages four through fourth grade in various educational settings:

http://www.slideshare.net/MissHayleyMac/apps-and-youth-for-oetc

My New Favorite Book

I really like the messages in this book, but probably not one to share in storytime ... a better one-on-one pick for parent and child.

Apps and Kids at Your Library Presentation

I can't get the embed feature to work, so here is the link to this presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/MissHayleyMac/apps-and-kids-at-your-library-for-slideshare?utm_source=slideshow02&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=iupload_share_slideshow

iPad Storytelling to Foster Perspective

Click Using Picturebooks to Expand Perception by Hayley McEwing, or click on the title on the right hand side under "Youth Services Programs and Resources."

Thirst for Knowledge

I've been quiet on this blog during my vacation from library-related activities.  I've been finding myself away from the computer ... and racing around ... mentally as well as physically.

I've been learning ... or trying to to learn.

My last day of work before vacation ... my first customer of the day ... I saw an "older gentleman" (as my professional co-worker would say) on crutches ... gingerly making his way over to me: "Good morning.  How can I help you?"  I gathered that he wanted to make a copy but had no library card.  I explained the procedure for this circumstance: "You'll need a card to get the machine to work.  If you go to the front desk with your ten cents, you can get a Courtesy Card."  The patron replied, "I want you to make the copy."  I read his tone as slightly demanding, and I asserted that the copiers were self-service but that I would show him how to use it once he had a card.  In perfect measure the older gentleman responded, "I'll go to the post offiice then."

...


I didn't know what to say.  I had relayed the information. I was ready to help in the way I could ...
I watched him crutch away and  felt unhappy about the interaction.

...

What would you have done?



I recently bought this at Rogers Farmer's Market!  Smart People DO Thirst for Knowledge!



After this experience, I immediately consulted with a colleague.  I feel my reactions weren't the best human response, but I wonder how to work that into "policy."

I've learning about these topics of communication and emotion in my personal life as well ... Which reminds me, I need to update my Shelfari shelf ...

Nonviolent Communication (quotes)

Things to think about while helping an angry person:

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg

"Behind all those messages we've allowed ourselves to be intimidated by are just individuals with unmet needs appealing to us to contribute to their well being." (99)

"...messages previously experienced as critical or blaming begin to be seen for the gifts they are: opportunites to give to people who are in pain." (100)

Digital (Wiki) Storytelling

Ready for an oxymoron? --> Here's some old news.

Did you know that Penguin launched an online storytelling experience using the wiki format in 2007?
http://thepenguinblog.typepad.com/the_penguin_blog/2007/02/a_million_pengu.html

Here's an interesting report of that experience:
http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk/documents/amillionpenguinsreport.pdf

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the actual, online finished story. However, this does recall a program activity I read about when CSLP was doing the "Creative" summer reading theme a few years ago.  While sitting in a circle, kids were invited to contribute to an improvised story.  Perhaps this experience could be continued on a library website, though much monitoring would have to occur.  At the very least, it's an interesting social experiment.

Has anyone ever tried something like this in a library setting?

Peace through Poetry

The following are two poems from Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts about Peace by Anna Grossnickle Hines (March 2011), a great book to share during the "One World, Many Stories" Collaborative Summer Library Program . 

The poems are short enough to include one or two in a program and will prompt discussion. (They are good reminders for adults, too!) The last pages give a quote and brief bio from "The Peacemakers" (Mohandes Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dorothy Day, Jimmy Carter, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Samantha Smith, and Mattie Stepanek) as well as Hines' creative and quilting processes:

Peace: A Recipe

Open minds -- at least two.
Willing hearts -- the same.
Rinse well with compassion.
Stir in a fair amount of trust.
Season with forgiveness.
Simmer in a sauce of respect.
A dash of humor brightens the flavor.

Best served with hope.

No In-Between

If one is right

the other wrong

how can we ever

get along?

Memorial Day: Walking with Stories

I'm at Punderson State Park
alone for the moment
on a personal journey

How Will We Get to the Beach?
Me, I walk
pack on my back
Ipod in ears
pop beating the walk

Suddenly, suprise!
tears in eyes
a stranger offers a ride,
"I've been in your shoes before"
I love my Keen Shoes! I love my Keen shoes!

After musing and music
and sitting in mud
I Walk in the Woods
on the Iroquois trail
listening to Eat, Pray, Love:

"I have a tendancy not only to see the best in everyone, but to assume that everyone is emotionally capable of reaching his highest potential." (Gilbert 285)

The Soul of Leadership by Deepak Chopra

Seven Notes from Chapter Ten "A Template for Awareness":

1) "Leaders and Followers co-create each other.  Followers express a need, and the leader supplies a response.  Both arise together."
2) "The group's needs must be met wherever they are ... Needs fuel change."
3) "The outcome of any situation is defined in advance by the vision that goes into solving it."
4)  "Needs are designed to evolve, and a leader must be aware of this in order to foresee the future of the group and anticipate its needs."
5)  "For every need, the leader must play the right role."
6)  "The leader who understands the hierarchy of needs and responses will succeed."
7) "Leading ... means ... you spend time investing in relationships with those who turn to you for answers ... Unafraid of forming emotional bonds ..."

Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina

EXERCISE | Rule #1: Exercise boosts brain power.
SURVIVAL | Rule #2: The human brain evolved, too.
WIRING | Rule #3: Every brain is wired differently.
ATTENTION | Rule #4: We don't pay attention to boring things.
SHORT-TERM MEMORY | Rule #5: Repeat to remember.
LONG-TERM MEMORY | Rule #6: Remember to repeat.
SLEEP | Rule #7: Sleep well, think well.
STRESS | Rule #8: Stressed brains don't learn the same way.
SENSORY INTEGRATION | Rule #9: Stimulate more of the senses.
VISION | Rule #10: Vision trumps all other senses.
GENDER | Rule #11: Male and female brains are different.
EXPLORATION | Rule #12: We are powerful and natural explorers.

 from http://www.brainrules.net/about-brain-rules

Here are some others (pulled from the "Brain Rules" list after the book's contents page) that are ECRR related.  They will fit nicely on a programming handout:

Face Time, Not Screen Time (print motivation -- bonding)
Praise Effort, not IQ (print motivation -- positive experiences)
Guided Play, Every Day ECRR 2 Anyone?  (narrative and vocabulary skills -- talk about what you are doing)
The Brain Craves Community (narrative, vocabulary, print motivation -- talking to and being around others)
Labeling Emotions Calms Big Feelings (narrative and vocabulary skills -- talking about issues and labeling things)

Emotional - Social Learning

"The goal for parenting should not be achieving a brittle "positive" psychology -- clinging to a state of perpetual joy in one's children -- but rather teaching a child how to return on her own to a state of contentment, whatever may happen."
-- from Daniel Goleman's Social Intelligence (183)

Standing on My Mother's Shoulders

On the ride home from the hospital, Cole didn't say a word, nor did he respond to questions and comments my mother and I used to try to engage him. With lips pursed and eyes bright, this not-yet-three-year-old boy appeared to be in serious contemplation about leaving his mommy and daddy ... and the new baby sister.

I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

As my own father, mother, and I tried to determine which "expensive cuisine" menu items we would like from Taco Bell, Cole piped in that he didn't want a "soft OR hard ta-o." From this point on, I would describe him as inconsolable if it weren't for the leadership of my mother.

I've seen her comfort him on numerous "inconsolable" occasions and watched yet again her patience and love as she held him, explained to him, listened to his wants, and tried to distract him with his favorite topics and objects.

My mother's leadership has ultimately taught me to be compassionate ... to help others in need. Not only has her example shaped my communication in working with young human beings, but it has also influenced my life attitude ... my wanting to make a difference in the world.