Fall is a Flurry of Library Activity

Digital Wellness: The ICT Team has been collaborating with the health teachers to co-teach lessons on digital wellness. Freshman students explored how impulse control and decision making influence what you do online. Strategies for creating a positive digital profile were discussed.

Club Fair: Students prepared for the Club Fair by creating signs for their sign-up booth. The library advises the Somewhat Virtual Book Club (#SWVBC).  This is the NCHS book discussion group. New Canaan High School's club members meet face-to-face at the high school library on the first Wednesday of the month at 6 P.M. to discuss a pre-selected book. Pizza is served. During club meetings, the NCHS club connects virtually through Zoom with schools in other states to exchange ideas.  The next meeting is November 7, 2018. Also, the library sponsors S.T.E.A.M. Team.  The student-led S.T.E.A.M. club combines robotics, circuitry and coding with art. Members are challenged to invent and innovate to pursue their passions and to share their learning in the Makerspace.

Makerspace Sightings: Some students in Global II have been using the Makerspace to create a monument for an Enlightened philosopher. Students had to decide where the monument would be placed and defend their position why that thinker should be memorialized.  Others created an original representation of a philosopher. Also, students in U.S. History used the Makerspace to portray Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal, including the creation of the FDA and the regulation of the railroad. Additionally, students in Interior Design class created mood boards.

Global I Research :  Freshman in Global I are learning how to access NCHS Library databases to do research on an ancient civilization. They are working to complete the Anatomy of a Civilization whereby various parts of the body represent different areas of PERSIA + GT. (Political, Economics, Religion, Social, Intellectual, Aesthetics and Technology).  The NCHS Library Homepage allows students to easily access databases as long as they sign into their Google Drive. Simply put a keyword in the search box widget.

MLA 8 Badges: Freshman are earning their MLA 8 citation badges by watching short tutorials on how to cite sources correctly and taking a quiz. Citing sources is a skill sure to be used throughout students' academic careers.  A total of 15 badges can be earned covering proper formatting and the various parts of a citation. Sophomores who need to complete the tutorials may do so.

Junior Research Paper:  Juniors in Mrs. Magilnick's class are submitting a research question on a topic of interest. The English teacher and the librarians are giving feedback on questions and conferring with students.

Students Pursue their Passions at the Library!

Club Fair is an event we look forward to because the library program can help students pursue their passions. On this year's club fair poster, we included photos of students making in our maker space, using our virtual reality lab, discussing books with students from schools in other states. On our sign up form, we asked students to check which aspects of the library clubs' offerings interested them. Here is the list:

• Maker Majors
• Techxperts
• Somewhat Virtual Book Club
• S.T.E.A.M. Team
• VR Lab Facilitating
• Other

NCHS Students and students from New Jersey and South Carolina meet Author Mike Belanger

We launched our makerspace in the fall of 2015. It has been through quite a series of transformations over the past three years, and this year is no exception. The slide show below showcases some of these changes.