Favorite Things Friday - People Clackers

Do you know that moment when you have a favorite instrument, but you have ABSOLUTELY no idea what other people call them so you try to go onto the internet to find a picture and just cannot? Here's my current dilemma!! I love some instruments that I have, but I cannot find a picture of them on the web at all! This picture is the closest that I've been able to find, and I don't have ANY of these!

 My favorite set of these "people clacker instruments" have faces (and mouths that line up with the clacking part like the duck here). I have four of these - a girl (Petunia), the twins (Fred and George - you can tell them apart because George has a scar on the back of head), and a dapper man with a hat and a mustache (Monsieur LePeu). They have a menagerie of pets and animals as well - horses, frogs, alligators, birds, and a purple bear.

 My kids love these and often ask for them (that's all the kids, even the big old teens!). We use them to practice conversation skills. We take turns in the receptor and communicator roles - one clacker clacks while all of the others listen. We practice interruptions and arguments - all of those things that my students do not appear to be aware of when engaged in actual speaking. We process the conversation that we had (all without words).

 I am looking for more of these people clacker thingies.

 Does ANYONE know what their official name is???

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sing A Song Sunday - The Time Change Song (Fall)

It's the time of year where most of us here in the states get to fall back one hour. This is a wonderful time as it gives us a chance to get an extra hour of sleep and to reset our internal clocks to be in sync with the earth's rotation a bit more than we are during the summer. I love this time of year and really dread moving to Daylight Savings in the Spring. Today' song is directed towards choir members and can be found here . There is also a spring version, and I'm sure I'll post a link to that one next year when we [shudder] spring forward yet again... Here is a YouTube video of a guy singing the song. I'm so very sorry for the pitch, but at least he's out there trying his best. Yipes. Anyway, the song itself is based on a hymn composed in 1907 by John Hughes. The words are by Dean McIntyre and were written in 1995. I find the song a bit tongue-in-cheek, but they give me a giggle every time I read them, so enjoy!! Sorry for the lack of diagram
Read more

Being An Internship Director: Why I Do Very Little Active Recruitment

Image
I am not someone who participates in every single internship fair or makes ads for my internship program to put on social media. I do not feel an obligation to anyone to fill all of the openings that I have every year. I operate on a "if you build it, they will come" type of viewpoint. I figure that the interns who are meant to be with me will find me. As a result, I do very little active recruitment. I will be part of the AMTAS Virtual Internship Fair this upcoming Sunday. I am not really expecting too many applications coming from this meeting, but I am interested in how it is going to be run. I decided to sign up because I want to see what others are doing and offering out there. So, this Sunday, I will be sitting in front of my computer, listening to what others share about their internships. One of the things that I like about being a National Roster Internship Director is that I have the ability to decide how many interns and when those interns work with me. I occasiona
Read more

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea
Read more