New Home Forums Course Ideas & Outlines magical library? theme questions

9 replies, 5 voices Last updated by  Lisa R 8 years, 6 months ago
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  • #26186

    Akasha Madron
    Adventurer
    @mysticsparkling

    Hi Everyone,

    I published my milestones and lesson plans under the creative title of “milestones and lesson plans”.  Please see that to read what I’m planning for my course.

    So I have a number of different themes and am open to any other themes that you might suggest.

    the ones I am considering are:

     

    1.  a magic castle, but may be too much like hogwarts

    2.  theme of Egyptian pantheon

    3.  Greece ruins and pantheon – i went on a tour of greece and have first hand experience and pictures of many greece ruins and cities. i also know the gods and goddesses well.

    4. British power/sacred spots. i also know britain very well. esp the standing stones.   Scotland is my soul home.

    5. the one i’m most attracted to is:

    A magical library

    I am kind of seeing it as a mashup of  the great Ephesus library ,  Rivendell’s library in LOTR , and the Hilo Library in Hawaii. Ok and a bit of BBC Merlin’s castle. In the Hilo library, they open up the walls to the internal landscaped gardens, so the stacks lead to seating outside in the garden.

    The library would instead, have tiles or wall hangings with symbols or pictures on them which you access by touching.  When you touch the symbol/picture, it takes you to the setting or that particular lesson.  This might be as I get better at the tech and in the beginning just have rooms or settings where people go into.

    There would be outdoor gardens and labyrinths.

    Community chat/meeting rooms, a childrens section for adults,  practice rooms akin to Hogwarts giant hall for practicing flying or energy work.  Underground dungeons with hidden pools to soak in or go time traveling in.  Crystal caves etc.

     

    Reasons I am attracted to the magical library theme:

    Libraries are home to me.  Wherever I travel I always visit the main library.

    There are The Librarians.  The films and tv show of super hero librarians rescuing artifacts

    I can expand the setting outward or take the setting  inward

     

    There are two hurdles for embracing this theme:

    1. I have to come up with an action quest or goal that is in keeping with the theme so that there is a reason for moving around the place.  I think? or not? Each course is the structure for using it in the different lessons?  not sure about rescuing artifacts like in the Librarians, but maybe something similar?

    2. I need to be able to fit using puppets and stuffed animals and children’s games, into the scenario.  I need it to be playful as well as magical.

    Any thoughts ideas would be great!

    Thank you

    Akasha

     

     

    #26312

    Dr.Wayne Buckhanan
    Adventurer
    @waynebuckhanan

    To me, #2 is easy: a “children’s section” in the library.

    As far as the actions, what is the transformation you’re facilitating? Would that fit into a library setting? Or would the library be an obvious place for some/all of the action to take place? And if it is only *one* setting rather than *the* setting, what else would you like to wrap around or into the library?

    I think that using books as “portals” to completely different worlds has a bit of a precedent (since that’s what many books here in the “real world” do already!)… Same principle for using other artifacts to transport people into other settings — those settings can be anything you want and it can fit within the theme just because you make it! That also keeps the library as an obvious “home base” from which to launch out into other adventurous escapades.

    Heck, you could easily incorporate the rest of the settings as stops in the particular quest you’re sending folks on at the moment. I can see a series of stops across Britain or Greece or anywhere else you feel the urge to explore!

    Sounds fun. Keep us in the loop!

    #26356

    Bradley Morris
    Mountain Guide
    @bradleytmorris

    I really love the magical library theme. It sounds… MAGICAL!

    Depending on the course transformation/result, I like Dr Wayne’s idea of making each book a different world.

    I could see the “Librarian” showing a new book for each lesson in a different section of the magical library. She goes, grabs the book, starts reading and then it cuts to a voice over of her reading the short story of the book (the lesson) and having a character acting out the scene she’s describing.

    I could see it being a crazy, magical thing. You could use video effects like filming some in black and white, some with other effects, etc…

    If you like this idea as a possibility and it feels like a fit, then let’s go deeper. If not, no worries. That was where my creative mind went when I envisioned your course   🙂

    #26436

    Sharyn Warren
    Adventurer
    @SharynWa

    Akasha, what you are conceiving sounds so beautiful and thrilling. Others have commented on your 2nd “hurdle” so I will comment on the 1st. concerning “an action quest or goal.” I think that is fairly easy too. Have you identified your primary transformation? That is the goal–yes? And you can make each volume the quest for the next step in the transformation process to the BIG ONE. A test of the hero, heroine to meet. A quest to complete and bring back some artifact or treasure. Each one like a key  or piece of the puzzle that unlocks the Big Magic Book–or whatever. But the goal is the transformation (Big Benefit).

    You have come so far. This is wonderful!

    #28248

    Akasha Madron
    Adventurer
    @mysticsparkling

    Thanks for your responses Sharyn, Bradley, and Dr. Wayne.  I’m sorry I haven’t responded sooner.  I’ve been swamped.  I loved your ideas and they made it easier to do the next lesson.

    I’m definitely going with the library theme.  I am visiting a number of libraries near me and video taping scenes from the inspiring ones to use.  One that I just discovered had at the back of each wing a real fireplace with couches and a rug in front nestled in amongst the stacks.  It looks like it used to be a lodge.  Another has a very strong Santa Fe style going with fascinating sculptures and water fountains.

    I am also planning to read a relevant quote from a young adult fantasy fiction that is appropriate for each lesson.  Kind of like starting with a wee bit of story time to introduce the lesson, morph into the green screen world to do the play and experimenting and then teach the theory behind it.  In a doc I would have the quote and the book it’s from with the how to’s from the lesson for them to refer to.   I’d recommend that children’s/YA book for people to read about that lesson.  Most of them are easy short reads.

    So that is part of it.

    I currently am still trying to come up with what to call the lessons so that they have a magical library title to them.

    Thanks again for all of your feedback, it was so helpful! I won’t be so delinquent in responding next time.

     

    #28256

    Lisa R
    Adventurer
    @lisa.russell

    I love the library theme! So much potential to do awesome stuff with this theme.

    I’m a big old library geek; in fact I have one module that’s set in a library in my course and I’ve loved creating it, probably because it took me back to a happy time when I was training to be a librarian at Oxford University many years ago (if you need any pointers to beautiful old library buildings there give me a shout!). There are also some beautiful stately home libraries with gorgeous oak panelling and armchairs and stuff that I’ve found while sourcing pictures for my library module, if that’s something that you’re looking for?

    Could calling the lessons ‘chapters’ be an option?

    Oh and I’m a total young adult fantasy fiction geek too. I have a whole bookcase (or 5) dedicated just to that… Would love to see more of your content as and when it’s ready!

    And, if I can help you at all on either of these fronts just let me know!

    🙂

     

    #28282

    Bradley Morris
    Mountain Guide
    @bradleytmorris

    Super stoked that you’re goign ahead with the library course!

    You should ask if they’d rent those spaces out after hours for you to shoot your videos in.

    OR take high res pictures of them and use them on a green screen.

    OR just use them for your mood boarding process and download stock images elsewhere and use them on a green screen.

    Whichever, this is awesome.

    Can you share some of the images with us to give us a feel of the locations?

    #28319

    Akasha Madron
    Adventurer
    @mysticsparkling

    Hi Lisa,

    Thanks!  “Chapters” is brilliant and so obvious.  I’m a library geek too and would love to talk YA and libraries with you.  I have worked and volunteered in libraries all of my life; they are my home.  There was one library where my one job was to go through all of the books in their YA section and create recommends lists complete with summary for them.  That was so much fun because I ended up reading a lot of them.  And then I got to do the same for their Tween section, pure bliss!  I definitely prefer the younger teen books over the older ones.  More action less romance.

    I would also love info on the home libraries  you mentioned.  What is the best way to contact you directly?  you can contact me directly at akasha@akashamadron.com.

     

     

    #28321

    Akasha Madron
    Adventurer
    @mysticsparkling

    Thanks Bradley,

    Great idea about seeing if I can film there after hours.  I haven’t had a chance to take photos yet but will once I do.

    I am very excited about this theme the more I work with it.

     

    #28436

    Lisa R
    Adventurer
    @lisa.russell

    Akasha – I’ll send you an email! 😀

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