Library Media Tech Talk

Krystyna visits with Robyn Hrivnatz via Skype The 2016-2017 school year has been the most powerful for connections using Skype in the library. Several classes have utilized our services to Mystery Skype or just to connect and collaborate. I have noticed a change in our learning community since these connections have become more frequent. First of all, students always seem to want more. They frequently ask, "When will we Skype again?" In addition, teachers are beginning to think beyond our state to connect their classes to far away states or countries. Presentations and Skype-a-Thon Earlier this year, I wrote about student makerspace presentations in the library for two education cooperatives that had visited us. Our learners did such a wonderful job, we started arranging for them to share their presentations with schools in other states via Skype. These students even had opportunities to present their innovations to the Follett Corporation and Microsoft. During th...

Check Out This Blog's Table of Contents Here I remember Anna from the 2013-2014 school year. She would frequently come in the library during lunch free flow times. I recall that we were required to have students stay in the library during lunch until the bell rang to cut down on unsupervised traffic in the halls. One particular day, Anna expressed her feelings about this rule in a very rude way to two of our library staff. (That year, it was Mrs. Misti Bell and Mrs. Peggy Schaeffer). For some reason, I wasn't there at that particular time. (I had been called to a classroom to help with a tech issue most likely.) When I returned, both of them let me know about Anna's outburst. It would have been very easy to ignore Anna from this point on. Instead, I thought I would just be honest with her when the opportunity presented itself. One day, I caught her in the hall between classes, and I called her over. Instead of reprimanding her in a forceful way, I decided to tell her ...

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 librar...