Self-Expression as an educational tool

I was a bit confused at first about why Peeps:A Candy-Coated Tale and PostSecret:Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives would fall under the week for "Commitment to Learning" but reading them in tandem with the Lenters article and all while doing research for the developmental asset project shed some light on the issue...Jess and I are investigating opportunities for young adults in the North Adams area to feel empowered through self-expression and creative outlets, this I thought would be a more appropriate tie-in for the books on this weeks list. After talking with a teen and adult involved in a local "performance and creative outlet project" (I don't want to give too much away before our presentation) it became quite clear that offering opportunities for self-expression (creative writing, song writing and performance choreography, etc.) is indeed a powerful learning tool. All of the developmental assets overlap of course and different external and internal assets can be applied for a common end result but the 2 books for class clearly reflected the ability to achieve motivation and engagement using constructive learning tools that also value creativity and self-expression and are therefore empowering.

I loved how PostSecret gave the participant concrete instructions with parameters that included and encouraged creative liberties, this project employed both critical thinking and problem-solving challenges along with the opportunity to be unique and express individual emotion. It is a project that appeals to all learning styles and interests because of the freedom to be straightforward or profound, polished or edgy, no answer is a wrong answer. It speaks directly to the issues raised in Lenter's "Resistance, struggle, and the adolescent reader" article, addressing the lack of interest and identification in more commonly assigned school work. PostSecret is an amazing read for a young adult who can learn from diverse teens' confessions and also directly relate to those contributors who share and therefore validate their own confessions. The teen I spoke with about her experience in the local creative writing workshop appreciated the opportunity to have a time and place to write freely without anyone telling her what to write about and the opportunity to share her work in a non-judgemental environment where she wasn't stressed about being "graded". PostSecret represents that same "place" only on a broader scale-and definitely meets the criteria for "commitment to learning"!

Peeps was a fun read, that made me laugh, made me hungry and reminded me of a similar assignment that a teacher friend did for her 7th grade class...she had the students collect data using any candy of their choice that is packaged with a variety of colors/flavors. It involved all the usual math curriculum framework components to have the students figure out the means, averages, percentages and then tied in a writing component which had the students use their statistical analysis to write (in business letter format) a summary of their findings to the candy manufacturer requesting answers to critical analysis questions that presented themselves based on the research (ie: are their 27% more red skittles per package because those are the consumers favorite or because red dyes are cheaper than having to mix red and blue dye to make purple skittles...) it was an amazingly involved project that engaged the students and taught them so much in the process. Peeps is like that for me, it is a story, a mystery that involves candy (who doesn't LOVE candy), it is eye-catching and creative, it references current icons and issues and it is funny! This is something that I believe would appeal to resistant or any readers who wanted a break from "agency" controlled reading and again I feel that the unique art and writing plus the creative measures employed in the making of this book would meet the assessment for commitment to learning since it would surely engage and motivate young adult readers for pleasure.

There is already so much valuable information that I can glean from the developmental assets paper research, I have learned that there are teens out there craving an opportunity to have their thoughts and creative expressions validated - they want to own their work and then share it with others who respect their voice. The readings this week have given me examples of materials that help to promote this goal, they value a commitment to the students' academic and creative achievements and together they motivate all types of students to read, write, think and learn!

Optimism Observed

I was pleasantly surprised by the YA collection at my local library...I remember telling someone in class awhile back that I had never been in the YA room and she said "that's good, the teens probably appreciate that"! When I learned though that the YA room doubles as the public library's computer lab and I also had an "assigned" reason for entering I felt safe to scope it out.

The fiction section displays the titles alphabetically by author and actually holds most of the titles included on our class reading list-I was impressed with the currency of the books and didn't feel like it was in dire need of being weeded. The collection is small but all the books and resources are clearly marked with yellow "YA" stickers to denote the audience. The fiction books subtly run into the non-fiction books and shelves housing materials ranging from travel, sudoku puzzles, eating disorders, to yoga-a strange layout apparently categorized by "subject"- but it seems a bit blase about where books lie within those subjects. I was happy to see such a range of needs and interests being met and I understand the space and shelving issues, but it is odd to see a "self-help" book like Battling Bulimia next to a Beginners Guide to Feng Shui...at least they're out there right?!

I was happy to see an entire wall devoted to music in the YA room and, despite the very dated cassette and Cd stereo unit with BIG (not Bose cushy big - but hearing test big) headphones, a couple of comfy chairs in that corner of the room to invite the teens to come in and sample music or the extensive audio book selection. There were also music anthologies and bibliographical and sheet music books available for all genres from classical, classic rock, hip hop and more! They had music oriented magazines, some play away units with instructions/invitations for borrowers and a wealth of Cd's-I'm going back, I really never knew that existed in my quiet little library!

Another wall consisted of "media selections" including a diverse array of magazines (the few graphic novels for YA's were included in this section which struck me as odd-it seems as if they are considered "magazines" rather than books) and computer software, information regarding reference sites and books about setting up web pages and blogging...it made me wish we had the old card in the back with the dates stamped inside the pocket so I could see if these materials were being checked out or not. There are A LOT of helpful and current resources at this library and I only hope they are being utilized so that they continue to be updated and offered. Sharing the "media selections" wall were the reference books- they left something to be desired...some old sets of encyclopedias and a newer version of reference books regarding religion, the saving grace to this tattered and outdated collection was a brightly colored sign explaining that the library has access to Encyclopedia Britannica on-line with instructions of how to use it within the computer lab-phew!
I was also psyched to see a bulletin board by the door offering book suggestions from "The Wakefield Public Library" (I'll have to check them out...) divided by genre and also a pen hanging from a string begging teens to suggest or request any materials to peers or library staff. Although there were no takers on the book or software sheets, lots of teens weighed in on requests for cds and the librarians follow through by writing in when the Cd was ordered and then again (with a smiley face sticker) when it is in-yippee!

So this was a long, boring, yet informational synopsis of my observations and new found obsession with the YA room at my local library-I will be careful to use it when I know "real teens" are tucked in at their school desks as to not invade their personal space!

Worlds Collide on the Beach

I'm not trying to rub it in that I'm spending two weeks on the beach in Puerto Rico with 30 of my closest family and friends (pina colada anyone!), I'm just sharing my observations of my mini case study...I'm here with a diverse group including sibling pairs from Medway, MA and Puducah, TX which presents an interesting opportunity for young adult interactions. The 9 and 12 year olds from MA attend a private school outside of Boston where their parents teach and are inundated with social and school related technology devices. The 11 and 15 year olds from TX attend a public school with 20 students per grade and live on a ranch where their Mom stays home and their Dad works for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Association. They are all amazing, kind, honest and fun-loving young adults who share a family tree but not much else!

We were talking about school and homework and I learned that although both schools have computers to use for research and projects, the Medway kids also use computers for social networking (the 9 year old boy exchanges information on-line with his friends about their "webkins" while the 12 year old girl has her own facebook account), they both said they are on-line several times a day between home and school. The Paducah girls do not have e-mail access from school (it is blocked) and have no computer at home but talked about using the internet for school projects under their teachers' guidance.

It was the Medway kids who seemed surprised and incredulous about their differences, asking their cousins how they talked to their friends after school or now while they were away. My Paducah neices explained that they hang out with their friends after school through 4-H or by going home from school with one another and Kylie (age 11) showed us a package she was sending a friend in Paducah with pictures, shells, an umbrella from a drink and get this---a hand written letter!

For his preschool class homework my son Connor is supposed to journal on-line (I am to type his narration into a template e-mailed by the teacher) but we were so inspired by Kylie's package that we are making an executive decision to change the assignment! Instead of typing, I have printed out the template and Connor (with the help of his creative cousins) is drawing pictures of the beach, gluing treasures on the paper to make a collage and handwriting letters to recount his trip. Our Medway cousins have joined in and are making scrapbooks to show their friends and teachers too!

We aren't taking a complete vacation from technology though because the Medway cousins are helping their Paducah kin to set up webkin and facebook accounts that they can check on the computers available at their public library, and we are all getting "better connected" and learning so much from one another!

Rules of Responsibility

I wanted to weigh in on the readings for March 10th since I wasn't in class-I know that as a long retired young adult my opinion doesn't count anymore but I have to congratulate myself on finishing the book Paranoid Park because it was a struggle. The problem for me was an inability to to connect to any of the characters-the nameless character and his whiney girlfriend failed to engage me (the plot developed while leaving the main characters behind) and even as what should have been an intriguing plot unfolded I was simply bored. I have not read any other works by Blake Nelson so it's not totally fair to judge-but I just wondered how would a teen stay interested in such a slow moving story? Anyway, one aspect that I did deem from this book (and the unresolved ending leaves a lot of openings for further discussion) was that a parent/teacher/librarian could use it as a tool for a conversation about responsibility. I believe that Paranoid Park raised important issues regarding a young person's struggle with independence versus asking for help-who do I ask, who can I ask, what are the rules or consequences-and perhaps a teen could relate with the skateboarder character's dilema to make the right choice in a difficult and unguided situation.

The subject of responsibility is tied too with the readings about copy written material and secrecy within on-line social networks. I think a similar (remove the death from the equation) dilema is posed to teens when confronted with endless opportunities to access on-line content which meets their wants and needs but do not quite understand the boundaries of legality-why is it out there if it's not allowed, other people do it so why shouldn't I, lots of adults do it too- it is a hard and confusing choice to make.

The same rings true for teens facing responsibility issues in their social networks on-line. The boundaries are fuzzy and although the companies claim to "put the power in [their] users' hands to make choices about how they reveal information" (Chris Kelly, DOPA) the consequences of good versus poor choices made concerning privacy and safety by even the most savvy teen given so much responsibility can haunt them for the rest of their life---see Paranoid Park for details.