Friday, September 14, 2007
Teen Activism
Youth Noise is offering teen grassroots activist conferences/parties around the country.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Born to Read- Peaceable Stories Seminar starting Sept 19
There are still spaces available for the peaceable stories program in South Portland starting Wednesday, September 19. The seminar will have a Peaceable Stories theme, so the twelve children's books that participants receive include titles like The Story of Ferdinand and When Sophie Gets Angry...Really, Really Angry. Our wonderful facilitators, Vicky Smith and Janet Lyons, will lend their wit, energy, and insight to the discussions. The seminar works out to 15 hours, and 1.5 CEUs are available.
There is a registration form available here: (feel free to call if you have trouble accessing the form - and please ignore the deadline).
Thank you so much!
Brita
Brita Kate Zitin
Born to Read Program Officer
Maine Humanities Council
674 Brighton Avenue
Portland, Maine 04102
There is a registration form available here: (feel free to call if you have trouble accessing the form - and please ignore the deadline).
Thank you so much!
Brita
Brita Kate Zitin
Born to Read Program Officer
Maine Humanities Council
674 Brighton Avenue
Portland, Maine 04102
Monday, September 10, 2007
Kids, Service, Books
Kate and I stumbled on 2 lovely picture books last night that address service in understated ways. The first, Pumpkins, by Mary Lou Ray is a story about a man who wants to save a field. He does so by growing and selling pumpkins around the world -- it has a bit of magic and wonder and prompted a great discussion about how people can solve problems and help the land and others in creative ways. Plus, it was about pumpkins, which is a hot topic around here right now.
The second book, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, is a classic, but it was the first time Kate really listened intently. This story traces Alice Rumphius's life -- Kate was intrigued by her aging process -- as she goes about 1) living in far away places, 2) living by the sea, and 3) making the world more beautiful. The book challenges all of us to really think about our place and purpose in the world, and it is really fun to discuss ideas of beauty with a small person.
The second book, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, is a classic, but it was the first time Kate really listened intently. This story traces Alice Rumphius's life -- Kate was intrigued by her aging process -- as she goes about 1) living in far away places, 2) living by the sea, and 3) making the world more beautiful. The book challenges all of us to really think about our place and purpose in the world, and it is really fun to discuss ideas of beauty with a small person.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Bullying Prevention Resources
Maine commissioned a study group to assemble a report for best practices in bullying prevention in 2006. The site includes a lot of resources for schools and communities and emphasizes the importance of SEL and diversity awareness as elements of prevention.
LGBTQ resources
Children's media -- books included -- are significant sources of socialization. Kids learn the unspoken norms of culture by watching. Unfortunately, most media depicts very heterogeneous families. Furthermore, the creepy early-sexualization of girls emphasizes heterosexual romance as the pinnacle event of a girls life. It takes intentionality to open up the possibility that romance, love and family is expressed in a huge range of ways. However, the books don't have to pedantic (in fact, they shouldn't be) - - Everywhere Babies is my favorite -- a board book about the daily life of babies that mixes in images of all kinds of families.
Two Lives Publishing specializes in books for LGBTQ families -- they publish a baby book (journal) which looks beautiful. The online catalog allows browsing by age of intended reader and also has a section for schools. (An alternative baby book, The Making of Me, also looks wonderful and has gender-neutral language).
Mountainmeadow provides a booklist for children with LGBTQ parents, but these books (for children ages 2 - 12) would be great for all kids. (They also have a list for teens and young adults)
Rainbow Rumpus is a magazine for kids with LGBTQ parents and also has a resource page for parents -- many of the same books are reviewed here.
The Center for Children's Books has a bibliography through 2004 and many links. (This bibliography is unfortunately not annotated, but the newer ones are).
Resources for Schools / Teachers
Hardy Girls, Healthy Women produced Ugly Ducklings: a film "designed to educate and inspire people to take action against bias-based bullying and harassment gay and lesbian youth." The film is FREE for all Maine school districts and is available for purchase nationwide. They provide links for hate violence and suicide prevention.
The Safe Schools Coalition provides links to curricula, books, etc for different age ranges.
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network is one of the most established national organizations, provides resources for LGBTQ teachers and students and for increasing diversity education in schools.
Frameline produces and distributes films, including many made by/for youth (7th grade and up)
Maine Resources
Equality Maine is the leading activist organization in the state. Check with them for up-to-date information, actions and speakers, etc.
The Maine SpeakOut Project: "The mission of the Maine Speakout Project is to create a society that is inclusive and respectful of people of differing sexual and gender orientations by providing opportunities for non-divisive dialogue."
Two Lives Publishing specializes in books for LGBTQ families -- they publish a baby book (journal) which looks beautiful. The online catalog allows browsing by age of intended reader and also has a section for schools. (An alternative baby book, The Making of Me, also looks wonderful and has gender-neutral language).
Mountainmeadow provides a booklist for children with LGBTQ parents, but these books (for children ages 2 - 12) would be great for all kids. (They also have a list for teens and young adults)
Rainbow Rumpus is a magazine for kids with LGBTQ parents and also has a resource page for parents -- many of the same books are reviewed here.
The Center for Children's Books has a bibliography through 2004 and many links. (This bibliography is unfortunately not annotated, but the newer ones are).
Resources for Schools / Teachers
Hardy Girls, Healthy Women produced Ugly Ducklings: a film "designed to educate and inspire people to take action against bias-based bullying and harassment gay and lesbian youth." The film is FREE for all Maine school districts and is available for purchase nationwide. They provide links for hate violence and suicide prevention.
The Safe Schools Coalition provides links to curricula, books, etc for different age ranges.
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network is one of the most established national organizations, provides resources for LGBTQ teachers and students and for increasing diversity education in schools.
Frameline produces and distributes films, including many made by/for youth (7th grade and up)
Maine Resources
Equality Maine is the leading activist organization in the state. Check with them for up-to-date information, actions and speakers, etc.
The Maine SpeakOut Project: "The mission of the Maine Speakout Project is to create a society that is inclusive and respectful of people of differing sexual and gender orientations by providing opportunities for non-divisive dialogue."
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Girls, Pt 2
Lyn Michel Brown has authored several really important books for thinking about girls development. Girlfighting is one of many books that address relational aggression among girls (the idea that girls fight with words and exclusive behaviors) however she approaches it with a keen feminist perspective. Brown argues that sexism disempowers girls from knowing /naming the people and institutions that they are really mad at. It is often unsafe to express anger toward a more powerful target and without literacy around the idea of sexism a girl might not even know that her sense that things aren't fair has historical and cultural and structural dimensions. Instead she blames herself, blames being a "girl" or blames/puts-down other girls and women as a way of gaining power or distancing herself from girlhood. Brown helped to establish the non-profit Hardy Girls, Healthy Women as a way of developing a space for girls to both live more fully, live in connection with other girls, and begin examining the messages that they get about gender through a critical lens.
Brown recently wrote, with co-author Sharon Lamb, a book that keeps me up at night. Packaging Girlhood analyzes the ways that the media shapes the message that girls, boys and adults all get about what it means to be a girl today. They find that girls have a very narrow range of "acceptable" choices -- movies, books, ads, television, etc. come together to present an image of girlhood that is either "for the boys" or "one of the boys." For all of us who came of age before text-messaging and ipods, the explanation of viral marketing is hugely important. They also provide some ideas about how to teach girls to become more critical consumers (step 1 - start with ourselves).
Some of my friends felt that there was a "selection bias" to the text - that the authors found what they were looking for. The book was written for a popular audience so there isn't an in-depth methods section to analyze. However, I think that even if that is true, the astonishing amount of similar images that occur in popular media are going to have an impact on our consciousness and consumer behaviors, even if there are also alternative images available to us.
If you get the chance to see a presentation about this material, do it! This is a visual project and the images matter and are compelling when viewed in and out of context. Keep up with the latest on their blog.
Lyn Michel Brown will be featured at two local conferences this fall.
In Portland, HGHW offers :
Beyond Bully Prevention: Strategies That Work
Join us November 5, 2007 in Portland, Maine for a cutting-edge conference: Beyond Bully Prevention: Strategies that Work. Designed for teachers, school counselors, school social workers, administrators, and all adults who work with youth; this conference moves beyond popular notions of bully prevention that overlook school expereinces that make children and adolescents feel unsafe.The conference brings together experts in the field of adolescent development to discuss bullying as an educational hindrance and work out strategies to address the social factors that produce it.
Workshop topics will include girlfighting/ building girl allies, relationships between stereotypical masculinity, violence and boys' academic success, bias-based harassment of GLBTQ youth, the effects of sexist and racist media messages, the impact of poverty and social class on students' school experiences, and the misuse of technology and cyber-bullying.
and in November, the University of New Hampshire is offering:
Special One-Day Conference
IMAGES IN THE MEDIA,
GIRLFIGHTING, HORMONES & MORE
Tackling Gender Issues
Facing Teens & Pre-Teens
Brown recently wrote, with co-author Sharon Lamb, a book that keeps me up at night. Packaging Girlhood analyzes the ways that the media shapes the message that girls, boys and adults all get about what it means to be a girl today. They find that girls have a very narrow range of "acceptable" choices -- movies, books, ads, television, etc. come together to present an image of girlhood that is either "for the boys" or "one of the boys." For all of us who came of age before text-messaging and ipods, the explanation of viral marketing is hugely important. They also provide some ideas about how to teach girls to become more critical consumers (step 1 - start with ourselves).
Some of my friends felt that there was a "selection bias" to the text - that the authors found what they were looking for. The book was written for a popular audience so there isn't an in-depth methods section to analyze. However, I think that even if that is true, the astonishing amount of similar images that occur in popular media are going to have an impact on our consciousness and consumer behaviors, even if there are also alternative images available to us.
If you get the chance to see a presentation about this material, do it! This is a visual project and the images matter and are compelling when viewed in and out of context. Keep up with the latest on their blog.
Lyn Michel Brown will be featured at two local conferences this fall.
In Portland, HGHW offers :
Beyond Bully Prevention: Strategies That Work
Join us November 5, 2007 in Portland, Maine for a cutting-edge conference: Beyond Bully Prevention: Strategies that Work. Designed for teachers, school counselors, school social workers, administrators, and all adults who work with youth; this conference moves beyond popular notions of bully prevention that overlook school expereinces that make children and adolescents feel unsafe.The conference brings together experts in the field of adolescent development to discuss bullying as an educational hindrance and work out strategies to address the social factors that produce it.
Workshop topics will include girlfighting/ building girl allies, relationships between stereotypical masculinity, violence and boys' academic success, bias-based harassment of GLBTQ youth, the effects of sexist and racist media messages, the impact of poverty and social class on students' school experiences, and the misuse of technology and cyber-bullying.
and in November, the University of New Hampshire is offering:
Special One-Day Conference
IMAGES IN THE MEDIA,
GIRLFIGHTING, HORMONES & MORE
Tackling Gender Issues
Facing Teens & Pre-Teens
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Peaceful Piggy Meditation
We are traveling this week and have been enjoying bookstore stops along our way. We picked up "Peaceful Piggy Meditation" -- a book that was introduced to us in Grace's first grade classroom last year and seemed useful for helping us all handle the challenges of travel. Unfortunately, the book does not hold Kate's attention as much as her other choice : A Fine, Fine School but both deliver great messages.
Peaceful Piggy Meditation, by Kerry Lee MacLean, is written both for children and their caregivers and provides ideas about how and why we should create intentional space for relaxation and reflection. The web site offers an online meditation to follow.
A Fine, Fine School, by Sharon Creech, portrays an overzealous principal who wishes to keep children and teachers in school 24/7 until a wise child talks him down (the illustrations are especially humorous). This book reminds me of Take Time to Relax, by Nancy Carlson, which similarly reminds us of the joys in unstructured time.
There are copies of both books on sale at BookCloseOuts right now - for some reason Take Time to Relax is not on Carlson's web pages, but most of her books feature an element of SEL and they're all very fun. We've especially liked "I LIKE ME" which encourages us all to say nice things about ourselves, "Harriet and the Garden" which encourages problem solving and dealing with mistakes, "It's Going to Be Perfect" about the gap between a new mother's ideas about early childhood/parenting and the realities, and "A Visit to Grandma's" about how a grandmother can break-out of traditional roles.
Peaceful Piggy Meditation, by Kerry Lee MacLean, is written both for children and their caregivers and provides ideas about how and why we should create intentional space for relaxation and reflection. The web site offers an online meditation to follow.
A Fine, Fine School, by Sharon Creech, portrays an overzealous principal who wishes to keep children and teachers in school 24/7 until a wise child talks him down (the illustrations are especially humorous). This book reminds me of Take Time to Relax, by Nancy Carlson, which similarly reminds us of the joys in unstructured time.
There are copies of both books on sale at BookCloseOuts right now - for some reason Take Time to Relax is not on Carlson's web pages, but most of her books feature an element of SEL and they're all very fun. We've especially liked "I LIKE ME" which encourages us all to say nice things about ourselves, "Harriet and the Garden" which encourages problem solving and dealing with mistakes, "It's Going to Be Perfect" about the gap between a new mother's ideas about early childhood/parenting and the realities, and "A Visit to Grandma's" about how a grandmother can break-out of traditional roles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
