Joel's Story

Many years ago, after reading an antroposophic book on story telling, I put all the ideas I had gathered together and wrote a story on storytelling.
I would like to share this story with you today. I hope you find it useful.

A young boy named Joel
A story on storytelling

By Marian Derfler

Once upon a time there was a young boy named Joel. He loved listening to stories and had a bunch of favourite ones, all very simple, which he would adore to listen to over and over again.

When the time for stories came, usually just before bed time, he would choose his favourite corner in the house, and get in the right mood for one of his most beloved stories.

Joel enjoyed the way his mum told tales. She would take her time, sit down, breathe deeply and start telling the story. She always knew the story of the day very well, and Joel could tell she loved it too. It seemed to him as if she loved it so much that she became more of a vehicle for the story to be told, than a teller. He loved the pauses she made, and when he had to join in with a line or phrase, and the way she would sit still when she finished and wait for his applause. And he would always applaud.

Joel’s mum would never moralise on a story, she just said the magic words and those wonderful images stayed with Joel for the rest of the night, and for the rest of his life, and his body and soul kept them, and he learnt a lot from them without realising it.

Sometimes, the words in the stories were new to Joel, but not really. Their musicality told him what they meant, so how could the words be changed from one telling to the next? It was impossible! Different words meant a different tale, and he didn’t want a different one, not just yet.

On other occasions, stories spoke of death and loss, and it was OK with Joel, because that is what life is like, and there is no use denying sad events in life. However, he really loved happy endings, and he understood they could not all be happy.

Joel loved to listen to the words and their rhythm, to the sound effects his mother produced for every single story. He loved the images he created in his head, or the ones he saw in pictures his mother showed him. He would really feel the heat, the cold, the wind, the grass and many other things in the stories and he enjoyed that…Joel, being a kid, was connected to the essence of things, and that was why he could understand and enjoy all things so much even if he has never seen them in real life.

Joel possessed a choleric temperament, so he loved stories with brave characters and great adventures, and he loved it when his stories were told energetically.

Joel loved stories so much, because they were like bread to his soul. Just like there was a home made remedy for every little illness he suffered, there was also a story for every moment in his young life.

Above all, Joel and his mum knew very well in their hearts and souls, that only those who could open their hearts to the great imagination of fairy tales and stories as kids, would be able to understand the real language and meaning of life in depth as adults.

So long!


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All I ever really needed to learn

I learned in Kindergarten

Many years ago I came across this lovely piece by Robert Fulghum. I am pretty sure you are all familiar with it. However, what happens to me is that no matter how many times I've read it, no matter how much trouble is going on in my life, no matter how old or tired or overwhelmed I am, whenever I come across it again, I cannot help but enjoy, smile and feel better inside. Hope you can do so too!
Hugs, kisses and stories in your fields... So long!

Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain but there in the sandbox at nursery school.

These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. (...) Live a balanced life. Learn some, think some, draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together. (...)

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup - they all die. So do we. (...)

Think of what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

2010 ALL Annual Gathering

Story Fields at 2010 ALL Annual Gathering:
Learn to play, and play to learn


Last February 20th, I was honored and glad to take part in this wonderful event that gathers ALL members from all over the country, and all over the world!

Participants belonging to this exclusive methodology were engaged in different workshops. We played games with Maria Marta Suarez, engaged in Project Work with Eugenia Dell'Osa and Daniela Borlenghi from Babies' Corner, shared stories and discussed the world of imagination with Lucy Crichton, the famous British-Brazilian teacher and story-teller, we danced some Beatles song with Pablo Parnes, and I - Mariana Derfler, from Story Fields - told and played with some stories, games and dances.

We had a great time with raffles, lunch and surprises along the day, as we got together with old and new co-workers and friends.

Cheers to a lovely gathering, and hope to see you ALL soon!

2010 ABS Congress

Story Fields at the 2010 ABS International Congress for Teachers



Last February I attended and delivered two sessions at the 2010 International Congress of Profesional Development for teachers of English, held at Palermo University and organized by ABS International.

I would like to thank Laura Lewin and her staff for a hearty welcome and for making my stay a very pleasant experience, as always!

In my first talk I joined Maria Marta Suarez, from ALL -Alternative Language Learning- and we conducted a session entitled Dance your Story. In this very enjoyable event Maria Marta and I shared some of our favourite stories with all those who decided to join us, and after each story we conducted some dances to combine two of our passions: telling stories and dancing. A huge thank you to all the people who stayed and joined in, and danced in spite of the typical tiredness after a fulfillingly busy day!!

In my second talk, I delivered the third edition of what has almost become a classic: What shall I do on the first day? 2010 Edition! In this experiential session I shared some of my favourite and new games, activities, songs, and of course stories to include in your first classes with different age groups and levels.

I would like to thank all those participants who stopped me in the hallway to share comments on things they had tried out from previous years, to ask me questions or simply to say hi! I would like to thank also, and especially, the participants who attended this talk because there were many of us in the room, and everyone stayed! And I would like to thank those who greeted me, thanked me and congratulated me at the end of the talk, as well as those who got in touch with me later on to ask things or simply to say thank you!

I am very glad to have started spreading story seeds in your fields!




So long!