bibliotherapy

Squeeze & Relax

/ Gina Seymour / 1 Comment

MakerCare Lit Connection Series

Today therapy dogs visited our school bringing smiles and respite from a busy week filled with final exams and Regents test prep. I’ve written of my gratitude for therapy animals (yes, dogs and therapy bunny!). Animals can decrease stress in humans. However some students, like me, are allergic to animal fur. The alternatives are hypo-allergenic breeds, social robotic pets or other stress reducers.

Project (Title): Stress Balls

Lit Connection (Test Anxiety):

Check out this list of books

Lit Connection (Service/Therapy Dogs):

Ben: The Very Best Furry Friend, I Know My Name is Love, Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship

Alternative Titles:
PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR FAVORITE TITLE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

How To:

You’ll need empty water bottles with caps, Magic Beadz, a teaspoon, funnel and balloons. Pour 1 tsp of Magic Beadz into a water bottle and fill with 2 cups of water. Allow 2-3 hours for beadz to absorb water. Pour out any remaining water. Put balloon over neck of bottle and pour (squeeze, really) the beadz into the balloon. Knot off the balloon. Squeeze and Relax!

Worry Not!

/ Gina Seymour / 1 Comment

Now that my book, Makers With a Cause, is complete and soon to be released, I finally find myself with time to write about literature connections to some of my favorite maker projects. I started last month with Memorial Day themed books, but now I’d like to focus more on compassionate making (aka #MakerCare) lit connections.

Each month I’ll describe a maker project that espouses compassion, empathy or social action and match it with a book to read aloud or as part of a reading group.

So, here goes…

Project: Worry Dolls

Why: Our kids are stressed out!

“According to the Mayan legend, when worrying keeps a person awake, he or she tells a worry to as many dolls as necessary. Then the worrier places the dolls under his or her pillow. The dolls take over the worrying for the person who then sleeps peacefully through the night. When morning breaks, the person awakens without the worries that the dolls took away during the night.”

When: Anytime, pre mid-term and final testing period, Mental Health Awareness Month (May)

Literature Connection: Silly Billy by Anthony Browne

  

 

Alternative Titles:

Trouble Dolls – Jimmy Buffett & Savanah Buffet

Secrets of Worry Dolls – Amy Impellizzeri (312p novel)

PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR FAVORITE TITLE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

How To:

Cut one pipe cleaner into 1/3 & 2/3 lengths.

Wrap yarn around your hand several times and slide it through the 2/3 length pipe cleaner. Slide a wooden bead up the bent pipe cleaner holding the ‘hair’ in place. Trim ‘hair’ as desired. Draw face on bead, as desired. Wrap the 1/3 pipe cleaner around the ‘body’ forming ‘arms’. Using yarn, cover the exposed areas of the pipe cleaner

 

Good Grief! A Librarian’s Reaction to Grief and Bereavement

/ Gina Seymour / Leave a comment

I started off the school year with the death of former student. Unfortunately, I’m ending the school year with the death of a staff member. The death, another car accident, occurred over the weekend and I dreaded going to work on Monday. Senseless tragedies depriving us of vibrant lives lived.

It is said that when grieving we need to do something physical as it gives us power over the situation in which we feel powerless.

When a former high school student, Anil, died students came to the library to make memorial buttons to be worn at Homecoming and throughout the numerous memorial events that occurred during the year. It was a very cathartic experience. I still see buttons on staff lanyards and on student backpacks. It’s oddly comforting.

Recently while still feeling sad and contemplating ideas for a new end of year bulletin board, I thought this would be my opportunity to express myself. But why stop there? Why not invite others to participate. So a simple activity to provide a colorful distraction in honor of a colorful woman thus became an interactive art display.

psyches

These experiences got me thinking about grief and bereavement and the librarian’s role. When my children were young and their first dog died the very first thing I did was to run to the public library for bibliotherapy. We needed a copy of The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (Viorst), Dog Heaven (Rylant),  and stack of other related titles.  Libraries comfort us, they heal us. Psyches iatreion is roughly translated as “Healing Place for the Soul”; this phrase was found inscribed on an ancient Greek library. I  read aloud to three distraught little boys, we made our ‘Good Thing’ lists and decorated them. We grieved through doing, through making something.

Working in a school setting we are fortunate to have social workers, psychologists and counselors. However, librarians should never overlook their usefulness in this area.

In typical librarian fashion I love to curate. I also love to make and create. And unfortunately I’m not immune to grief.  I’ve gathered sources and ideas so that I could direct students and others to help themselves. Please feel free to use this list: http://hslibguides.islipufsd.org/grief and look for my upcoming article in Teacher-Librarian regarding this topic (Seymour, G. (2016, May/June). The Compassionate Makerspace: Grief and Healing in a High School Library Makerspace. Teacher Librarian.)