![]() Comparing and contrasting many versions of a story helped the children be connoisseurs of good stories. The preschoolers I taught knew the richness of stories because I embedded children’s literature in every project and investigation. Hearing about the teachers’ experiences inspired me to try this with the children I teach. Her ideas simmered in my mind for many years until I attended a conference and saw Paley share the stage with teachers who had adapted her process and led storytelling in their classrooms. I connected with Paley’s depth of self-reflection and her descriptions of truly listening to the children. I read and reread the description of her storytelling process. In The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter: The Uses of Storytelling in the Classroom (1990), author and teacher Vivian Paley describes how each child in her class could tell and act out his or her story every day. National Day of Listening encourages all of us to honor a friend, a loved one, or a member of the community by interviewing them about their lives, and by really listening.“We owe it to each other to tell stories.” Studs Terkel, the godfather of oral history, laments the loss of the human voice in his poignant animated Stor圜orps interview. The biggest fear, said Stor圜orps facilitator Naomi Greene, is that "people think their story is not important enough to tell." It's often, however, the ordinary stories that become extraordinary. If I think his story interesting enough, I'll upload it onto Stor圜orps open Wall of Listening. ![]() I'll probably use an iPhone or dig up an old tape recorder. I talk to him frequently, but not in a sit down and actually listen sort of way. Thank the person for sharing their story. ![]() Some of the questions to ask a parent from the Stor圜orps guide: "If you could do everything again, would you raise me differently?" "What was I like as a kid?" "What advice would you give me about raising my own kids?" "Are you proud of me?".Later on, do not be afraid to ask hard questions.Follow the emotion, go to what moves you.Start the questions off easy(ish), as in, "Tell me about your childhood.".They just need to be themselves and share what they know best (themselves). Remind the person that you are there to listen and that they have an interesting story to tell.But do not do this so much that your interviewee says, "Did they teach you to imitate body language in therapy school?" Most communication happens non-verbally. Get comfortable, in a quiet place where you won't be interrupted.And based on my personal mistakes as a young therapist, here are a few extra interview tips for today's National Day of Listening: The Stor圜orps "Do-it-yourself guide" offers many wonderful questions for all types of interviews. The goal is to sit down for ten to twenty minutes with a loved one and really listen to their story. ![]() The idea is simple: on the day after Thanksgiving family and friends often still gather together. In an interview David Isay said, "Listening to people reminds them that their lives matter." Since beginning in 2003, Stor圜orps has recorded over 30,000 interviews from over 60,000 participants. The project recalls Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, to democratize oral history and create an archive of American voices. David Isay, founder of Stor圜orps - a Macarthur Genuis and an unwavering idealist - also founded National Day of Listening because "every life matters equally, every voice matters equally, every story matters equally." Today, on the National Day of Listening, everyone is supposed to share stories. Now, as a therapist, I listen to stories professionally. Most of us don't spend enough time really listening. Not long after, he passed away, which made the lesson especially poignant. In the middle of a conversation a friend once stopped me and said, "Tell me back everything I just told you." I couldn't. ![]()
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