Iron Fist: The Class PLUS Programming for School-Agers

HEY EVERYONE.

(This post is ridiculously late, I know. Look out for a post sometime in the New Year about what I've been up to this fiscal year! I really can't wait to share)

Looking to reconsider your space and programming in the New Year with your kid patrons in mind?

Looking for a resource that might save you some money that you don't have for a design consultant?

OR have you just recently fallen down the rabbit hole of my Iron Fist posts and want to sink your teeth into behavior management at your library?

Well you're IN LUCK: I will be running the course "Child Development, Library Space, and Behavior" January 23-March 3, 2017. It's an asynchronous class with a very doable work load (2 discussion questions a week; a culminating project of your choosing; and you're done) with tips you can use right away.

This course is designed with the student in mind: content to digest, questions to help you reflect and synthesize with classmates; and hopefully, a frame of reference that will stick with you as you continue to make changes in your library. I am here for you to get as much out of this class as you can, and there are a few different ways you can engage to make the class the most meaningful it can be for you.



Ready to register? Click this link to get more information. Register by January 9 to get 10% off!

Can't make it? That's okay.  I wanted to also share with you a couple of videos I put together in the past year. They're both only one take, and are pretty long, and I apologize there are no captions or subtitles. From now on, I will make sure to retain my transcripts for further accessible sharing:



2nd and 3rd grade programming from Bryce Kozla on Vimeo.
This video was done right after my "Top Five Places to Hide and Cry in Your Library", I care way less than in previous videos I've made about whether your see my CP-hand or not.


Special Programs and No-School Days from Bryce Kozla on Vimeo.
This video was done soon after my move to Oregon, amid watching lots of WWE promos and the reality show "Legends House", and I think it shows. I'm loud. I point a lot. Like, way more than normal. I might as well say "Listen here, Mean Gene." My accent is still pretty bad in this one. NOTE TO SELF: Even though it looks good here, never get that haircut again. EVEN THOUGH it looks good here.

What professional development resources are you digging lately?

Iron Fist:the Class II

HEY EVERYONE.

Didn't get a chance to take my continuing education course "Child Development, Library Space, and Behavior" last Spring? 

Have you been regretting it forever as your drown in a sea of disruptive children and your own tears?

Have stumbled on my Iron Fist posts since and would like to learn more about behavior management?

Or are you just looking to take a class about stuff in libraries that you literally won't find anywhere else?

WELL YOU'RE IN LUCK because I'm so excited to announce that Iron Fist: the Class is happening AGAIN March 21-April 29, 2016. Click here to get more information and to register.  Register by March 6 and get 10% off!

Need to convince yourself or the Powers That Be that this class is worth your funds/time? Here's a ridiculously stellar endorsement of this course by Rebecca McCorkindale, who I've dubbed The Librarian Who Saved SRP 2015. 

Here are a few more details if you're on the fence:

Libraries and the ACE Study: an Iron Fist Joint Post with Anna Donaldson, MSW

Anna Donaldson is a Departmental Analyst with the State of Michigan Division of Continuous Quality Improvement (DCQI) which monitors child welfare compliance and quality across the state. In the near future, she will be joining the clinical research team as Research Coordinator at the Momentous Institute in Dallas, TX as she as recently relocated with her husband to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. This new opportunity at the Momentous Institute will allow Anna to work with the team to gather and analyze data surrounding children's social/emotional growth and how the role of education can positively impact a child's ability to self-regulate, self-aware, and increase educational outcomes for at-risk children. Anna's main areas of interest are child welfare, specifically the impact of trauma on children and families, and improving quality of services provide to this population.

Bryce is Bryce, Anna's sibling, who obviously did not write Anna's bio.

Iron Fist Child Management: The Class

Oh my goodness, everyone. I've looked like Abed here since I found out my proposed class was accepted with UW SLIS Continuing Education, and am so happy that it's posted and people can register for it and please maybe register for it so it doesn't get canceled!

Announcing:
Iron Fist Child (and some parent) Management: The Class.

This is something I've wanted to do since I found out that this is a thing, Marge was nice enough to set me up with a contact at SLIS. I sent them a proposal, followed up with the exact description that you see on the website, and here we are!

Here's what I really want to say about this course for those on the fence:

Built-in Self-Regulation: A DOAWK Book Launch Story

I held a DOAWK "The Long Haul" party a few weeks ago,and I was originally going to write that up. I still will, here, with a free downloadable PPT so you can make one too; but it was what I added last-minute the night before (isn't that always the case?) that I really want to talk about.

SO. DOAWK at my library has a wide appeal, and a very small but incredibly fandom-like hoard who attend our DOAWK programs each and every year. This year, there were around 15 kids in attendance. I go back and forth about whether I want to keep doing these for 15 kids, but I'm glad I did this year.

Anyway, wanting to keep it fresh and also appropriately geeked-out, I went for something I hadn't tried before:

"K-5 Programming": Differentiating in the Library

This week I had a program where I picked the incorrect book. It was a good book, and good for the topic, and a perfect read-aloud for 8-12 year-old kids.
...Problem was, the day of the program, 4-8 year-old kids showed up. I still "read" the book, skimming pages while following the story; but I left the program disappointed in myself. Why hadn't I prepared for this? Why didn't I just skip the book when I saw who was there? 

I'm kind of glad this came up, because another Iron Fist post has been rattling around in my head, this time about helping kids navigate your programming for success. Truly, the following post is probably step #1 in Traditional Programming Child Management: is your program developmentally appropriate? This is really important to think about now that we're all trying STE(a)M at our libraries. I'm not saying that toddlers can't love learning about the weather or that fifth graders can't love sensory activities; but: how are these ideas presented? Are you explaining clouds in a tangible way that toddlers can connect to their world? Are you talking to fifth graders about the weird things their senses do every day without their knowledge to screw with their heads so they're interested? If they're bored out of their skulls, kids will let you know by acting out. Chaos or disinterest in your program is not their fault, it's yours.

I don't say that to be harsh, I promise. I say that to empower us all: their interest in your program is under your control. 

As I thought about my book of choice, and how disappointed in myself I was, I realized that my programming is influenced by education in a way that I never realized before: differentiating instruction.

Show Me the Awesome: Iron Fist 3: Adult Management

This week I'm glad to join the many awesome people posting for Show Me the Awesome: 30 Days of Self-Promotion, started and curated by Liz Burns, Sophie Brookover, and Kelly Jensen. Here's a post at Stacked explaining the project, and All the Awesome is collected here.

Artwork by John LeMasney, lemasney.com

I'm writing this post jointly with my new coworker, Brooke, who writes about her adventures in librarianship at Reading with Red.

As a former educator and classroom management survivor, I've written a few times about managing our Children's Department, complete with a to-scale boat and a life-size giraffe (here and here, respectively). It's been a trip, and we're finally getting to a place where our space is used by children mostly as it is intended.

I realized, though, that now we've gotten a handle on the kids, we're experiencing something that I haven't written about before:

Library Signage: Not Just for Bathrooms Anymore

Okay so here's one picture of food.

I was recently able, by the grace of my place of employment, a generous Emerging Leaders sponsorship by ASCLA, and my credit card, to attend ALA Midwinter in Seattle, WA. It was an awesome experience and as a good librarian I should probably write about it and should've Instagrammed all my meals and spent a longer time on the exhibit floor.

But I just want to share a couple pictures, mostly because I want my boss to see them and talk about them and this is probably the best format for the time being. The Seattle Public Library is an awesome space for a lot of things. What I focused on to bring back to my department was signage, because when focusing on space this might be cheapest-versus-most-beneficial thing to do. Also, I've been inspired by Storytime Katie's rules signage; small, well-communicated info gets everyone where we need to go.
So anyway:

Ninjago Library Party

Source (seriously, you have to get these books)

At long last, we ran our no-school Ninjago party. To be honest, the total prep time for this program was 3 hours, but it was extremely high-yield at 95 attendees. That is seriously more than I've seen in my time at this library for a program at our library that didn't have a guest or hired performer.
Thanks to the extra prep time, I was prepared. And I'm going to write it out for you all, and link to some resources I found helpful, so that your prep time (and my future prep time; I will be doing this again) will be considerably less than that for the same quality program.

The Return of the Iron Fist: Child Management Part 2

Lately I've noticed a discussion on a list-serv I follow about child management in the library. I wrote a successful post last summer that has been helpful to many, but this debate made me realize I didn't go far into the use of the negative in rule-making in the children's area.

Mainly because our problem was bribery of children to behave.

But truly, on the other end of the spectrum, there is a matter of writing rules for children and tweens that are inviting rather than negative.

The entirety of what I'm about to write will probably sound overly fluffy. You may dismiss it, as some might, assuming that by omitting the word "No" only feeds the fire of Precious Snowflake Culture.

But I assure you, this is anything but. This is years of trying and failing and trying again and failing and crying in the bathroom and then trying again because me and kids were stuck together.

(Iron Fist Sold Separately): Welcoming environments

The first professional development I'll be giving (when I talk about The Boat) is tomorrow. Last night I wrote up some things I'll be saying to go along with the morning script, which was given to us but needs to be embellished a bit. I get to talk about two "principles" to mindfulness with patron interaction-- one is relating to a feeling powerlessness and another is creating welcoming environments.

Powerlessness: The script says to talk about "last week" when I saw a mom and kid in the grocery store: "I was the grocery store a few weeks ago. A woman had two toddlers and was talking out loud. She said, 'James, it is not my fault that you did not take your nap. I'm tired and I need one, too!'

We all have this happen, this powerlessness. People are doing the best they can with what they have!
We need to have compassion and understanding. We don't need to know the whole scenario, but it helps to remember."

A mean looking baby. Text says "you nap when I say"

Now, this is a fine story. But it didn't really happen to me, or to anyone I witnessed. I figured this was disingenuous,  and that the principle of "powerlessness" isn't about an objective understanding of the idea of powerlessness and more about recalling (probably hurtful) memories of times that we have felt powerless in order to empathize properly.

Here is what I am going to add. This is a true story:

Child Management. With an Iron Fist.

In the middle of the children's department at my library, there is a boat.

Yup. A boat.

Wall of a library that is a replica of the side of a steamboat.

This monstrosity lines the entire right (erm, starboard) side of the room with bright colors, steps and a facade that clearly screams: PLAY ON ME!

I hear it used to be worse. It used to have a steering wheel and I think paddles, and like, cannons, or something. Its safety has increased (there is now vinyl lining the steel sides, and the wheel was taken down after only two kids' heads got stuck and started bleeding). 

But the worst part about it, is it's a memorial. So that means, no matter how many times the staff can be like, "seriously, there's a boat in our library" it cannot be taken down.

I wish I was kidding or even remotely hyperbolic about any of this. Maybe there weren't any cannons, but really, that's it.