Cow Tipping Press-MN Writes MN Reads and Author Reading Event

MN Writes MN Reads

On 3/22 I met with two of our participants (others couldn't make it but I have shared handouts with them) and we talked about MN Writes and MN Reads and I did a demonstration of how one could compose or upload a book using this online platform. We also reviewed how one could have the book made into a variety of formats to be able to share to an online book catalog or submit to other forums. Last we looked at how to read other local self published authors and e-books from MN presses that are available on Indie Minnesota and Biblioboard.

Cow Tipping Press Author Reading Event

What a fabulous event! Our five authors all were able to make it and they brought family and friends and we had about 40 people over all plus great treats! Bryan from Cow Tipping Press and I made brief presentations thanking Dakota and Ramsey Counties for access to their ASD Innovations Grant funds, to TAP for helping us recruit our participants, to Saint Paul Public Library for hosting the event, to Cow Tipping Press for the great workshop, and to our participants for taking part and sharing their voices with us. 

Our participants each received two copies of their book and had the chance to get up and read some or all of their works that appeared in the book. 

Everyone did a great job! I read for Mike and then he talked about his works and his influences. All in all a great night and a wonderful chance to increase our understanding of diversity by hearing voices that aren't heard often enough.

Cow Tipping Press Day 5

Today was our 5th and last class! How time flies! Today was free write which meant participants could write in any genre that was comfortable and enjoyable for them and the word of the day was "market". We talked about the many meanings of the word market especially the meaning of selling or advertising something.

We then read "How to Market to Me" by River Clegg.  The group found it kind of amusing, although at times a little confusing. We talked about how humor like poetry can be subjective, that there isn't necessarily good or bad humor, but that some pieces appeal to some people and others to others.

The writing prompt was to write a "How to Guide" or a humorous piece. We brainstormed ideas for how-to guides:

1) How to get where I am now
2) How to present yourself
3) How to be an Amy (the name of our teacher)
4) How to be as cute as me
5) How to sell items in a market

Shelagh wrote about a funny creature called a spider cat, part spider, part cat. Mary wrote about how to write stories, how to find different ideas, and the different types of writing one can do. Nathan described one of his favorite tv shows, a humorous game show. Mike described his fiance and the highs and lows of being in a relationship.

We next read "Here We Aren't So Quickly" by Jonathan Safran Foer which is a piece in which the author moves quickly through a lifetime in a few pages, but doesn't talk about huge moments, but rather the little moments. The group felt this was a somewhat difficult piece to comprehend because it jumped around and talked about what people were/weren't, did and didn't do. We talked about how this kind of writing can be complicated and uncomfortable because it is not linear. We also talked about what did the author mean when he said the father was "drowning in his own body", did it mean pneumonia, did it mean drowning in his own emotions? Sometimes like poetry it can be hard to know what someone is trying to say. I found this article on what this piece meant to someone and their interpretation of what it means.

The writing prompt was to try to tell one's life story with little moments. We brainstormed what some little moments might be like when someone was little and couldn't pronounce their brother's name, or when someone's brother bought a cockatoo.

Shelagh wrote a beautiful piece about some of the little moments in her life. Mike wrote about his life from childhood to getting engaged. Nathan wrote a story of a graduation night and some moments during this event. Mary wrote about different types of cars and what makes them great.

Amy decided to switch from reading an excerpt from "A Wrinkle in Time" to reading and listening to the lyrics of the song "You Were Born" by Cloud Cult. The group really loved the calming, gentle music and lyrics. We discussed how "born to chase the light" might mean following your dreams and that it seemed to be about loving one another and caring for your family. Our writing prompt was a big one-Writing about why we were born, what our purpose was. Nathan wrote about love and the origin of life. Shelagh wrote that her purpose was to smile and bring joy, to come up with unique names for things, and be as caring as possible. Mike wrote that he was born to be a write, a husband, a good brother, a son, and a good adoptive dad.

Next week, anyone who wants to can come to Hayden Heights Library at the same time and meeting room and I'll talk about MN Writes/Reads. On 3/29 we'll have our Author Reading party, same time and place.

Culture, Power & Learning in Makerspaces - Dr. Shirin Vossoughi

Several SPPL Staff members attended a presentation by Dr. Shirin Vossoughi at the University of Minnesota on Friday, February 23rd. She had spent years researching how youth learn in makerspaces, specifically in the San Francisco Exploratorium.

 She interviewed and recorded youth participating in an after-school tinkering program, who were mostly from the local Boys and Girls club and largely from under-served communities.

With this perspective, she critiqued  the dominant maker conversation and recommended we read The Mind at Work by Mike Rose.

Questions we should ask ourselves:

• How do youth maker spaces and programs encourage intergenerational collaboration?
• How should you measure progress? Economic or social goals?

 She looked at the history of Make magazine and identified a preponderance of white males on the covers, finding similarity in an auto maker commercial. What are we doing to change this narrative?

Her research in San Francisco with the youth revealed insights into how the children learned and how the mentors taught. She favored allowing students to touch, tinker, and explore, even when going outside the bounds of prescribed activities and using power tools.

Noting that the concept of “failure” has ramifications discouraging learning - she suggests that we use terms like “iteration” “drafts” and “process” instead of “failure” “persistence” “grit”.

When asking youth if they had familiar with tools or processes, make sure to be broad but not condescending – for example, let students consider science in a broad lens if asking about their personal experience as or with scientists, but use the correct terminology if talking about a specific tool or field.

Email: Shirin.vossoughi@northwestern.edu

Additionally, I visited the “Breakerspace” University of Minnesota’s newest maker space in Walter Library. It is in a room in the smart learning commons, supported by a team of functional and subject librarians support., including Scott Spicer, a member of the Innovation Lab.

This is just one of many spaces at the University that offer student access to advanced technology.

They currently offer 3D printing, Virtual Reality, Electronics/Robotics  and sewing with hopes to expand.

The Innovation Lab will continue to see how we can partner with the University - at the very least to make sure graduates know about the resources available to them at public libraries when they lose access to the University’s.

--Amanda F. @GLCL

Cow Tipping Press Day 4

Cow Tipping Press Day 4

Today we talked about and worked on Journalism. We talked about people who engage in journalism are people who write for podcasts, newspapers, blogs and that they try to be unbiased. We listened to an excerpt from the podcast "How to Become Batman"  which was a fascinating piece about how some people who are blind can learn echo location and can help activate visual areas of the brain. It also talked about how sometimes people can be prevented from learning echolocation by well meaning people who are "overprotective."

The writing prompt was to 1) write about a time someone overprotected you or "robbed you of a learning moment".

One of our participants wrote about how he wished he could have more choice in controlling his finances and wanting to learn about it to not have to be so protected. Another talked about how tricky having money could be because sometimes you are tempted to buy things you don't really need like dvd's. One of our members talked about how people who wanted to stand in her way didn't need to be part of her life. One participant came up with a story about the superhero Batman and how he could catch you if you would try to steal from a store, leading us to talk about how sometimes it is good to be protective.  Another member wrote about a time when he thought he was ready to do something but it turned out he did need protection.

We next read about 27 Historic Firsts That Changed the World Forever. Our group liked that this article reminded us of news and history and enjoyed learning about these women. Others liked having list of people who changed life and why. The writing prompt was to 1) make a list of important people and why or 2) write about one person and several reasons why they rock. One person wrote about how how important her brother has been in her life. A second person wrote about how much Buffy the Vampire, Wonder Woman , and Jennifer Lawrence are to her. A third person wrote about his admiration for Robin Williams.

Our third reading was Everyone is Going Through Something by Kevin Love. Our group felt that this article gave a glimpse into another life. They also felt that it was sad he hadn't had time to grieve his grandmother but they were glad that he was sharing about what he was going through.  The writing prompt was to write about if you could tell the whole world a truth what would you tell them. One member imagined he would write the true story of what it is like to be a NBA player. Another wrote about autism and how he feels it is a misability-a misunderstood ability. He wrote about how people with autism are able to work on challenges. Another member wrote about how she had some mental health struggles, hearing voices, but that she was able to work with family and doctors to make her way through.

At the end of our session we had a couple of our members read poems from last class about different body parts (this was the homework assignment).

We also talked about how on 3/22 I could tell anyone who can come about MN Writes MN Reads. See you for our last class on 3/15.

Cow Tipping Press Day 3

Today Shelagh was sick so she couldn't join us, although she was planning on trying to do writing prompts from home. We had Mary, Danny, Mike, and Nathan join us today.

Today's Creative Writing Genre was Poetry. The group discussed how poetry is a way of expressing your thoughts and that it can use language in unusual ways. They also said that poetry can be used to tell things that are from your soul and that sometimes it rhymes and sometimes it doesn't.  Poetry uses imagery, word association. Poetry doesn't have to have correct grammar or full sentences. 

The first poem we read was Prayer for Dropouts by John Colburn. Our group said they liked the imagery in this poem, the pictures it made in their minds, the possibilities it opened up. Nathan liked the magic, the birds, flowers, the beautiful pictures the poem made in his head. Our teacher talked with us about how there are no good or bad poems, maybe that there is just the right poem for the right person. 

The group had a choice of two writing prompts: 1) Underline 10 unusual words and write a poem using these words, 2) Write a poem starting each line like Colburn does "may the..." "may you"..

Mary wrote a poem reminiscent of a spoken word poem about gibbons and their love for fruit, Nathan wrote about a golden magical garden trying to capture some of the same beautiful imagery he admired in the Colburn poem. Danny wrote a very hopeful poem called "May You". Mike wrote a very gentle poem about his fiance with soft imagery of rain and snow. 

We then read "No Hell" by Cloud Cult. Our group remarked how they felt the poem was about learning from pain and finding beauty through hard times. They noticed the importance of beauty and nature in the poem. One of our participants commented on the imagery of the soul without the skin attached, making the readers see what the poet has been through. We discussed what our souls would look like. Some said a beam of light, a star, What would our soul look like when we are feeling different emotions, would it look like a thunderstorm if we were mad or sad, if we were happy like a rainbow. We also talked about line breaks in poems and how they are used to create meaning. In prose, full sentences are used. 

The writing prompt was 1) to write about how your soul would look without the skin attached or 2) to write about the best things you've learned and where you learned them from.

Mary wrote a poem in the form of a prayer. Nathan wrote a love poem to a cat in a garden. Dan wrote about the soul and the many ways you can see it depending on how you feel, the many sides we all have. 

I shared a poem called Hours Days Years Unmoor Their Orbits by Rachel Zucker . The group commented that they liked that the poem was loving and vulnerable. I commented that the poem spoke to me as a parent because it talked about the changing relationship between a son and mom as the son is growing and trying to become independent and that it is also about remembering people when they are younger and seeing who they become. It is also about the journeys that our loved ones take us on.

Our writing prompts were 1) to write about a memory from childhood, 2) to write about remembering a family member.

Nathan wrote about imagining an adventure with his cat. Mike wrote about a memory of melted chocolate that was mistaken for a bathroom accident. Mary wrote about walking in shadows and hiding and Dan wrote about memories of his dad and him, their favorite times.

Last we listened to Sarah Kay recite "Hands" and the writing prompt was to 1) think about different things you've done many times or 2) to write about a body part. The group will share their works next time. Next week's genre will be revealed this Thursday.