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RE: Strong Personalities
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Rachel Hall
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Oct 02, 2009 08:39 PDT
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My TAG group gets a little unruly sometimes, with certain personalities being more dominant than others. I find that sometimes I just have to jump in, talk over the dominant person, and directly ask the other group members (individually, by name) what their input or opinions are. I also find myself saying things like, "OK, lets hear from some other members of the group now" or "OK, lets give our attention to so-and-so now." In my experience, the dominant person usually starts to get the picture that he or she isn't the only one in the group pretty quickly.
I try not to be especially punitive, because in a public library setting, I think the teens will only come if they feel that they're respected and wanted in the group. But they do respond well to someone who approaches them as an adult and makes it clear that there are certain expectations within a group dynamic.
Good luck!
Rachel
| | | | | | Michelle Michaud <mich-@hillsboroughcounty.org> 10/02/09 10:31 AM >>>
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Thanks for your suggestions. I just read over my last reply and realized that I gave the impression that my colleagues were incompetent -- they're far from it. They had a lot on their plates with this group, and these two kids in particular. With no training or guidelines for running a TAG, they were given an awesome responsibility.
Frankly, some of the kids on our TAG are exceptionally strong personalities, and I'm not sure they're going to fit in with the new structure, period.
Michelle
-----Original Message-----
From: Mary Hoeffgen [mailto:hoef-@embarqmail.com]
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 11:00 AM
To: taga-@topica.com
Subject: Re: {TAGAD-L} Strong Personalities
Set down some ground rules. Write them down on a poster. Have one of them be that everyone gets a chance to talk. Have another be that everyone must treat everyone else (including you) with respect. Telling them that being on TAG gives them responsibility. I never had these problems with my TAG, but I know also that there are many teen librarians who have examples of the rules they use. Hope this helps.
Beth Hoeffgen
(Currently laid off) Teen Librarian
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michelle Michaud" <mich-@hillsboroughcounty.org>
To: taga-@topica.com
Sent: Friday, October 2, 2009 10:49:20 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: {TAGAD-L} Strong Personalities
Hi, All:
Please excuse the cross-posting.
I am new to running a TAG, and I have a bit of a dilemma. Our TAG is
predominantly high schoolers. We have one girl who is an extremely
dominant personality; she speaks for the whole group, talks throughout
the meeting with her friends about whatever she wants to talk about and
is sarcastic and somewhat disrespectful to me. We also have a young man
who likes to play the rebel and mouth off.
I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions/ideas for dealing
with a situation like this? I have some ideas, but I'd like to hear
from people with actual experience.
Thanks!
Michelle Michaud
Jimmie B. Keel Library
Tampa, FL
mich-@hillsboroughcounty.org
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--
Beth Hoeffgen
hoef-@embarqmail.com
740 398-0850
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