I was just contemplating what we could do to increase the number of participants in the Intergenerational Writing Project.  One of the areas that we didn't really tap was already established writing groups in town and inviting them to join the workshop.  This evolution of thought started with Matters Bookstore which is now located in the Bean Cycle Coffee Shop.  It was just thinking how that is a very community oriented and active book center.  It might be worth while seeing what partnership we can muster with them in the future, either for promoting our project, or working together with some of their writing/reading connections.  Just another path we really didn't explore this year.

Crocs, walkmans, giant stuffed gorillas… those were just a few of the writing topics that appeared in prose on Tuesday night.  Tobi and I headed down to the Main Library in Fort Collins to facilitate the first of three writing workshops for the Intergenerational Writing Project.  Due to a minimal response from our advertising, we were expecting to go home and have a somewhat early dinner.  But much to my surprise and pleasure, we had six community members attend.

The participants ranged in age from seven to adult.  One entire family came together and the other group consisted of a teen and mentor.  Once introductions and an explanation of the project and workshop, we dug in and started with brainstorming generation icons.  The group was a little slow out of the gate with ideas, but soon enough the board was filled with things such as jelly shoes, Mohawks, MP3s, etc.  Most of the participants could think of several generational icons, but the younger participants needed a little more help.  It helped to give them a category, such as music, toys, or activities.

Once the writing started, the fun began.  People really did produce some fun stories or narratives in the short time.  One of the participants wrote a fun piece about her crocodiles.  What was interesting was the way people responded.  I was hesitant to say anything to constructive or even having a hint of critique.  Tobi was able to make good comments about people's work that encouraged them to write more or revise.  I think that this is an important element to the workshop and one which I am not totally at ease with yet.  I think if I run a workshop, I would need to be a more attentive listener.

We presented two prompts and started a third right when we ran short of time.  Overall, everyone was writing and enjoying listening to each other's writing.  Over half of the people shared, although I noticed it took a while for participants to warm to the idea.  The younger participants were more willing to put something out there.  It will be interesting to see if the adults are more willing to read their work at the other workshops.

At the next two workshops, I am going to put a little extra thought into prompts that may be easier for the younger participants.  For example, a prompt about toys was easier for the seven year old participant to contribute.  Also, Tobi suggested bringing more visuals, both for prompts and examples of zines.

It was fun to participate.  I had never been part of a writing workshop before.  I have dabbled in writing for children thinking that someday maybe I would write a children's story book.  It was inspiring to be with other writers and share ideas.  I am looking forward to sessions 2 and 3!

The IGLP project has been pretty dominant of my time as a CLC intern.  Now that it is slowing down... at least until we start the publication, I have actually tried working on other things.  Right now, I have the framework of a grant in the process and also a handbook for future interns.  I am also working on a Kids@work grant, but really haven't had as much time as I have wanted to focus on it.  With the end of the school year fast approaching and my graduate project about to be defended, I must admit my focus got derailed for a bit.  Hopefully Randi, Holly, Tobi and I can get as much done possible to set up next year's group!

As things start to wind down on the Intergenerational Book Club and Writing Project, I am trying to focus on what can be done to best set up the project to continue next year.  First and foremost is to maintain the relationships and partnerships we have developed with both organizations and participants.  The participants are easy, we are already sending them emails and questionnaires to bring the project to a close.  With the partnerships, it would be nice to send them a thank you for their support and also give them some of the high points of the project, including hitting our target numbers and sharing the publication.

In order to get more participants involved next year, I thought it might be a good idea to "advertise" at the writing workshops.  If they are writing, maybe they would be interested in becoming part of the whole project.  I am going to work up an email/contact sheet for those who would like to be on a mailing list for next year.  This would help us get the project off to a start in the Spring with an already established interest base… which we didn't have this year.

Just a side note, the organizer at the Front Range Community College Center for Adult Learning called about the writing workshops and also called to say that the ESL/GED class there really enjoyed the book discussion that was run about a month ago.  I'd be interested to find out if anyone got online to see if their name appeared.  It would be nice to know how many hits our website gets.  It is hard to tell just from the comments posted.  Anyways, just nice to know they enjoyed it as much as I did.

One topic of discussion that I have been mulling over from last weeks meeting is what outcome do we want from the writing workshops.  Is it that we just want people to write and create?  Do we want a publication?  What do we want to do with the publication?  Is it just an addition to materials kept in the parterships' offices or do we want to use it to promote the project?  Use it for educational purposes? etc.

I thought these were very relevant and pertinent questions that we had not asked or discussed as a group.  Once we started discussing it, some very interesting and exciting ideas began to surface.  For example, one idea is to distribute the publication to writing workshop participants through a "reading" at different locations in town.  One location might be the public library.  Participants would come pick up their book and could participate in reading their own contributions.  The idea evolved into hosting readings at various locations, including retirement communities and assisted living residencies.  This would enable more people and people without access to the library to participate and share in the Intergenerational Book Club and Writing Workshop celebration.

We also brainstormed ideas of how to include more of our target populations in the writing workshops.  One idea is to host writing events at locations where our target population would more easily be able to attend.  For example, having one of the workshops at CORE.  CORE would also be a great location for having a community reading and publication celebration.

Because of the great learning curve of a pilot year, many of our ideas are unrealistic for the 2005-2006 project.  However, if built into the plan, I think there could be a lot more done with the publication that would raise awareness of community literacy and promote the IGLP project.

Following is a list of ideas I have had while doing the IGLP.  I thought I would share some of the things I have noticed along the way but have been to busy (lazy?) to write down:

Registrations:

• On the address line, have a line for city, state and zip.  I spent more time looking up zip codes than necessary.
• Knowing the relationship would help in collecting information about our participants

 Writing Workshops:

• Have the workshops early in the year, such as late March or early April.

Online Participation:

• The postcards and the book drawing worked, especially for non-native English speaking participants.
• Having a face to face discussion may improve participation on the online portion.  Once participants share ideas with others, they may have more of a foundation or inspiration to contribute to the site.

Today I had the opportunity to join a class at Front Range Community College (FRCC) that is using Matilda as a class reading project.  The class as a whole is participating as one large reading team for the Intergenerational Book Club (IGLP).  The students are not only intergenerational, but also come from a diversity of countries and backgrounds.  I sat in on their class and transcribed the discussion of the book.

Many of the participants from this class have never read a novel before.  Many of them are returning to school to finish their high school degree.  One of the interesting points that came out during the discussion is the value they now place on reading the book.  Several of them said the liked Matilda because is was light and fun.  It also had themes and topics that interested them although they are also appropriate for kids.

One of the reasons I went to the class is because many of the students don’t have access to computers.  Joining a class discussion is one way we address getting target participants to be part of the online discussion.  We approached the discussion by asking the three questions from the online discussion board.  In addition, I took print-outs of responses that had been posted.  The classroom teacher started the discussion by asking the students’ opinion of the book.  We moved into reading the print-outs and having students respond to the comments.  This was very productive and got the students engaged in the discussion of the book.

The only point I pondered about doing an oral discussion is that the original intention is to have people engage in a written discussion.  I feel that if I hadn’t gone and taken notes of the class discussion, many of these participants would not have contributed to the website.  I feel that now they may be motivated to go online and see what they said on the discussion board.  Several of the students who agreed to have their comments posted asked for the website address again.  One gentleman said he wanted to write more because he didn’t participate very much in the discussion.

Some logistics of the process:  I decided to transcribe the discussion as I heard it instead of taping the class.  I did this because I think it is already intimidating to have a new person come into class and be all “official”.  I also took some time to introduce myself and make a personal connection with the group members.  When the discussion started, it didn’t take long for people to start talking (which I actually think is rare).  At the end of the session I also asked people to individually give me permission to use their comments.  I also explained that they could use a pen name or initials (which a lot of people did).  In addition, I suggested that they read the comments if they felt unsure about having them online.  Everyone agreed to print their comments.  My hope now is that they will be intrigued enough to check out the website and maybe add a couple of more comments.

I think that this experience today was helpful in analyzing ways we can promote the project to our target audiences.  I think it has been a challenge to get at risk readers and writers to even get online, let alone write comments.  This may be a way to get more participation.  We could also do computer assisted writing after a general, oral discussion.  After class today people were pretty enthusiastic.  We could capitalize on this by having them write a short piece on something from the discussion.

Now that the online portion of the project is winding down, we have started to mobilize for the writing workshops.  We have chosen to do three dates in April with the possibility of a fourth.  At the moment we are scheduled for:

Session 1: To be determined

Session 2: Old Town Fort Collins Library, 201 Peterson St. Tuesday, April 25, 7-8:45 p.m.

Session 3: Harmony Library, 4616 S. Shields St. (Front Range Community College campus) Saturday, April 29, 2:30-4 p.m.

We chose to have the events at the public library because of the ability for people to get there.  Also, both places have large rooms open to the public.  It also makes it a more community oriented event than having it at CSU.  The only catch with the library is that you can only schedule two events at each library location per month.  That is why we are having two at the Old Town library and one at Harmony.

This week we will begin to organize the format of the workshops and get a better idea of how the workshops will run.  Although I have taught, I have never been involved in running a creative writing workshop before.  I am afraid that my general approach to writing is very teacher oriented.  Both Holly and I are interested in learning the ropes and are looking forward to getting the writing workshops off the ground.

Right now our promotions plan is to send "snail mail" letters to Book Club participants.  We also will put up posters at both public libraries, the University Village Community Center, the Aggie Village community Center, the Center for Adult Resources at CSU, the ELTC, FRCC, and CORE.  Ideas for other locations include Apartment Life, other community centers, and partners.  Lastly, we plan to send email reminders to participants several days before each event.

One organizational question that I have been pondering is whether or not we need a registration process.  My guess is that we do not.  I think even if we have a registration, a large portion of the people will just show up anyways.  It would be nice to have a general idea, but that might not be realistic.

It will be interesting to see what crossover we get from the reading and online portion of the project.  At times the two don't feel very connected, but I am sure this will change as we move into the second tier of the project.

Over the year the Intergenerational Literacy Book Club and Writing Project has evolved a lot and went directions I hadn't expected.  Below is a list of partnerships that we fostered this year and a list of possible partnerships for future years and projects. 

One of the most productive partnerships has been with the Fort Collins Public Library.  The library has given both financial and technical support since the start of the project.  They have donated a large portion of the books; in addition, they have also donated time to constructing the online book club and have been responsible for monitoring the website.  Our contacts at the library have been Tova Aragon for financial support and project requests.  Peggy Shaunassy has been our contact for the technical support.

This Spring we also decided to contact some of the international and adult resources on the CSU campus.  Forty percent of our reading groups came from CSU organizations including the Office of Adult Resources (20%) and University Housing (20%).  Our partnership with Office for Adult Resources has really allowed us to connect with participants from our target population.  Most of the participants from this office are participating with their children or nephews and nieces.  The contact person at AR is Jan. 

From University Housing with have worked with Aggie Village and University Village.  University Village has been a very proactive organization to work with.  They allowed us to put up posters in their community center and they actively promoted the Book Club amongst their residents.  Daniela Cigularova is our contact at University Village.

We have also had continued partnerships with organizations in the community, such as Community Organizing to Reach Empowerment (CORE), Front Range Community College, and the Education and Life Training Center (ELTC).  CORE has promoted the program in their adult education programs and is another center where we have participants from our target population.  Many of the participants are mothers and sons and daughters.  In addition, participants from CORE have chosen to participate with a member of class, reading two books.  There has been a lot of enthusiasm from both CORE participants and organizers.  The contact at CORE is Marilyn Thayer.

We have two connections with Front Range Community College.  We have advertised and promoted the project through the Adult Learning Center (Margie Wagner).  From this partnership we've had a diversity of participants including students, teachers and FRCC staff.  In addition, Ellen Viens, a GED/ESL teacher at FRCC, is using the book Matilda in one of her classes.  The class is participating in the project together.

Our partnership with the Education and Life Training Center (ELTC) has not been as active as hoped.  We plan on promoting the writing workshops there and hope to promote the Intergenerational Book Club there more in coming years.  The contact there is Craig Halbower.

Through experience and talking to members of the community, there are other resources that would be good partnerships for future years. 

• The CSU Intensive English Program - Margie Gough, Director
• Elder Care Facilities
• CSU Office for International Students

A teacher at the IEP suggested that international students could do their community service projects by reading one of the books with a person from a retirement community or community center.

So far the Intergenerational Book Club has had quite a bit of interest from a lot of community groups.  Because we several copies of most of the book titles left, we decided to open it up to the general public by advertising at the public library.  When we decided to do this my main concern was getting too many registrations and dealing with not having enough books.  So it was a surprise on Friday when I went to the library and there was not a single registration in the box.

Upon reflection there may be several reasons why we did not get much of a response.  First of, it may be that the sign was not visible enough, in a poor location, or did not grab people's attention.  The library had the poster on the landing of the main staircase on the way to the second floor.  It was definitely visible, but maybe just not a place where people stop and linger to read a detailed sign.  Another reason may be that we had a very short time period to register, which is one week.  It also many not have been clear that people could register there.  The only interest we got from the poster was via email.  In the future, it may be more effective to have someone there a couple of nights to register people and hand out books on the spot.  Talking to a person might encourage participation and clear up any misgivings about the project.  Another approach might be to cater the poster to the needs of location.  For example, it might have been a good idea to provide information about how people would get the books and different ways to register.  If someone took the brochure to think about it, they might not have signed up because it was not clear they could register by calling, emailing or mailing it.

Although I was initially surprised by the lack of response, it has provided some interesting insight into ways to promote the project.  It also makes me very happy about the responses we received from targeted locations.

I was at the Intensive English Program this morning where I teach a writing class.  It feels like we have a hundred teachers crammed into the staff office, so it is hard not to overhear conversations.  So while I was sitting there, minding my own business, I hear someone say that they really want to get their students involved in an intergenerational project that the library is doing.  Yes, exactly what you are thinking.  It is the Intergenerational Book Club that she was talking about.  She had grabbed a couple of brochures and had passed them out in her class. 

Ofcourse I had to stick my nose in the conversation and say that I was working on the project.  After we squeeled and did the "no way" comments, we got to talking about the dynamics of the program.  From the conversation came some really great ideas for the future.  First of all, she thought that the books would be great for her international students.  She also suggested that international students could get paired with people in the community, such as senior centers or community centers.  They could read together and not only make an intergenerational, but a multicultural connection.  Her name is Trish, so next year when you need to have a connection at the IEP, look up this lady and remind her of her great ideas.

I have chosen to research Oral History Projects for literacy programs as my research project for the Center for Community Research and Outreach annotated bibliography. 

Last semester I attempted to find articles about the use of oral histories in promoting literacy in a variety of different populations.  I began with looking at a project that was done in California called Who Holds the Mirror?  Breast Cancer, Women's Lives, and the Environment.  While this was a good starting point, it seemed that it was a bit of a false start.  I continued my research by looking in linguistic data bases, Eric, and on the web.  What I found was a lot of products, meaning there were a lot of projects that had been done and were published, but very little on the process or the research into the effects of oral history projects on literacy.  So my research got put on the back burner for a while; other projects took the forefront.

Now I am back and ready to hit the computers!  Yesterday I started simply by just putting in "oral history" into the linguistics search engine.  It took a lot of sorting through articles, but I got results.  Then I got aggressive and went into ERIC and did the same thing.  The result is many articles that have the potential to give a well rounded view of oral history projects.  What I found included research into using oral histories as a pedagogical approach to teaching English as a first or second language, step by step guides to creating oral history projects, and discussions as to the usefulness of oral history to literacy development.  Some of the pitfalls in my research were articles that focused on oral histories in anthropological and linguistic research and not in conjunction with teaching/learning reading and writing skills.

So my advice to anyone trying to get information about oral histories in connection with literacy projects, go simple and then sift through the material.  Using the key words "oral histories" and "literacy" didn't bring about the same hits.  Also, there is a lot of articles in the Journal of Reading. 

So, happy researching to the few and the brave! 

Replies to this Entry:

Re: February 12: On Oral History Research

Tobi Jacobi, tjacobi@colostate.edu
Reply Created: February 14, 2006

Intergenerational Literacy Project Kick-Off

The official start to the IGLP is this week.  The registration deadline was on Tuesday.  I wasn't sure what to expect as far as interest, but last week we only had two forms in the file.  I thought we were going to have to do some major recruiting this week, but it turns out that people are natural procrastinators and sent their forms in this week.

The good news is that we have over 30 reading teams.  Today I Feel Silly has been our most popular suggestion with 13 reading pairs.  I am not surprised by the interest in the picture books, but I am surprised that only four reading teams have signed up for So Happy.  I think it may have to do with the theme of the books.  I Feel Silly is about everyone's emotions, which is a popular topic with kids.  So Happy, while brilliantly illustrated, may have been more abstract in our description. 

Now that we have a sense of who is registering, next week will be more about targeting some last participants.  However, we do have at least three reading teams for each book.  So every book is a go!

The challenge this week has been to get everything done on an organizational level.  I try to come in on a daily basis, but sometimes that just doesn't happen.  So we have our participants and now we just need to get all the book packets together and sent to the different centers.  We have created a data base and are starting to chart the participant ages/relationships, how they heard about the program, etc.  It is interesting to discover what you wish you had put on the registration form.  I wish we had put what the relationship between the reading partners, whether or not the participants had access to computers/internet, and general age ranges. 

Participants right now are coming from several different centers including CSU Adult Resources, CORE, Front Range Community College, CSU faculty and staff, and University Housing.  We have asked other organizations, such as a group called Partners and the ELTC to participate.

Next week I hope to see some entries on the website.  I am afraid, however, that we will be seeing more towards the dealine.  It's human nature, I suppose.

I am back and ready for the second semester here at the Community Literacy Center.

Just to update everyone, I am still working on the Intergenerational Literacy Center. When I left for a months leave, we were just starting the promotional campaign. To begin with, we set up displays at targeted locations including the Center for Adult Resources at CSU and University Housing. Tobi and Holly also undertook contacting Front Range Community College and the Education and Life Training Center to drum up interest. Most of the promotions included a brochure that explains the project and displays with pictures of the books and a shortened discription of the IGLP. Now we are gearing up for distributing the books and continuing to recruit participants. Today I am taking a tally of how many reading groups we have and what books they are reading.

In addition to the IGLP, I have also been working with the Kids@work program at Dunn Elementary School. They are up and running and have begun their mentoring program this week. They are still looking for one more volunteer, but I believe that have over nine volunteers working with them. Our office helped advertise the volunteer opportunity to undergraduates and graduates at CSU. We are also helping them find a grant for the next three school years in hopes to keep the program going.

Lastly, I have also been compiling a list of community events that are taking place in Colorado. This has been a challenge because my searching skills on the internet are not so great. For anyone that is challenged by what key words to put in and how to put them in can sympathize with me. I finally found a combination that works for finding literacy events. Instead of even mentioning the word literacy, I put in writing or reading, events, and then the city (not the State). I got a lot of libraries. If you are looking for weekly events, the library calendars are very helpful. The Denver Library has an especially good site both for literacy events and for website activities. http://denverlibrary.org/ You should check it out. It is nice to be back and I am excited for the next steps of the Intergenerational Project. Keep logging in and finding out how we are doing! Also, if you know of any literacy events in the Fort Collins or Front Range area, contact us at the CLC (491-7251) and we will add it to our literacy events site.

The Interegenerational Literacy Project Update:  The first IGLP pilot is rocking and rolling.  Last week we had our first entries on the online portion.  Even though the technology ran into a snag (it cut off anything over short thought), holly caught it right away and looks like it is fixed.  Although there hasn't been too many entries, the ones posted are really focus on a discussion and sharing individual's thoughts and perceptions.  I hope as this week continues, people really get into reading one another's comments and responding to them.  I know that I wanted to respond!  There was an entry about friendships and how sometimes people's transitions in life result in friendships ending, just out of the fact that people grow apart.  What interests me is how the teenagers will respond to this entry.  It seems that when I was a teenager, I thought my highschool friends and I would always stay in touch.  However, my perceptions really changed as I grew up.  I am really intrested if the teens in the pilot will pick up on this difference in perspective.  I think that is what is unique with this project, is the ability to reflect on people's comments.  During the pilot's evaluation session, I would like to hit on this topic and see whether or not the different generations appreciated this aspect.

Staying on the topic of the IGLP, it looks as if the second pilot for the children's book is not going to happen.  I thought we might have a chance of pulling it together in the last weeks, but that was wishful thinking.  It is good because we can now focus on getting promotional materials out before winter break.  On the other hand, it would have been nice to see how the children respond to this type of interaction.  I am hoping to read the two books with my surrogate nephews (ages 4 and 7) with the hopes to see what they think is funny, intersting, etc.  So a mini pilot, so to speak.

In addition to the IGLP, I have been working with the organizers of a program called Kids@work.  I am helping them find and write grants in order to continue the program, which has been running for fifteen years.  To help out the coordinator, I said I would help solicit volunteers from the unviersity.  Little did I know that students actually read their ramweb postings.  In three days I have been flooded with emails.  That was a shock to me and never will I underestimate the power of the Ramweb again.  It is great to have interest because Elaine and Jamie have really put some effort into getting the program organized for the Spring.

...and that is how the cookie crumbles!  Till next week, this is Lisa, CLC intern esq.

I have to make a confession, Thanksgiving week was very indulgent and very little of anything got done besides eating, sleeping and recouping.  I did do daily checks of the email to make sure that no one in the Speak pilot had questions.  Before I left I also tried to put as much as possible in place.  So that means I have a full week ahead of me.  The good news is that I am rested and I feel ready to take on the challenges of the next three weeks.

Coming up this week is putting together the pilot program.  There is quite a bit to do as far as putting together the evaluations, arranging a time and place, and making sure loose ends are tied up.  It has been a bit of a challenge since I have not had contact from anyone else working on the project for several weeks.  I have a feeling that everyone will be refreshed after the holiday.  It was definitely what I needed to get a second wind.  The other thing on my agenda this week is to head to the library and see what is being written up on the Speak discussion board.  I sent out the postcards.  I haven’t checked the site but will do that first thing in the morning.  I am nervous and excited to see what is up.  Silly isn’t it, but since this is our first glimpse at the project running, it hard to know what to expect.

In addition to the IGLP, I have been working on the center website and also have been looking into grant writing possibilities.  A week and a half ago I met with the organizers of a program called Kids@work.  The program runs out of Dunn Elementary School and is a program that helps promote pleasure reading for kids who score low on reading assessments.  While the program may be unorthodox to some, it will be interesting to work with the two sponsors.  It seems like a great “beginners” grant writing possibility.  I hope to report to the group this week and get the go ahead to work on this project.

It is hard to believe the semester is almost at an end.  It will be a busy three weeks, however.  If you are out there and reading this, send me productivity vibes!     

The pilot is upon us.  We have more students from the local high school participating with a family member than we had suspected.  I think we are near twenty participants, which is very exciting and daunting.  It seems that the focus group will be happening before we know it.  I am looking foreward to seeing how the reading teams react to the online questions and the format of the project.  I have an inkling that there will be quite a few suggestion, which is good, but means a lot of revision too.  I am a little burned out on working on the web page, but hopefully the changes will be minor.

It seems that the IGLP is the only thing I really talk about.  Most of my time is focusing on small projects within that larger project, but it is not all I do.  Last week we made a push to finish off some aspects of the Center's webpage.  I think it is shaping up and have been impressed with everyone's input and idea sharing.  It is hard to get 5-6 people's minds to put something together like this when you rarely see each other... and then to get them to agree on a final decision.  It looks great and kudos the our website coordinator, Randi.

In addition I have been making little stabs at my research, which is the use of Oral History Projects in literacy programs.  I received my interlibrary loan of a project that used oral histories to develop adult literacy and also to research breast cancer.  It was an interesting read and hopefully will steer me in the direction of more reading.  It is a narrow area, but once the Pandora's box is open, I have a feeling I will not be wanting for articles to read.

Overall a busy time of year, but hopefully I can keep my eye on the ball and get things together this week!

It is hard to believe it is the end of October and we will be kicking off the pilot (or the dry run) for the Intergenerational Project.  Things are still moving slow, but their moving forward.  Now that the online portion is atleast to the programmer, we can tie other loose ends up and get this puppy off the ground.

One of my challenges over the past month is coordinating with other people.  This is not the first I have mentioned it, nor will it be the last.  It seems that putting requests out into cyberspace, such as email or even telephone calls, is a fifty-fifty chance of ever getting a response.  I have been trying to get book donations from publishers, and they give you the email address, say write these people with your request and then nothing.  So you dig up a telephone number and call, only to get that lovely electronic voice which gives you lots of options to nothing.  But, you leave a message anyway.  In the end the result is usually the same... nothing. 

It is happening in all sectors of the project, just not the publishers.  Is it the way I am approaching it?  Am I being too presumptious in that people might be able to provide information?  Is it communicating by email?  Is it better to march over to the different places, look the people in the eye and ask for what is needed?  Hmmmmm.

I am sure it will all resolve itself and what is needed to get done will get done.  We are moving along and I am eager for the next phase. 

The week has been pretty uneventful in the sense in the sense that the major effort to get the website text into final form was done.  So I spent the majority of the week catching up on office projects and pulling loose ends together.  We did hear back from the library and it looks like the material for the online portion of the Intergenerational Project is a go; just some minor changes to make.  That is a relief since there is a list of other things to get on with.

The challenge of my week has been a more personal issue than one concerning the runnings of the literacy center.  In the past couple of weeks I have noticed that I have become very tunnel vision in what I need to get done.  Because life gets hectic, I set aside this slot of time that I have to complete things and it has to fit within that time.  The problem with this, and why it lead to issues with professionalism, is that in order for the puzzle pieces to fit together, those that I work with would have to be at "beckon call", so to speak.  In other words, I wanted to email and have instant results.  I wanted to call and get instant answers.  As you can guess, not only is this unrealistic, but just unfair to put expectations on those you are working with.  The challenge that this poses is how do you get things done in a timely manner?  It seems that things move very slowly.  Also, this dynamic changes how one structures their approach to getting things done.  Well, the result is this week I have reflected a lot on what I can do to make getting projects done more effective and also how I can do it without stepping on other's toes.

This past week has been a week of exhaustion, not just in the literacy center but in life in general.  While it would be wonderful if everything in life was compartmentalized and did not affect other parts of our lives, well that just isn’t reality, now is it?  Even though mid terms filled the schedule, we somehow were able to revise the Online portion of the project and get it into something of its final form.  That is terribly exciting.  I guess what shocked me the most about the process is how much time it took to collaborate with other people.  When a center like this is not a primary job for the people running it, it really affects how quickly things get done.  Although we are several weeks behind on getting the pilot up and running, I think our product is good.  I also feel good about the fact that is really was a team effort and collaboration.

On the other side of things, the research project I am doing, literacy programs that have used oral history projects, is also starting to take shape.  Gotta love the librarians.  After hours of fruitless research in the library, in fifteen minutes they dug up a handful or articles.  The challenge to the research is not finding oral histories, but finding information about the projects and how they were used to promote literacy.  The most interesting project I found was about grandchildren interviewing their grandmothers about the varying roles in World War II.  Really fascinating, but a private read due to the fact it just the results and has no information about the process.  What is great is that this is a new area of writing and history that I never thought of before.

The Intergenerational Literacy Program is starting to take form.  The week was spent collating materials for the online portion of the project.  While the pages are coming along, the most difficult aspect of putting the online portion together is getting collaboration from the whole group.  It has been difficult to generate ideas and not be able to go over them face to face with the other members of the team.  The struggle has been logistical in the sense that email communication takes a lot more time and effort than face to face interaction, in my opinion.  It may be that getting very different feedback from all the team members and then trying to represent them in the revisions of the text and questions is difficult to do as a result of there only being a "dialog" with me and not everyone contributing.

The really exciting aspects of the week were actually getting together something tangible done.  Getting the questions and thinking through the discussion aspects of the online book club is getting my juices going.  Writing the questions was challenging because I am stuck in student mode.  I have an analytical approach to the questions which, honestly, actually bore me.  However, after some group discussion, I think some more global and theme oriented questions are starting to shape up.

In addition to sorting out the web pages, which took most of my time, I am still steadily working on reading all the books and writing summaries and questions that may serve as a starting point.

Technology is… complicated.  Technology can…do great things in theory.  Technology is… scary.

This week has been a lot about technology.  I am really interested in how technology can be used in literacy programs and also in education.  The one challenge that I face is while I can use technology, I don’t really understand it.  My mother refuses to use the internet because she says it is too fussy.  She can never remember how to get on to it.  She has problems finding things on google, etc. etc.  I have always thought, she just doesn’t try hard enough.  She blames it on being old.  After this week I think I can sympathize with my Mom.  It is not that I am terrible old, it is just that I feel behind on learning the technology and feel the effort to understand all the ends and outs might be a lost cause.

Now, how does this relate to my week at the CLC.  The online portion of the Intergenerational Literacy project is getting on its way.  We have a choice to make as to using the system set-up by the Public Library or having people at CSU put a site together.  There are benefits and drawbacks to each.  For example, working with the library really connects to an important community partner.  On the other hand, there is a limit to what we can do on the OWL website (the public library’s forum) that might be easier to do if we create the forum from scratch.  The technological headache comes from understanding the demands and issues met by programming.  I have no idea what it takes to put a site together, so of course I assume everything just appears and works.  I would like to be more savvy in the ways of technology so that I could better predict which system would be better in the long run.

I also had a chance to get out to the ELTC this week and see one of the community partners.  It was really interesting seeing what their program looks like and get a feel for how we can work together.  One of the issues raised this week by the visits is that we have a real challenge trying to get participants from untraditional background.  I just keep thinking of Bloom’s taxonomy in education and that if people are not meeting their basic needs, anything additional or viewed as non-essential will not be met either.  I think the challenge of motivating and interesting people in the program is one of the more essential issues we need to address in the next couple of months.  I will think on it and let you know if any light bulbs go on.

The second thing that occurred that really got me thinking about the ends and outs of the IGLP is that we met with the student volunteer and her mother who are going to help us head up the pilot project.  She is getting together a group of students from the high school she attends and parents to read Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson.  They will pilot the online section of the program and then feed back to us on the process in a focus group.  I think that she will be a great person to work with and the potential for a very useful pilot group is there. 

Out of the meeting with the pilot group volunteer was the realization that the online section of the project needs to be up and running and October.  This is going to be the big challenge for the next couple of weeks.  The partnership with the library to create and help us manage the website has hit some technical snags.  Since I am soooo computer savy, I will spare you all the details and just say that we have to rethink how the online portion is set up.  The library cannot provide the three questions in the format we originally had hoped.  So this week I will try to come up with some alternatives and see if there is not a solution hiding out somewhere in “cyberspace”.

The other portion of my week, between scampering off to various meetings, was reading Speak, which will be one of the books offered in the IGLP.  It is a very powerful book that hits many topics that are very personal and relevant to female readers of all ages.  I know that I related to the book and found it hard to read at times.  My second challenge, and that of the people working on the project, will be finding ways to approach the book in a question and answer/discussion format.    There are great issues to be dealt with, I will be interested to see how we develop questions around some pretty heavy topics.  Since I am not a lit guru, I am anxious to here the comments of the others contributing in the group. 

This coming week I am meeting with community partners and really trying to get on top of the online portion of the project so we can look at our options.  I am reeling from our to do list, but as the proverb goes… busy hands are happy hands… or something like that.  (My proverbs sometimes get the mix and match treatment and who knows what “words of wisdom” will come out.  Just a warning.)

The main goals of this week were to finish some of the office tasks and to start going out to the centers of potential partners with the intergenerational project.  I made contact with the Education and Life Training Center, but have not yet been there to meet with them in regards to the project.  I made a second trip to the library to research some of the library's connections to the ESL community.  Unfortunantely there was a miscommunication and the meeting didn't happen.  But no fear, I instead took an opportunity to look at more children's book titles for the IG project.

The staff meeting this week was also really helpful and interesting.  It is easy to feel disconnected from the other project, so touching base with Amy and Randi is really helpful and motivating.  Secretly I am jealous that they are beginning to go out into the field.  This week workshops will commence for one of the programs.  While I am learning a lot about getting the IG project going, I am also anxious to see the results.  My Mom always did accuse me of being a bit impatient. 

This coming week I hope to get to the ELTC and check out their set up and hopefully chat with them about participating in the IG project.  I also hope to get more information about book donations from publishers.  Should be a busy week.

This week has been more hands on in the respect that we are beginning to get out into the community and meet the people that are involved in the Intergenerational Literacy Project, or who we want to be on board. 

The main event of the week was meeting with several people who have partnerships with the CLC.  The main meeting occurred with the Fort Collins Public Library in which we discussed their role in helping develop the online portion of our project.  Because they already have OWL, their online website which has capabilities for an online question and answer forum, we may save ourselves from having to have one designed.  At the same time we can also establish an important partnership in the community.  I felt really positive that using OWL will allow us to accomplish what the project has intended for the online portion.  My only concerns are with how students will access the site and how user friendly it will be.  In a second meeting with members from our committee and the CSU office-Resources for Adult Learners, we talked about having people go through the Literacy Network to get to the CLC website to then get to OWL.  I think that may pose a problem for learners with less experience using computers.  My mother is my prime example.  If she doesn’t get somewhere in the first try or two, the computer gets turned off.  However, (and this is a big however) I liked the solutions that people brainstormed, for example - having a brochure with instruction.  Also, I like the benefit of having more people go to the Literacy Network site.  It is a great way to raise awareness.  I also must keep in mind that this is intergenerational, which means kids are involved and therefore the issues with using the web may be null.

In addition to meeting members of the library who may be working with us on technology and monitoring the online aspect of the project, I enjoyed meeting the Bilingual/Diversity Outreach coordinator for the Library.  She chatted with us about some possible participation from Second Language Speakers.  Next week I will meet with her in order to get a picture of her job and of the second language community that is affiliated with the library. 

The main focus this week was primarily on the library meeting and finishing up some administrative projects in the office.  I also spent a portion of my time reading the research already available in the office.  I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks and making more connections with the community.  I am also anxious for the pilot program in which we will be able to see some of the things we are debating in a real context.  It is very hard for me to visualize the project without having a more concrete example of how all the different aspects of it fit together.  I think the pilot will really help us prepare and organize for the main event.

Sept 6

• Worked on Program description for the Library meeting on Wed.
• Read the research already conducted on intergeneration literacy programs
• Researched additional studies on intergeneration topics in literacy on SAGE and also looked up interesting articles listed on Chelsea ILP bibliography.

Jumping into literacy issues is like motoring way out into the pacific ocean, jumping off the boat and then trying to swim to something tangible.  It is not that easy to do without having a destination in mind.  After rereading my first blog and attending the second CLC meeting, I have decided I would like to back track a bit and reanalyze my goals for the first semester.  Although I am terribly interested in linking the Intergenerational Literacy Project with ESL programs, I see the need to slow down and first try to grasp a concept of the bigger picture. 

So before I jump off that boat (just to keep the metaphore the same), this week is about researching more into the Intergenerational Project and relevant literacy issues.  I have had the opportunity to read the project description and assist Dr. Jacobi on revising a grant proposal for the Mountain and Plains Book Association.  Reading the grant has resulted in a bit more clarity on the main aims of the project and my potential role within that.  In the next week I plan to do more background reading on literacy and literacy issues by looking at some more of the websites.  I also hope to read some of the proposed books selected for the project in hopes to be better equipped to help make book decisions.

An introduction:

Call me Lisa.  Although my parents made things a tad bit messy by naming me Elizabeth and calling me something different, I tend to be a “Lisa” once you get to know me.  I am a native Coloradan, although I have spent most of my time since high school out of the state.  I graduated from CU with a bachelor’s in Spanish.  After several years teaching Spanish, I decided to give teaching my native language (English-if the grammar errors made you wonder) a go and I moved overseas.  I taught English in Poland for two and a half years before returning to Colorado to pursue a Master’s degree in TEFL/TESL.

I was attracted to working for the CLC due to a growing interest in public and adult education.  I hope to learn more about literacy issues in the ESL community and how the larger community is addressing those issues.  I have had limited experience with literacy issues in general and am ready to dig in and learn.  From working with adult ESL students, I have been impressed and inspired by their desire to learn and make things better for themselves and their children.  I have had the honor to meet and teach people who have overcome illiteracy in two languages, raise a family, and graduate high school all while working full time jobs.  Their experiences humble me and urge me on to find ways in which I can assist others in their journey as they attempt to reach their goals.  So that is why I am here and why I am so very excited to be a part of this project.

This weeks activities:

It was a brain drain week.  Because I occasionally suffer from tunnel vision, I ignored some of my class reading and pondered what I was going to contribute.  This is what I came up with…

Research:

·      Extensive Reading

o       Krashen’s philosophy of reading and writing

o       Extensive Reading programs that already exist and how they function

Projects:

·      Explore possibilities for cross-generational reading programs/workshops with already existing ESL programs

o       Interview existing ESL programs in community

o       Research literacy needs within ESL community

·      Grant writing

Office:

·      Help set-up website

·      Help set-up infrastructure for a volunteer core