Reading Reflection Administration and Programming

Being a theatre teacher causes one to wear many hats; skills are taught, props are made, movement is created, costumes are pulled, sets are built, and of course, rehearsals are had.  They are often a lone wolf in a school and though there are many that could collaborate with,  it often goes to the wayside because others aren't sure how to  do this.   Typically, the job of Theatre Teacher is so faceted, it's the organization that keeps them afloat.   The reading resonated with me this week simply because this is the typical plight  of the school librarian as well. 

Organization can keep one above water but to cultivate and sustain storytelling program, educating your colleagues can help them lean in to authentic and fruitful programming. The importance of stories to children's formation as well as to their connection to others,  as Baker points out in the beginning of the chapter is paramount to a strong program.  Carving out time, deciding on frequency, and focusing on variety can help launch successful programs.  

Often school librarians  of older students may let the storytelling programming go to the wayside thinking it might not be received well.  I am hoping to use storytelling to bring students together and provide experiences to foster empathy, which in my current middle school, is sorely lacking.   

  Narrative 4 is a program created for young adults that does just that.  It is a program based on the exchange of personal stories and trusting the other to tell it.  The whole process is very well thought out with the process of listening, repeating, crafting, and then telling. This is an overview of the program.  Watch this!  

Fearless hope in Radical Empathy is their mantra and I have scene first hand the change it can make.   Years ago at Charleston County School of the Arts, The creative writing team brought a trainer in.   We worked with other teachers and exchanged stories.  The teacher I was paired up with was from a different district  and seemed to have it all together.   Our stories were short but it opened us up to something more in discussion.   Taking the other details of description and filling out the story was enlightening and then sharing each other's stories was bonding experience that I will never forget.   The level of trust was high and found in such a short amount of time.   There is no doubt that a program like this could do great things in school libraries.  

There wasn't formal stories that I saw so I will pick a few that I read that may make great options.

The Listeners By Walter De La Mare

African Folk Tale the Red and the Blue Coat

The Peach Boy a Japanese tale.  This has a lot of great rhythm as it is based in Kabuki.

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 By Anna Devere Smith.  This is a play compiled of many first hand accounts of the Los Angeles  Riots.   All are first person accounts and stories.   This could be used as an example of a story exchange. 

Gold Tree and Silver Tree a Celtic Tale.   This has some airs of Snow White and Hansel and Gretel.  It is weird but just weird enough that it could be of interest to older students

Grieve Not. By Walter Clyde Curry

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