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INSIDE THIS EDITION:
- LOOKING FORWARD TO FALL CONVOCATION (Sept 5)
- JAZZ CONCERT AT LLC (Aug 6)
- WHAT ARE LLC COORDINATORS THINKING ABOUT COORDINATING?
- ZOMBIES! EVACUATE THE SCHOOL! – Poems by Sara Holbrook
Click on the links to jump to the article.
Looking Forward to Fall Convocation
Torey Malatia
After the first email announcement for our September 5 Fall Convocation came out, a new LLC member asked me what convocation was all about and commented that the term conjures up images of academic robes and bored students who want to be anywhere else but in a large hall listening to stuffy speeches. I responded that for LLC, Convocation means something very different.
For LLC members, Fall Convocation is an informal and highly enjoyable kickoff to our program year. It begins with a Coordinators' Open House from 10-11 am, where you'll be able to meet the people who are organizing your classes and hear more about the syllabus they have planned for the coming weeks. If you still want to find a class to sign up for, here's your chance to learn more about the courses you're considering.
At 11 we'll move into the Temple Meeting Hall for our speaking program, highlighted by keynote speaker Torey Malatia.
An American journalist, radio producer and public media manager for more than three decades, Torey served for 7 years as General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of The Public's Radio, Rhode Island's much loved public radio station. Torey has been known throughout his career for his leadership in strategic thinking about the future of public media, his highly innovative media programming, and his passionate commitment to reaching different audiences and building community; he has been referred to as "a rock star in the public media industry" and "the most famous general manager in public radio." The recipient of multiple Emmys and Peabody Awards for his work, Torey is responsible for two of NPR's most popular syndicated shows -- This American Life, which he co-founded, with Ira Glass, and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.
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Photo by James Jones Studio
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Photo by James Jones Studio
At a time when the future of democracy depends on ensuring that Americans have access to reliable, accurate journalism, we know that LLC members will be particularly interested in hearing Torey's reflections on the important role of public media today and the challenges of sustaining public media in smaller markets like Rhode Island.
During the speaking program we also like to find different ways to focus on the collaborative spirit that is LLC's "secret sauce" and to acknowledge the enthusiasm and innovative ideas that members contribute to LLC. One such member was Don Harper, whom long-time LLC members will remember for, among many things, his interest in technology. When Don passed away some years ago, his friends established the Don Harper Technology Fund at LLC. We're looking forward during Convocation to sharing with you how that fund has been used.
After our speaking program, we'll all enjoy a chance to socialize over a boxed lunch. It's an opportunity to visit with friends you haven't seen all summer and to meet and welcome new LLC members.
So that's LLC Convocation . . . definitely not stuffy, definitely something you don't want to miss. Whether you join more than 100 members who will attend in person at Temple Beth-El or you tune in to the speaking program via Zoom Webinar, we hope you'll be part of the day.
Register for In-person Program @ Temple Beth-El ($25 includes box lunch)
Register for FREE Zoom Livestream Speaker Program (11 AM-Noon)
Convocation registration closes at 12 noon on Thursday, August 29.
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Jazz Concert at LLC
by Sam Shamoon
On Tuesday afternoon, August 6, 2024, about 95 LLC’ers were treated to a two-hour jazz concert put on by Clay Nordhill with his band of three musicians.
Clay is the incomparable instructor of “All That’s Jazz” class that is offered every summer, by LLC, for about 40 participants. He is a talented guitar player who has the extraordinary gift of being an excellent teacher of jazz. His love of music and especially jazz music is evident in all his lectures and selected play lists that he shares with the class. Each year, Clay has brought a fresh approach to his teaching of jazz. Starting with the early history of jazz, he has introduced us to a whole panoply of great musicians.
“This never gets old,” quipped one enthusiastic member of the class.
He teaches us about jazz greats like John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. He teaches us how to listen to various jazz styles, such as Swing, BeBop, cool jazz, free jazz, hard bebop, and more.
For the summer of 2024, Clay previewed the artists who performed at the annual Newport Jazz Festival so that attendees had a good idea of who’s who and what to listen for. It worked beautifully for those who attended the Newport Jazz Festival. As it has been Clay’s custom for many years, he closes out the course with a concert by his own band. For two hours he entertained us with beautiful sounds from his guitar, accompanied by
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John Mckenna on tenor sax
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Marty Richards on energetic drums.
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the irrepressible Sam Kurzontkowski on bass
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It was a memorable afternoon and everyone left happy with the event.
Photographs by Liz Siftar and Kathy Webster
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What Are LLC Coordinators Thinking About Coordinating?
In July, the LLC Curriculum Committee conducted a survey of members who had coordinated courses over the past three sessions (fall 2023 through spring 2024). The intention of the survey was to provide new information for LLC coordinator training sessions.
About half of those surveyed responded, and the results were very helpful to the Curriculum Committee trainers.
Here is a summary of the results.
What Went Well/Less Well
When we asked coordinators what went well in their classes, the open-ended comments focused on the class’s enthusiastic participation, the quality of the conversations and discussions, and the degree of engagement.
When we asked them what went less well, the comments reflected concern about presentation quality (could be disappointing or uneven), participants skipping a lot of classes (enrolling for a class knowing they would miss a lot of classes), reluctant participants (forcing the coordinator to fill in those slots), and balancing class time between presentation and discussion.
When we asked them what one thing they would change if they were to offer the course again, there was a huge variety of comments. But the topic that came up most frequently was that they would work more on the quality of participant presentations—especially before classes start and at the beginning of class. This means being clear in the catalog description, stressing it more in written materials (including providing specifics guidelines) and in the first class, and working with presenters during the semester.
Technology
There didn’t seem to be any big issues here. Of the 35 respondents, only 11 had any kind of problems, and all but one were in the “a few problems but I could handle it” category.
Coordinating By Themselves or With Others
About a third of the respondents had coordinated their course by themselves (as a solo coordinator), and the rest with one or more coordinators. Of the solo coordinators, a little less than half liked coordinating alone and did not want to have a co-coordinator. About a quarter of the solo coordinators definitely would have liked a co-coordinator, and an equal amount thought they might want one—depending on the person. The biggest reasons for wanting a co-coordinator were for time management (whether Zoom or in-person), technology, backup (for vacations and unexpected issues), someone to just share the load, or someone to provide different feedback for participants (e.g. in painting or writing classes). So there are opportunities out there for those of you who aren’t ready to take on a course yourself, but would be willing to participate with a more experienced coordinator!
So how do co-coordinators divide up the tasks in a course? While many people think of a main coordinator and a second person who primarily handles technology or class communication, this is not the most common model. 57% of the respondents who worked with a co-coordinator said that they all worked on the course together: sharing the responsibilities for content, communications, and technology as it made sense throughout the course. The remaining respondents divided up the tasks with one person handling technology, or class activities, or managing Zoom participation, or class communication, or student feedback, or handouts/visuals.
In Conclusion
We also asked coordinators to respond to questions about our syllabus and coordinator kickoff workshops, but those results were of primary interest to the LLC Curriculum Committee training team, so they are not summarized here.
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Image used with permission from Sara Holbrook from her book Zombies! Evacuate the School!
Illustrated by Karen Sandstrom
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Zombies! Evacuate the School!
Poems by Sara Holbrook
Celebrated performance poet Sara Holbrook's poems range from begging for a few more minutes' sleep to a "slam-dancing ride" on the big yellow bus, from the teacher who picks up signals with "antennae in her hair" to a full-on zombie invasion. Silly, serious, and everything in between, these poems show kids that poetry is not just for grown-ups! Writing prompts and mini poetry lessons throughout introduce readers to many of the elements of poetry and invite kids to write poems of their own.
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