Not So Distant Future

Following up on my post on research and play a few days ago, this experiment described in a New York Times article today, “Powerhouse School District Reaches Beyond the Elite” is a perfect example of how authentic research can also incorporate play.

At the middle school, the entire seventh grade is taking part in the science of sports project to fulfill the new research requirement. The students are creating a database of their individual running times, first in sneakers and then in alternate footwear, and evaluating how variables like height, gender, birth date and shoe type affect speed. They will present their findings in a research paper or PowerPoint presentation.

“I learned that I move faster without my shoes,” said Jermaine Brown, 13. “This is really fun, and it’s better than sitting in class.”

David Katz, the science teacher who came up with the running experiment, said that when he first asked students if they wanted to do original scientific research, 2 of 23 raised their hands. When they found out the research would involve sports, they all jumped up.

“They think research is more work, more papers,” he said. “But if you teach them in a way they can relate to, they grow to love it.”

That’s what making research play-filled is all about.

A little post about whimsy for a springtime Friday–

Another way to add to a sense of play in the library is by using play in your library decor.

You aren’t always in the position to remodel a library, but there are lots of ways to add whimsy to your library space. And especially at the high school level, there aren’t many places in the building that are whimsical, so it is something students really appreciate and it makes it feel more like their space.

Some ideas for adding fun to your space:

1. Tactile things–

We have a number of these puzzles on our front desk and the students absolutely cannot keep their hands off of them(nor can the teachers!) The other item which kids are constantly asking to take home are our life size cutouts of Orlando Bloom.

2. Fun lighting

IKEA has lots of whimsical items for a library, like this fun rolling bag lamp. The students are also enthralled by touch lamps….who woulda thought!

3. Magnetic things

Use magnet bars to provide students areas to post their art or flyers. (These are from IKEA). Post magnetic poetry (I found a magnetic poetry calendar on sale for 90% off from the previous year, but the magnets are still useable!) My assistant found the large ones pictured below for our front circulation desk.

4. Transparent things

If you have windows, use window clings–DezignwithAZ has some really cool window clings, but you can make your own with window decals from Office Depot.

We are also hoping to have a display later in the spring by projecting art onto the glass windows of the library with our lcd projectors–a transparent display so to speak, where the light will spill out into the hallway.

5. Student art–sculptures, pottery, digital prints and photography are all a way to add humor, whimsy and life to a library space.

Next up–Designing a new space with spaces for play

e.e. cummings ”in Just spring.”   

A puddle-wonderful trend has been rising up in blogs lately about playfulness in libraries, which is so serendipitously-excellent!   Unbeknownst to me when I wrote my own post about play, the Unquiet Librarian and Helene Blowers have both done inspiring work on this as well.  (far better than my post). 

So I had to link back to both the Unquiet Librarian’s post, which includes some really thoughtful questions about using play in our work, and  to also include Helene Blower’s awesome Slideshare presentation here, as well.   (Not wanting to steal but to highlight their fine work that I never would have found without their sharing it!)

More to follow with a post on “adding play” to your physical space. 

BPL: Libraries, Learning & Play

View more presentations from hblowers. (tags: bubbles learning)

Libraries focus so much on the serious side of research, (though in actuality many librarians I know have a great sense of humor), that perhaps we neglect the role of play in learning and creative thinking. (Past the elementary level, that is).

After spending some time yesterday in an online blog discussion of Whole New Mind with Maura Moritz’s classes at Arapahoe High School, I decided to take another look at the book’s chapter on play, a topic which has been on my mind quite a bit.

To begin with, I’ve been toying around in with several books, including the Artist’s Way, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and Living Out Loud: Activities to Fuel a Creative Life by Keri Smith. (While it is more of a women’s self-help book, it does have some creative ideas for stirring up your sense of play that could be translated to the classroom or library.)

Too often we assign research from a very serious “non-play” direction. We ask students to “choose topics from a list” or we assign the topics, or we ask them to “pick an issue to research.” And sometimes students don’t engage much of themselves personally in their research when using this kind of approach.

So I’ve been wondering about how to incorporate play into research as a way of tapping into more creative serendipitous approaches.

I decided to follow some of Dan Pink’s resource list and discover a few resources of my own as well.

Some interesting leads shared by Dan Pink:

LaughterYoga — Pink shares Dr. Madan Kataria’s work on establishing Laughter Clubs. As Pink points out, “just plain laughter can lead to joyfulness, which in turn can lead to greater creativity, productivity, and collaboration.”

Invention At Play is an exhibit about play and invention, which includes playful online activities, videos and articles about play, and an exploration of inventors.

Other resources he suggests include museum sites (I like the San Jose Tech Museum myself which is hosting a contest) and brain exercise sites(how about these games?)

Now I’m not really suggesting that having a laughing attack with your class in the library or playing little brain games will directly improve their research project, but we always approach research so darned seriously. “We are now starting our research project which is very important”–giving dire warnings to students about the seriousness of it.

But as author Diane Ackerman points out, “Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.”

So, how do we approach teaching research with a sense of play? For one thing, developing our own sense of play and creativity can help. (See my previous post on artist’s dates).

Other ideas–

Ask students to record their “odd questions” for a few weeks–weird things they wonder about. Have them select one of those for their research.

Often the best books take an original approach–for example in Know-It-All, author Jacobs attempts to read the entire Britannica encyclopedia A to Z. Shows like Ace of Cakes showcase unusual cakes. Challenge students to take an original approach to their research–research a particular skateboard manufacturer if they are into skateboards, research an author’s use of flowers in a literary text, research the connection between two different historical figures, research Civil War enacters–something outside the box with some clever and unique twist.

Let student research grow out of their own unique interests.

We can also approach the process more light-heartedly. Think of all the scientists and inventors who discovered things by play and tinkering. The best scientists spend their whole lives asking why, often in a playful fashion, trying to figure out how things work. They trip over their life’s work by asking questions.

Sure, research can lead to serious places, but if students approach it with curiosity and openness, then they are open to what they find. So how to encourage that sense of play and openness in how we teach research?

1. Make it about exploration, not “work” and not “seriousness.”

2. Help students brainstorm questions, ideas, serious and silly ones.

3. Help them think outside the box. In Living Out Loud, the author suggests that you cut out a small paper frame, hold it up and look at things through the frame–the outdoors, magazine covers, people, etc…and try to “see” differently. Have them take a newspaper headline on something they want to research and cut it into pieces, and draw a word out of a hat from the headline to focus in on.

4. Have them keep a seeing journal or a listening journal. Have them do this with the news, for example, or with the outdoors if you teach biology. This is a Zen buddhist meditation practice–to spend ten minutes just listening, for example, or just looking, or just smelling, while tuning out the other senses. It clears the mind and also helps us focus on what we aren’t really seeing or hearing because of all the other interfering senses. See what they notice and what can be brought into their research.

5. In gratitude journals, people often are advised to give thanks for small things. Small things can also be the source of research ideas. How are our shoes made? How does a strawberry get from Chile to our table? How did the home keys on our computer keyboards get developed? How does our favorite mug get from China to our kitchen cabinet?

6. Incite their curiosity with how much and how many questions–how many people in their town have cars? go to school? subscribe to the newspaper? How does this affect the economics of the businesses related to the questions?

7. Have them draw pictures of things they are interested in WITHOUT censoring themselves. Have them let their pencils spontaneously start drawing and see what happens–brings out what is lurking in the right brain.

8. Do some brainstorming “lists” with a timer on–Two minutes to list what your interests are. Two minutes to list countries you want to visit. Two minutes to list political issues you are interested in, etc. This silences their inner censors, and spontaneous interests just float to the top.  (Thanks to Artist’s Way for this idea)

9. Really direct students with lots of why questions. If they start on a topic, say “but why….” and when they come back with some answers, ask “but why…” again. Keep pressing on that curiosity.

10. Invention–focus on invention as they begin their research. There is a problem, how would they develop a solution? To world hunger? To poverty? To techno-overload? To too much gaming? To political issues? How could they be creative in coming up with a solution beyond the obvious? Who would be involved in this solution? What if the sky were the limit?

11. Have them write down a list of things they know already about their topic and then tear them up. Have them start with what they don’t know.

12. Approach the paper/research assignment with curiosity yourself. DO the research yourself. There is no substitute for you experiencing what they are experiencing. Be curious yourself–throw out the textbook, throw out the preconceived ideas, throw out last year’s list of topics. Just ask yourself what you really want to know. (It’s hard, isn’t it? So use some brainstorming tools to get yourself jump-started).

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

George Bernard Shaw

Next on the topic of play–play and designing library spaces.

Recently, David Warlick had been exploring metaphors for the library, and has posited that librarians are like viruses,  “infecting their schools with the desire to evolve.”   While I think that is an interesting metaphor, I’m not sure I want to be a virus

I had been thinking that the library is like a heart, permeating the body (school)with life giving substance, or that libraries are like the air, because with the internet, the library is everywhere, all the time, wherever you are.

In his inspiring article, “Playing with Legos in the Sandbox and other uses for  a library,” in the November issue of Library Media Connection(unfortunately the article is not online)  librarian Bob Hassett eloquently describes  the who, what when, where, why and how of the 21st century library.

He envisions the library as a sandbox, writing:

“The Library is a space where friends and strangers come together in community, to try things out and play with things and smash things together….”  

He reminds readers of Paul Miller’s talk at Computers in Libraries last year, where he talked about a library system being like a lego–you don’t have to build the model pictured on the box, but can experiment and design your own.

Hassett writes, “This is a…description of how real people really use information. My experience tells me that it’s truer of young people than grown-ups.  In a real sense, they build and create with it.  They play with it.”

So where is the library?  I love that Hassett pulls my favorite metaphor–that the library is everywhere, and that we as librarians have to be where our information users are.

And who is the library, according to Hassett?  He tells the teachers, “You are.”   And when is the library, Hassert asks?   His answer, ”All the time.”

As Hassert writes, we cannot limit what the library does to the four walls of the library–literacy, reading, information gathering–should be and are things all of us do all the time.  So our role as librarians is to reach out to our patrons, students and teachers alike–offer them resources, assistance, inspiration, collaboration, and provide in our physical spaces a place to play, explore, talk, collaborate, experiment, and create.   

So is our job to provide a learning sandbox for the school?  What do you think?

(disappointing to say that this article isn’t full text online yet–check your professional databases in a few weeks!)

A fun way to end my summer blogging today(I am back to work in the physical sense tomorrow!) –

I was tagged by two folks for the 8 random things “meme” or game, including one high school blogger, Ethan Bodnar, and also by Clay Burrell.  Here are the rules:

THE RULES
1. Post these rules before you give your facts.
2. List 8 random facts about yourself.
3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them.
4. Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Out of idle curiosity, I looked up the “8 random things” meme on Google, and found that there were 183,000 websites referencing this game of tag.   I browsed down some of the list, trying to find the earliest mention of it I could, running across all sorts of blogs on the way, including several librarian blogs, a blog about living in Africa, some religious blogs, a blog by a cancer survivor, blogs by midwives, mom blogs, book lovers blogs, knitting blogs, blogs about marketing, etc.

After I answer this, in a few days, when you search “8 random things” and “blogs” I imagine my post will come up somewhere.  (I saw Christian Long’s on think:lab as I was browsing through the Google Hits–and coincidentally, Christian tagged Ethan, and Ethan tagged me.)

The earliest response to this game I could find was in May, around May 16, though I’m sure if I’d had hours to spend, I could have found one from well before that.  It interested me that as I was digging deep into the Google results, there weren’t very many education bloggers represented in the earliest versions of the game, though there were some librarians, and quite a few just ‘regular’ bloggers.  

So I wonder if it took awhile to get around to the educational bloggers getting “tagged” and just why that might be.  Just curious about that–why would midwives and stitchery afficianados get tagged before technology educators?  I wonder if it’s the same with every meme or does it depend where it begins? (probably).   Or are we not as “in the loop” as we might think we are?

Ok, enough of the random musings….here are my 8 random things:

1.  I’m catching a cold, the day before I have to return to work, bad timing.  While this is a temporal “random thing,” it is the one most on my mind.  I’m quite annoyed about it.

2.  I was raised dreaming of travel.  My family’s idea of a fun night out would be going to the airport to stand on the rooftop deck(in those days you could) and watch the planes take off.  I like planning travel, thinking about travel, and finding interesting places to go.  Unfortunately, I don’t really enjoy actually flying.  Kind of a conundrum, there.  But I do fly

3.  I have an unexplained and strange obsession with the Iditarod, which I mentioned in the last game of tag.  

4.  I worked in an ice cream parlor in high school.  My dinner each night would consist of a pint of lime sherbet.  I’m not a huge fan of ice cream anymore.

5.  I’m fascinated by art museums.  I just like being in the space, not just entirely for the art but for the ambiance as well.  My favorite nearby one is the McNay Art Institute in San Antonio, where my grandmother used to take me when I was growing up.  I still go there several times a year–it’s a beautiful setting with a really nice Impressionist exhibit.

6.  I wish I had an iPhone.  (coveting one, actually)

7.  The Monterey Aquarium is one of my favorite places.  I love visiting aquariums, but it is by far my favorite.  I love that it is in an old cannery and that you can go out on the back decks and see the sea otters.  I also love sea otters.

8.  I could eat Mexican food every day.  (often, I do.)  I’m finishing this right at dinner time and pondering where I could have Mexican food tonight.

This is about as random as it gets–blame it on the cold  But if the point is to get to know other people whose blogs you read slightly better, perhaps those random facts helped?

Now I need to tap 8 people.   I’m going to tap Joel, Margie, Vicky, Karl, PjHiggins, Diane Cordell, Dennis Draper and Konrad Glogowski.

 I was going to tag Jennifer Wagner who I met at NECC(one of the WomenoftheWeb) but someone beat me to it!

I’m also wondering–what our students would say if we asked them to write down 8 random things about themselves?

  Yesterday was a unique event which the library hosts every May — Dylan Day.

If you aren’t familiar with it or aren’t from our campus, Dylan Day is a celebration of community and music, where teachers and students play and share Bob Dylan music for an entire day.   It is the brainchild of one of our English teachers, Bill Martin.  The library hosts it, moves out most of our furniture,  and closes for “normal activities” during the day, which is quite an undertaking.

Why do we do it?   Bill asked several of us to write reflections to share with students about what it means to us.   I wrote both about Dylan Day and about my grandmother, who has been very ill recently.  I thought about her sense of fun and play and how she liked to be part of a community. 

I reflected that I very happily open up the library for this because this day is about the kind of play that builds community for our school –it’s not about perfection, competition, achievement tests, or even really about performances.  It’s about sharing something together.  It’s a day that builds community for our campus in a very unique way.  

   When I look out every year over a sea of high school students sitting on the library floor, singing “Blowin in the Wind,” I am always amazed at how much warmth and openness Dylan Day brings to our school.   To see students (and teachers) work up the courage to sing in front of everyone, to see their friends singing along, and to see the cooperation involved is a powerful experience.

My grandmother died yesterday just minutes after Dylan Day ended.  She was 105.  Though sometimes in the last few days she “pretended we never have met” as the Dylan song goes, I’ll celebrate and remember her sense of humor and love of family and community, and the fact that somehow she got to share Dylan Day with all of us.

Thanks, Bill, for bringing us all together once again.

   I’m reaching the point in the school year where I’ve been driving hard and am getting pretty worn out, as I’m sure a lot of people are, even though I love what I’m doing.

So I was really interested to run across this post at Fischbowl regarding the role of play in education.   Karl Fisch highlights a post by his school district’s CIO, Dan Maas, who beautifully illustrates how the love of something is often born from having time to “play” at it early on.

In our earnestness this time of year, it’s easy to get so focused on goals that we forget the power and value of play for our students or for ourselves, for that matter. 

ForestForTrees, who created the photo from Flickr.com above, reminds us of the definition of play in his photo comments:

“Play consists of…
* “Activities not consciously performed for the sake of any result beyond themselves” (Dewey)
* “Instinctive practice, without serious intent, of activities which will later be essential to life” (Groos).
Source: Definitions of Play and Pretense“

But in his comments on Karl’s post, Barry Bachenheimer notices how often we call things we do in school “work.”

“‘Do your work’, ‘Home work’, ‘Turn in your work.’ Learning is seen as a task and not as an enjoyable activity.”

I think therein lies a real challenge for us with students.  How can we reengage that sense of play?

The other challenge this thread of commentary raises for me is  ”our work” as educators.  Do we ever think of it as play?  Do we still enjoy learning, tinkering around with things, or figuring things out?   Aren’t we more inspired and enthusiastic when we can do that?

It’s a special challenge this time of year to remember to let ourselves play, to slow down and enjoy a moment, to do something for the sheer enjoyment of it, whether at “work” or elsewhere.  But we all need to take time out to “sharpen the saw” as Stephen Covey puts it, and bring the energy we gain from our play back into our classrooms and schools.

I’ve been too tired to post much lately but I noticed when I was reading about play how much it energized me.  Perhaps even the mere notion of play can relax us?  Food for thought….