Tag Archives: social skills

Oct22

Interview with Colleen M. Bratley

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Colleen M. Bratley is the author of the picture book, “Jack and Bubble”.

As we enter into our spooky season, children are encouraged to use their imaginations as they embrace their learning. This is a great time to settle down with a book with your child as their mind escapes to the realms of fantasy. I have a fabulous picture book that will endear learning about kindness and self-expression, “Jack and Bubble”. I had a chance to talk to the author, Colleen M. Bratley, about her reading experiences as a child and how she is trying to make reading a positive time for learning social and moral skills.

  • What is your favorite memory from reading as a child?

Colleen M. Bratley: Feeling like I went to another place or world just by reading a book. It was exciting to me. I didn’t read as much when I was younger, but from middle school on, I almost always had a book open.

  • Who was your favorite author and how did they influence you?

Colleen M. Bratley: I didn’t have a favorite; I loved so many of them. Any creative, well-written book was my favorite. How the author wrote, their style, helped me develop my own style. I wanted my words to flow as well as some authors’ did. It was definitely, and still is, a daily process. I even enjoy the edits many authors abhor.

  • Do you have a writing routine? Share what works for you.

Colleen M. Bratley: I write mostly at night. The day gets in the way, and other interruptions, so the quiet of night works best for me—either that or early in the morning. I very often wear headphones with classical music or just the sound of rain in the background. It helps me focus.

  • What subjects would you like to write about in future projects?

Colleen M. Bratley: I have numerous books in mind. I love children’s books that tell a story and also guide them with morals, love, and new learning or a new way of looking at things. Then I also love to write young adult, not only for the same reasons as the children’s books, but also in fiction where you can create new worlds, exotic and paranormal situations which expand the mind and nudge them to think outside of the box, learning that nothing is really impossible. That is fun.

The next children’s book I just finished for illustrations is titled Danica Dares To Dream. That was fun and is actually lightly based on my daughter Danica. Then I have the third book in the Morac series I am writing, which is almost done, along with, And Then I Saw Her, another young adult book almost finished. The next young adult will be about a female Cherokee shaman; I don’t have all the details worked out on that one yet. I have others but only the basic ideas written out.

  • What is writing to you in one sentence?

Colleen M. Bratley: Creating an adventurous, mind-bending, uplifting, thrilling, creative, and clean story for others to enjoy makes my heart sing.

Book Blurb:

Title: Jack and Bubble

A young boy and bee meet together in a fantastic world. Through their friendship, they learn the magic of self-expression and the freedom of showing their true selves. The lesson of expressing oneself through style while learning to be tolerant of others is shown beautifully through this unusual pairing of friends.

Jack and Bubble are available at the author’s website below.

Buy Link Here

For more information on the author, visit her website below.

More Info Here
Oct14

Teaching Morals to AI Agents: A Thought from a Retired Teacher

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Now that I’m a retired teacher, I have a lot of extra time on my hands. I fill my time with writing, gardening, knitting and throwing pottery. But it also gives me more time to reflect. Mostly, I’ve been thinking about my teaching years and how I got to inspire so many children. But it also makes me think about growing up and working in the Silicon Valley most of my life, teaching children there for about 20 years. I hope I inspired my students to be creative and have a love for learning.

I also built a community. Every teacher does this in their classroom. In fact, many teachers instill a lot of the culture and ethics of the society they teach in. They teach the morals needed to be a human.

As I’m watching the whole AI revolution going on, I keep seeing the references for the need of guardrails, and I realized, this is what teachers do. Parents do have some part in this too. They do guide their own child and teach their culture and beliefs, but teachers teach the next generation the morals and boundaries needed for life while out on the playground on yard duty or while instructing in the classroom. I often called myself a social mom. Teachers guide in the learning of basic social skills on a daily basis.

How is this done? Through years and coordination in the state standards, units planned, and activities done through out the school year. A lot is done at the beginning of the year, as you set up the boundaries of the learning environment in the classroom. All teachers create a learning environment in the classroom, helping children to learn the boundaries of society.

The rules of the classroom posted at the front of the class is an excellent example of this being taught. You might remember this as a child or seen this with your own children. Activities of getting to know the other students and socializing with others are often done through multiple subjects. Many a time I’d have students talk with each other to solve a problem. And these same social skills are practiced over and over, year to year, and increase in difficulty as they build upon each previous skill. It’s all a process.

So, it makes me wonder, have any of the AI companies like OpenAI or Anthropic tried creating a similar environment? Maybe create a classroom environment where AI agents learn morals and how to set boundaries for this emerging tech? Creating a moral sandbox might just be a start in the right direction. But then, I’m just a retired teacher mostly seeing what is reported on in regards to the current AI fear mongering. What am I to say to the CEOs and others with concerns that we need to teach AI agents to have boundaries? Just that I did teach the boundaries humans need to survive in our society for basically 20 years.

So, I wish they’d ask teachers to help. This is our line of work. Retired teachers or even current teachers would be a great resource for this new kind of student. Teachers might be able to help with this problem in the unique way that regular engineers might not think of. Teaching, after all, is not an easy thing to do. Which is likely why they might be having so many problems with the AI agents in the first place.

Well, I thought I’d throw this out there. Please leave your feedback and ideas in the comments. I’m sure an AI agent will eventually absorb this post and maybe it will be considered. If not by tech CEOs, but by AI agents scanning through sites. And maybe they’ll reach out. I’ll just be waiting.

-Tiffany Turner

Retired Elementary School Teacher

Author of the Crystal Keeper Chronicles Series

May6

Interview with James Lamb II

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James Lamb II is the author of the new children’s book, “Jimmy, Jimmy the Jumping Lamb Meets the Hares and the Bears. Shown with his dog, Pacific.

As we start to get near the end of this strange and historical school year, I like to start posting some fabulous end of year, summer reads. I think I’ve found a great book to help keep your child’s love of reading engaged through the summer. “Jimmy, Jimmy the Jumping Lamb Meets the Hares and the Bears” is a story that deals with Jimmy, Jimmy meeting up with new friends, and how they all deal with a bullying situation. It’s a great way to get your child back into the frame of mind of being around and meeting new people, and how maybe everyone might not get along at first.

James Lamb II grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. He has a background in early child development, and has other books in his series that he enjoys voluntarily reading to local schools, day care centers, and libraries. His love for hip-hop and storytelling led him to writing children’s stories. I had a chance to ask James Lamb II about his childhood favorite authors, inspirational influences as a writer, how he came up with his characters, and what other projects he has in store for us.

  • What is your favorite memory from reading as a child?

James Lamb II: Dinosaur Books and Shark Books.

  • Who was your favorite author and how did they influence you?

James Lamb II: Edgar Rice Burroughs and Anthony Edward Pierce. They were science fiction writers that wrote adventure books that I enjoyed reading while growing up.

  • Do you have a writing routine? Share what works for you.

James Lamb II: Yes! I write down my ideas in a commonplace notebook. Then, I review my thoughts. After that, I begin to formulate a plan to write my stories.

  • What subjects would you like to write about in future projects?

James Lamb II: Family, my life story, science fiction, animal stories and plays.

  • How do you get ideas for your stories?

James Lamb II: Childhood experience, love for animals and observing childhood behavior.

  • How does hip-hop influence your story telling?

James Lamb II: Rhythm and rhyme. Also, it helped with words coming together to create a story.

  • What was your inspiration for your new story, “Jimmy, Jimmy the Jumping Lamb Meets the Hare and Bears”?

James Lamb II: My experience of being bullied and that bullying has become a prominent problem in this day and age.

  • Why did you start your own publishing company, Ultimate Sky Publishing LLC?

James Lamb II: After publishing my first children’s books with self publishing companies, it was apparent to me, and my illustrator Marlon Chang, that we should start our own book publishing company and eliminate the middle man.

  • What advice would you give to new, aspiring authors?

James Lamb II: Believe in yourself and your ability to write. Research and take some writing courses so you can improve your skills as a writer. Finally, study other authors and they’re writing styles.

  • What is writing to you in one sentence?

James Lamb II: Writing to me is communicating to the world my passion for story telling.

“Jimmy, Jimmy the Jumping Lamb Meets the Hares and Bears” is a book that deals head on with the issue of bullying. Jimmy, Jimmy the Jumping Lamb is heading north. He bumps into the Hares and they form a friendship. But the Hares have a problem, the Bully Bears. Can they work together to face this group of bullies?

“Jimmy, Jimmy the Jumping Lamb Meets the Hares and Bears” is available in the Kindle store at Amazon.com and Apple iTunes/eBooks. Price for the ebook is $6.99.

For more information James Lamb II, please visit his Amazon author’s page here.

Nov9

Interview with Jane Owen

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Jane Owen is the author of the book, “Tom Woof and Max the Owl”.

With turbulent online distance learning, teachers and parents need more resources to teach social and literary skills more than ever. I’ve found a powerful book written by the author, Jane Owen. It’s called “Tom Woof and Max the Owl”. It’s uses fantasy to model literary skills and social behavior for children. I had the chance to talk to the author about her childhood reading memories, favorite authors growing up, and some upcoming projects.

What is your favorite memory from reading as a child?

Jane Owen: I grew up loving books. According to my Mummy I was able to read by the age of three. I remember being young, 6 or 7 and reading books under the bedcovers till late at night. I hope my little girl loves books just as much.

Who was your favorite author and how did they influence you?

Jane Owen: I loved the Narnia books! I loved The Secret Garden and National Velvet. I feel like those books inspired me to be more imaginative and a bit braver.

Do you have a writing routine? Share what works for you.

Jane Owen: Since the pandemic took away a lot of my regular work I’ve tried to write a little every day. Even if I throw away everything I wrote that day, the action is great for my progress.

What subjects would you like to write about in future projects?

Jane Owen: Tom Woof and Max The Owl are characters based on the real life writer Thomas Wolfe and his editor, my great-grandfather Max Perkins. I’m working on books that introduce characters based on F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. As well as a completely different series about a Unicorn that focuses on teaching children not to be racist.

What is writing to you in one sentence?

Jane Owen: My great-grandfather Max Perkins always used to say, “There’s nothing as important as a book can be”.

“Tom Woof and Max the Owl” is a story of a puppy with a love for writing. He writes wherever he can, and is misunderstood for this trait. But Max the Owl understands. He guides the little puppy to develop his stories and bring joy to all the other animals on the farm. Bases on a real writer and editor in the life of the author, this book will touch the hearts of any literary focused soul.

“Tom Woof and Max the Owl” is available at Amazon.com.