Extraordinary Instruction

While the last of the warm weather has faded into wintry wonder, I have the privilege of introducing you to another person with an extraordinary story – Gayle Jensen. I met her over three years ago when she became an assistant youth librarian at my local library. Juggling librarianship while being an adjunct professor at a community college, Gayle teaches students of all ages. She handles college classes by day and library classes at night while enjoying life with her family. 

Welcome Gayle!  

Q) First off, how did you end up becoming a college professor and an assistant children’s librarian? 

A) I always dreamed of teaching children's literature as I love books, reading and teaching. I applied to teach The Exceptional Child class when I became aware of an opening at our local community college.  I was thrilled to get the job, so I put the children's literature dream on a back burner.  I taught part time for many years and found I had more time to spare when my children started heading off to college. We also had bigger bills so I started looking into new career opportunities and found out about an opening to work in the children's department at our local public library. 

Q) Between the two, you must teach so many different age levels. How do you switch gears from little ones to adults?

A) I taught elementary school for many years, then adjusted to teaching college students.  In many respects, it is much easier to teach big people! By now, I have an equal amount of years of experience at each level, so it isn't really hard to shift between the two age groups.  

Q) What is your favorite age to teach? 

A) That's a hard one! I think I enjoy teaching big people more, but delight in having the opportunity now and then to work with children. 

Q) If you could only teach one thing, what would it be?

A) I still enjoy teaching potential future educators about children and learning.

Q) Between the library and the college, are your jobs similar in any particular way?

A) For both jobs, I need to continue to develop my technology skills. Truly enjoying learning, helping others learn and interacting in a positive way with others is vital in both jobs.  

Q) How are the two jobs different?

A) I don't have to be "on" 100% of the time when I work at the library. I have time to sit and work on individual projects and interact serving patrons as needed. When teaching, I am "on" the whole time I am running my class, but then have to work on lesson plans and grading on my own time. 

Q) Who is your favorite author, personally as well as to read aloud to others?

A) Oh, that's a hard one, too. I enjoy a wide variety of books and authors. I think one of my favorite children's book authors is Pam Munoz Ryan.  I loved Echo and Esperanza Rising. I also love Kate DiCamillo's books. Wonder by R.J. Palacio is a favorite. As a young teacher, I can remember discovering Shel Silverstein during a visit to the school library and being brought to tears and laughter while reading his poems to my students for the first time. Mo Willem books are a more recent favorite when it comes to just plain fun. I recently thoroughly enjoyed reading New Socks by Bob Shea during a story time at the library. I'm currently reading and enjoying The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. 

Read about it at Goodreads.com

Q) What is one unexpected thing about yourself you’d like to share?

A) I grew up having cats as pets and had my own two cats as a young adult.  I adored them all. We brought a dog into our family 6 years ago. I had NO IDEA how cool the dog club was! 

Extraordinary Ordinary Choices

by tlc nielsen

Meet Lindsy 

I had the privilege of working alongside Lindsy Henigman for almost a decade, meeting her fresh out of college and seeing her develop and grow through the years. She brought structure and creativity to our team in the youth department of the public library, providing calm problem-solving and creative energy as the assistant manager.

Welcome, Lindsy!

Q) How did you end up choosing the job as Youth Services Assistant Manager in town?

A) It was fairly unusual, but I chose to be a librarian as a senior in high school. Most people come to it as a second career. I had taken the tests from the book Discover What You’re Best At and was surprised to see several different types of librarianship come up as career choices. I grew up in a very rural area and didn’t even realize librarianship was a profession. This opened up a whole new world for me, as I explored all the different ways I could employ my natural skills and way of thinking.

           

Taking the job at Grayslake was not unlike what most students look for their post-grad plan. My then-boyfriend, now-husband and I were both set to graduate at the same time and were making long-term plans. We decided the greater Chicago area (foreign to me) was our best shot at finding jobs and whoever landed one first would determine our future. I applied for every library job that interested me: some academic, some public, but my plan had always been children’s services in a public library. Grayslake was my first interview, and I got the job.

Q) Since you took the job, Lindsy, how did life change?

A) I took the job as a twenty-three year old new graduate. Since I went straight from my undergrad to library school, this was my first full-time, permanent job. I started one week after I finished school! Needless to say, I was learning a lot about growing up, office politics, and my actual profession, all at the same time.

Personally, I got married and had two babies in my nine years on the job. This taught me a lot about work-life integration and I developed a great deal of empathy. Suddenly, I could feel the emotional toll of others and better understand children, parents, and my coworkers.

Q) What have been some of your proudest accomplishments at work? I personally loved the Baby Café  you designed that allowed families with infants to hang out and chat.

A) The movements I made toward better serving millennial parents are by far my favorite accomplishments. When I became a parent, I saw our library through a completely different set of eyes. Things like comfortable areas to play or chat with friends, secluded spots to nurse a baby, a place to let your kids play with different toys and get a little messy...those are all important. Baby Cafe was a small inroad to what I ultimately wanted to achieve, which was basically a glorified playdate: let the kids go crazy with toys while the parents enjoy a cookie and a nice cup of coffee.

There was still so much more I wanted to see happen, but those things are probably still years in the making.

Q) Is there a particular time you remember where your ninja problem-solving skills came into play at work?

A) Oh, I have no idea. I can’t remember things like that anymore!

Q) How about the one I remember best, which still amazes me. There was a family storytime you did last year, when you were 7 months pregnant with your 2nd child….

A) Oh! I don’t think of that as problem-solving, but it is a good story. I regularly did toddler storytimes on Wednesday mornings and turned up for business as usual. This meant setting things up right as I came into work, and then going right into the storytime. I had been having some funky back pains that morning, but made it through the storytime all right. After all the excitement, I sat down at the reference desk and realized the pains were stronger and ooh, they were coming exactly five minutes apart. So, I left work and called the doctor. It was six weeks early, but we weren’t too shocked since my firstborn was also a preemie. Anyway, my husband met me at home. We made it to the hospital in time and I had the baby about four hours after that storytime. So maybe that’s my proudest accomplishment. I led a storytime while I was in labor!

Q) How did you develop the knack to put a positive spin on all that you solved and created?

A) I had always been an optimist growing up. One of my life lessons after graduation was how easy it is for negative talk of others to bring down positive vibrations. It took a long time for me to learn how to live with my own ideals and block out the toxicity of pessimism. In the end, I think it helps to remember that attitudes are catching, whether good or bad. Bad attitudes never win, though, and they don’t help anyone. But positivity, that is always the right choice.

Q) How did your solution-oriented positivity help you at work and at home?

A) Even when there is no clear answer, having a positive attitude and an open mind somehow brings a solution. It might not come right away, but it will come at the right time. I have no memory of anything specific, but that is something I have found to be true always.

Q) So the choice to leave work and stay home with your children – what led you to such a powerful decision?

A) After I had baby #2, I was operating on full-throttle. In my first month back from maternity leave, my husband had two, week-long trips to Europe. Then, only six weeks after my return, our manager left via retirement. That put me in the temporary front seat of our department for three months. I worked hard and ingested a lot of caffeine. After the new manager came and I had some time to think, I realized I was pretty off-kilter. I went in search of solutions and found many. I started with meditation, then tweaked my already-pretty-good diet and quit caffeine. All of this led to a rabbit hole of breathing exercises, spices and supplements, and then I learned how to listen to my intuition, or the Holy Spirit. It was a place I remembered knowing as a teenager, but had lost touch with as an adult. I started to feel great and was getting better at going with the flow, trusting gut feelings.

One night, my husband brought up the idea of me staying at home with our kids.  This came up periodically and I always shut it down. I did not want to do it, for lots of reasons. However, I was open and at peace, so I was happy to discuss it this time. Strangely enough, everything seemed to have flipped. All of the pros and cons remained the same, but the benefits seemed like the only thing, and I wasn’t at all worried about the negative aspects. I got tingles in my arms! That’s when I knew this was the right thing. We made the decision and never looked back. Ration and logic made it clear it wasn't the best choice, but we had set that aside.  Even now that I’m living it, seeing the rational reasons at play, there isn’t a doubt in my mind (or gut) that it was the right choice.


Thank you for reading this month's Extraordinary Ordinary adventure. Follow this blog to learn about more folks with extraordinary adventures. 

Extraordinary Skill

by TLC Nielsen 

January 31, 2016 Extraordinary Ordinary Blog

www.lookandbe.blogspot.com

I met a wonderful tech person awhile back, Mrunal Gokhale. Her natural skill with technology led her to teach children how to program Bee robots at schools and libraries. She also works with students on circuitry and Lego robotics. She’s been in the United States for about 15 years and her journey is fascinating.

Welcome Mrunal!

Q) When and where did you get your start with tinkering?

A) I guess from the early years of my school life. I was lucky that the school I went to was very much focused on Science and hands-on experiments, and also the credit goes to my supportive and encouraging parents. As a child, I remember opening up a broken wall clock and an old radio with my mother just to see how it looks from inside! Somehow while growing up, I always loved to open up things to see how they look from inside.

Q) So much has changed since I was a child and you’re a bit younger. How much technology did you have available to you as a child?

A) There was very little high tech, cool technology available to me while I was growing up, mainly because it was way too expensive.  I did read a lot. Books have always been integral part of my life.

Q) How did technology influence your education?

A) Since the middle school years the subjects of physics, chemistry and biology labs were my introduction to the technology. In these labs I learned to use different tools to conduct experiments and understand the subject. Then the high school years introduced me to the world of computers. In those days in India, computer programming was a new sensation.  

Q) Your journey to Illinois has always intrigued me. How did you end up here of all places?

A) Destiny is the reason I landed up here I guess. I have been here for the past 15 years yet I never ever dreamed of leaving India for such an extended period of time! A job with Motorola is the reason I came here in the first place.

Q) Did you and your family ever consider another country or state?

A) We all love to travel and explore different cultures and lifestyles so travel plans have always been made, but we never considered staying in those places forever. I think I would love to go back to India after we retire and live in the part of the country where I grew up.

Q) Is your spouse as technologically proficient as you?

A) Oh yes, he is lot more proficient compared to me. His profession keeps him up to date with the newest technology. He belongs to a family of engineers, everyone in the past three generations of his family have been engineers.

Q) How did the two of you meet?

A) Wow, this question is taking me down memory lane. I graduated with a degree in computer science and joined an IT firm in India. On one beautiful, sunny day, we happened to meet at a common friend’s house for the first time and then kept meeting frequently.  We both were working in the field of computer programming. As we became good friends, I felt that not only our profession but our interests, family background and values were so much similar. Soon I realized this feeling was mutual. After couple of years, we both thought that we were ready to hold hands and spend the rest of our lives together!

Q) Looking ahead, what do you predict for your children’s tech lives when they reach your age?

A) Our generation is so much into smartphones and other gadgets nowadays that the newborn gets to know his or her parents and technology at the same time. We parents are literally inseparable from our smartphones.

I predict that when my children reach my age, they will prefer to communicate with and through technology rather than making eye contact or having face-to-face interactions. The next generation’s learning experience will be very much technology driven from the early toddler years. Even today, the schools are taking “hybrid” approaches where more than half of the learning is done online and the rest using paper and pencil, which is so different from education even six years ago. I am very sure the Internet will be an integral part of life for that generation. Life will sure be different.

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Thanks for visiting the Extraordinary Ordinary blog here at lookandbe.blogspot.com, where ordinary folks with extraordinary stories are highlighted. If you or someone you know has a story they’d like to share, please contact TLC at soulfixer (at) yahoo (dot) com and put” lookandbe” in the subject line.

Ordinary Extraordinary Guest Blog by Mark Brady

A big thank you to this month’s Guest Blogger, Mark Brady!  Don’t forget to check out his blog: http://bradymarka.com/author/mb4384/

I met TLC at my first Write to Publish conference in 2013.  She came up to me and introduced herself.  I suppose she saw the lost and lonely look on my face.  Time has provided us the opportunities to get to know each other better.  TLC is a very sincere and caring person.  If she senses something is wrong she will do anything and everything she can to fix it.  This is what compassion is.  TLC lives out compassion every day.

TLC is also an accomplished trombone player.  She plays in many festivals across the area.  She is married, with three grown kids. TLC also writes.  She recently completed her novel, a teen fantasy.  She works at a local library and definitely may be considered an ordinary extraordinary worth knowing.

Hello TLC Nielsen!

Q) When did you encounter Christ and what was that like for you?

A) I became aware of God at the age of 21. It was a hard time in my life after I met and married my husband at a young age. I dropped out of college to work, had two children 18 months apart and lived at poverty level. At that point, we decided to go to church and it was there that I met my Creator, who loved me. Getting to know Christ changed my life and saved our marriage. We learned to rely on God together, despite the finances. It’s been almost 30 years now since I was baptized and it’s been quite the adventure!

Q) Describe your immediate family members as if tweeting, TLC.

A) My family: 3 kids, 31 years of marriage + 3 grandkids

Q) You like playing the trombone, and you like writing.  If you had to pick just one which would it be and why?

A) That’s like asking if I could pick one role in my life like spouse versus parent, Mark! In struggling to discover an answer to your question, I found I would pick both but for two different reasons. Definitely, writing for the challenge and calling of taking emotions and ideas and stuffing them into ordinary words, then into interestingish sentences that make some kind of sense. As for trombone and music (jazz, hymns, classical) I love being free of words and yet part of a group where my sound meshes with others to become music. I guess writing is my solo endeavor while tromboning is my community. Thanks for the unique question!

Q) How do you balance life and still find time to write?

A) Writing time is rare, even though I’m a part-timer at work. I juggle grandparenting, involvement with my grown kids, music, volunteering, an aging home (100+ years) as well as a garden, while investing in my marriage. Being involved with a writers group (Word Weavers) and finding online support through 10 Minute Novelists helped me finish the rough draft of my novel last month. It’s definitely a tightrope type of balancing.

Q) What experience(s) do you often draw upon when you write?

A) Most of my life – even my absent tooth showed up in my fantasy novel when a character’s occupation was working with teeth (toothsayer.)

Q) They say a writer should be a good reader.  What do you enjoy reading?

A) I read a lot of Junior and Teen fiction, and I enjoy Terry Pratchett, Rex Smith and Patrick Carmen as my fav Sci Fi authors. There are some adult authors I like but I find there’s a better creative element in youth fiction because of the less graphic nature.

Q) What do you get out of writing?

A) I like the communion with God I experience when writing. I feel that I hear him better as I sit with pen and paper, pondering what comes next in the story, the poem or the article before me. Writing is the place I’m most aware of God. He’s my muse.

Q) Who is your primary audience when you write?

A) I think that for fiction it’s teens but for nonfiction, adults.

Q) Which activity inspires you the greatest to go write?

A) The quiet actually inspires me, those too rare of moments.

Q) Where are you when your ideas come to you most often?

A) Resting in the hammock or driving in the car seem to offer the most quiet at this point in my life.

March 31/April 1st Extra Ordinary Blog - no joke!

As winter melts into spring this month, I’d love to share the extra-ordinary adventures of a fellow library worker. Her photos from the mission trip she took to Haiti inspire me to keep writing my novel based in the sea. Her creativity in working with local teens motivates me in my own endeavors with the wee ones of the library.

Welcome, Lauren Hilty!

Q) You seem to love working with teenagers, what with being an advisor for your youth group and holding a full-time job as teen librarian. It’s a tricky age, 13-19. What made you want to work with that age group?
A)  I was very active in my church's youth group when I was in high school.  The best parts of it for me were the close relationships I had with my fellow peers, and also with our adult advisors.  I remember thinking it was so cool that grown-ups who were not related to me and not from school wanted to spend time with us, with me.  The care and love I felt was incalculable, and it was my first taste at what it was to feel a part of something bigger than myself, a part of a community of like-minded individuals and I wanted to give back by becoming an advisor myself.
       The tricky part of this age group, is you feel both alive with discovery and utterly alone.  I remember how confusing of a time it was and I also remember how significant it was to have a non-parent, non-teacher adult to turn to during the low points.  My role as an advisor and a librarian puts me in a unique position to help.  Also, it allows me to be as goofy as I want and to wear blue nail polish to work.

Q) What was your groups’ purpose on this mission trip?
A)  The trip was a scouting trip.  Our church has partnered with an experimental school in Cité Soleil, one of the country's most dangerous and impoverished slums.  The Cité Soleil Community School is the only free school in the city.  Two hundred lucky children are given a safe haven a couple hours a day and nourishment for their hungry stomachs and minds.  This school will give them the knowledge and skills they will need to not only survive but also thrive.

Q) What was it like being a youth leader on a mission trip to storm ravaged Haiti?
A)  For the first time in years, I was actually the youngest person on this particular mission trip.  Because it was only a scouting trip, I was one of six individuals selected to go and help foster relationships with other volunteer organizations, the staff of the school, and more importantly: the kids.  While we did not bring any youth with us, they were constantly on my mind.

Q) What was the highest and lowest point you experienced on this trip?
A)  The highest and lowest point of my trip were both one in the same.  Escorted by Julie, a fellow American volunteer, and three very large Haitian security guards, we set off on our tour of the streets of Cité Soleil.  We were led past homes made of cinder blocks and tin sheets patched up with old scraps of wood or tarps.  We were led down alleyways, meeting an assortment of people including the local leather smith making decorative sheaths for giant machetes.  We were led further and further down the twists and turns of the streets, in-between houses and the passageways seemed to be getting narrower and narrower.  Slowly I grew more and more concerned for my safety and as I was about to start hyperventilating a little boy, no older than three, wearing only a pair of ratted Winnie the Pooh overalls, suddenly came running around the corner right up to me and hugged me around the waist.  He looked up at me with these huge beautiful, brown eyes, smiled and simply took my hand.
      

     That opened up the floodgates.  The floodgates to not only my heart but also to the floodgates holding back a sea of tiny little children barely able to walk, barely clothed, barely inhibited.  The further we walked down those alleys the narrower they got-but this time due to the swarming kids coming to hold our hands and walk with us.  I soon found myself with at least three little hands holding each of my own and quickly realized I was no longer overcome with fear.  Instead I felt overcome with hope and serenity.  And the love I felt was instant.  I wished desperately that I could take all of them home, that I could care for them and clean them and give them safe places to sleep.  But I realized that I could not give them a different life no matter how hard I wished it.  It was then that I understood the true importance of the school, of an education.

Q) Would you ever go back? Why or why not?
A)  Going on this trip and working with those kids had been the single most eye-opening, heart-breaking, incredible trips I’ve ever been on.  All the wonderful children at the school welcomed us with open arms.  There seemed to be no looks of confusion or hostility-which we often met elsewhere.  There was only excitement and curiosity.  They simply wanted to connect with us and were so unafraid and sweet that any inhibition I had quickly melted away -- melted with a warmth that did not come from the sweltering temperatures but from their acceptance and desire to learn.  Would I go back?  In a heartbeat.

Q) How did this trip influence your decision to become a teen librarian?
A)  It was empowering and motivating to see the desire to learn in those children’s eyes.  Before my trip, I had been toying with the idea of getting an MLIS degree.  There’s nothing in the world quite like going to a third world country and realizing exactly what you want.  I wanted to help.  I wanted to make a difference.  I wanted to learn about the accessibility of information and the distribution of resources.
     Despite spending my undergraduate career studying to be a photographer, I felt studying library science was the next step in my search for growth.  I realized that what I loved most about photography was the documentation and preservation of a moment in time.  And that’s exactly what books are -- just with words.  And although I enjoyed the study and practice of photography, working in the art world just wasn’t for me.  And now, I’m working in an environment I am passionate about and get to learn something new every single day.

Q) As a librarian, there are way too many stereotypes about library workers. What are some of the stereotypes you try to bust with the students?
A)  First and foremost, I want the kids to know that I don't know everything.  No one does.  I want them to know that it's okay to not have all the answers all the time but instead to strive to gather as much information as possible in order to make an informed decision.  And also that all I do is read when I go home at night.  While I do make some time for reading, I'm a big fan of binge watching TV shows on Netflix and watching horror movies.

Q) Since you’ve become a full-time teen librarian, you have revolutionized that department, offering so many possibilities to teens: volunTeens, Anime Club, Books 2 Box Office, Teen Book Chat, Video Game Hangout, Poetry Slam, Teen Advisory Group, drop-in activities (the list goes on.) How do you come up with all these ideas?
A)  I get some ideas from fellow YA librarians and (guiltily) some from Pinterest but most of my program ideas come directly from the kids themselves.

Q) Thanks for taking time out of your really busy schedule to share your extraordinary life with us!  One last question - what is one thing about you that no one would suspect, whether it be ordinary or extra?
A)  I have four tattoos.

Thanks, Lauren, for sharing your photos and yourself with us! This wonderful Extra Ordinary blog was posted on April 1^st, 2015 from the USA. If you know someone who would like to share his/her Extraordinary Ordinariness, please email me at soulfixer13 at yahoo dot com (RE: EO blog) or leave a comment. www.lookandbe.blogspot.com is a once-a-month blog highlighting the extraordinary adventures of ordinary folks like you and me.