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A Look Inside outlines the components of the tutorial in Making
Tired Eyes Smile®. It is a quick look at the road ahead for a journey of
mutual joy. The tutorial leads the facilitator on the tone of the program. It
is the instructions for how to do all the activities/skills. The tutorial
emphasizes the role of the facilitator, the environment, the circle of friends
and the how to do the program. The facilitator’s creative touches are encouraged.
What Is Making Tired Eyes Smile®?
It is a process of playing with the different facets
available in the realm of language arts, primarily story and poetry, to capture
the creative imagination of seniors with Alzheimer’s.
Who Is the Facilitator?
A person who desires to open the closing world of seniors
with Alzheimer’s, if only for a brief moment.
Who Are the Storytellers?
The disease of Alzheimer’s pulls a variety of mankind
onto its path. The known is slowly falling away. And yet in the decline, the
human spirit still shines. Making Tired Eyes Smile® polishes what is
still there.
Preview: Illustrative Lesson Plan
The lesson plans direct the week’s storytelling
experiences. A storytelling session may include a full offering or only a few
of the activities/skills in the plan. The facilitator chooses the activities on
the interests and/or the day’s mood of the circle of friends for the session.
Sample outcomes from a circle of friends are shared in the tutorial. Outcomes
will always vary.
The lesson plans include the pictures, the poems, the
stories and other things a facilitator might need to draw out the intangibles
of joy, respect, contribution and creativity. All lesson plans follow this
format.
Click here to see a lesson plan
What Props Support the Storytelling?
Minimal tools are required to support
the lesson plans. All picture cues, props and aids for all the lessons are
downloaded.
Setting the Scene
Creating a circle seating arrangement with the flip chart
and easel as the focal point draws the group’s attention and builds on the
camaraderie.
Presentation Tips
Handy tips to enhance the success of a storytelling
session are presented.
Storytelling Review
It is important each time to complete a self-review on
what worked and what didn’t. How can the program be improved? Since the
facilitator is a supporting member of the
team, consult with the staff for feedback.
Repeat Performances
The joy of creating stories and poems can be repeated
between visits through a variety of methods.
Ways to Create Story and Poetry
This is the guide’s reference manual on the mechanics of
manifesting stories and poems with a circle of friends. Every component of the
core and enrichment programs are described in detail with specifics on how to
implement each. Actual outcomes are shared.
Last Words Before Beginning
The most important variable in the storytelling process
is the facilitator. It is the energy of the facilitator that draws out the
beautiful thoughts that are still within the seniors with Alzheimer’s.
October 8,
2003 – A Diary Entry – It’s Only a Name –
I am terrible with names. Names of strangers slip instantaneously. I’ve tried
several techniques to enhance keeping a name. But the name slides away. There
will be twelve names to remember. So as easily as I drop names, why do I set it
as one of my highest priorities with my friends? Why do I commit to a personal
salutation for each of my friends?
Names are anchors to our identities. Things shift, but
our names are constant. Knowing a person’s name validates the importance of the
individual. I pledge to speak with each friend by name. Only later do I trip
into the importance of knowing part of a friend’s story. Two incidents remind
me how important a personal conversation and a person’s name remains.
Elsie is a new resident. Elsie is angry. She wants to
go home. She refuses to participate in the unit’s activities. She walks out on
me. The following week I have the idea to speak with Elsie before we start. She
is animated in her signature story. I listen. Elsie stays with the group. It is
hit and miss over the next few weeks that I spend time just with Elsie. It
becomes evident that if I speak to her, she stays. She begins to contribute. I
extend the personal greeting to each friend as an established practice. This
incident tells me that my friends will lead me to what they like if I am willing.
The second situation: A new friend sits closest to the
hallway. I met her last week. But her name escapes me. With every step I am
saying, “What’s her name? What’s her name?” It is no help – her name is lost. I say hello without her
name and continue around the circle, still hopeful the name will pop in. I know
she is watching because all my friends watch as I make my way around the
circle. Thank goodness, in the midst of the activity, her name bounces into my
mind. I come back with “Hi, Jayne.” She replies, “It’s about time you got to
me!”
Names are important. Validation is important. “Seeing”
my friends is important. An individual greeting is a small investment for the
potential returns of a great story and beautiful poems.
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Optional reading – A Diary Entry – The tutorial
contains optional reading from the diary of the author describing her
experiences as a facilitator in Making Tired Eyes Smile®. The select
diary inserts are offered for several reasons: it may give insight to
facilitators who do not know Alzheimer’s intimately, it may give comfort to
family members to view the range of story and poetry triggered by this language
arts program and it may expand for the professional caregiver another viewpoint
of who a person with Alzheimer’s remains. The complete diary is available as
product option. See The Options. Select The
Diary – My Unedited and Uneven Steps on the Rough Terrain of Alzheimer’s (Annotated).
Kay is my mother-in-law. All the names of Kay’s friends
in this circle of sojourners have been changed to honor their privacy.
May 16,
2004 – A Diary Entry – Shooting Stars – It
is a flash so quick I wonder if I really see the star shoot across the heavens.
In an instant it is gone. There is no automatic replay. There is no trace. I
cannot point it out to the person standing next to me under the dark sky. I am
the witness.
Creating stories in my circle of friends is like being
a witness to the occasional occurrences of shooting stars. I don’t know from
which friend the glimmer will shine. It is quick. There is no replay. The words
on the flip chart are the only trace.
Sometimes the glimmer is not words spoken. Sometimes
the glimmer is an aha moment that reverberates in sparkling eyes or nodding
heads. Sometimes the shine comes in smiles. Sometimes claps erupt into our
space.
The moment is short. Just because it is so effervescent
and disappears in a flash doesn’t diminish its happening. I stand in awe under
the night sky and look at the shimmering of stars light years away. I am in awe
of the flicker of brightness in my circle of friends. I am the witness. |
Summary – The tutorial builds the philosophy of
implementing Making Tired Eyes Smile®. The lesson plans supply the
agenda and the aids/props put into practice the desired outcomes.
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