Sunday, May 31, 2020
Monday, May 25, 2020
Sunday, May 24, 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:
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
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Invention Literacy Challenge
It is easy to get nostalgic over the summer about where the library program has been and where it will go in the future. Looking back on this past school year, it started with a summer challenge at a training. Where that challenge ended up was surprising and opened up an entirely new world of possibilities.
Last summer, I attended the Arkansas Library Association (ARLA) summer conference in Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition to having the privilege of presenting and renewing some professional contacts, I also got to learn about a concept that was new to me from the keynote speaker Colleen Graves. She shared with us about a concept called Invention Literacy.
At it's core, Invention Literacy asks students to invent and innovate, but it also asks them to chronicle their journey of learning. They are to do this through a variety of means including research as well as keeping a journal of their successes and failures as they build, innovate and invent. At the end of her last keynote, Colleen Graves challenged us to take one piece of learning from the ARLA conference. She asked us to write it down and store it somewhere we could refer to during the year. Her challenge was to implement that one piece of new learning from the conference in the upcoming year.
I selected the topic of Invention Literacy with the goal of collaborating on at least one Invention Literacy project during the 2017-18 school year. I wrote down the term Invention Literacy on a post-it note and stored it in the top pocket of my backpack.
As I returned for the new school year, I began sharing my learning with my teachers and proposing some ways we could implement Invention Literacy. Additionally, I also loaned out some maker space materials to teachers as a way for them to begin to see the power of Invention Literacy and how tools such as LittleBits could be used to make Invention Literacy a reality.
In March, a new teacher approached me about a possible idea for an Invention Literacy project. She is 8th grade American History teacher and was about to start a unit on the Progressive Era. Ms. Powell proposed that students could do research about an invention from that era and create their own sample of the invention.
To start, we scoped out a handful of inventions of the time including the airplane, elevator, telegraph and railroad. Our essential question was: how does....(invention) work and how can I make my own version of it? In order to get students thinking in an invention mindset, I led them through two days of invention challenges with the Makey Makey.
By the end of the third day, student groups had to make a decision about which invention from the Progressive Era they were planning to make. Even though Ms. Powell and I created a short list of possible inventions, students' creativity soon began to emerge in unexpected ways. Although there were some airplanes and telegraphs, students greatly expanded the list. Among their inventions were a paddle boat, an assembly line, and a number of medicines which were created during the Progressive Era.
Three other amazing inventions were a teaching tool for children who could not go to school since they were already working, a vacuum cleaner, and a vending machine.
One thing that turned out differently about the project was the way research was done. Initially, I had proposed that students would do the research into their invention's history first, before they did any building. As it turned out, we had students build for a couple of days first and then do research. This helped to build in some buy in from students are they were more motivated to research into their inventions once they had spent some time building their designs.
Advocacy
One of the best things about this project was the advocacy piece it became for the Library program and the Maker space specifically. My administrative team asks us three questions in our springtime summative evaluation: what have you done well this year what do you want to improve on, and how can we as a building improve next year. In my summative evaluation, I shared with them about the success of the Invention Literacy project. Ms. Powell had arranged for her students to complete a gallery walk in the library where they could share their process and projects which just so happened to be going on during the time of my summative meeting. So I invited my administrators to see these students incredible work.
We also had the great opportunity to hold a Google Hangout with Stony Evans from Lakeside Hot Springs High School.in Arkansas. He is the librarian there and had been collaborating with one of his history teachers on a similar Invention Literacy project. Our students had a chance to share their projects/process with their peers from Hot Springs. The Hangout was also a wonderful chance to look into ways we can expanded Invention Literacy into the future. We saw several projects that had reinvented historical locations through designing Minecraft worlds. Among them were a slave plantation and Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor where Francis Scott Key had penned the Star Spangled Banner.
Our Invention Literacy project turned out better than I could have ever imagined. It was exciting to watch student grow as inventors and innovate with their projects. I am eager to add other possibilities such as designing historical Minecraft worlds to future incarnations of this project. In fact, another 8th grade history teacher has already approached me about collaborating this year on an Invention Literacy project. I can't wait!
Follow me on Twitter: @brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library!
On Twitter: @GoldeneagleLMC
On Instagram: GoldenEagleLMC
Contact me via email: bjohnson3@sdale.org
Last summer, I attended the Arkansas Library Association (ARLA) summer conference in Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition to having the privilege of presenting and renewing some professional contacts, I also got to learn about a concept that was new to me from the keynote speaker Colleen Graves. She shared with us about a concept called Invention Literacy.
At it's core, Invention Literacy asks students to invent and innovate, but it also asks them to chronicle their journey of learning. They are to do this through a variety of means including research as well as keeping a journal of their successes and failures as they build, innovate and invent. At the end of her last keynote, Colleen Graves challenged us to take one piece of learning from the ARLA conference. She asked us to write it down and store it somewhere we could refer to during the year. Her challenge was to implement that one piece of new learning from the conference in the upcoming year.I selected the topic of Invention Literacy with the goal of collaborating on at least one Invention Literacy project during the 2017-18 school year. I wrote down the term Invention Literacy on a post-it note and stored it in the top pocket of my backpack.
As I returned for the new school year, I began sharing my learning with my teachers and proposing some ways we could implement Invention Literacy. Additionally, I also loaned out some maker space materials to teachers as a way for them to begin to see the power of Invention Literacy and how tools such as LittleBits could be used to make Invention Literacy a reality.
In March, a new teacher approached me about a possible idea for an Invention Literacy project. She is 8th grade American History teacher and was about to start a unit on the Progressive Era. Ms. Powell proposed that students could do research about an invention from that era and create their own sample of the invention.
Implementation
One thing that turned out differently about the project was the way research was done. Initially, I had proposed that students would do the research into their invention's history first, before they did any building. As it turned out, we had students build for a couple of days first and then do research. This helped to build in some buy in from students are they were more motivated to research into their inventions once they had spent some time building their designs.
Advocacy
We also had the great opportunity to hold a Google Hangout with Stony Evans from Lakeside Hot Springs High School.in Arkansas. He is the librarian there and had been collaborating with one of his history teachers on a similar Invention Literacy project. Our students had a chance to share their projects/process with their peers from Hot Springs. The Hangout was also a wonderful chance to look into ways we can expanded Invention Literacy into the future. We saw several projects that had reinvented historical locations through designing Minecraft worlds. Among them were a slave plantation and Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor where Francis Scott Key had penned the Star Spangled Banner.
Follow me on Twitter: @brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library!
On Twitter: @GoldeneagleLMC
On Instagram: GoldenEagleLMC
Contact me via email: bjohnson3@sdale.org
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Friday, May 4, 2018
Maker Space Failures
There are many posts written about successful Maker space activities. I wanted to write a post about a recent Maker space failure. One idea I have wanted to try for a long time was to build a wind tunnel. I had a roll of material that looks like lamination, but was not, and several type of tape to hold it together. I purchased some dowel rods and had a mound of donated cardboard to use for supports. We looked at pictures and models. We had all the materials and a plan; I thought we were primed for success.
Students attempted to build a wind tunnel, and created some flying objects to test in it. Not a single object even flew! But they loved it! A group of 8 students who had not participated in our Library's Maker program came out and for the entire 30 minute block of time they build and rebuilt their flying machines-even though not a single one of their creations left the ground.
We are in the midst of testing season, teachers were asked to develop a series of fun activities for the afternoon of the last day of testing. I decided to offer the wind tunnel session one more time. A different group of students attended, and we looked at some more pictures of wind tunnels, agreed on a plan and began to build.
Things went much differently this time. All students jumped in to create wind tunnels. There were two fans-one small circular fan and a larger box fan. Most students formed a large group and chose to use the larger box fan for their wind tunnel. One student decided to create his own design on the side using the smaller fan.
We had one student who immediately moved off to the side. She is a talented artist, and is a little shy. On her own, she sketched up a plan of what a working wind tunnel would look like.
In spite of the initial lack of success, I would definitely call the wind tunnel project a success on several levels:
1. Seeing the possibilities of making
On the first day, 8 students who had not signed up for Maker space activity this year did. They were engaged in building flying objects for the duration. They now understand the possibilities and fun of making! I anticipate that I will see them again for upcoming Maker space activities
2. The power of student choice in making
I had originally thought that there would be one large group all working together on the same wind tunnel. I was wrong. Instead, students formed groups that worked for them. Most students did choose to work in the large group, while one student created his own wind tunnel design. The other student self selected how she would make by sketching out how she thought the wind tunnel should look. She created a "space" for herself to participate.
3. The power of failure
The fact that our first wind tunnel project had no flying objects leave the ground helped to build resilience in the student makers. It did not deter them from continuing to try. The perceived failure of the first day, also empowered me as the instructor to rethink some components of the project and schedule to try it again. We actually started the second day's attempt by looking at the earlier failed designs.
Evaluating these failures powered our later successes!
What failures have your experienced in your Maker programs and how have they been turned into successes?
Check out our successful launch below!
Follow me on Twitter: @brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library!
On Twitter: @GoldeneagleLMC
On Instagram: GoldenEagleLMC
Contact me via email: bjohnson3@sdale.org
We are in the midst of testing season, teachers were asked to develop a series of fun activities for the afternoon of the last day of testing. I decided to offer the wind tunnel session one more time. A different group of students attended, and we looked at some more pictures of wind tunnels, agreed on a plan and began to build.
Things went much differently this time. All students jumped in to create wind tunnels. There were two fans-one small circular fan and a larger box fan. Most students formed a large group and chose to use the larger box fan for their wind tunnel. One student decided to create his own design on the side using the smaller fan.We had one student who immediately moved off to the side. She is a talented artist, and is a little shy. On her own, she sketched up a plan of what a working wind tunnel would look like.
In spite of the initial lack of success, I would definitely call the wind tunnel project a success on several levels:
1. Seeing the possibilities of making
On the first day, 8 students who had not signed up for Maker space activity this year did. They were engaged in building flying objects for the duration. They now understand the possibilities and fun of making! I anticipate that I will see them again for upcoming Maker space activities2. The power of student choice in making
I had originally thought that there would be one large group all working together on the same wind tunnel. I was wrong. Instead, students formed groups that worked for them. Most students did choose to work in the large group, while one student created his own wind tunnel design. The other student self selected how she would make by sketching out how she thought the wind tunnel should look. She created a "space" for herself to participate.
3. The power of failure
The fact that our first wind tunnel project had no flying objects leave the ground helped to build resilience in the student makers. It did not deter them from continuing to try. The perceived failure of the first day, also empowered me as the instructor to rethink some components of the project and schedule to try it again. We actually started the second day's attempt by looking at the earlier failed designs.Evaluating these failures powered our later successes!
What failures have your experienced in your Maker programs and how have they been turned into successes?
Check out our successful launch below!
Follow me on Twitter: @brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library!
On Twitter: @GoldeneagleLMC
On Instagram: GoldenEagleLMC
Contact me via email: bjohnson3@sdale.org
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
The Golden Eagle Monthly Media Report for April-May 2017
Check out what was going on in April-May of 2017 in your Lakeside Junior High School Library!
G.E.M.M.
G.E.M.M.
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