Young adults and identity crisis

Identity/Coming of Age

I’ve always been a fan of what they have dubbed high adventure.  I grew up reading books, watching movies, even playing Dungeons & Dragons. It’s no surprise that wizards and dragons hold a place near and dear to me. Many themes can be present in these types of novels like good vs. evil, adventure, or identity/coming of age, which is what I chose as the topic to address.

The three books I chose are the Hobbit, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. I chose singular books but all of these could be extended to include others from the series that they are a part of.

The Hobbit

Gandalf: "I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone."

Bilbo: "I should think so—in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can’t think what anybody sees in them …”

“But you are really just a little fellow, in a wide world after all” – Gandalf

From a home body who loved good food, pocket handkerchiefs, good food, beautiful hills, good food, an occasional nap, good food, a pipe, and… oh yeah, good food to one brave enough to walk into the lair of a dragon and confront a stubborn friend who had lost his way.  Bilbo’s transformation is complete. He leaves one way and comes home over a year later a changed Hobbit. He went from shunning adventure to longing for it. Gandalf saw the potential in Bilbo and helped him realize who he was meant to be, even if he never knew what lie dormant inside of him.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

"Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Sellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning.”

"He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!”

Harry Potter has a life filled with twists and turns. He transforms from an unloved family member treated with no respect, forced to live under stairs, and made to wear hand-me-downs to a hero who defeats that ultimate evil. Along the way he learns that he is more than a second class citizen, begins to realize that he is quite gifted, and goes on to learn to deal with his achieved “rock star status”. He deals with the Hogwarts equivalent of racism, being half muggle, or a half blood. He goes through all the bumps in the road like arrogance, love, friendship, fear, loyalty, self-loathing, until he becomes the hero he was born to be.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

“Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.”-Percy

"I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years."-Percy

Percy, like Harry, deals with straddling two worlds. He also deals with self-esteem issues. Harry was maltreated but Percy just thinks lowly of himself. He doesn’t know his father, has learning issues, focus issues, and has been removed from several schools. His mother once told him his father would be proud and accomplishes things that will make him proud. Unlike Harry Percy is the half son of a God, Poseidon. Percy meets others like him, adventures cross country to clear his father’s name, and proves himself worthy even to the king of the Gods. Not bad for a D+ student.

All of these characters had one thing in common; they were but small folks in a larger world who had to grow in their larger than life future selves.  

Chapter TWO and Struggling Readers

Not being in the classroom leaves me at a disadvantage at times. It can be tough to accomplish these research assignments. I often use my wife’s students or my children as my examples. For this assignment I used my son.

I’ve talked about my youngest before; he can be a reluctant reader to say the least.  At times his protestations sound more like we’re punishing him than asking him to read; even reading 5 pages can be a monumental task.

I should take this opportunity to go on record and state that he does have (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) ADHD and he is still learning to work within it's constraints. I also have ADHD and had a hard time in my early school career. This gives me a perspective others may lack. I was diagnosed with ADD and Hyperactivity when I was a child, the name was not combined yet. I was even placed in Special Education (SpEd) for 2 years (mid 2nd - mid 4th gr,). Times were different in the 70’s and any student who was less than perfect was quickly lumped with SpEd. I took medicine, I learned to focus, and I improved as a student.  Some adjust sooner than others, though.

My son is 14 years old, 4 years older than I was when I was starting to learn to cope, and still has difficulty. One of the symptoms of ADHD is that your focus can go in one of two directions. The student will either trail away or become distracted if disinterested or hyper-focus to the point of being oblivious to surroundings if really interested. Many of the topics covered in school and home readings do not interest him so it becomes a burden to focus in class or, even worse, focus at home on reading assignments. At home he is distracted by pretty much everything from cats to people to music  or messages on his phone to TV shows in the background to random people walking past his door, the dining room table, or the couch, basically, wherever he is working. He can and will focus on anything other than his work.

Keeping these things in mind I gave him two surveys. I felt the differences in information would help paint a better picture of his likes or dislikes.

Based on the gathered information the student will do the best when reading sports stories/biographies, history/historic biographies, action/adventure stories, and humorous stories.

Some of his favorite recent readings included Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Based on these criteria I recommended:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Historic, adventurous, and told from the eyes of a child. It can be sad but it is also a tale of other cultures and anti-bullying. All of these are things that I know as a student interest the reader.

Break Barriers (Positively for Kids Books)

An honest tale of struggle and success of a sports hero. The story is geared toward slightly lower than his reading level and up and it is also his favorite sport and position.  

Eragon

Recommended on a DC Library reading list it fits his age range and criteria. It is similar in topic to Percy Jackson.

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is another similar in style to Percy Jackson and because of the movies popular in the student's age range. My wife cannot keep it on her shelf in class.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner is another similar in style to Percy Jackson and because of the movies popular in the student's age range, especially with the next installment due to start playing very soon.

Understanding September 11th:

 Answering Questions about the Attacks on America 

 Another sad topic but an informative text geared toward his age level. I know he has personally watched documentaries and YouTube "conspiracy" videos so I know it is a topic that holds his interest.

Bibliography:

Boyne, J. (2006). The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Young Reader's Choice Award - Intermediate Division ed.). New York, NY: David Fickling Books.

Collins, S. (2009). The Hunger Games. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Dashner, J. (2009). The Maze Runner. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.

Frank, M. (2002). Understanding September 11th: Answering questions about the attacks on America. New York: Viking.

Gagne, E., & Brown, G. (2004). Break Barriers (Positively for Kids Books). Kirkland, WA: Positively For Kids.

Paolini, C. (2003). Eragon. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

 

Chapter ONE: Learning about Children and Their Literature

Word: Enjoyment (p. 5)

This is the one word that stuck out to me; it really summed up what will get students hooked early and keep them reading into adulthood. According to Lynch-Brown, Short and Tomlinson (2011):

Those of you who read widely as children will never forget the stories that were so funny you laughed out loud, the poem that was so lilting that you never forgot it, or the mystery that was so scary that your heat thumped with apprehension. (p. 5)

My step-son is a somewhat reluctant reader. He is just starting high school and had his first reading assignment this week. He had to read a NY Times article, summarize it, and share his own commentary about what it meant to him. The first article he picked he stopped reading within minutes. I asked him why and he told me it was 3 pages long. I gave him a look. He then exclaimed, “That’s like 5 book pages!!”. Somehow this was supposed to sway me. I told him to keep reading. He then exclaimed, “It’s like reading the Bible!”. This article held no interest for him and in his mind it must have really seemed like 3 pages was the equivalent of War and Peace. Sadly, after some back and forth he finally chose another article and completed his assignment. The big difference was he found something that aligned more with his interests.

That said, I understand that readers, both child and adult, will not always enjoy what they are reading, and sometimes you have to swallow that pill, but young readers should enjoy. That is what could start them on a life-long path.

Phrase: “…personal fulfillment and academic gains.” (p. 5)

Just because a student finds a book enjoyable does not have to mean it contains no academic merit. Lynch-Brown, Short and Tomlinson (2011) say, “Many teachers and librarians believe that regular involvement with excellent and appropriate literature can foster language development in young children and can help them learn to read and value reading.”(p. 7) Point is, if younger students do not enjoy reading it can turn them off at an early age but if they do learn to enjoy reading it can help development fundamental skills and keep them coming back for more.

Sentence: Children’s literature is good-quality trade books for children from birth to adolescence, covering topics of relevance and interest to children of those ages, through prose and poetry, fiction and nonfiction. (p.4)

Relevance and interest are the key words in the sentence. Children are more likely to develop an affinity for reading when the topic is relevant to them and they hold an interest in learning about it. You should be careful of the content though as not all books are of good-quality. “Books ranging in quality from excellent to poor are now readily available to parents, teachers, and children through bookstores and libraries as well as online.” (p.5) The trick is to find books of interest that also hold some educational value.

In my own youth I was not an avid reader. I was forced to read many books in school that I felt nothing for. I was very involved in games like Dungeons & Dragons and loved sword and sorcery movies. When it came time to read The Hobbit in school I was chapters ahead of the rest of my class but something like Grapes of Wrath sat on my shelf collecting dust and Cliff Notes were sought out. 

It didn’t interest me and I wasn’t given many options to read things that did. I didn’t become an avid reader until college. I started to read a lot of books on my own. Not surprisingly, my bookcase is filled with fantasy, adventure, and a healthy dose of 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s sci-fi. Reading, even as an adult, helps keep my brain sharp and my vocabulary expanding. I only wish I’d been given more books of interest to read when I was younger.

                        _______________________________________________________

Lynch-Brown, C., Short, K., & Tomlinson, C. (2011). Essentials of children's literature

(7^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

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LTED 618: A little about The Digital Librarian

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is John J. Alvarez.  In my former life I worked for the NJ Performing Arts Center. I held many positions; but my last was as the Marketing Manager. After 15 years with the company a new CEO decided he wanted a new direction and laid off much of the staff to start over, and so I also started over.  

After some time receiving unemployment and searching endlessly for a new job I started freelance marketing.  The money was good but the jobs were few and far between and I didn’t have insurance. My wife, a teacher of almost a decade, suggested I go back to school.  The problem was I had not the faintest idea what for.  I’d been out of school for 17 years. After some thought she told me about a position becoming in more demand because of computer based testing like PARCC. It was the School Library Media Specialist position. It was perfect for me. I’d always loved research; I’m a collector that researches, documents, and curates.  I enjoy working with students, as I did in one of my previous positions at NJPAC. I’ve also always enjoyed learning new technology; I was my old director’s go-to guy for new digital marketing initiatives.  So, after 17 years I returned to NJCU to start my life over. 

Currently, I am working in the Liberty Science Center as an Interpretation Associate. That is a fancy way of saying I teach children science through mini-labs. I plan to stay there once I get into a school. When I have my SLMS I am going to try to join the STEM team and work weekends and summers with children.

Once I graduate, I am undecided whether I want to work K-8 or 9-12. There are pros and cons to both age groups. However, either way I am considering taking the Praxis to add Business Teacher to my arsenal.  My long term goal is to become a Tech Coach.

This course is my first “in classroom” course in 18 years. I’m a little nervous, to say the least.  However, as a Librarian it is as important to understand the types of books as it to know what books are in the collection. My only goal is to come out of this course with a better understanding of an area I have little experience in.

As mentioned earlier, I am married. My wife, Janice is a teacher in Jersey City. She just finished her Master’s as a Reading Specialist and is already taking her first two courses in a doctoral program.  We’ve been married just over a year, dated 5 ½, and know each other for 25 years. We dated many years ago and have always remained friends.We got married last summer in Las Vegas.

 I have 3 step-children; a boy (14), a girl (18), and another boy (21) – who is attending NJCU for his undergrad.

In my spare time I’m a collector. My collection, until just recently, was Star Wars toy related artifacts. This always places images in people’s heads of dusty toys piled up in mom’s basement that the owner assures you will put his kid’s through college, if he ever moves out of the basement.  Sadly, the toys are never worth a fraction of what the owner thinks. Please don't think I'm THAT guy.

I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to speak at several Lucasfilm sanctioned Star Wars Celebrations around the US and abroad over the past 10 years. I’ve spoken in Los Angeles, Orlando, Pennsylvania, London, and, most recently, in Anaheim. We received the best praise for one of our Orlando panels. The MC overheard an audience member tell his friend, “that one actually didn’t suck”. HIGH PRAISE INDEED! After the most recent panel in Anaheim we were interviewed by Lucasfilm and it was posted on the Star Wars Youtube page. They picked a panel each day that they deemed as the best and we were it for that day. Needless to say being interview by Lucasfilm was a high point of my panel participation over the years.

That’s about it for me. Looking forward to the semester.

-Your Digital Librarian

Gaming can make a better world

It's been a while since my last post. I'm very busy with Grad School and substitute teaching. I wanted to take a moment to share this great video and article, though.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/gamifying-student-engagement-matthew-farber

Back to school

That time is fast approaching again. In honor of the word of the week on my website I will be taking an intermission. I won't be updating the blog for a while as I enjoy the end of summer. Before I go I'll leave you with one last tidbit.

Get your bulletin boards ready if you haven't already. Here are a few ideas to get you started or help you finish.
http://www.pinterest.com/cari_young/library-bulletin-boards/

Enjoy the rest of the summer. See you in September.

-the digital librarian.

The future is the past

Amazing Stories Annual 1927, Frank R. Paul Public Domain

I wanted to take the time to share two articles I read recently:

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/incredible-health-gadgets-are-straight-out-of-scifi-movies/story-fn5fsgyc-1226818418223
http://www.fortech.ro/scifi-movies-turned-real-10-emerging-technologies/

Both articles were found after I read an article about the future of the internet. I’ve been a lifelong fan of science fiction movies, books, and pulps and much of the reading reminded me of these things. A dystopian future was the first thing that popped into my mind and on page 3 of Digital Life in 2025 touched on that very topic.

My views may be biased, though, as I’ve spent years watching movies and reading the likes of Asimov, Clark, Bradbury and P.K. Dick. I’ve often felt that many of the technology geniuses of today grew up reading the same stories that I did. I have no doubt that the inventor of the first flip phone was a Star Trek fan and was creating his own communicator. Along that line of reasoning many of these very themes have appeared in sci-fi stories and many are mentioned in the articles I linked above.

The future is not here or now it is in the past and the brilliant writers of the 30's-60's who were scoffed for writing pulp novels have proven to be the visionaries who saw the future in what so many felt was just low grade entertainment.