Our librarian put together a display of hidden hobbies created by teachers and staff to showcase what they do outside of the classroom. It was a great success, not only with teacher and staff participation, but with student interest. It got me to thinking that the same thing could be done with our students and so the “Showcase: Hidden Hobbies” was created. It’s a great way to feature students who have talent, but may not participate in the traditional extra- curricular activities.
Background
- The first thing our librarian did was survey the faculty and staff to see if there was interest in participation, for which there was.
- Teachers and faculty received a form to fill out that was displayed by the hobbies, talents, works of art, etc that were showcased. It included the following: Our name, what we were sharing talent/hobby wise, how we became interested in it and what we most enjoyed or wanted to tell others about this activity.
- On the day of the showcase, all of the shared items were set up on display tables along with the forms. Students could visit each one and learn more about our talents, hobbies. They also realized that teachers do spend time doing other things beyond the classroom!
- Talents and hobbies shared included: Primitive rug hooking (this is my hobby–see the post picture above), art made from broken glass, stained glass, quilting, dorset buttons, dictionary art, pottery, jewelry making, fly-tying, scrapbooks, photo books, cake decorating, crocheting, geneology, felted wool art, and published writings.
Student Version
- To find out student body interest, send out a google form for them to complete. It could be very simple and include name, hobby or talent and interest in sharing or having their work on display.
- Once you have an idea of interest, the showcase date or date(s) could be set. Participants could fill out the same form mentioned above to be displayed with their featured item(s).
- Showcases could be actual showcases that are behind glass or maybe they are tables set up and monitored in a common area like ours were.
Attachment
- Showcase Share Form (PDF)
