James F. Brown, who puts together Health Services for the Actors Fund of America, flew in from New York to share all of the goodies he's managed to put together in one, multi-purpose website. Funded by grants supporting artists health service needs, the website also serves any self-employed person seeking health insurance benefits. There is even good info for people who have health insurance, but don't seem to be covered for what they need.
The Health Insurance/Resources for Health Care (AHIRC) database, can be accessed at: http://ahirc.org/. It focuses on resources for the self-employed, lower income workers, and the under- and un-insured. For Washingtonians there are two main points of access located on the homepage. Click on the Map, on Washington State, for the usual links and resources. And, click on Washington State in the lower right hand corner of the homepage under Regional Healthcare Guides, to link to a special information project for 2008-2009.
Regional Guide for Washington
This special aggregation of healthcare resources for Washington State, includes links to: kinds of health insurance, COBRA, employment related options, private insurance, government-subsized programs, programs for special health conditions, obtaining medications, dental coverage, mental health options, Community Health Centers, and 24-hour pharmacies, and much more.
Choose Washington on the Map
Includes full menu of options for:
* Getting Health Insurance (including info for Children, Veterans, Uninsurables, Long-Term Care, Legal Assistance, etc.),
* Affording Health Care (costs, programs, assistance opportunities, etc.),
* Finding Health Care (organizations, programs, etc.),
* Changing Health Care
I invite you to spend some time working around the website, to know what's there -- lots of good resources.
Showing posts with label wla 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wla 2009. Show all posts
Monday, June 8, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Thoughts on WLA 2009
1. Captivating and Communicating with one year olds: Tried and True by Dr. James Thomas (aka Mr. Jim)
I was hoping this presentation would be useful for my baby lapsit storytime, and while there were lots of great ideas, I found them to be more suited to toddlers. He was very specific about finding "baby" storytimes that combined six month olds with 18 month olds to be a waste of time. I'd be curious to know if there is a storytime at his library for kids under 12 months. His focus is 12 to 24 months only. He uses a lot of sign language (in songs, and when talking about colors etc, he teaches the kids the sign too). Mr. Jim's wiki (http://toddlericon.pbworks.com) is chock full of great resources. One aspect of his presentation that I liked was his homemade book. He makes large, simple accordian style books. The one he showed was for five little ducks- and with each page there was another duck that they could see. Loved it. Will be making those soon. There are several ideas that we can incorperate into the play and learn storytimes too. He's worked a lot with Nancy Stewart and he uses her "let's go to the market" song. Listen to it here: http://www.nancymusic.com/Market.htm. There's a link at the bottom for activites which is cool- I had forgotten about her website- lots there to use.
2. Storytime showcase by various youth librarians
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. There were a TON of good ideas at the showcase. My second favorite part was how well it was organized. They had an official timer who gave each presenter a two minute warning and then cut them off when their time was up. I really appreciated this because they all had good ideas to share. Cindy's done such a fantastic job of reflecting on this panel, so I won't rehash. Lots of great stuff for both my normal storytime, and my new play and learns.
3. Looking at picture books by Thom Barthelmess
Good stuff. You could really tell that Thom's in academia now because his presentation felt just like I was in a classroom, taking notes that might be on next week's quiz. There wasn't a ton of relevent material for me, but it was very interesting. I also had a horrible headache, and probably wasn't all there. His presentation is here: http://www.nwcentral.org/files/Looking%20at%20Picture%20Books.pdf
CAYAS breakfast with Ellen Wittlinger
Definitely the highlight for me. I got to be an honorary CAYAS member for the morning and be her driver (because they all live on the west side and flew). She was *wonderful*. Her presentation about writing for teens was spectacular, I cried several times. She was so spot on. I loved her description of books giving teens the opportunity to "meet" and "know" people they might not otherwise meet in their real life. Writing books with gay characters isn't just for gay teens, it's for straight teens too- one had written Ellen and said that after reading Hard Love, she now "knows" a gay teen (Marisol- one of the main characters). How powerful. I bought several of her books and her inscription in "Hard Love" was perfect: "May all your loves be easy ones."
4. Public Libraries: Strategic Community Partners for Family Health
Wonderful presentation- The presenter was Sue Waldin from Within Reach. Information I gathered from the presentation:
a. There are more people now than ever before who (for the first time) are struggling with food needs
b. There strongest focus is on health insurance and food assistance
c. They run five toll-free call centers with staff who are cross-trained so you can the same help no matter what number you call. They have a much lower call volume that DHSH so the wait time is short
d. They have access to the AT&T language line so they have free interpreters in almost any language
e. They have had 11,000 online applications submitted- 4,000 of those after 09/08 so it's growing.
The website (www.parenthelp123.com) is amazing!! I really encourage everyone to check it out- extremely easy to use and very, very helpful. My favorite is the resource finder which helps you find services in your area such as breastfeeding support, child care, food banks, and family planning. Check it out here: http://resources.parenthelp123.org/. If anyone has any questions, I had an extensive tutorial in the website during Sue's presentation and I'm happy to share more. I love this resource. They will be putting up a library link somewhere on the site soon(that was part of our discussion).
5. Teen program showcase by various (many no-show) librarians
Again, I'll echo Cindy and say that this presentation (if we can even call it that) was extremely disappointing. I didn't get any good ideas- they were all for high budget libraries and they seemed to snuff at anything that wasn't super techy. I'm sorry, but lots of teens like to craft and play games. In addition to not thinking about the rest of the state, I didn't get the feeling that any of the presenters wanted to be there. I'm serious about proposing a "teen programs for the rest of us" showcase for next year.
6. Booktalking the Best by various iSchool students
I went to this program with some trepedation, considering the last two WLA booktalking sessions were really bad. This year, thankfully, the students actually knew how to booktalk. They had a nice variety of books and had clearly prepared.
Overall, I'm very glad I could attend this year's conference (and it was pretty cool to be a local!) I discovered many great ideas for my children's programming and was inspired to do something about the teen showcase for next year.
I was hoping this presentation would be useful for my baby lapsit storytime, and while there were lots of great ideas, I found them to be more suited to toddlers. He was very specific about finding "baby" storytimes that combined six month olds with 18 month olds to be a waste of time. I'd be curious to know if there is a storytime at his library for kids under 12 months. His focus is 12 to 24 months only. He uses a lot of sign language (in songs, and when talking about colors etc, he teaches the kids the sign too). Mr. Jim's wiki (http://toddlericon.pbworks.com) is chock full of great resources. One aspect of his presentation that I liked was his homemade book. He makes large, simple accordian style books. The one he showed was for five little ducks- and with each page there was another duck that they could see. Loved it. Will be making those soon. There are several ideas that we can incorperate into the play and learn storytimes too. He's worked a lot with Nancy Stewart and he uses her "let's go to the market" song. Listen to it here: http://www.nancymusic.com/Market.htm. There's a link at the bottom for activites which is cool- I had forgotten about her website- lots there to use.
2. Storytime showcase by various youth librarians
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. There were a TON of good ideas at the showcase. My second favorite part was how well it was organized. They had an official timer who gave each presenter a two minute warning and then cut them off when their time was up. I really appreciated this because they all had good ideas to share. Cindy's done such a fantastic job of reflecting on this panel, so I won't rehash. Lots of great stuff for both my normal storytime, and my new play and learns.
3. Looking at picture books by Thom Barthelmess
Good stuff. You could really tell that Thom's in academia now because his presentation felt just like I was in a classroom, taking notes that might be on next week's quiz. There wasn't a ton of relevent material for me, but it was very interesting. I also had a horrible headache, and probably wasn't all there. His presentation is here: http://www.nwcentral.org/files/Looking%20at%20Picture%20Books.pdf
CAYAS breakfast with Ellen Wittlinger
Definitely the highlight for me. I got to be an honorary CAYAS member for the morning and be her driver (because they all live on the west side and flew). She was *wonderful*. Her presentation about writing for teens was spectacular, I cried several times. She was so spot on. I loved her description of books giving teens the opportunity to "meet" and "know" people they might not otherwise meet in their real life. Writing books with gay characters isn't just for gay teens, it's for straight teens too- one had written Ellen and said that after reading Hard Love, she now "knows" a gay teen (Marisol- one of the main characters). How powerful. I bought several of her books and her inscription in "Hard Love" was perfect: "May all your loves be easy ones."
4. Public Libraries: Strategic Community Partners for Family Health
Wonderful presentation- The presenter was Sue Waldin from Within Reach. Information I gathered from the presentation:
a. There are more people now than ever before who (for the first time) are struggling with food needs
b. There strongest focus is on health insurance and food assistance
c. They run five toll-free call centers with staff who are cross-trained so you can the same help no matter what number you call. They have a much lower call volume that DHSH so the wait time is short
d. They have access to the AT&T language line so they have free interpreters in almost any language
e. They have had 11,000 online applications submitted- 4,000 of those after 09/08 so it's growing.
The website (www.parenthelp123.com) is amazing!! I really encourage everyone to check it out- extremely easy to use and very, very helpful. My favorite is the resource finder which helps you find services in your area such as breastfeeding support, child care, food banks, and family planning. Check it out here: http://resources.parenthelp123.org/. If anyone has any questions, I had an extensive tutorial in the website during Sue's presentation and I'm happy to share more. I love this resource. They will be putting up a library link somewhere on the site soon(that was part of our discussion).
5. Teen program showcase by various (many no-show) librarians
Again, I'll echo Cindy and say that this presentation (if we can even call it that) was extremely disappointing. I didn't get any good ideas- they were all for high budget libraries and they seemed to snuff at anything that wasn't super techy. I'm sorry, but lots of teens like to craft and play games. In addition to not thinking about the rest of the state, I didn't get the feeling that any of the presenters wanted to be there. I'm serious about proposing a "teen programs for the rest of us" showcase for next year.
6. Booktalking the Best by various iSchool students
I went to this program with some trepedation, considering the last two WLA booktalking sessions were really bad. This year, thankfully, the students actually knew how to booktalk. They had a nice variety of books and had clearly prepared.
Overall, I'm very glad I could attend this year's conference (and it was pretty cool to be a local!) I discovered many great ideas for my children's programming and was inspired to do something about the teen showcase for next year.
The Fabulous: Storytime Showcase
Storytime Showcase on Thursday was absolutely terrific. 6 presenters from the west side demonstrated a few of their storytime staples, one after the other. Each uses song, storytelling, and creative dramatics and relies on lots of audience participation. I wish we'd hade more time for this one--it could easily have been a double session. There was SOOOOO much in this one that we can be incorporating into preschool storytime and play and learn! I wish each presenter had had more time. Consider me extremely excited & enthused.
Angela Nolet has a neat imagination game that she uses to get kids settled and ready to “play” that she calls “What shall we be today?” She also does terrifically hammed up tellings of the “Goldilocks and the 3 Bears” and “The 3 Billy Goats Gruff” (with extreme voices, naturally) using “my words, your listening skills, and your imaginations.” “Can you stir the porridge?” (Stir.) “Do we go inside other peoples’ houses without asking?” (Exaggerated head shaking.) “Can you take a big bite?” (Bite.) “Too hot.” (Fan self,) “Too cold.” (Shiver…Brrr.!) “Does Goldilocks have good manners or bad manners?” “ Bad manners!” “ She SLURPS the porridge.” “She sinks into Mama Bear’s chair.” (Sink, arms in the air.) “She rocks (everyone rock forward and back) in Baby Bear’s chair ‘til she BREAKS it!” And so on.
Angela also tells “5 Little Monkeys” using the Folkmanis crocodile and Eileen Christelow’s 5 Little Monkey puppets. I’ve never tried this with PUPPETS before, but I’ve got the crocodile and monkeys… Angela’s handout is here: http://nwcentral.org/?q=node/1547
Mr. Jim’s presentation (while not appropriate for baby lapsit in either Sonia’s or my estimation) was fabulous for preschoolers—he does a great “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” in ASL. Which he follows with the “no words” version.
Jennifer Fenton from the Washington State Library is a big fan of storytelling and performed a lovely scarf story from one of Anne Pellowski’s collections and used a set of nesting dolls to retell “The Turnip.” I simply MUST find a set of matrushki to do this with. Her handout is here: http://nwcentral.org/?q=node/1578
Jenn Sullivan from Snohomish did a neat version of our heart/star song:
Put your heart on your chest, on your chest.
Put your heart on your chest, on your chest.
Put your heart on your chest, that’s where it fits the best.
Put your heart on your chest, on your chest.
On your knee…that’s a silly place to be.
On your elbow/calf/thigh. etc.
I can’t wait to start using this one—it’s got so many more body parts. It’s a great vocabulary builder. I’m thinking it might fit into our upcoming STARS Flannel Board workshop.
Using die cuts which she gives to each child, Jennifer also does a variation of the Hokey Pokey—“You put your turtle in, you put your turtle out… you put your turtle high/low…to & fro…
To the tune of “Row, Row, Row your Boat” she sings “Pass, Pass, Pass the Pail, all around the ring, when the pail stops by you, do a special thing” and the child draws an action from the pail (to be read by parent or storyteller) like “pat your head & rub your tummy.” Each child gets a turn. This could be adapted for afterschool specials…or even teen programs.
Jenn also did an amazing feltboard for “Flip Flap Jack” (this one’s similar to Aiken Drum, but uses foods more familiar to children). She has everyone clap on each syllable of the chorus “Flip Flap Jack” so you’re using song, rhythm, and movement.
Jenn’s handout is here: http://nwcentral.org/?q=node/1548
Josephine from Ellensburg did a really neat re-telling of Ellen Walsh’s MOUSE COUNT using a clear jar, pom-pom mice, and a snake sock puppet. When the mice count themselves out, she tosses them to various members of the audience. She finishes with the snake saying “I can’t eat mice? I’ll have to eat little children instead” to much delighted shrieking and giggling. She also does Audrey Wood’s PIGGIES as a terrific fingerplay. Her handout is here: http://nwcentral.org/files/WLA%202009%20Storytime%20Showcase.txt
Jan from Sno-Isle reads MEAN SOUP by Betsy Everett (one of Ruth’s and my favorites) with a kettle and passes the pot around for kids to scream into, stick out their tongue into it, and bang on it with a spoon.
Jan also has kids act out THE GIANT HUG and has the kids play post office afterwards. They have different stations where they “cancel stamps” (we all know how much preschoolers love stamping), “sort the mail” into the appropriate box based on color, and “deliver” to the appropriate house based on color and or letter and or shape. This would be a terrific activity for our play & learn…
Jan also has the kids “go fishing.” She places fabric on the floor for the fish pond, has the kids color & decorate fish shapes (craft!), then attach a large paperclip to the shapes (this IS a skill), and then they fish for their own fish in the pond using a fishing pole made out of a bamboo rod with a magnet tied to it with a piece of brightly colored yarn.
Jan also does a very interactive version of “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” which she conducts with a fly swatter… Each child is given a laminated clip art picture of an animal and has to “act” (or make the appropriate noise) like that animal when it comes up in the song. Everyone joins in on the “perhaps she’ll die” chorus.
Can't wait to try some of these in my storytimes & play & learns!
Angela Nolet has a neat imagination game that she uses to get kids settled and ready to “play” that she calls “What shall we be today?” She also does terrifically hammed up tellings of the “Goldilocks and the 3 Bears” and “The 3 Billy Goats Gruff” (with extreme voices, naturally) using “my words, your listening skills, and your imaginations.” “Can you stir the porridge?” (Stir.) “Do we go inside other peoples’ houses without asking?” (Exaggerated head shaking.) “Can you take a big bite?” (Bite.) “Too hot.” (Fan self,) “Too cold.” (Shiver…Brrr.!) “Does Goldilocks have good manners or bad manners?” “ Bad manners!” “ She SLURPS the porridge.” “She sinks into Mama Bear’s chair.” (Sink, arms in the air.) “She rocks (everyone rock forward and back) in Baby Bear’s chair ‘til she BREAKS it!” And so on.
Angela also tells “5 Little Monkeys” using the Folkmanis crocodile and Eileen Christelow’s 5 Little Monkey puppets. I’ve never tried this with PUPPETS before, but I’ve got the crocodile and monkeys… Angela’s handout is here: http://nwcentral.org/?q=node/1547
Mr. Jim’s presentation (while not appropriate for baby lapsit in either Sonia’s or my estimation) was fabulous for preschoolers—he does a great “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” in ASL. Which he follows with the “no words” version.
Jennifer Fenton from the Washington State Library is a big fan of storytelling and performed a lovely scarf story from one of Anne Pellowski’s collections and used a set of nesting dolls to retell “The Turnip.” I simply MUST find a set of matrushki to do this with. Her handout is here: http://nwcentral.org/?q=node/1578
Jenn Sullivan from Snohomish did a neat version of our heart/star song:
Put your heart on your chest, on your chest.
Put your heart on your chest, on your chest.
Put your heart on your chest, that’s where it fits the best.
Put your heart on your chest, on your chest.
On your knee…that’s a silly place to be.
On your elbow/calf/thigh. etc.
I can’t wait to start using this one—it’s got so many more body parts. It’s a great vocabulary builder. I’m thinking it might fit into our upcoming STARS Flannel Board workshop.
Using die cuts which she gives to each child, Jennifer also does a variation of the Hokey Pokey—“You put your turtle in, you put your turtle out… you put your turtle high/low…to & fro…
To the tune of “Row, Row, Row your Boat” she sings “Pass, Pass, Pass the Pail, all around the ring, when the pail stops by you, do a special thing” and the child draws an action from the pail (to be read by parent or storyteller) like “pat your head & rub your tummy.” Each child gets a turn. This could be adapted for afterschool specials…or even teen programs.
Jenn also did an amazing feltboard for “Flip Flap Jack” (this one’s similar to Aiken Drum, but uses foods more familiar to children). She has everyone clap on each syllable of the chorus “Flip Flap Jack” so you’re using song, rhythm, and movement.
Jenn’s handout is here: http://nwcentral.org/?q=node/1548
Josephine from Ellensburg did a really neat re-telling of Ellen Walsh’s MOUSE COUNT using a clear jar, pom-pom mice, and a snake sock puppet. When the mice count themselves out, she tosses them to various members of the audience. She finishes with the snake saying “I can’t eat mice? I’ll have to eat little children instead” to much delighted shrieking and giggling. She also does Audrey Wood’s PIGGIES as a terrific fingerplay. Her handout is here: http://nwcentral.org/files/WLA%202009%20Storytime%20Showcase.txt
Jan from Sno-Isle reads MEAN SOUP by Betsy Everett (one of Ruth’s and my favorites) with a kettle and passes the pot around for kids to scream into, stick out their tongue into it, and bang on it with a spoon.
Jan also has kids act out THE GIANT HUG and has the kids play post office afterwards. They have different stations where they “cancel stamps” (we all know how much preschoolers love stamping), “sort the mail” into the appropriate box based on color, and “deliver” to the appropriate house based on color and or letter and or shape. This would be a terrific activity for our play & learn…
Jan also has the kids “go fishing.” She places fabric on the floor for the fish pond, has the kids color & decorate fish shapes (craft!), then attach a large paperclip to the shapes (this IS a skill), and then they fish for their own fish in the pond using a fishing pole made out of a bamboo rod with a magnet tied to it with a piece of brightly colored yarn.
Jan also does a very interactive version of “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” which she conducts with a fly swatter… Each child is given a laminated clip art picture of an animal and has to “act” (or make the appropriate noise) like that animal when it comes up in the song. Everyone joins in on the “perhaps she’ll die” chorus.
Can't wait to try some of these in my storytimes & play & learns!
Still More of the Good! Beyond Books: Using Flannel Boards & Music at Preschool Storytime
Beyond Books: Using Flannel Boards & Music at Preschool Storytime was presented by the very musically talented Lorraine Burdick from Sno-Isle. She spices up all of her storytimes with music and feltboard stories (usually musical stories) and likes to add twists to old favorites. She did a terrific overview of where to get ideas for feltboard stories. Lorraine bucked the paperless trend and actually provided attendees with a handout. Unfortunately, she never posted it to the conference site, so if anyone would like a copy, drop me an email. It's worth it...
Things I learned from this session:
•Why should we be using feltboard stories? Feltboards help with early literacy (sequencing—moving across the board as you move across a page) & incorporate all 3 learning styles (visual, auditory, & kinesthetic). And they’re fun, too. But you knew that.
•Do tweak “old” favorites like “The Greenwood Tree” or “When Ducks Get Up in the Morning” to incorporate exotic farm animals like monkeys, T-Rexes, and lions.
•Use felt, pellon, photocopied images, & store bought to make something familiar new again. For example, use a purchased set of “transportation” pictures to transform “She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” into: "She’ll be riding in a school bus/dump truck/police car/mini-van and flying in an airplane when she comes."
•Go heavy on the audience participation, not just with supplying noises & singing along but in bringing pieces to the feltboard. Just make sure you’ve got enough to go around...
•Use apple “faces” to tweak “Way Up High in the Apple Tree”:
Happy smiled at me
Quiet whispered
Sad cried
Sleepy yawned
Angry was angry (growled?) at me
•Twinkle Twinkle Little Star can be more than just a fingerplay!
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are.
Twinkle, twinkle little star,
I wonder who has a (color) star. (Kids bring appropriate color to felt board.)
•Sing “Who has a Shape Today” to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell”: “Who has a (color) square/star/triangle/rectangle today?”
•Try Non-Holiday seasonal favorites to work around "we don't do holidays" objections:
“Turkey Feathers” (to the tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man”)
“Oh do you have a (color) feather , a (color) feather, do you have a (color) feather, hang it up right now.” (Kids decorate turkey outline with scads of colored feathers.
“Counting Pumpkins” (an original tune, Lorraine will email the mp3) an alternative to “5 Little Jack O’Lanterns sitting on a fence”.
Discussion & schmoozing afterwards also turned up the following tip--try using foam-core poster board for your travel feltboard—it’s much lighter than say, masonite. I’m building one at this very moment to demo in our STARS flannel board workshop as a cheap and easy alternative to a purchased feltboard.
I'm very excited about some of the ideas presented here. Some of her tweaks emphasizing shapes, colors, and emotions are going to be terrific in our play & learn sessions. And yes, I did email Lorraine for an mp3 of the Counting Pumpkins song.
Things I learned from this session:
•Why should we be using feltboard stories? Feltboards help with early literacy (sequencing—moving across the board as you move across a page) & incorporate all 3 learning styles (visual, auditory, & kinesthetic). And they’re fun, too. But you knew that.
•Do tweak “old” favorites like “The Greenwood Tree” or “When Ducks Get Up in the Morning” to incorporate exotic farm animals like monkeys, T-Rexes, and lions.
•Use felt, pellon, photocopied images, & store bought to make something familiar new again. For example, use a purchased set of “transportation” pictures to transform “She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” into: "She’ll be riding in a school bus/dump truck/police car/mini-van and flying in an airplane when she comes."
•Go heavy on the audience participation, not just with supplying noises & singing along but in bringing pieces to the feltboard. Just make sure you’ve got enough to go around...
•Use apple “faces” to tweak “Way Up High in the Apple Tree”:
Happy smiled at me
Quiet whispered
Sad cried
Sleepy yawned
Angry was angry (growled?) at me
•Twinkle Twinkle Little Star can be more than just a fingerplay!
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are.
Twinkle, twinkle little star,
I wonder who has a (color) star. (Kids bring appropriate color to felt board.)
•Sing “Who has a Shape Today” to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell”: “Who has a (color) square/star/triangle/rectangle today?”
•Try Non-Holiday seasonal favorites to work around "we don't do holidays" objections:
“Turkey Feathers” (to the tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man”)
“Oh do you have a (color) feather , a (color) feather, do you have a (color) feather, hang it up right now.” (Kids decorate turkey outline with scads of colored feathers.
“Counting Pumpkins” (an original tune, Lorraine will email the mp3) an alternative to “5 Little Jack O’Lanterns sitting on a fence”.
Discussion & schmoozing afterwards also turned up the following tip--try using foam-core poster board for your travel feltboard—it’s much lighter than say, masonite. I’m building one at this very moment to demo in our STARS flannel board workshop as a cheap and easy alternative to a purchased feltboard.
I'm very excited about some of the ideas presented here. Some of her tweaks emphasizing shapes, colors, and emotions are going to be terrific in our play & learn sessions. And yes, I did email Lorraine for an mp3 of the Counting Pumpkins song.
More of the Good: Autism Awareness in Libraries
Autism Awareness in the Library was presented by Julie Ashmun from UW and Jennifer Fenton from the WA State Library. Sponsored by CAYAS, it focused on autistic children. Julie's powerpoint is here: http://nwcentral.org/?q=node/1576
What I learned:
1 in 150 children (1 in 100 in some areas)is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Autism is more prevalent in boys than girls (4:1). No child with autism looks (or acts) the same.
To help your autistic customers:
(1) Make sure parents & caregivers know you’re available to offer special assistance and are willing to work with them. That means signage & verbage along the lines of: “If your child has special needs, please stop by the service desk to see how staff can better assist you.”
(2) Use lots & lots of picture clues. (Again, more signage. Admittedly, libraries are moving AWAY from this to make the library a more “welcoming” place, but your autistic customers NEED this.)
See do2learn.org’s picture cards for examples. These are all available free for the taking...
Stop and go (red light, green light) are also extremely effective…
Our JNF pathfinders (picture, word & dewey #) are perfect! Use them for the adult area, too!
Use return book buckets.
Use bright colors to draw attention.
Use carpet squares or shapes (find a frog) in storytime. Use tracks, shapes, etc. on the floor (or the wall a la Valley’s summer reading stairs) to direct children to the storytime area.
(3) Use cheat sheets with simple, numbered rules that can be given to each customer. (How to check out, no running, no yelling, etc.)
(4) Give warnings to allow for transition time—“You’ve got one more minute on the computer, then we need to leave.” “Storytime starts in 5 minutes. We’ll be heading to the story room.”
(5) Ignore most behavior unless it looks to be dangerous to the child or others.
What I learned:
1 in 150 children (1 in 100 in some areas)is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Autism is more prevalent in boys than girls (4:1). No child with autism looks (or acts) the same.
To help your autistic customers:
(1) Make sure parents & caregivers know you’re available to offer special assistance and are willing to work with them. That means signage & verbage along the lines of: “If your child has special needs, please stop by the service desk to see how staff can better assist you.”
(2) Use lots & lots of picture clues. (Again, more signage. Admittedly, libraries are moving AWAY from this to make the library a more “welcoming” place, but your autistic customers NEED this.)
See do2learn.org’s picture cards for examples. These are all available free for the taking...
Stop and go (red light, green light) are also extremely effective…
Our JNF pathfinders (picture, word & dewey #) are perfect! Use them for the adult area, too!
Use return book buckets.
Use bright colors to draw attention.
Use carpet squares or shapes (find a frog) in storytime. Use tracks, shapes, etc. on the floor (or the wall a la Valley’s summer reading stairs) to direct children to the storytime area.
(3) Use cheat sheets with simple, numbered rules that can be given to each customer. (How to check out, no running, no yelling, etc.)
(4) Give warnings to allow for transition time—“You’ve got one more minute on the computer, then we need to leave.” “Storytime starts in 5 minutes. We’ll be heading to the story room.”
(5) Ignore most behavior unless it looks to be dangerous to the child or others.
And now for the good stuff! Schmoozing with Vendors & Colleagues
While there were very few vendors in attendance, a few were outstanding and plugged products that are of definite interest (and use!) to our customers.
•Did you know that The National Library of Medicine’s Medline Plus makes a tremendous amount of material available in languages other than English, including Spanish and Russian? http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/languages.html
Their “Go Local” feature (soon to be available here in WA!) lets you find local resources concerning special topics such as breast cancer or autism. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/golocal/index.html
And yes, Medline Plus IS one of SCLD’s very own Web Picks! Health & Medicine, Government Sites. Go check it out these features now!
•And speaking of checking it out now (What are you waiting for? Do it!) http://www.parenthelp123.org/ is amazing! It’s one stop shopping for families to find health insurance, food assistance, unemployment benefits, and community resources for all their needs. The website is designed for CUSTOMERS (not professionals) and is exceedingly easy to use. I was especially intrigued by the childcare resources section, as our customers regularly ask us for recommendations. Gina (Sonia too?) attended the session they offered and got more details. Several of us picked up their display racks & brochures, too, so we should have enough for each branch. We promoted this one at SV's open house and it was very popular with customers. This is definitely a site to keep on our radar.
•I spoke with Baker & Taylor in the hopes of finding a source for Russian language youth materials. We could really use some Russian board books and picture books. Unfortunately, B&T’s “business model” doesn’t work in a way that’s allowed them to do much with Russian. They like to buy a publishing house/book jobber in the country and then use them for supply. They’ve only been able to find individual bookstores in Russia (ditto for us) but boy oh boy check out B&T’s new Chinese selection! The rep really, really, really wanted me to get on board with their Chinese standing order, despite my repeated protestations that we didn’t have much of a Chinese readership.
Talking with other librarians between sessions and during meals was interesting. I learned that being a union shop, King County uses their (extremely few) teen volunteers to dust shelves. That’s right, you read that correctly—to dust shelves. They’re not allowed to do anything a paid staff member might do, so no sorting, shelving, cleaning, etc. Every now and then they’re allowed to assist with Friends’ booksales but that’s about it. So much for my hopes of picking brains about what to do with teen volunteers…
I also learned over lunch why I’ve been unable to access my files from home through Outlook, despite the fact that our very own Aaron did my setup. Said my new friend from Sno-Isle with a sad and knowing look on her face: “You’re using Mozilla Firefox at home, aren’t you? Outlook doesn’t play nice with Firefox. Try it in Internet Explorer instead.” What do you know, she was right. She also suggested I ditch Outlook's calendar and go with Google’s instead… Dessert, good conversation and tech support--who new conference meals could be so much fun?
•Did you know that The National Library of Medicine’s Medline Plus makes a tremendous amount of material available in languages other than English, including Spanish and Russian? http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/languages.html
Their “Go Local” feature (soon to be available here in WA!) lets you find local resources concerning special topics such as breast cancer or autism. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/golocal/index.html
And yes, Medline Plus IS one of SCLD’s very own Web Picks! Health & Medicine, Government Sites. Go check it out these features now!
•And speaking of checking it out now (What are you waiting for? Do it!) http://www.parenthelp123.org/ is amazing! It’s one stop shopping for families to find health insurance, food assistance, unemployment benefits, and community resources for all their needs. The website is designed for CUSTOMERS (not professionals) and is exceedingly easy to use. I was especially intrigued by the childcare resources section, as our customers regularly ask us for recommendations. Gina (Sonia too?) attended the session they offered and got more details. Several of us picked up their display racks & brochures, too, so we should have enough for each branch. We promoted this one at SV's open house and it was very popular with customers. This is definitely a site to keep on our radar.
•I spoke with Baker & Taylor in the hopes of finding a source for Russian language youth materials. We could really use some Russian board books and picture books. Unfortunately, B&T’s “business model” doesn’t work in a way that’s allowed them to do much with Russian. They like to buy a publishing house/book jobber in the country and then use them for supply. They’ve only been able to find individual bookstores in Russia (ditto for us) but boy oh boy check out B&T’s new Chinese selection! The rep really, really, really wanted me to get on board with their Chinese standing order, despite my repeated protestations that we didn’t have much of a Chinese readership.
Talking with other librarians between sessions and during meals was interesting. I learned that being a union shop, King County uses their (extremely few) teen volunteers to dust shelves. That’s right, you read that correctly—to dust shelves. They’re not allowed to do anything a paid staff member might do, so no sorting, shelving, cleaning, etc. Every now and then they’re allowed to assist with Friends’ booksales but that’s about it. So much for my hopes of picking brains about what to do with teen volunteers…
I also learned over lunch why I’ve been unable to access my files from home through Outlook, despite the fact that our very own Aaron did my setup. Said my new friend from Sno-Isle with a sad and knowing look on her face: “You’re using Mozilla Firefox at home, aren’t you? Outlook doesn’t play nice with Firefox. Try it in Internet Explorer instead.” What do you know, she was right. She also suggested I ditch Outlook's calendar and go with Google’s instead… Dessert, good conversation and tech support--who new conference meals could be so much fun?
Podcasts and Videocasts
Podcasts and Videocasts, presented by Doris Munson from EWU, on Thursday was largely a waste of time. I’d hoped to learn how libraries were actually USING podcasting with their customers. Unfortunately, the presenter isn’t actually using them with her students. She was experimenting with podcasting and vidcasting (Yes, to me they’re vids, not videos. My fannish roots are showing. Live with it.) because she felt they were technologies she should be familiar with. (I’ve been experimenting too, for that very reason. 23 Things, anyone? I’ve got Audacity loaded on my new laptop and everything. But I want to know how experienced institutions are using podcasts & vidcasts, not amateurs.) Based on her samples, Doris started experimenting a mere two weeks prior to the presentation. When questioned about equipment specifics, she waffled and refused to make recommendations. Audience members contributed much more useful information. (Invest in a Flip, people. They're at http://www.theflip.com/. They retail for ~$ 150 and up and got rave reviews from the audience. The audience also suggested that if you don’t have a webcam or vidcam, save powerpoint frames as .jpegs and import them and scanned photos into moviemaker and make a movie of slides.) Doris really had no clear idea how these technologies would be used in a library setting and seemed to focus more on their social use.
She did demonstrate two sound recording programs, RecordPad (http://www.nch.com.au/recordpad/index.html) that retails for ~$50 (she quoted under $30 but the website disagrees) and Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) that anyone can download for free. She implied that Audacity was more difficult to use as it required downloading a separate plug-in in order to save files as mp3s. C’mon people—yes, it DOES need the extra plug-in. But the download site clearly identifies the plug in, explains why you want it, explains they can’t package it with Audacity for licensing reasons, and links you directly to the site where you can download the plug-in for FREE. It’s not rocket science.
She also demonstrated Debut Video Capture (available for free at http://www.nchsoftware.com/capture/index.html) and Windows Movie Maker which comes preloaded these days with Windows. I now have both on my new laptop, but haven’t yet had the chance to closely compare the two. (For the record, I HATE, HATE, HATE how I look on video and I look worse from the embedded webcam in my laptop. But I digress.)
My impression is that the presenter was largely unfamiliar with social networking tools in general. She spent over 15 minutes discussing and enthusing about how you could change the templates and fonts on PodBean (http://www.podbean.com/) a 3rd party hosting & subscription site. (It looks like they’re using Blogger templates, BTW.) FIFTEEN MINUTES of “look at the pretty colors.” Yes, you want the site where you’re hosting your materials to be attractive. And easy to use. But for our purposes, I doubt we’d bother to use a 3rd party site. If we’re creating podcasts, surely we’d be hosting them at our organization’s site? Sure, there are storage and bandwidth limitations to take into consideration. But I suspect we’ve got more space on our server than the free hosts…and if we go with a 3rd party site we lose our branding. Is it worth it to host elsewhere in the hopes of picking up subscribers who aren’t necessarily part of your customer base? In bandwidth savings? It all depends on what you’re using the podcasts and vidcasts for, and unfortunately, the presenter didn’t have a clear goal in mind.
Doris didn’t have a handout, naturally. She did recommend Voices.com for a sample script of how to script your podcast, but I couldn’t find one there. Weirdly enough, I later found the Voices podcasting guide through an ad on Podbean. (That’s probably how Doris found it, too.) It’s here, and it’s free for the downloading. It’s not bad, but for anyone who’d like to know more about podcasting, I’d suggest checking out ALA’s Teen Tech Guide “Teens Podcasting @ Your Library”, found here: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teentechweek/ttw08/resourcesabcd/techguide_podcast.pdf. It provides a more thorough, technical, and practical overview of podcasting than this session.
She did demonstrate two sound recording programs, RecordPad (http://www.nch.com.au/recordpad/index.html) that retails for ~$50 (she quoted under $30 but the website disagrees) and Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) that anyone can download for free. She implied that Audacity was more difficult to use as it required downloading a separate plug-in in order to save files as mp3s. C’mon people—yes, it DOES need the extra plug-in. But the download site clearly identifies the plug in, explains why you want it, explains they can’t package it with Audacity for licensing reasons, and links you directly to the site where you can download the plug-in for FREE. It’s not rocket science.
She also demonstrated Debut Video Capture (available for free at http://www.nchsoftware.com/capture/index.html) and Windows Movie Maker which comes preloaded these days with Windows. I now have both on my new laptop, but haven’t yet had the chance to closely compare the two. (For the record, I HATE, HATE, HATE how I look on video and I look worse from the embedded webcam in my laptop. But I digress.)
My impression is that the presenter was largely unfamiliar with social networking tools in general. She spent over 15 minutes discussing and enthusing about how you could change the templates and fonts on PodBean (http://www.podbean.com/) a 3rd party hosting & subscription site. (It looks like they’re using Blogger templates, BTW.) FIFTEEN MINUTES of “look at the pretty colors.” Yes, you want the site where you’re hosting your materials to be attractive. And easy to use. But for our purposes, I doubt we’d bother to use a 3rd party site. If we’re creating podcasts, surely we’d be hosting them at our organization’s site? Sure, there are storage and bandwidth limitations to take into consideration. But I suspect we’ve got more space on our server than the free hosts…and if we go with a 3rd party site we lose our branding. Is it worth it to host elsewhere in the hopes of picking up subscribers who aren’t necessarily part of your customer base? In bandwidth savings? It all depends on what you’re using the podcasts and vidcasts for, and unfortunately, the presenter didn’t have a clear goal in mind.
Doris didn’t have a handout, naturally. She did recommend Voices.com for a sample script of how to script your podcast, but I couldn’t find one there. Weirdly enough, I later found the Voices podcasting guide through an ad on Podbean. (That’s probably how Doris found it, too.) It’s here, and it’s free for the downloading. It’s not bad, but for anyone who’d like to know more about podcasting, I’d suggest checking out ALA’s Teen Tech Guide “Teens Podcasting @ Your Library”, found here: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teentechweek/ttw08/resourcesabcd/techguide_podcast.pdf. It provides a more thorough, technical, and practical overview of podcasting than this session.
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