Showing posts with label Cherry Hill Oral History Project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cherry Hill Oral History Project. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
New Cherry Hill Video!
Check out the Cherry Hill Page to see a brand new video by the library intern, Paul Marks. I worked with Paul throughout the semester and he did a wonderful job! If you haven't met Juanita, you will want to by the end of this video!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Unexpected Places*
Where did January go? I managed to finish and submit an article while making headway in scheduling spring classes and collection development, I'm working on a special project in archives, and finished a couple of proposals for upcoming conferences. And yet, I still feel so behind. These were only drops in the bucket of the to-do list akin to Garfield's dream pan of lasagna. Only, unlike Garfield's** pan of lasagna, I feel very little joy as my list fills back up. So, when the strangulation noises start escaping from my throat, I'm lucky that I have a nearby colleague that knowingly glides into my office and whispers, "Float along in the chaos, Shannon, just float along in the chaos... " While simultaneously rubbing my temples.***
But, I don't need her anymore! Last post I was looking for some inspiration to get me going and found a taste in the video I posted. However, I found something so much better: my Cherry Hill 5th graders working on the oral history project. The kids were great last year, too, but we were all new
to the project and had to go through some growing pains that took a lot
of energy and time. I thought I might have a couple more years of
feeling like this as I worked on the project. So, I'm sorry to say that I wasn't
exactly excited about the first day this year. But I should have been.
Our first day was amazing! This new group is enthusiastic and engaged, and they follow along and ask relevant questions.**** The project is going to have an awesome year. They are a wonderful group. They remind me of being a kid and getting excited about a new and cool project that may have required responsibilities beyond my years. I can see that in these kids. They are raring to go!
So I've decided that as I move forward through the spring I'm going to imagine that the information***** I present is to excited learners like them. Every class I put together or reference session, I'm going to bring a little bit more creativity so that my students have the opportunity to get inspired. There is so much that is amazing and wonderful to learn about! I guess I just needed some really sharp kids to remind me that inspiration can come at unexpected times and unexpected places.
So I've decided that as I move forward through the spring I'm going to imagine that the information***** I present is to excited learners like them. Every class I put together or reference session, I'm going to bring a little bit more creativity so that my students have the opportunity to get inspired. There is so much that is amazing and wonderful to learn about! I guess I just needed some really sharp kids to remind me that inspiration can come at unexpected times and unexpected places.
*In this post I will be paying homage to David Foster Wallace by endnoting extensively.
**I know what you're thinking, "A Garfield reference?! Shannon's gone soft!" And, yes. You are absolutely spot on. I have gone soft. Every time someone forwards me a freaking flash mob video I have to close my door and weep. If you think about it, the fact that all those people that barely know each other planned on putting on a dance together is very impressive. I mean, I think about this a lot. In our current culture that allows computers and phones and ipods to create barriers to human interaction - a group gleefully dancing together in public is a beautiful demonstration of our need for connection and expression of the human spirit. Can you think of a better way than through public synchronized dancing/singing/finger shooting/freezing in placing etc..? I can't. (You NEED to check these out!)
**I know what you're thinking, "A Garfield reference?! Shannon's gone soft!" And, yes. You are absolutely spot on. I have gone soft. Every time someone forwards me a freaking flash mob video I have to close my door and weep. If you think about it, the fact that all those people that barely know each other planned on putting on a dance together is very impressive. I mean, I think about this a lot. In our current culture that allows computers and phones and ipods to create barriers to human interaction - a group gleefully dancing together in public is a beautiful demonstration of our need for connection and expression of the human spirit. Can you think of a better way than through public synchronized dancing/singing/finger shooting/freezing in placing etc..? I can't. (You NEED to check these out!)
***This colleague may be a figment of my imagination.
****Irrelevant question: Can I get some water? Relevant question: If they thought the Tuskegee airmen were too dumb to fly, why didn't they get more white pilots? (Wanted to hug this girl!)
*****I just wanted to put one set of asterisks in an "unexpected place." Gotcha!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Auld Lang Blog
We're a week and a half away from the New Year, and I feel like I didn't get anything done, (folds arms across chest and sticks out bottom lip). And, then I reviewed my blog from 2011 and my lord have I had a full year!
I accepted my new position in January and got to work as an art librarian and archivist. Then I got to travel to Midwinter in San Diego -so great! My dance card was full catching up over early morning and late night meals with fellow librarians. I got to stay with friends and family in SoCal while attending sessions and getting residency things squared away. It wasn't exactly a vacation, but it sure felt like one.
In February with new classes to teach I also had a brief brush with fame while guest blogging for The Desk Set. That was a fun and strange experience. I have my own blog... but, I'm blogging for someone else, virtually about the same stuff.... Well, it was a good experience! Then in March I got the flu and I'd like to say I learned a lesson, but I STILL have not gotten my flu shot yet this year. (I'm going to hell.) Then there was ACRL in Philadelphia where I also managed to attend really amazing sessions and learned a lot. Most memorably from a Towson colleague, David Dahl, that gave a great presentation on capturing ideas.
In April I started talking about how I use Google Docs and a few librarians here have implemented my design into their classrooms, which is really neat to see! I guest blogged on the subject and did a short presentation at a local workshop and am keeping my fingers crossed over a national publication on the topic in 2012.
I took a hiatus and a fellow resident, Hannah Lee (check out posts), and fellow Kent State grad, Melissa Ravely, (check out posts), stepped up with some great guest posts. When I returned I found out that I was accepted to present at two national conferences. I did one presentation on my oral history project in October but not having sound, despite being assured there was audio, (among a couple of other glitches), turned the whole experience into a complete flop. My head is still partially buried in the sand from that one. I'm hoping to make a comeback, however, when I facilitate a panel on residencies at ALA Anaheim in June -thank goodness we won't need anything other than Powerpoint for that!
What else? I wrote a Manifesto, talked about an Occupy Wall Street Guide, and... What am I forgetting? Oh yes, I had a baby. And yeah, all that mushy gushy, "best thing that ever happened to me," blah blah blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, is all true. I couldn't go into all of that if I tried. But, suffice it to say that if you run into me with my phone and ask about the baby, you will be stuck watching me flick through my online photo album while sighing wistfully over how she's grown so much in the last 7 months. I hope you won't have any plans immediately following our hypothetical rendezvous, because you won't make them. Go ahead and cancel them now. I'll wait. Take your time. Did I mention our READ posters? If you're in my family a framed edition may be coming to you for the holidays this year. What better gift than the gift of me! (She remarked, modestly.)
What's next? Well, I have a lot of irons in the fire. I think that's the way to make it in this complex academic librarian world. I've submitted to present with a number of colleagues on different subjects at next year's JCLC, (Joint Conference of Librarians of Color), and am waiting to hear back. I'm also hurriedly working on getting some publications finished before students return to campus and teaching consumes my every moment. I also have my dates set for working on my oral history project this year, and this new group of students are so excited based on the little video I showed them. I'm also putting together a proposal to teach an honors course in the fall that incorporates the oral history project. So, it looks as if next year is shaping up to be just as busy, if not more so than last. I'm getting a little excited! Bah-RING IT!
I accepted my new position in January and got to work as an art librarian and archivist. Then I got to travel to Midwinter in San Diego -so great! My dance card was full catching up over early morning and late night meals with fellow librarians. I got to stay with friends and family in SoCal while attending sessions and getting residency things squared away. It wasn't exactly a vacation, but it sure felt like one.
In February with new classes to teach I also had a brief brush with fame while guest blogging for The Desk Set. That was a fun and strange experience. I have my own blog... but, I'm blogging for someone else, virtually about the same stuff.... Well, it was a good experience! Then in March I got the flu and I'd like to say I learned a lesson, but I STILL have not gotten my flu shot yet this year. (I'm going to hell.) Then there was ACRL in Philadelphia where I also managed to attend really amazing sessions and learned a lot. Most memorably from a Towson colleague, David Dahl, that gave a great presentation on capturing ideas.
In April I started talking about how I use Google Docs and a few librarians here have implemented my design into their classrooms, which is really neat to see! I guest blogged on the subject and did a short presentation at a local workshop and am keeping my fingers crossed over a national publication on the topic in 2012.
I took a hiatus and a fellow resident, Hannah Lee (check out posts), and fellow Kent State grad, Melissa Ravely, (check out posts), stepped up with some great guest posts. When I returned I found out that I was accepted to present at two national conferences. I did one presentation on my oral history project in October but not having sound, despite being assured there was audio, (among a couple of other glitches), turned the whole experience into a complete flop. My head is still partially buried in the sand from that one. I'm hoping to make a comeback, however, when I facilitate a panel on residencies at ALA Anaheim in June -thank goodness we won't need anything other than Powerpoint for that!
What else? I wrote a Manifesto, talked about an Occupy Wall Street Guide, and... What am I forgetting? Oh yes, I had a baby. And yeah, all that mushy gushy, "best thing that ever happened to me," blah blah blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, is all true. I couldn't go into all of that if I tried. But, suffice it to say that if you run into me with my phone and ask about the baby, you will be stuck watching me flick through my online photo album while sighing wistfully over how she's grown so much in the last 7 months. I hope you won't have any plans immediately following our hypothetical rendezvous, because you won't make them. Go ahead and cancel them now. I'll wait. Take your time. Did I mention our READ posters? If you're in my family a framed edition may be coming to you for the holidays this year. What better gift than the gift of me! (She remarked, modestly.)
What's next? Well, I have a lot of irons in the fire. I think that's the way to make it in this complex academic librarian world. I've submitted to present with a number of colleagues on different subjects at next year's JCLC, (Joint Conference of Librarians of Color), and am waiting to hear back. I'm also hurriedly working on getting some publications finished before students return to campus and teaching consumes my every moment. I also have my dates set for working on my oral history project this year, and this new group of students are so excited based on the little video I showed them. I'm also putting together a proposal to teach an honors course in the fall that incorporates the oral history project. So, it looks as if next year is shaping up to be just as busy, if not more so than last. I'm getting a little excited! Bah-RING IT!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Cherry Hill Recap Video
So, today I'm presenting the Oral History project to the 5th graders that will be participating this year. I thought that I would put a few short video and audio pieces together so that they could get a sense of what we did last year. And, then I thought, why not just do one video about everything? So, I did. You can check it out with a couple other short pieces on the Cherry Hill page of this blog. Or watch below.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
New Page! CHOHP
As requested, I have added a couple of recordings and video from the Cherry Hill Oral History Project, by way of a whole new page, (see top tab), dedicated to this endeavor. I hope that eventually the students I work with will decide on the shape and design of an online exhibit to be displayed in a new area of the web. However, until we reach that point, I'm going to start pushing out some of the media from the project via the new page on this blog.
I thoroughly enjoy designing these short videos! That said, I am new at incorporating the audio and video together. Hopefully my skills will improve as I make more of these short feeds.
I will try to add a new video every other week. Your feedback is welcome. Enjoy!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Up Next: CHOHP
Thanks for voting everyone! It's clear that you all want to hear more about the oral history project I've been working on. SO, I've decided to add a whole extra page to the site about the project. I will post new media and updates on the project there. This won't replace an eventual online exhibit, but it will get some of the cool stuff gathered, out there.
Monday, November 8, 2010
According to Plan?
I used to be a fan of the Animaniacs Segment, "Pinky and the Brain," when I was in high school. (Yes, I watched cartoons in high school. And, if there were any good ones on T.V. now, I probably still would.) Pinky, the tall dim-witted mouse would ask the stouter genius mouse called, The Brain, every episode, "What we gonna do now, Brain?" The Brain would answer, something about eating a sandwich or having a drink and then always end with, "and then Pinky, we're going to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!" (Cue lightning strike.) Inevitably their plans were thwarted.
In a small way I felt a little like this adorable mouse duo in my efforts last week to carry out my, (far from diabolical), oral history plans. Last week was a milestone event in the work I've been doing weekly with the 5th graders in the Cherry Hill community of Baltimore city, and it was a serious exercise in flexibility. According to the plan, the students and I were to walk over to the senior manor only a few short blocks from the school, where things would be set up to gather oral histories from a number of the seniors that grew up in the Cherry Hill neighborhood. That did not happen.
Despite talking with the home weeks in advance, two days before the event I was informed by a voice mail that we could not hold our event at the senior home. I was unaware of the reasons until it was too late to do anything about, but I scrambled, along with the Principal of the elementary school, to find another venue. Luckily, we were welcomed at the Senior Center -a community location run by a Catholic charity- with open arms. The woman that runs the center was excited about the project and started making phone calls to her seniors. I also tried to round up the seniors at the manor home, where we were originally scheduled to go, to see if they could come down to the center. The initial panic I had from the first phone call subsided and things seemed like they were working out even better than I expected. The day before the event I got ANOTHER phone call. The event could not be held at the senior center because there were no available volunteers to open the center. Panic ensued, followed by harried phone calls and a wonderful woman that coordinates community events in the area, was able to get us time at the Parish Hall, and the seniors from the center were contacted to go there.
I was pretty sure after all of this hullabaloo that no one would show up. We changed the venue 3 times in 2 days, the times kept changing and there were many people we were trying to get into one place. Despite all of this, it worked out. And, it worked out beautifully! Five seniors from the area attended and were more than happy to offer information about Cherry Hill along with a great deal of unsolicited advice to the 5th grade class. The whole event was captured on video and the students were able to take pictures with each other and the seniors following the talk. There were also lollipops that a generous senior brought for the kids. The seniors were delighted to bend the ears of so many kids and the kids were happy to get out of the classroom for an afternoon coated in sugar.
 |
| I "borrowed" this image from this site, but I'm not sure where they 'borrowed" it from. Forgive me! |
In a small way I felt a little like this adorable mouse duo in my efforts last week to carry out my, (far from diabolical), oral history plans. Last week was a milestone event in the work I've been doing weekly with the 5th graders in the Cherry Hill community of Baltimore city, and it was a serious exercise in flexibility. According to the plan, the students and I were to walk over to the senior manor only a few short blocks from the school, where things would be set up to gather oral histories from a number of the seniors that grew up in the Cherry Hill neighborhood. That did not happen.
Despite talking with the home weeks in advance, two days before the event I was informed by a voice mail that we could not hold our event at the senior home. I was unaware of the reasons until it was too late to do anything about, but I scrambled, along with the Principal of the elementary school, to find another venue. Luckily, we were welcomed at the Senior Center -a community location run by a Catholic charity- with open arms. The woman that runs the center was excited about the project and started making phone calls to her seniors. I also tried to round up the seniors at the manor home, where we were originally scheduled to go, to see if they could come down to the center. The initial panic I had from the first phone call subsided and things seemed like they were working out even better than I expected. The day before the event I got ANOTHER phone call. The event could not be held at the senior center because there were no available volunteers to open the center. Panic ensued, followed by harried phone calls and a wonderful woman that coordinates community events in the area, was able to get us time at the Parish Hall, and the seniors from the center were contacted to go there.
I was pretty sure after all of this hullabaloo that no one would show up. We changed the venue 3 times in 2 days, the times kept changing and there were many people we were trying to get into one place. Despite all of this, it worked out. And, it worked out beautifully! Five seniors from the area attended and were more than happy to offer information about Cherry Hill along with a great deal of unsolicited advice to the 5th grade class. The whole event was captured on video and the students were able to take pictures with each other and the seniors following the talk. There were also lollipops that a generous senior brought for the kids. The seniors were delighted to bend the ears of so many kids and the kids were happy to get out of the classroom for an afternoon coated in sugar.
All in all, the event managed to garner a great deal of information and media that will help us do further research on the area and play central roles to the development of our online exhibit. So while I certainly failed to take over the world, I'm kind of hoping that an itty bitty piece of it might be a tad bit better. What a week!
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