Golden Eagle Monthly Media Report for November 2019-January 2020

Check out the Golden Eagle Monthly Media Report for November 2019-January 2020.

Silent Book Club: An Easy Way to Provide Virtual Services During Crisis (or Really anytime!)

   During the COVID-19 Crisis, we have certainly had to shift our instructional practices to meet the needs of our learning community in these crazy times! My initial interest in Silent Book Clubs came from hearing from my colleague Ginny Poepsel (vpoepsel@sdale.org) in Springdale that a student had requested a time/space online to just be in the presence of others to read.  

   After reading Cassandra Barnett's message to the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media about the Silent Book Club a few days later, I decided to give it a try.  The first session of the Lakeside Silent Book Club was held on Zoom during a week when our virtual book club was to meet with the author of the book we were reading.  When the author cancelled, I decided to give the Silent Book Club a try.

   I promoted the event on the LJHS Library social media through some posts including a media found below:

Silent Book Club Promo

How It Went

   For our initial Silent Book Club, we had four participants.  Although no student participants attended, four staff members attended.  Probably the most awkward thing about the Silent Book Club, was understanding the norms.  Since it was a "silent" book club, it was a bit unclear for the participants when, if at all, it was okay to talk.   I opened the meeting by asking participants to hold up the book they were reading on screen so other participants could see what was being read.  

    To accommodate the silence, we ended up using Zoom's chat feature to share briefly about the books we were reading.  One positive of the experience was that there was a definite reading "flow" that took place.  Our meeting was originally scheduled from 2-3pm, however each member of the group was so engaged in their book, that I did not end the meeting until almost 3:15.  (Likely if I had not said anything, I think the meeting could have gone on even longer!)

Future Implementation 

    Even though no students attended, I would still say that the goal of providing a safe space to read online was met.  I think if I had advertised the meeting more and as students get used to this opportunity as a regularly scheduled library event, its popularity will continue to grow. 

    As I look towards the uncertainty of the fall, whether we continue with virtual instruction or will be back in face to face school, I would definitely be interested in holding Silent Book Club meetings in the future.  Try it out virtually, or in your physical library space and please let me know how it goes!

Contact me on social media:  @GoldenEagleLMC

                                                @Brian_librarian

Bjohnson3@sdale.org

No Bridge/Hangout too Far

     In the aftermath of this year's United States presidential election, my students have come across a great learning opportunity.   When I opened my email the morning after the election, I was pleasantly surprised to see a message from Lorena's class in Mexico inquiring as to when we could visit about the United States election results on Hangout.
 
     That same morning, I also had a message from my colleague Pernilla and her students in Sweden.  They recorded a video message filled with questions about how my students in Arkansas thought the election would change things in America.  It contained questions such as "will the wall really be built between Mexico and the United States?" , "what will happen to relations between the US and Russia?"

     In the past, our ability to connect with classes around the world has been limited to those classrooms that are about 6 time zones ahead or behind where we are located in Arkansas (our school is located in the GMT-6 zone).  We are limited to the hours where our school day(s) intersect, unless a class is from a boarding school, or willing to come back after their school day is over.

    The election results have opened up a new frontier in our Hangouts.  I am excited to partner with Jamie Stallings our Human Geography teacher on this.  We have worked together in the past to connect with our peers in South America, Europe and the Caribbean through Hangouts. to show students how to respond to their peers' in Sweden's video message using the Let's Recap app, and YouTube connect.   We look forward to hearing/visiting with Pernilla's class again soon!

    By moving into this new frontier for connecting with our international peers, we have expanded our students options to truly connect on a global scale.  No longer are we limited to a few time zones ahead or behind of where our school is physically located.  No longer are we limited by different school/bell schedules. Through exploring these video options, our students can take advantage of the time differences to connect with their peers literally around the world!

    In effect, no class is too far.... no Hangout is too far away.  I am excited to see where this new option takes our students!

    Are you interested in connecting with our classes at Lakeside Junior High School through these apps, or Google Hangouts/Skype?  Contact me at bjohnson3@sdale.org

On Twittter:  @goldeneagleLMC
                    @brian_librarian

On Instagram: GoldenEagleLMC