today, one of my toddler storytimes had 41 people in attendance. normally, there’s about half that. the good morning\/welcome song which we sing to each child took foreeeeeever! i was a little nervous about having a group that large (and i hope some people switch to a different time slot!), but it was actually ok. i didn’t feel like i “lost” the group at any point and it was almost exhilarating.<\/p>\n
doing a successful storytime is like surfing a wave. wait. i’ve never surfed, so that might not be completely accurate. let’s see… doing a successful storytime is like trying to corral hungry howler monkeys into a cage. nope. never done that either. ok. one more try. doing a successful storytime is like…oh screw it. here’s an imaginary thing it’s like that i’ll be no one has ever done, so no one can contradict me. doing a successful storytime is like trying to manipulate four marionette puppets all at once, except that all of the puppets have a mind of their own, like pinocchio. crap. that sounds scary and manipulative, which is not what i’m trying to portray. what i’m trying to say here is that there is a real push\/pull element in the timing of a good storytime. after you’ve done it for awhile, you get a feel for how much farther you can push the kids. do you stop at the first serious signs of antsy-ness and risk disappointing the kids who are still paying attention? do you push them just past their attention span in the hopes that it will grow just a little longer the next week? or could the group be pulled back together with a quick round of “ring-around-the-rosy”? i don’t know exactly how to explain to a novice the crowd cues that i use to make those judgement calls, but i know what works for me and that people keep coming back means i must be doing something right. it feels great to be really good at something.<\/p>\n
do you have special skills that you are proud of? (if you take issue with my having a preposition at the end of that sentence, read this<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" today, one of my toddler storytimes had 41 people in attendance. normally, there’s about half that. the good morning\/welcome song which we sing to each child took foreeeeeever! i was a little nervous about having a group that large (and … Continue reading