12/10/14 Casa Latina Workshop Xochitl

The childcare on December 10 was a lot less stressful than the first time because we only had one little one! I felt more relaxed this time around as well. It really does make a difference if there are a lot of pre-walkers and toddlers versus older children. The other kids in attendance were elementary aged children. As Jen said they were much more interested in doing crafts and free play which was fine. We brought a lot of books with us and Giselle, who is 8-years-old, had a lot of fun reading aloud to us and her sister Jackie, who is about 9 months old. It was great that Klarissa could join us! I also brought some board books for Jackie and told her mom that she could take them home because they are on the honor system from the Seattle Public Library. Overall it was great, the kids seemed to enjoy themselves, and it is important to be flexible and adaptable.

12/10/14 Storytime Jen Xochitl

Our 2nd experience went much more smoothly than the first! We brought a variety of materials and songs for every age range, though we planned to see mostly babies again. However, we had a lot of school-aged children in attendance. Some of the children were not interested in hearing a story, so we had a craft table set up while one of the children read aloud. This worked out well, because everyone was happily occupied doing one of the activities we planned for the evening and Klarissa was thankfully on hand to occupy our sole baby attendee (thanks, Klarissa!). Adaptability really is key for this program, especially because it was designed as a childcare. The children still expect to do mostly free play, so sometimes it's difficult to get them interested in activities. One of the little boys that came to storytime told me what a great time he had, and he even told his mom about our Raspberry Pi sessions that are slated to start in March. He and his mom both seem really excited for these classes, so we're hopeful we will see them sign up when March rolls around!





Xochitl Rocha




I'm so excited that the boy, I forgot what his name was, is excited about our Raspberry Pi sessions! :)

11/19/14 Casa Latina Workshop Xochitl

Jen, Tess, and I provided childcare and led the early literacy aspect of the workshop on 11/19/14. Most of the kids that came were very little. One child was 6 months, one 9 months, and one about 18 or so months. The 6 month old came with her mom who also stayed with us and the 9 month old was there with her older sister who is around 9 years old. When Jen and I had planned our story time and craft time we planned for an audience of pre-school age and up, and going in we knew that we were going to be flexible since we had no idea of what age range to expect. It was fun and really great experience planning it since I want to be a children's librarian. 

The evening of the storytime we adapted our plan, since we knew what age the children were. We started out with singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" as our new hello song because it was more familiar to the participants. Jen then read the first book we had planned and sang the "I Am Hungry" song. The 18 month old came in around that time and started crying since his mom had just left. Jen put him on her lap and I started singing some baby bounce songs that I knew from my directed fieldwork at SPL. I'm so glad I was able to pull those out because the babies loved them! The mom had her baby on her lap, and the 9-year-old had her younger sister on her lap and Jen with the little boy. Tess and I used stuffed animals as our "babies." I then read the other book we had on our plan and we had brought other books that we pulled out too. We started snack time around 5:30 and then started crafts and free play. We gave the little boy a turkey coloring sheet and the 9-year-old started painting a puppet from the craft box that Ivette had brought. We had planned for origami balloons or hand turkeys but since it was only one child who could really benefit from the crafts we let her pick what she wanted to do and she chose to paint and make a paper bag puppet. 

The little boy had a lot of energy and we were running around with him as well as entertaining the babies and carrying them. It was actually relaxing to babysit and so different from what I normally do and I really enjoyed being able to watch the kids and do a storytime with them. We definitely just went with the flow and everyone seemed to have a fun time.

For the December 10 workshop we will plan for a much younger age storytime. We also will of course be ready to adapt the plan.

11/19/14 Casa Latina Workshop Tess Xochitl

I went to the workshop last week with Xochitl and Jen. I feel that Xochitl and Jen had a great plan for the event: plan for a larger number of attendees but be able to adapt to a smaller turnout. They had expected about 8-9 kids to come and we ended up having 4 kids and one parent in attendance. The age group, for the most part, was very young: one 8-year-old, one 18-month-old, one 9-month-old, and one 6-month-old. The workshop started out with a storytime and songs as Xochitl and Jen had planned. Also according to plan, we moved on to snacks and then craft time. However, since the age-group was so young and it was a very small group, craft time was altered.


The word "failure" was used in the list of possible reflection questions, but I wouldn't describe anything that happened at the workshop unaccording to plan as a failure. The things that became somewhat of an improv were just different and unplanned. The 8-year-old took part in the lovely crafts, while the three of us watched and entertained the babies. In my opinion, the whole thing was a success. Although it turned into somewhat of a babysitting session, it was still fun and worthwhile because the kids were still exposed to the stories and songs that Xochitl and Jen had selected despite there being some alterations of the plan. I guess the lesson learned from this workshop was that when we're practicing librarians holding programming sessions and storytime and such, we should be prepared for anything. We should either have a backup plan or be able to quickly adapt or change the existing plan.





Xochitl Rocha


Tess, you said: "The lesson learned from this workshop was that when we're practicing librarians holding programming sessions and storytime and such, we should be prepared for anything. We should either have a backup plan or be able to quickly adapt or change the existing plan" this is so true! I am learning this in my DFW as well. When working with children you really have to be willing to adapt and veto and alter your plan, flexibility is a key trait as a youth services librarian!

10/3/14 Casa Latina Workshop Xochitl

Last Friday (10/3) I went to Casa Latina along with Ivette, Klarissa, and Sarah. We attended the Mujeres sin Fronteras workshop. This was my first time going to Casa Latina. We started off with introductions, then had several activities throughout the workshop. One activity that stood out to me is the exercise in escuchando con poder - listening with power. This involved getting into pairs and talking about yourself with no interruptions for three minutes and then listening to the other person do the same. I found this a little challenging because I found I ran out of things to say, maybe because I did not know the woman I was talking to. But this was a great exercise for how to be a good, active listener in conversation. Another activity that I enjoyed was when we were asked to draw or describe a goal for the immediate future or distant future that we have for ourselves. It was nice hearing everyone share what theirs was. Many women had the goal of finishing up school or getting their driver's license/permit.