Two weeks of classes and one week of finals and then it's all over.  I cannot believe how this semester has flown by.  The book club is technically over now--though just last week we added a whole bunch of new discussion posts from the FRCC Fort Collins, and we will be keeping it up and running until May.  The writing workshops have finished up as well.  As far as the publication goes, that is still up in the air as we have not received anything that definite from the workshop participants.  We tossed around the idea of doing a small-scale one for the classes Amanda visited at Lincoln Junior High, and then putting whatever we receive from the community participants on the web as an electronic publication--we'd add links to both our websites and hopefully the public library website as well.

Amanda and I are currently working on a list of the top 10 things we want to recommend changing, revising, adding, or enhancing for next year's IGLP.  This is particularly important for the writing component since turnout was so low.  But as the second year of the program, we learned a lot--both from things we changed and from watching how things changed naturally from one year to the next.  Now it's time to turn my attention to the book drive we're sponsoring for CORE (this will officially begin in May when we get to use the display case in Eddy), as well as my research project.

We shared our literacy articles in the meeting last week and discussed where we are each heading with our projects.  I've been struggling all semester because my overall topic is so big and I keep changing the different ways I want to narrow it down.  My article was on a comprehensive compilation of data and statistics on internet use in the classroom and at home for elementary, middle, and high school students.  Though a bit dated, there was a wealth of information, and it raised a lot of important issues--such as whether gender plays a role or not, and how even those with access to the internet may not be having the best experiences with it depending on how they are being instructed.  The other articles that have most captured my attention thus far include a couple that suggest maybe increased computer and internet instruction is not the best path to take--unless the right questions are asked for why we're doing this, and the right motives are at work behind the action.  Also, I found an interesting one on the connections between computer and internet instruction in the classroom and how this affects students when they enter the job force.

Tobi suggested that I set up interviews with the ELTC and FRCC Loveland to discuss the impact of computers in education.  The ELTC has an extensive collection of computers and I could ask how much they are used, in what context, what sort of classes are offered, what sort of instruction is given, etc.  FRCC Loveland in contrast, does not have computer access and I could ask questions concerning how this impacts the students.  So I'll be working on these interviews over the next couple weeks and incorporating it into my research on technology literacy.

We offered our 5th and final writing workshop yesterday at the Harmony Library.  And even though turnout was really small again, it was a great workshop nonetheless.  We had three participants and it went really well.  We talked and joked and shared what we wrote and it was a lot of fun.  We did a lot of poetry-type writing and I think that those kinds of prompts are really effective for writing workshops.  I think that poetry can sound intimidating, especially if a person doesn't write it very often or have experience with it.  But we chose really simply poetry prompts and because they are simple and the choices are so open, it becomes a really easy way to write.  We started with acrostic name poems and moved from there to haiku and then used the "Famous" poem we had talked about at our last meeting.  We finished with journey theme questions.

Amanda and I spoke yesterday about our concerns for the publication.  It's halfway through April already, and we gave May as the deadline for accepting submissions.  And unfortunately, we've only managed to get a few things--certainly not enough for a publication.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a bunch of last-minute submissions, but I'm afraid of the decision we'll have to make if we don't get anything.

As a result of this conversation, Amanda and I also spoke about the low turnout in general.  We're not sure what the reasons necessarily are, but we have a few ideas.  I listed these in my last blog, but I'll write about them again here to keep them all together.  First of all, I think that next year it may be wise to return to requiring registration for the workshops.  This holds people accountable and also it allows for the opportunity of sending out reminders.  Also, I think it may help to have consistent times and locations--perhaps stick to one or two different places at the most and strive for similar or same days and times.  This makes it easy for participants to keep track and stay committed because they can plan for it better.  Finally, I think that we did a really good job getting the word out early (with the exception of the IGLP website because we did forget about that  until the workshops were starting and we also forgot to put the information on the CLC website at all), but we didn't really follow upas it got closer to the workshops' dates.  So I think next year it would help to advertise even more--perhaps putting something in the Coloradoan and also putting up posters in more locations.     

I checked the IGLP website and the good news there is that we're still getting posts.  There are a lot of new ones for "Holes," and a few for the other books as well.  So even though the posting has been slow and intermittent, it's still going and we have gotten quite a few for some of the books. 

The Internship applications are going out slowly but surely.  We've emailed a handful and we put them in all the teachers boxes here in Eddy.  As far as I know, none have come back yet, but the deadline is also still two weeks away, so I think we'll be fine.

Other than that, it's business as usual here in the CLC.  Things are winding down with the end of the semester.

There have been two writing workshops since I last blogged.  However, the bad news is that the one at RAL was cancelled because no one showed up and the one at the ELTC only had a single participant!  To be honest, it is a little discouraging that turnout is so low or nonexistant.  But I was speaking with the woman who came to last night's workshop at the ELTC and she had some ideas why this might be.  Our rationale for having different times and locations was to draw a varied crowd, as well as give participants different opportunities that may be more conducive with their schedule or where they live, work, etc.  As a result though, we sacrificed continuity and convenience by always being in the same place at the same time.  So this is definitely something to consider for next year.  Perhaps having a consistent writing environment will be the better route to go.  Also, based on the numbers for this year, it may be wise to return to registration rather than just leaving it as an open invitation.

Since I last blogged I've been working on article research and reading the articles of Amanda and Emily--both of which were incredibly interesting articles.  I've also been doing some WMP work and posting responses from the LCDC on the IGLP website.  Our numbers are going up on that and it's good to see that although the book club is more or less finishing up, people are continuing to post.

Last night, after the Writing Workshop at the ELTC, I went to the TEFL Advocacy Week fair.  I had a table there to promote the CLC to students studying English as a second language.  Last night was the last night of events and the turnout was small.   I only spoke to a handful of people.  Also, unfortunately, most of our materials--at least in regard to what I took with me--is geared more for people with English as their first language.  And since the IGLP is just wrapping up and won't be starting again until next January, I could only promote it so much.  So while it was a good experience and good exposure, I'm not sure how successful it was.  Part of it of course was the turnout.  But the other key factor was definitely that I didn't really have the most appropriate literature to disseminate. 

Amanda and I offered our second Writing Workshop on Saturday at the Old Town Public Library.  I wasn't sure what to expect for turnout.  One the one hand, it was a beautiful weekend morning so I was worried that many people would prefer to enjoy their time outside.  However, I was hoping that since we were offering this one at a higher profile location, we might get a better turnout.  Good news is that our numbers were up.  Bad news is that it wasn't by much.  But we'll take our successes anywhere we can and I'm happy to report that we had a great workshop with five participants--including one father/daughter team.  This week we incorporated some poetry prompts into the mix and I think that they went over well.  We found a couple autobiographical poem prompts on the internet and we used these, in addition to some of the other prompts we had on file.  Though nobody has submitted any work yet, we're hoping to see some emailed in.  It seemed that all the writers were really excited about the opportunity, and we did get signed "Permission to Publish" forms from everyone.  I think our problem may be that we are too generous with time and saying that they have the freedom to submit whenever.  I think it will be wise for us to send out reminder emails to all the participants.

Our next Writing Workshop is tomorrow in the RAL Lounge.  I'll be talking this one myself while Amanda leads workshops at Lincoln High this week.  My theme of this workshop is a very visual one and I'll be incorporating a lot of images--postcards, magazine clippings, photographs, etc.  I hope that this will keep the writing fun and interesting.

I'm still working on researching for a good literacy article.  The more work I do, the more I realize something that I didn't at first.  Initially, I thought that there was a lot of recent writing on the issue of technology and literacy.  And while that's sort of true--I'm still finding some recent articles--most of the work I'm finding is somewhat dated.  There are a ton of articles from the mid to late nineties.  And while this isn't that long ago, I'm concerned that with the speed with which technology changes, these articles may be too old to be as applicable and practical as they could.  But I'm still checking into it. 

Guess that's all for now.  Happy April!

Amanda and I gave our first writing workshop last Tuesday at University Village.  Although our numbers were very small--we had only three participants--it went well nonetheless I think.  We began with introductions and speaking a little bit about the CLC and the IGLP, as well as brainstorming techniques.  Then we wrote.  We started with a prompt about spring to get warmed up--it consisted simply of listing any words, images, or ideas that are connected to that topic.  Then we worked through five five-minute prompts ranging from inventing a new holiday to discussing rights to spending $100,000 (without spending it on yourself).  After that, we offered two longer prompts--about 15 minutes--on journey themes.  Then it was time for closing remarks--revising, submitting, publishing, etc.  We haven't received any work from the participants but they all signed the permission to publish form and seem genuinely interested in the workshops and publication. 

Later in the week I worked on creating Word document equivalents to the discussion portion of the website to send to Sondra Merk at FRCC Loveland.  She requested these so that she could show her class, get them to write their own responses, and then send them back to us to post online.  This is exciting because hopefully it will increase our posts on the website.  Because although we do have some new ones--including three from the LCDC, most questions have only one or two posts (and some don't have any posts from outside the test ones yet!).  I think that next year it would be incredibly wise and helpful to offer this alternative to teachers right away.  Let them know that if they get their students to print responses, we would be more than willing and happy to post them for them. 

I also revisted the essays I was writing about in my last blog entry.  They're decent essays and I think that both offer a lot of interesting insight, but I'm not sure they'll be the ones I submit for the group to read.  I may keep looking.  For one thing, the dated aspect of each really became more apparent as I was reading through them again.  And for another, they really only address the framework and background information on the issue, rather than offering much in the way of change or making progress with it.

One of the bigger jobs I tackled was compiling a list of changes, improvements, and ideas to remember for next year for the CLC and the IGLP in particular.  I went back through all the meeting minutes and did a little brainstorming and created a document of all the things that we have changed, implemented, or thought about including this year.  It's kind of like a cheat sheet for next year's interns.  Hopefully it will be helpful!  The format may need some tweaking to be more first-timer friendly, but the content is pretty solid I would like to think.  I'll present it at the meeting tomorrow and get some more insight and ideas for things to include.  It's particularly lacking in the area of Speak Out! so if Emily has anything to add, I'll be sure to include that as well. 

Today I've been working on that list again, as well as writing up the plans for the next two Writing Workshops--they'll be at the Old Town Public Library on Saturday, March 31 and in the RAL Lounge on Tuesday, April 3 so it was time to start brainstorming.  Both will include longer prompt topics on the theme of "Journey."  But the first one will also incorporate poetry this time around, and the second one is going to focus on images and writing about pictures, etc.  We want each workshop to be markedly different so that they stay new and interesting for any repeat participants and so that the material we receive for the publication will be varied and represent the diversity of the community. 

Tomorrow is officially the first day of Spring!!  Yay!  Not only does that mean sunnier, warmer weather on the way, but it also means the start of the IGLP's Writing Workshops.  Tomorrow is officially our first workshop.  We will be hosting it at University Village from 7pm-8:30pm.  Amanda and I will be meeting tomorrow to finalize all our plans for it.  It will sort of be our guniea pig lesson and I think that we'll learn very quickly what works and what doesn't and it will be a good opportunity to figure out how we want to run the rest of the workshops.

Spring Break was last week so I don't have too much to report just now.  I wrote up the most recent meeting minutes and did some research for my project--particularly looking for an article on literacy to share with the group.  I found two promising articles so far and I'm going to look at them a little more thoroughly and then make my choice.  Both articles are unfortunately a little dated--one first appeared in 1991 and the other is from 1999.  Regardless, they still seem applicable and interesting to me. 

The first article is from the book, "Literacy, Technology, and Society: Confronting the Issues," a compilation of essays and articles prepared by Cynthia L. Selfe and Gail E. Hawisher.  It is written by Michael Apple, and entitled "The New Technology: Is it Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem in Education?"  I chose this article because it takes a devil's advocate approach to computers in the classroom and I appreciated seeing the other side of the argument.  Most of the information I have come across so far covers the information gap in classrooms or how to incorporate computers and technology into the classroom.  But this article addresses the "why" of the issue and asks if we are focusing on the computer and technology issue for the right reasons.  Apple focuses on the ethical implications of bringing computers in the classroom and though this article is considerably dated--about 15 years old, I think the  questions he raises linger today and are still critical to the issue.

The second article is also from Cynthia L. Selfe.  I found it in her book, "Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century: The Importance of Paying Attention," in the final section of the book.  The article is entitled "Paying Attention to Technology, Learning about Literacy."  In this article, she asks the questions, "So how do we undertake a process of making change?  And where can we begin?"  And she proceeds to answer these questions by instructing her readers that "paying attention" is the first step--"paying attention to the unfamiliar subject of technology."  She then offers four lessons ("Lesson #1: Remembering the Truth about Large-Scale Literacy Projects and the Myth of Literacy"; "Lesson #2: Literacy Education is a Political Act"; "Lesson #3: Acquiring a Technological Understanding of the World"; "Lesson #4: Recognizing Our Own Role in Technological Literacy and the Literacy/Illiteracy Cycle"), and concludes by explaining how important it is to view this issue of technology from multiple perspectives if we hope to fully understand what role it plays in our lives.

Thus, my mission will be to choose between the two articles.  Additionally, I will be working on this week's writing workshop as well as our book club follow-up at FRCC. 

I was getting worried that the discussion posts on the IGLP website weren't getting posted, but we finally have a few  up!!  Now, hopefully, the follow-up letters we sent out before spring break will encourage a whole lot more!

Since I wrote my entry on Monday, some things have already changed.  (Plus, I didn't have a chance to finish everything I wanted to say!)

First of all, concerning the writing workshops, we made a couple of discoveries.  One involved Easter.  See, when we were brainstorming and setting the dates, we settled on Sunday, April 8 as one of the dates.  However, what we forgot to check was whether any of our dates were holidays!  And April 8 happens to be Easter.  So we've switched some things around and now we're going to have the March 31st one at the Old Town Public Library and we'll host the Harmony Library workshop on Sunday, April 15th.  We figure that even though this puts us later in the semester than we had originally hoped to be finishing the workshops, we can use the time in between the workshops to be working on the material from the first couple workshops anyway and still finish the publication in a timely fashion.  We secured both libraries for sure--I went to the Old Town one this morning and signed for it. 

Now our only other problem involves a venue for our fourth community-wide workshop.  We were hoping to host it at CORE but that unfortunately will not work.  Amanda has emailed the ELTC to see if we might be able to hold a workshop there.  Otherwise we are thinking about simply having a workshop here on campus.  We realize that it will draw a different crowd, but the university is still part of the community and we may get a really good turnout here.

I heard back from Professor Pattie Cowell and will be meeting with her after Spring Break to chat about what she has been up to.

In other news, today I will be working on more research and I'd like to start at least a draft of the write-up we hope to publish somewhere on the IGLP so that we can get the word out about us.

It's beautiful outside and I hope everyone is enjoying the sunny weather!!

February went roaring out and March came roaring in with what can only be described as hurrican-force winds.  Or something less dramatic maybe.  Anyhoo, March also brought with it the beginning of Writing Workshop preparations.  We're continuing getting ready for the five workshops we plan on hosting.  Amanda has been securing us times and locations and we've both been working on researching and brainstorming ideas for writing activities, writing prompts, and the general outline of how each session will go.  Neither of us have led a writing workshop before so we're a little nervous, but it's pretty exciting, too, and between the two of us, I think we'll do a good job.

We're hoping to host our first workshop at University Village on Tuesday, March 20, right after we get back from Spring Break.  Then we'll host them on the March 28, March 31, April 4, and April 8, at Lincoln High, Harmony Library, CORE, and the Old Town Library, respectively.  Since we'll be finishing on April 8, that gives us about four weeks before Finals week to work on putting the community publication together.  Hopefully it will be enough time!

I'm still in the process of contacting one of my faculty members to interview--Pattie Cowell.  I emailed a follow-up today to see if she got my original email, and if that doesn't work, we'll just go from there.

At last week's meeting, we decided that a new goal for the semester is to get a write-up of the IGLP in a newsletter somewhere, or The Collegian, or The Coloradoan.  We would like to get the word out even more and report on the work we have done.

Other IGLP news includes mailing follow-up letters to the participants to remind them to join the online discussion and also to promote the upcoming writing workshops.  We're still waiting on our last round of books, although we have delivered materials to the LCDC.

It's a lovely sunny day in Fort Collins with gale-force winds exceeding a million miles an hour or so.  Weather aside, it's a good day.  Spring Break is a mere two weeks away, the Intergenerational Book Club books are out and being read, I have a new partner for the WMP, and we're set to get started on the Writing Workshop component of the IGLP.  I was speaking with Amanda earlier, and we'll be meeting tomorrow during her office hours to brainstorm together.  We're at a place where it makes much more sense to collaborate and figure out what we want to do before we divide up the work.  We'll talk meeting structure for each workshop--including time breakdown, what activities we want to do, writing prompts, etc.  She's been working on our Writing Workshop schedule with University Village, both libraries (the Fort Collins Public Library and Harmony Library), and CORE, so we can talk about that as well. We'll be using last year's workshops and materials as a template for how we may run this year's workshops and as a gauge for whether we are building from last year and accomplishing what we hope to.

I spent a fair bit of time today working on writing prompts.  I began by writing my own.  Since this year's IGLP theme has loosely been established as "Journeys," I want to incorporate this into the workshops and community publication.  I've even begun to think about possible titles, something to the effect of, "From Here to There," "Journeys Through Space and Time," "Community Journeys," "Here, There, and Everywhere," etc.  For the prompts that I wrote I touched on how journeys occur in all forms--space travel, across time and not just spatial distance, how it can be an individual experience or shared, the different forms of travel, etc.  I really enjoyed writing the prompts and I think that they may spark some interesting results.  To supplement these--for both variety and a need for options--I did some internet-seeking.  Unfortunately, it was not as easy as I had thought it would be to locate a good list of interesting prompts.  I assumed there would be no end to the lists and lists of writing prompts available.  Finally, I did track down what I think is a pretty good collections of writing topics and prompts.  These will serve us by either using them directly, giving us ideas for writing more of our own, or tailoring them for our audiences.

Next up?  Research!!  I've looking some more online for additional information on Cynthia Selfe and Gail Hawisher, who have written and taught extensively on the topics of literacy and technology.  The research is still in sort of a slow starting phase because I haven't narrowed it down to a focused topic yet.  Literacy and Technology is a big big area to research and I haven't decided how I want to fine tune this search.  I wrote last week about finding sites geared toward helping teachers incorporate technology in teaching, and also how I kept coming up against the "digital divide."  I think that the latter might be a really interesting area of focus.  Other ways to narrow the search include focusing on a particular age group or grade, socio-economic group, area of the country, specific type of technology (although I think I've already narrowed this down to strictly computers anyway), etc.  It'll be interesting to see where I go from here.  I'm hoping that the more I read into the general topic, the more one specific aspect will grab me.  But if that doesn't happen, I will simply make some choices and the narrow the field myself. 

Last week, I had the privilege of meeting with two English Department faculty members to discuss their recent endeavors and accomplishments.  I met with Matthew Cooperman and Sasha Steensen to discuss any conferences they've attended, talks they've given, programs they've participated in, or publications they've written. 

Professor Cooperman spoke with me about his new book, "Daze," and the readings he is giving to promote it--around Fort Collins, Buffalo, New York City, Taos, and California.  He also spoke with me about keeping busy with the job search for the new poet to join the CSU English teaching staff.  Then we discussed his collaborative program, "Accidental Vestments."  During mid-April to mid-May, they're planning a display in the First National Bank Gallery in Morgan Library, and hoping for an end of the school year community performance (possibly at Matter Bookstore).

Professor Steensen shared with me her knowledge of bookmaking and small presses and told me how her press, "Bonfire Press." recently finished its first book, "Some Kind of Poems," by Graham Foust.  The book will hopefully be on display in the Center for Literary Publishing and the display case in Eddy.  She just participated in a colloquium, giving a talk on small presses, as well as a library talk on bookmaking.  She will be speaking at a conference in Boulder sometime in early March, again about small presses and bookmaking.  Professor Steensen will also be getting started on her press' second book soon.

It was great meeting both professors and being able to put names and faces together.  And it was good to learn about the programs we help promote on our website, and hear about them firsthand from their coordinators.  It makes me feel like a better intern for the CLC because now I know a little bit more about the programs that the English faculty here at CSU are involved in.

That's all for now.  Over and out!

That's right.  We are starting our sixth week of the semester already!  The IGLP is off and running and most of the books have been delivered at this point.  We are waiting on a few more "Half-Chickens" and then we will need more of "A Place to Stand" for the LCDC as well.  But overall, things are going well for the book club.  We are up to 136 partnerships--just about 3x that of last year!

Today I was doing work for my research project: literacy and technology and how the latter has transformed our understanding and approaches to the former.  What has been most surprising to me is the absolute wealth of information out there on this very topic.  It shouldn't be surprising in the fact that this is a huge issue, but I was impressed I guess, nonetheless, because usually researching a topic is so touch-and-go and a lot of wishful thinking.  But Morgan library has a ton of sources on this topic and there is no end to the number or sites that address it, too. 

So far, two things have really stuck out during the research process.  First of all, many of the online sites that I have found so far will be applicable to bookmark as they offer examples for integrating the internet and media technology into the classroom and the curriculum.  Secondly, I came across a lot of information on the "Digital Divide"--the disconnect between access to the internet and a person's socio-economic status.  What's more, this phenomenon is incredibly well documented with an assortment of recent statistics and numerical findings. 

I'm excited to get going on my research project and I've printed some articles to read and will be making a trip to the library tonight or tomorrow to collect more materials.

Today I also worked on emailing the faculty members about meeting with them to update our website information, emailing our sites to make sure we have our sample books back, and I got started on the CLC general brochure revisions that we discussed a few weeks back.  I cleared out all of the books that I think we should take to CORE for the lending library/literacy center--I kept just a few back (for IGLP prizes and the sort), but pulled most books so that we can get as many as possible back out into the community where they belong. 

Last week, I just did some general office stuff.  I made a book delivery to Aggie Village and picked up our sample books from there.  I made more copies of the IGLP materials and helped take care of some sign-ups.  I had some other stuff going on that I needed to take care of, so now that that's done, I am ready to jump full force into this week and really make some headway. 

Here's to warmer weather and three weeks of crazy busy productivity before Spring Break!

So I'm a little behind on the blogging.  Or a lot actually.  Time to play catch-up!

February is off and running--we're a week in already!  The IGLP is blossoming beautifully.  We've ordered our second round of books, and I think it's time to order the third round because we're up to 125 partnerships!  That's a lot.  We've been finalizing the website and testing out the discussion prompts to make sure everything is working. We got the bookmarks made this week and I think they look pretty fantastic.  We also finished up the welcome letter and are getting the books and supplemental info ready for distribution.  We've had some last minute registration to work with so things are moving slowly in terms of getting the books out.  But that doesn't mean we haven't been busy! 

We've been talking with Marilyn Thayer at CORE about helping set up a lending library/literacy center in their new space.  We're putting the call out to faculty and students to donate any new or used books to us so that we can take them to CORE and get the library started.

Today in our meeting we're going to discuss an article Tobi gave us to read.  It's called "Community Literacy," and was written by Wayne Campbell Peck, Linda Flower, and Lorraine Higgins.  I found it really interesting and I think it gives a wonderful perspective of what "Community Literacy" is.  Below, I've included some of the key points or statements that I found most helpful.

-definition: "action and reflection--literate acts that could yoke community action with intercultural education, strategic thinking and problem solving, and with observation-based research and theory building" (200)

-community literacy is a "search for an alternate discourse" (205) for "dealing with difference" (206) "in which people not only acknowledge difference . . . but in which people do productive work together" (207)

-relationships are built around "collaborative planning "

-"Many mentors come with some experience as tutors, editors, professional writers, or Big Brothers or Sisters--roles where authority and expertise are expected to flow from them to a tutee or child.  However, the relationships at the CLC are structured differently around the practice of collaborative planning in which a planning partner helps the writer think through tentative ideas and develop more strategic, self-conscious plans for his or her own writing" (215).

-the idea of "rivaling" where writers are asked to "generate alternative interpretations, to imagine and speak for the responses of others who belong at the table" (217)

-Community literacy is intercultural and multi-vocal; it crosses boundaries, shares different perspectives, and involves action (220)

As we move further into the semester, it's time to really be thinking about and beginning our research projects on literacy.  I think I would like to do something with literacy and technology.  As computers and the internet, and technology in general, is becoming more and more prevalent, and more and more necessary and almost required for day to day living and learning, I think that it would be incredibly interesting and incredibly pertinent to research how education, literacy, and technology interact with each other.  I'd like to investigate this from multiple angles--education and technology in elementary and secondary schools, literacy and technology in the community and with continuing or returning students, and literacy and technology across different generations and across different cultures.

That's all for now but I will try try try not to be so long in writing next time!

Okay, so we may be almost a month into the new year already, but as this is my first blog of the new year, I felt the need to spread the well-wishing.  School's been back in session for a week and already we're getting things done in the CLC office.  We had our first staff meeting last Wednesday and I've been in and out of the office most days.  Here's the lowdown on what's going on.

Last week we spent playing some catch-up.  I delivered the IGLP books to Aggie Village and University Village, as well as more brochures, the teacher handout, and a welcome letter explaining the program a bit.  This proved to be a learning experience as I thought I knew where these places were and after a fair bit of walking, realized that I, in fact, did not know where they were located.  I am now much better versed in the layout of the CSU campus and its housing options.

I also finally finished revising my share of the discussion questions for the IGLP website.  Taking Tobi's comments into consideration, I was able to select which questions to use and which to discard and also make changes and improve the ones I kept.  (The discussion promts I am happy to announce are on the website, along with everything else!  But we'll get to that in a minute.)

The office was looking a little worse for wear after the holidays, so I spent a little time trying to organize things, too.  We were given a couple boxes of donated books that needed to be shelved, we needed to find a home for our Christmas present microwave, and in general, the office just needed a little reorganizing and cleanup.  This week it's looking pretty good.  Next up is finding an outlet that we can donate our donated books to so that they make it back out into the community.  I weeded through some of them today--we want to keep some for prizes for the IGLP.

Before the meeting last Wednesday, I spent a little time "finalizing" the CLC brochure I have been working on.  I say "finalizing" because I don't think it will actually be final until May.  It's a labor of love and I think it's improving all the time, but we just haven't had the time to look at it and I know I need more input on it.  But we'll get it there eventually.

During our meeting, we discussed what needs to be done in the coming days, weeks, and months.  We talked about office hours and meeting times, office organization, and registering for intern credit, as well as selected our grant writer--yay!  For the IGLP, we need to drop off the books (I think only the mind center is left, and maybe the public library), potentially order new books, and make follow-up phone calls to see if any of the sites need anything and to see if they've been hearing about any interest.  Amanda and I needed to finish up our bookmark discussion questions, which we did, start an Excel sheet for registration, and also make the introductory packets for participants.  For Speak Out! a start date was selected and Emily will be working on mailings for the program. 

Finally, as always, there is the CLC report to work on, as well as the advisory board welcome letter draft, and our research projects!

I think that's all for now.  Best wishes for a fantastic 2007!

a partridge in a pear tree!  Oh wait.  That's not what I'm supposed to be doing right now.  I suppose I'll save the caroling for later and give you a real update instead . . .

Since last week's library meeting, I've been working on website stuff.  I'm in charge of Becoming Naomi Leon, Holes, and An Unfinished Life.  We wanted to get the "Similar Readings" and "Additional Activities" part of the site finished before the break so that we can email all that to Peggy at the library.  True to form, we've accomplished that goal!  Yay us!!  And a big thank you to Amazon.com for their links on "Customers who bought this book, also searched/bought . . ."  Very helpful let me tell you.  It was good fun looking up possible activity links, too.  I know what my name means and its roots and I learned a little bit about soap carving and the Night of the Radishes, too.  Like I said, good clean fun.

In addition to the two parts of the website mentioned above that we took care of, we also needed to update the book descriptions.  While we had a jumpstart on this with the descriptions from Amanda's IGLP brochure, we needed to flesh them out a bit more.  But I think for the most part, they are done!  That leaves the homepage and help page which really don't need too much work and I think I may have finished that up today as well.  Mostly it was just making minor changes and updates--such as the dates, the books, and who to contact.  We are rockin' and rollin' in this office these days.

I haven't looked back at my discussion prompts for the aforementioned books since I wrote them last week.  So that is next on the agenda.  I did however, work on the discussion questions for the bookmarks today.  (Since I took the older books, I'm doing the older books bookmards as well and Amanda will be tackling the children's books bookmarks.)  It was hard to want to change them from last years because they were really good questions.  But in case we have returning participants, and because a little change is always healthy, I tried to come up with some new ones.  Some of my new questions appear below:

·     Try to imagine the next ten pages.  What do you think happens now?   

·     Read your favorite passage aloud to your partner and have them do the same.  Do they sound or feel differently when read out loud? 

·     Did any part of the story make you uncomfortable?  What about your partner?  Were they the same parts?  If not, what are some reasons why?

It was actually pretty enjoyable writing the questions.  I tried to think about the sort of questions I might be interested in answering, and also questions that were applicable to any of the four books.  And I tried to make them thought-provoking questions, too--something to get a good conversation and discussion going.

We had a full staff meeting last night for the first time in a while.  Emily has been swamped with the publication for Speak Out! (on which she did a BEAUTIFUL job and is done now!), and Tobi, Amanda, and I have been immersed in IGLP stuff lately.  But last night we had our last official meeting of the semester!  First item on the list was the total amount of money we raised at the Loveland Barnes and Noble.  Playing the Price is Right, we tried to correct the actual retail value of what we had earned.  However, even combined, the three of us underestimated the might of Tobi's voucher-distributing abilities--it was a pleasant and heart-warming surprise to hear just how much we raised!  After talking shop for a bit about our experiences with the bookfair, we moved on to IGLP and Speak Out! updates--making sure to take some time to appreciate the wonder that is Emily's publication.  We made plans for our end of the semester dinner and the Verizon Tech Saavy award.  Then we worked on finalizing the IGLP brochure and made our plans for which community partners needed what as far as IGLP promotional displays go. 

In case this is my last blog before the holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, and here's hoping for a bright and shiny New Year, too!!  Safe travels and best wishes!!

Last week was that lovely little thing we know as Thanksgiving Break.  I re-read Holes and An Unfinished Life to refresh my memory and because they're great books in general.  (Coincidentally the movie version of Holes was on TV, too!  So I watched a bit of that.)  I also got caught up on typing up our meeting minutes.

This week started off with a bang at Barnes and Noble for the Book Fair.  Overall, I think that it was a good experience.  The staff was friendly and for the most part, people were pretty willing to help out.  It would have been nice to have a bigger table, but our spot was pretty strategic as we were directly across from the Customer Service table.  At first, it was sort of difficult to approach people directly as I wasn't entirely sure how much the staff would let me get away with.  But they seemed pretty content with letting me do whatever I wanted.  I had some friends come along--they were studying in the Starbucks area and I managed to get a few of them to buy things as well.  And when I went up to make my own purchase, the woman at the register said she had seen a lot of the vouchers that night.  I had one gentleman ask if he could use a voucher for a book he had already bought.  He was willing to check it out himself and it worked!  I went after a few people with big stacks of books and they were more than happy to help.  I wished I could have worked longer actually, because I enjoyed the atmosphere and it seemed I had just started when it was time to go!  (However, if I had had to stay longer, I might have had a different opinion . . . it is retail after all!)

Post-book fair it's all about the IGLP website.  I spent Tuesday working on writing potential discussion prompts for Becoming Naomi Leon, Holes, and An Unfinished Life.  I went back each book and found interesting quotes, recurring themes, and anything else I thought might work for a topic.  For example, from Naomi I pulled her lists, something her father told her, and Owen's tape habit for possible things to discuss.  At first I struggled with this tast, but as I got going it came easier and was actually pretty fun to write the questions.  Right now they're still pretty rough, definitely too long, and there are too many for each book.  But I feel confident about the progress I've made with them.

Last night we had our meeting with Tova at the Fort Collins Public Library.  First, we all met with Peggy Shaughnessy, the woman who created and maintains our IGLP online discussion website.  We discussed what it would take to make the site Spanish-friendly or bilingual.  Most of our ideas wouldn't work because from a programming standpoint, it would be much too much work.  But it seems that we found a way to make it work by just repeating the same things in Spanish directly after their English counterparts.  In the next couple weeks before we split for break our goals include updating the homepage, help page, book descriptions, further suggested readings, associated activities, and the discussion prompts, too.  If we don't get to everything, we're hoping to have it all together by early January and the site running by the end of January. 

Other things on the agenda include the IGLP brochure that Amanda has been working on.  We discussed changes we'd like to make and additional information we'd like to include--such as the names of our community partners.  Tobi and Amanda have also been working on a half-sheet of information for how teachers can sell this project to their students--ways to get involved and reasons for it. 

Today I slushed my way over the Lory Student Center to make color photo copies of the covers of the IGLP books.  We decided last night that if Amanda and I can assemble the materials for promotional displays, Tobi will take care of distributing them and/or setting them up.  The necessary materials include the color photocopies, the half-sheet of info, the books, info about what it is and how to join, a general heading, and who to contact at the site for more information. 

This is what we call the move toward IGLP crunch time.  Take care and best wishes.  And careful on that slushy, slippery mess of snow and ice out there!

It's that time of the year already and I can't believe how fast the semester has flown!  Just last night Tobi and Emily were making plans for the last Speak Out! workshop, and getting ready to put together the final publication.  It's been a busy semester and things are only going to get crazier in the next few weeks I bet.  That is why I am going to take home some of the IGLP books and have a great week of reading!

Tobi, Amanda, and I had our first big test last Saturday when we participated in the National Nontrad Recognition Week conference that Resources for Adult Learners sponsored.  We have been working with Jan Rastall on this project for quite awhile now and last Friday and Saturday morning we crazily hurried to get everything finalized.  Friday I worked on getting the materials ready for the writing workshop part of our session.  Also, I worked on putting together a "fast facts" type of handout--a half-sheet of information on the CLC--who we are, what we do, contact info., etc.  Then on Saturday morning, we met early to finish up the IGLP brochure--especially the book descriptions--and assemble everything we were going to need.  We were so ready.

However.  As it turned out, the numbers for the conference were pretty small and no one actually ended up coming to our session!  Though it was disappointing after we put in all the work and were so excited for it, it nonetheless was a great opportunity.  Because of the conference date, we had a deadline to get a lot of literature and materials ready for the IGLP--things like demo bookmarks, making the book selections, finalizing the brochure, etc.  Also, it gave us a taste of what it would have been like to present ourselves and the center and its programs.  And best of all, I got to spend an hour helping write a dinosaur adventure story with a very creative little boy. 

This week it's been all about the vouchers.  The Barnes and Noble Book Fair is quickly approaching--especially since Thanksgiving Break sort of interrupts things--and we have to get the word out fast.  Amanda finalized the vouchers and we've been visiting classes, offices, departments, libraries, etc. to hand out the vouchers--to both staff and anybody who passes through.  So far we've printed up two boxes worth--that means about 1500 vouchers!! (I think).  I've handed them out in my Honors Seminar as well as Pam Coke's Adolescent Lit class.  As far as places go, I've been to the following:

-Morgan Library

-ASCSU

-CLA Dean's Office

-CASAE

-LSC Info Desk

-SLCE

-Advocacy Offices including El Centro, GLBT, Black Student Services, Native American Student Services, Asian Pacific Student Services

-The ASAP Desk

-and I filled out a form to be included in The Collegian Calendar of Events

So for my end of things, that leaves the Career Center, Women's Programs, Resources for Disabled Students, and CORE (since I couldn't find the on-campus location of this one).  If I can't get to them today--which is looking pretty likely because I have class and tests galore this afternoon (okay just one test and three classes from 2-8pm)--then I will try to get to them all first-thing tomorrow morning.

Yesterday in addition to brainstorming promotion for the bookfair, we discussed what sort of materials and literature we want to have at the tables the days of.  We decided it would be prudent to do a little bribing to get people to stop by our tables by offering a basket of candies or chocolate.  Additionally, we will have posters describing the CLC in general and the voucher system.  Also, we will have sample books for this year's IGLP, sample bookmarks, brochures, the half-sheet of info from the conference, and sign-up sheets for more info and for registering.  This last one gave us some trouble because we weren't sure how we wanted to handle sign-ups since the customers of Barnes and Noble will probably be from the reading population, and therefore, not necessarily our target population.  However, we didn't want to completely discourage participation, especially since we do offer a more difficult novel with A Place to Stand.  So we decided on allowing 15 partnerships to register on a first-come, first-serve basis.

And that's all she wrote.  Happy Fall Break and safe travels!!

Before I start (again) I just have to vent a little since I already had this mostly written and the somehow I was taken back to the blog page and it didn't save it!  Ouch.  Oh well.  Take two here we go!!

So this week was a big week for us for several reasons.  One of our greatest accomplishments was choosing all six book selections for the IGLP!  Yay us.  Amanda, Tobi, and I met with Jan Rastall yesterday during our meeting and talked a little bit about the conference and mostly about book options.  Amanda had brought in some more bilingual options, including the cutest kid's book and couple of short stories books.  I had tried out some from the Ad Lit library and also some that my high school librarian had recommended.  We had some trouble deciding on whether to have three mid-level books or one more difficult one.  In the end, Tobi opted for a harder one because based off of the experiences last year, three mid-level books was too many.  Therefore, our finalized list is as follows:

-Half Chicken/Mediopolloito

-The Roadrunner's Dance

-Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan

-Holes by Louis Sachar

-An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg

-A Place to Stand by Jimmy Santiago Baca 

Also during the meeting, we discussed our roles during the conference were doing with Adult Resources and Jan.  Tobi will be doing the introductory and closing remarks as well as floating between the two activities we are offering for the participants.  Amanda will be leading the book club portion and I will be doing the writing workshop part.  Since we'll be using last year's books, we're also going to be using the same theme to give structure to the session and a rallying point for the book club discussion questions and the writing workshop prompt.   

Finally, we talked about new developments with the Barnes and Noble bookfair.  Thanks to the helpful ladies in Loveland, we've made some wonderful breakthoughs--both at the library there and at their B & N branch.  Now if only the one here will be so accommodating . . .

The CLC brochure continues to be a work in progress.  I'm still waiting to hear back from most of the community literacy program partners about whether they would like to be included and whether the current info we have on the website is correct.  I've made a few mostly cosmetic changes but I'm starting to like the format of it better.   

My next job is going to be writing up a full report of the CLC and all its facts and figures.  For now it'll cover the last year and a half of action and then come May, we'll make it a full two-year report.  Tobi can then use this to meet with Bruce Rhonda to show him what we've accomplished so far.  I'll be including everything from the numbers of program participants to things like meeting with Fabiola's class.

Here's to wishing us good luck for the conference!

I spent the weekend exploring my alter ego as a highly successful pumpkin surgeon and also being the CLC's new "Minutes Woman."  In the off chance that none of that made sense, I just wanted to share my fun Halloween adventure with carving pumpkins and how fitting it was that I was dressed up in scrubs.  But more importantly, I was also relating how I am now in charge of our meeting minutes--specifically, taking good notes and typing them up for future reference.

I like being in charge of the minutes for two reasons.  One, typing is a soothing activity for me and I like busy work that involves it.  More than that though, it's good for me to look over where we've been and where we want to be going.  But looking back over the notes from the meetings, I am reminded of what are goals are for the week or the month and it helps keep me organized and on track.  And I suppose a third reason why I actually enjoy this new job is that I hope the minutes will be useful to future interns and members of the CLC by letting them know what we were doing and when we were doing it.

Amanda and I are still working on book selections.  She brought in a couple of bilingual children's books that I took a look at.  While I thought they were pretty good--I liked the setup and the pictures and the stories themselves weren't too bad, I had a problem with the gender slant of both.  They were each very much geared toward only one gender.  So if we were to include either, we would have to include both or risk alienating or disappointing our program participants.  Amanda also brought in a copy of "We Beat the Street"--a story about three friends who made a pact to rise above their environment and succeed by becoming doctors.  I took that one home to check out.  The premise is awesome.  The book itself?  I was less than impressed.  I feel horrible for saying that about this book, but it just wasn't grabbing me the way I thought it would.  I think a lot of it was in the stylistic presentation.  But my other problem was the fact that the three boys were all smart kids for whom school came easy.  And while rising above their environment of drugs and theft and gangs is truly a tremendous and comendable accomplishment, the fact that they were so bright makes the outcome seem so much more likely and thus kind of takes the wind out of the sails of the story.  Needless to say, we're still pretty much back at the drawing board for book selections.

Tuesday I spent emailing the coordinators of the partnership programs we are affiliated with to see if they would like us to make any changes to the information we have on the website.  Also, I requested to see if we might include them in our brochure.  Today I worked on the proposal for funding to write grants that the Center for Research and Communication Technologies offers.  We talked about it yesterday in our staff meeting but I was still unsure about a lot of aspects of it so that made it harder to write.  But I think I learned a few things as I went and between the four of us--Amanda, Emily, Tobi, and me--hopefully we can get it done by early next week.

I can't believe it's already November!  If things weren't picking up and starting to get crazy before, I have a sneaking suspicion that they certainly will now!

It's funny because I was looking at my last blog entry to see what I wrote and it was all about snow and today it snowed again!  I find it serendipitous somehow--mostly I just wanted to include that word in my entry today . . .

Anyway, what I really want to write about is just what I said in the title--books and brochures.  This week in our meeting, we sat down with Jan Rastall from CSU's Resources for Adult Learners to go over possible book selections for the IGP (that's Intergenerational Project as we dropped the "Literacy" part of it so as to not intimidate or alienate potential participants).  Our list of options included two children's books: Is There Really a Human Race? by Jamie Lee Curtis and Roadrunner's Dance by Rudolfo Anaya, which are currently still options.  We did select our equivalent to a child's chapter book with Pam Munoz Ryan's Becoming Naomi Leon.  We like this one because it's an engaging story about family, and though it's told from a female POV it's not simply a girl's book.  Additionally, it addresses the culture of Mexico and since a large percentage of the population we work has some sort of Hispanic origins, we hope this will be a good choice.  We have also chosen Mark Spragg's An Unfinished Life because this is the book that Fort Collins has selected for its Read On! program.  As for the two intermediate level books, we had some trouble.  We had a few choices we discussed and though they are all great books, we felt that in one way or another, they posed challenges to our goals for the program.  For example, we thought that The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a wonderful book.  But it's also quite lengthy and deals with some heavy and complicated cultural issues that even an experienced reader may struggle with.  And since we do not want to potentially alienate or intimidate any participants, we took this one off the list.  Along similar lines, though Jodi Picoult's book My Sister's Keeper offers so many opportunities for great discussion questions, this book is well over 400 pages and for a 4-6 week program, it's probably just too long.  The Life of Pi by Yann Martel is still sort of in the running because we like the male narrator and the interesting discussions on survival and religion, but again, this one is probably too long because it's 300+ pages.  So as ever, our goal is to find the right books for this program.  We have two for sure now however and that is definitely progress!

The CLC brochure is still my other main goal right now.  Although it's certainly going to be an ongoing process, we're hoping to get it finalized at least this semester.  It's come a long way since that first draft and I think it's got some really good information in it now and the format isn't too bad either.  For now at least and for a second draft.  Today I loaded up on brochures from the Lory Student Center and I'm going to use them for inspiration and dos and don'ts. 

My newest mission, although not a critical one, is to type up the meetings from out minutes.  Hopefully this will prove to be a helpful asset next year for keeping on track with the programs and also for just general reference.

And now it's time for class.  Over and out!

Well it's happened.  We've had our first official snowfall of the season.  And it was a good one!  And guess where yours truly was during it . . . if you said the CLC office, you win a gold star!  While working here on various projects Tuesday midday, I was enjoying our third-story view of the pretty little swirling flakes of wintery wonderfulness.

Moving on from my snowfall reflections, let's get down to business.  This week has been similar to last week in terms of what I've been working on.   Namely, book research for the IGLP, revamping and adding to the CLC brochure, stocking the WMP files (they now have a little nonfiction in there!), looking over the advisory board letter of invitation, and I've also updated the IGLP brochure just a bit. 

Today I'm going to continue with the brochure work and book research, as well as look into the IGLP bookmarks and discussion questions from last year.  As October is quickly drawing to a close, it's time to get down and dirty and make some major headway in terms of prepping for next year's IGLP.  Amanda and I also plan to sit down today and choose the IGLP books.  Wish us luck!  With so many many good options and recommendations--as well as personal favorites--it's so hard to choose!  We'll at least pick half to three-quarters of the books since we do have a little time left.  Our goal has been to have the books selected by the end of October.  We've already settled on Mark Spragg's An Unfinished Life as that is the book choice for Fort Collins' Read On! program and he will be guest appearing here next spring. 

I hope the snow was as pleasant a surprise to everyone else as it was to me.  If not, then enjoy the sunshiny beautiful day we're having today!

This week has been all about the brochure.  The CLC's new brochure that is.  I've been working to create a masterpiece worthy of our wonderful center.  It's been a fun endeavor because I get to put my creative problem-solving skills to work in order to make the brochure both informative and appealing, easy to read and engaging, and informative and interesting.  It's challenging but also another great way to keep learning about the CLC.

I've also been doing some more book research this week.  I met with CSU Professor and book connoisseur Pam Coke to get some more names.  She gave me her list of books that she's using for her Adolescent Literature class and also some great sites and other titles to check out.  I looked into the recent Newbery, Printz, and Alex Award-winning books to add to our ever-growing list of possibilities. 

At our staff meeting yesterday, we discussed the possibility of forming an Advisory Board for the CLC.  Today, I drafted a letter of invitation for it.  Aside from the crazy new updated version of Word that I have yet to figure out, the writing process went pretty smoothly. 

That takes us through this week and to the weekend, which will be filled with more book reviewing (yay!) and a trip home to the mOuNtAiNs! 

Replies to this Entry:

Re: Books, Books, and more . . . Books!

Tobi Jacobi, tjacobi@colostate.edu
Reply Created: October 18, 2006

Well today is a very important day.  And not just because I'm finally blogging.  It's my birthday!  Just thought I'd share that little tidbit before we get to the good stuff. 

The last couple weeks have been all about tying up loose ends and updating and preparing for the upcoming months.  I spent the end of September updating our hallway bulletin board, making editing and updating suggestions for our website, and helping to brainstorm and plan for a conference we will be participating in come November 11.  The National Non-Traditional Student Week Planning Committee and the Office of Off-Campus Student Services/Resources for Adult Learners are hosting the conference, entitled "From Surviving to Thriving: Empowering Adults in Lifelong Learning."  Amanda and I have put together a program involving a miniature version of a book club and also a book-making activity.  Participants will choose between the two options.  We have decided to call our program: "Ages and Pages: Reading, Writing, and Learning Across Generations."

One of my newer activities and something that I am really excited about is book "research" for the IGLP.  I say "research" because what I'm doing is definitely too fun to be given a label like that.  Basically, we all are looking into book possibilities for the program--asking around for suggestions, checking out top ten lists on the web, and then reading the books as well.  And since I love reading, I quite obviously love my work!

It may be sort of gloomy outside, but it's a good day to be 22.  Especially because later I get to go home and do more "research."

I'm a month into my CLC internship already!  Where does the time go?  Wait, I know, that's what this blog is all about.  I'll just take this moment to recount some of my adventures thus far. 

For the most part, my time has been spent getting acquainted with the office and the programs--particularly the Intergenerational Book Club and Writing Project and the Writing Mentor Project.  I am so excited about both of them.  They are fantastic programs and although we're just doing some of the grunt work for the IGLP right now, I know things will pick up here soon and then we'll all be crazy.  But in a good way.  And I haven't been assigned a writing partner for the WMP yet, but it's been really cool to learn about it and plan ahead for what it might be like. 

Amanda and I have been working hard on a report on last year's IGLP for the Fort Collins Public Library.  The write-up will include what the program was all about, a timeline of events, an overall evaluation, and our goals for this year.  It's been a great learning experience for me because it's thrown me right into the thick of things in terms of the IGLP. 

Aside from this, it's been mostly little things keeping me busy--writing up my bio for the website, helping stock a file of sample writings for the WMP, putting together folders for the WMP, and learning my way around the office.  Speaking of which, I thought I should end this with a few reasons why our office rocks:

1.) We are pleasantly located right next to a fully stocked adolescent literature library.  Yes, I am a bookwork so yes, this makes me automatically happy everyday.

2.) Our lovely third-floor view.

3.) We have chocolate.  Nothing more needs to be said here.

4.) Being surrounded by programs focused on the community and increasing literacy is so rewarding and uplifting.

5.) The people!  We have the #1 crew.

That's all for now folks!  But stay tuned for more exciting installments in the life of an intern!