The Great Gatsby Collaborative Library Program Returns in 2015 (11th Grade English)

On January 18, 2015, The Great Gatsby collaborative event returned to the Lakeside High School Library Media Center.

Mrs. Misti Bell, LHS Library Media Specialist, is the author this blog entry!

“The party has begun.” –from The Great Gatsby

Once again the LHS Library Media Center teamed up with the 11^th grade class to experience Gatsby.    Previously, this event was held as a culminating Common Core enrichment activity; however, this year the students were in the process of reading the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic.  Our goal for this collaboration was to bring the 1920’s to our students, giving them the opportunity to experience the tastes, sounds and images from the era.  The library was transformed into an extravagant party decked out in elegant gold and black.

The learning stations remained the same; however, due to student suggestions, we did extend the time for Dance the Charleston.  Our learning stations consisted of: an Art Deco Gallery, a Charlie Chaplin silent film, a Prohibition/Speakeasy video, a Gatsby iPad game, Dance the Charleston, and the Garden Party.  Once again, the students enjoyed learning and dancing the Charleston and sampling the decadent foods prepared by Chartwell’s, our food service company. 

The Charleston Dance Station

The Charlie Chaplin Movie Station

The Gatsby Garden Party Station

The Gatsby Garden party Station

Many thanks to Jerrie Stanage, 11^th grade English teacher; Chartwell’s; our Lakeside admin team; our Lakeside School Board members and our LHS Library Media staff for pulling off another successful collaborative learning event! 

Mrs. Jerrie Stanage (left) poses with one of her students!

“I like large parties, they’re so intimate.” –from The Great Gatsby

Do you want to see the Gatsby collaborative library program from last year? Go here!

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How We Used Twitter In The Library While Teaching Research Skills

In the most recent blog entry, I discussed some of the ways we support teachers in the library by helping them present research tools. Recently, I've been trying to work in social media whenever possible. Students are presently using social media to post selfies and brag about themselves. In recent months, I have discovered that these great social tools can be used for so much more. We should strive to model better ways to use social media in the classroom!

Two weeks ago, I was showing an 8th grade English class how to do basic research using Britannica School. I also taught a brief introduction to EasyBib. After I had taught a few sessions, I thought about bringing Twitter into the lesson. I decided to take one of the photos we had captured (we always take lots of photos of events in the library for evidence!) and send out a Tweet to share what we were doing. I sent the first Tweet about Britannica School and EasyBib after I got home from school that evening. I decided to mention them both in the Tweet just to see what might happen. I figured they were bound to have PR people monitoring Twitter. Here is the Tweet and photo that I sent.

The next morning, Britannica responded with this Tweet:

They later sent two more Tweets.

Then had inquired about what we were teaching!

EasyBib Tweeted us too!

I was able to share a response to Britannica about the specific things we had taught the students. I also shared this with all of the classes! I thought it was significant that while teaching new research skills, we were able to bring in a social media connection with two of the tools we were using. I later Tweeted out to Prezi (Since they were part of the same two day project for this 8th grade class). They responded by favoriting my Tweet.

I'm going to continue looking for new ways to add social media into our daily practices in the school library media center. This is a great way to get students thinking beyond selfies! I'll keep you all posted on what we do next.

Part 1 of this article is here (if you didn't click on the link at the top of the page).

Check out our 5 most read blog posts of 2014 here.

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Collaboration Sharing Research Tools With 8th Grade English

I'm in my 5th year as a library media specialist (LMS) at Lakeside High School. I am so fortunate to have great working relationships with our faculty. Both Misti Bell (also a LMS at Lakeside High) and I are frequently asked to present sessions on research tools and technology. It is exactly what I envisioned when I entered this career field! I hope the school library will always be a place teachers and students come to seek assistance with research and tech tools!

Recently, I had the opportunity to do a full day of sessions to one section of our 8th grade English classes. Mrs. Mari Simmons requested that I share Britannica School and EasyBib as preparation for a small research project on poets that her students will complete using Prezi. I enjoy sharing these tools with all ages, but especially 8th graders because it is their first taste of the research process at the high school level. If we can get them comfortable with this process at the beginning, it will make a huge difference in their journey as life long learners.

I used this opportunity to remind them how to access our library website (Mrs. Misti Bell did a wonderful job building this website using Google tools). I then showed them how to access Britannica School and how to access the articles they need. I demonstrated how they can email documents to themselves and how to create an MLA citation. Most online encyclopedias and databases now have this wonderful feature! It is a much better experience than when I was in high school!

I also shared some tactics for finding credible websites. Britannica School has a feature called "The Web's Best Sites". Their staff have reviewed the websites listed in this area, so it saves students time since the site evaluation has been done! I also encourage them to start with .edu and .gov sites. If they find sites within the .com or .org domains, I remind them to investigate who the author(s) might be and what credentials they hold.

Mrs. Simmons and I then showed them how to use EasyBib to create an MLA citation for a website (outside of Britannica School). After this instruction, they are ready to begin researching their poets. When they are finished finding facts, they will jump into Prezi to begin their presentation.

These students will return in preparation for their major research paper in a few weeks. At that time, I will share databases like EBSCO's Student Research Center. This is also a great time to remind them about the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) to help them find relevant print materials. Even though I have presented this material many times to almost every grade in the building, it is still one of my favorite things to do.

In the next entry, I'll share how I used Twitter in this particular session to show students how to reach out to organizations like Britannica School. It was the first time I had tried using Twitter in this way, and it worked great! Go here for the story!

Are you new to Twitter? Me too! Check out my intro to Twitter article here.

Interested in Common Core collaboration in the school library? Here is one of our first programs with 8th grade back in 2012 that led to many, many more!

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Two Alumni Visit The Library To Give Tips For College!

One of our high school English teachers asked me if I might be interested in her son and his friend (who are now sophomores in college) coming by to give students some pointers they have learned after a year and half in college. We are always looking for new ways to engage our students through lunch programming in the library, especially student led programs. This was perfect! All too often students hear adults telling them how to succeed in college.  By the time they are juniors and seniors, it has to get old for them. Students greatly prefer hearing from peers! These two alumni haven't been gone from our school that long, so they are still familiar to our students.

I shared the possibility with the library staff, and they loved the idea. We requested that they present two sessions so that all our library visitors in grades 8-12 could hear their tips. I couldn't wait for this program to happen!

Both sessions went great. The presenters talked about the importance of good note taking practices, turning in work on time, and being responsible. They told their audiences that professors are there to present information to classes, and success in college is dependent on the individual student. My favorite bit of wisdom was when one of our presenters told his listeners that there are three main things in college: social life, making grades, and sleep. He told students they can only choose two.

The library staff feels confident that these two young men made a great impression on their audiences. We are grateful for the time these two gentlemen gave up for this presentation! They certainly made this one of our favorite library lunch programs of 2014-2015! I encourage all teacher librarians to recruit local alumni to present programs such as this! We will seek similar opportunities for the future!

Go here for our student led 3D Printer presentation.

Go here for our student led summer book club from 2014.

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Student Article "Not Just A Room With Books"

We asked some of our library regulars to write an article for the blog. We want to know why they like to visit the library. We asked them to talk about the things they like and how the library media center has affected them.  Freshman Lakeside High School student, Sidra Hanson, brought the following article to us just a few days after our request!

"Not Just A Room With Books"

by Sidra Hanson

            The word “library” didn’t always mean a lot to me. After all, the word’s literal meaning is a room or building where collections of books and other media are. So if you like to read, you go to the library. If you don’t enjoy reading, you find other places to go. Right?

            Wrong. This perception changed when I came to Lakeside. I’d always loved reading. The question of whether to come to the library wasn’t a difficult one. But I was startled by how different the Lakeside libraries were compared to the one back at my old school. The atmosphere was, and is, totally different. It’s welcoming and filled with students chatting with their friends at the many tables, scanning the shelves for books, or working, sometimes frantically, at one of the laptops situated at one end of the room. Posters advertise good reads and the TV screens show funny pictures of events at Lakeside and Lakeside students.

            As soon as one walks in the room, it’s clear that a lot of effort goes into what you see, whether it be the warm physical appearance or the programs that go on inside. The librarians work with everybody:  students, teachers, and visitors. Students have the ability to show off what they can do in presentations at lunch. All they have to do is ask.  Recent presentations have included foreign exchange students, people working the 3D-printer, gamers, and singers. Teachers align some of their projects with events in the library. Guest speakers ranging from student bands to college students sharing their experiences to local professionals come in from time to time to share what they know.

            A library shouldn’t just be a room with books. Not everyone enjoys reading, and that’s okay. An ideal library is a place where learning beyond the classroom is possible. It’s a window into the outside world; it’s a place to open your eyes to new things. It’s a place where all students, no matter how well they do in school or who they are, are on equal ground because they have a chance. They have a chance to move forward and not only learn, but enjoy it. It’s no easy feat, but Lakeside High accomplishes it.  


How we connected with a student in South Africa via Skype (for the first time!)

How a student led Breakout EDU professional development for teachers in the school library.

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Movie Night @ The Library

I have noticed that public libraries have started holding movie nights in recent years. I've often thought, "that must be nice, how can they do that?" Luckily a few years ago, my wife, Cindy, who is also a school library media specialist, discovered a company that sells public performance licenses for schools (and other organizations). She purchased a site license from Movie Licensing USA. This license allows movies to be shown within their building for entertainment or public performance. Please, note this is separate from the educational exemption or "fair use" / face to face teaching use allowed to teachers. Educators can use resources or show movies/ movie clips in order to teach concepts directly related to their class content.

The license Cindy purchased covered movies shown for reasons other than face to face teaching. This is important to note because on any given day there might be teachers in your building showing movies as a reward or for entertainment! This license allows your school to be in compliance with copyright law (for non-educational performances of movies). Do you want more information on Copyright and Fair Use? Here is a reflection I wrote after attending a great Copyright session held at a state library media conference!

Movie Licensing USA represents studios such as Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros, Colombia Pictures, and more. It allows you to show any movie listed on their website within your school building. This means you can show the movie in any classroom, auditorium, gym, or library within the school. You can show the movies during the day or after hours at night. It is even possible to have a parent night or movie night showing (as long as it is in the building). We learned that you can also charge admission (there is a limit to how much you can make on admission charges, however). If you want to charge for snacks and drinks, it is allowed (there is no limit to the amount of money you can make on charges not related to admission). Our library team began thinking that this could be a nice fund raiser for our program.

We purchased a site license from Movie Licensing USA in March of 2014. It was a perfect time to purchase the license since spring testing occurs in April-May. Many teachers would inquire about showing movies to their afternoon classes (since morning classes were disrupted by school wide testing). This license worked great for these types of classroom applications. The license covers any legal copy of the motion picture (so you can bring a personal DVD, one that you rented at a RedBox, or one that the school owns, etc). Be sure to visit their site (linked above). They have a great FAQ section, and the folks I have called there have been very helpful for any of our additional questions.

We decided to have a movie night after school in December 2014. Divergent had been released on DVD a few months before, and we wanted to show it. We decided to make it a free admission, but we did charge for drinks and popcorn. We made the movie available on one of the afternoons that we have after school library hours. We advertised at school by announcing the event; and we had students sign up, so we would know how many snacks to purchase. It was a great success! Over 20 students attended the movie, and we made a small profit on the snacks sold. A few teachers and one administrator even dropped in!  This type of programming is great PR for you and your library program. It can get students and parents to visit for a different type of event. In addition, this could easily be a potential parent involvement program for your school. There are endless possibilities!

Many students wanted to know if we would have another movie night! We are planning to have another event during second semester.

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Student Led 3D Printing Presentation

Our school provided us with a new 3D Printer during the summer of 2014. It has been a fascinating tool for our learning community. Since school started in the fall, we have made it available to students. We have a makerspace on Thursdays after school for students that want to try the printer. Our most successful students have been in our EAST program. Several of these student teams have designed and printed projects. Three particular students have worked with the device so much, I asked them to present about the printer during a library lunch program.

The students quickly agreed! They brought me an outline proposal for what they intended to present. They decided to give a description of the printer, a discussion of the 3D software they have used, and actually print items to give away at the end of the session. Since it was close to the holidays, they decided to print two snowflake ornaments.

I have noticed that student led programs have been among the most successful in my time as a library media specialist. We on the library team are always looking for opportunities to have students present their knowledge and skills.

In the future I will write more about our progress with 3D printing. I will also share more about other successful student led programs.

Check out our 3D printed Valentine's Day themed figures we gave away during a lunch program here!

OR

Go here for an article about our student led summer book club from 2014.

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Collaboration Resolution for 2015...Try Twitter! (Part 2) Hashtags & Chats

Still puzzled by Twitter? I know I'm still learning about this great social media tool too! If you didn't catch the first part of this post, go here. I'll cover what I've learned about Hashtags and Twitter chats in this post.

What is a Hashtag anyway?

When I first started using Twitter, I couldn't figure out how to find people to follow. I didn't know how to find Tweets about the topics that interested me. Hashtags helped me find these items! A Hashtag is a keyword or phrase (no spaces) with a "#" at the beginning. The keyword or phrase helps categorize the Tweet. These words can be anything from #edchat (a popular education hashtag) to #bestmemoriesof2014 (a popular hashtag at the end of 2014). 

You can search a specific hashtag by going to the "search Twitter" tool and typing it in. Twitter will then show you the current Tweets and photos posted to that hashtag. You can get a list of Educational Hashtags here (thanks to Cybrary Man). 

You can also send relevant Tweets to a specific hashtag. This is one of the ways I have found others to follow (and others have found me). One of my favorite things to do is share inspirational quotes. Here is an example of a recent Tweet I sent out to a few hashtags that focus on quotes.

This quote could be found by anyone following #quote and/ or #inspirationalquote. 

Twitter chats

In my experience so far, the most effective way to find people to follow (and for people to follow you) is to participate in a Twitter chat. These events usually take place once a week (or once every two weeks) at a specific time. During a chat there is usually a chat moderator (or sometimes several moderators) that will post questions to everyone in the chat. Chat participants are merely monitoring a specific hashtag (for instance if it is an #edchat session, everyone is monitoring the #edchat hashtag). You should just watch a chat session to get the hang of it; it's easy to catch the procedure after you see it. When I started participating in Twitter chats, my number of followers increased dramatically in a very short period of time! This is also where I found hundreds of additional educators to follow!

I recommend going here to this Education Chat Calendar to find a chat topic that interests you. Meeting days and times are listed.

The main thing you need to do is to jump in and start using Twitter. The more you use it, the easier it gets! It has made a huge difference in growing my PLN and in increasing our blog traffic. Twitter is an amazing tool that continues to grow in popularity. I hope this 2 part blog article has helped you understand it better!

Before you go you might want to read our  top 5 most read blog posts of 2014 or our top 5 most read blog posts of 2015!

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