Ok - last one to catch up with. This all day teen training had a variety of panelists.
First, Jamie Watson from Harford County showcased some books to help us connect with reluctant readers. Teens are like adults - special readers are a small number with popular readers the largest.
Reluctant Readers
Dormant - likes to read but too busy
Uncommitted - don't feel a need to read but will with a recommendation
Unmotivated - (largest number) reading is dorky - there are no good books - only read "boring" books required for school
Unskilled - truly has a tough time reading
Unmotivated and unskilled want to choose their own books but need a smaller/narrower choice set
Once a book becomes assigned in curriculum it becomes dorky & awful
Katie George at Howard County talked next about Teen Advisory Boards. She addressed the 40 developmental assets that apply to teen participation in libraries and went over the ladder of participation.
Non-participation
1. Volunteers are manipulated
2. Volunteers are decoration
3. Volunteers are tokenized
Participation
4. Volunteers are assigned & informed
5. Volunteers consult & inform
6. Staff initiate, share decisions with Volunteers
7. Volunteers lead & initiate action
8. Volunteers initiate, share decisions with staff
TAB's consist of 2 parts: communication and results
Communication - connectedness, meaning and control - take any one piece away leads to problems
connectedness + meaning = manipulation & abuse
connectedness + control = delinquency
meaning + control = fundamentalism
Effective communication leads to connections, discoveries, understanding and innovation
Results come from teens engaging in the process and having their accomplishments highlighted.
Next several counties presented ideas for teen book clubs.
Lee Farrell of Howard shared her Mother Daughter book club. She prepares ballots and a showcase of possible titles and one of their meetings is to choose the year's titles. They also assign a snack person.
Stefan Freed of Baltimore County shared his experience with a Parent Child book club to be more inclusive. He collected pages of title ideas with notes throughout his time running this club and had several newspaper articles written about his program.
Rachel Hannum of Cecil County shared her teen book club. She has had success with Book Hook
exclusively for 6-8th graders and conducted 3 times a year. They discuss one book every other week for two months. All books are paperbacks and the teens get to keep the books which are purchased by the Friends.
Rachel stresses:
it's not school - keep it relaxed
cater to your readers
offer confidentiality
begin with a silly ice-breaker
always read a short plot summary first
- jog memories and encourage those who didn't finish to talk anyway
ask questions that allow teens to talk about their lives
use multimedia
snacks
get feedback - listen to suggestions
Last came Elizabeth Rafferty and Bryon McDonald from Baltimore County who discussed how BCPL developed their gaming program. Elizabeth gave an overview of why gaming is important. She gave us a handout with lots of good stats and links. I'm working on getting this electronically so I don't have to type it as my fingers hurt from all these posts today. Hopefully, I'll actually get this up soon! :)
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Service that Works - November 20, 2008
Another training that I attended was this MLA sponsored one. Most of this training was a refresher of concepts and personality types that were explained in more detail in other trainings that I have taken. A few things that stood out:
Avoid no - tell the customer what you can do
Apologize for the situation that the customer finds themselves in not for policies
Think about what expectations are we promoting - unreasonable customer expectations?
Perception - customer's perception can change what the situation truly is
LEAP
Listen - ask questions to make sure you understand the problem -use eye contact, rephrasing, nodding, etc
Empathize - put yourself in the customer's shoes
Acknowledge - recognize the customer's feelings and that there is a problem; apologize for frustration, the situation, etc
Resolve - work with the customer to find a resolution - offer solutions and choices (here's what we can do, let's try...); engage them in solving the problem
When to walk away or get a supervisor - abusive language
Raised voice = you talk softer
Avoid - "Our policy..." or "You have to..."
Avoid no - tell the customer what you can do
Apologize for the situation that the customer finds themselves in not for policies
Think about what expectations are we promoting - unreasonable customer expectations?
Perception - customer's perception can change what the situation truly is
LEAP
Listen - ask questions to make sure you understand the problem -use eye contact, rephrasing, nodding, etc
Empathize - put yourself in the customer's shoes
Acknowledge - recognize the customer's feelings and that there is a problem; apologize for frustration, the situation, etc
Resolve - work with the customer to find a resolution - offer solutions and choices (here's what we can do, let's try...); engage them in solving the problem
When to walk away or get a supervisor - abusive language
Raised voice = you talk softer
Avoid - "Our policy..." or "You have to..."
YRead - October 25, 2008
I have been very remiss in posting as I realize that my last post was about the time I went to the YRead conference and never wrote anything up. This is a new bi-annual conference (Opposite to Books for the Beast) held at the Carroll Community College. I chose the multi-cultural track and read four interesting books. This conference is only a half day one and was too short in my opinion. We barely scrapped the surface of discussions and most of mine centered on how to incorporate the books into curriculum which didn't interest me.
Red Glass by Laura Resau
This story begins in Arizona when Sophie's family takes in a young boy who is the only survivor from a group trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico. The boy doesn't speak so Sophie nicknames him Principito, or Little Prince, after the story he loves to listen to her read. The boy's remaining family in Mexico learn that the little boy is the sole survivor. Sophie, her Aunt Dika, a refugee of the war in Bosnia, Dika's boyfriend and his son and Principito go on a road trip to his village where he has to choose between Sophie and his family.
Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin
Karina is the daughter of a Haitian immigrant in New York. Her mother married "the Daddy" for stability but this all seems about to topple when he almost kills her older sister. Beatings are normal and deserved, abuse is covered up while fear and guilt are rampant. Will lies cover everything up or will Karina make her own normal life?
The Absolutely Ture Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
A very funny tale of heartache and isolation. Junior is an Indian living on a reservation until he is forced to see that hope doesn't just happen but you have to make it happen. He transfers to the miles away white school and fights to belong somewhere. Interspersed with Junior's brutally honest cartoons, this is a quick read covering issues from Indian rights, alcoholism, violence and despair.
In the Name of God by Paula Jolin
Nadia lives in modern day Damascus right in the middle of the struggle between Muslim and Western beliefs. She is a good religious girl but she struggles to figure out her path. Her brother can't get a job, her cousin is arrested and no one knows his fate, good Muslims are dying so Nadia begins to think of acting radically herself. How far will she go? What is right or wrong or justified?
Red Glass by Laura Resau
This story begins in Arizona when Sophie's family takes in a young boy who is the only survivor from a group trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico. The boy doesn't speak so Sophie nicknames him Principito, or Little Prince, after the story he loves to listen to her read. The boy's remaining family in Mexico learn that the little boy is the sole survivor. Sophie, her Aunt Dika, a refugee of the war in Bosnia, Dika's boyfriend and his son and Principito go on a road trip to his village where he has to choose between Sophie and his family.
Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin
Karina is the daughter of a Haitian immigrant in New York. Her mother married "the Daddy" for stability but this all seems about to topple when he almost kills her older sister. Beatings are normal and deserved, abuse is covered up while fear and guilt are rampant. Will lies cover everything up or will Karina make her own normal life?
The Absolutely Ture Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
A very funny tale of heartache and isolation. Junior is an Indian living on a reservation until he is forced to see that hope doesn't just happen but you have to make it happen. He transfers to the miles away white school and fights to belong somewhere. Interspersed with Junior's brutally honest cartoons, this is a quick read covering issues from Indian rights, alcoholism, violence and despair.
In the Name of God by Paula Jolin
Nadia lives in modern day Damascus right in the middle of the struggle between Muslim and Western beliefs. She is a good religious girl but she struggles to figure out her path. Her brother can't get a job, her cousin is arrested and no one knows his fate, good Muslims are dying so Nadia begins to think of acting radically herself. How far will she go? What is right or wrong or justified?
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