It's the last day of September, and we can honestly say that this month felt truly normal! We never imagined that "normal" could be such an exciting and positive adjective.
The first Club Fair since 2019 just wrapped up and Radea, our Book Club President, did an outstanding job coordinating sign-ups and distributing hand-made bookmarks. Over 30 students signed up to join the club. Our book club meets on the 3rd Thursday of the Month at 6:30 PM either in the library or on Zoom (your choice - both options are available). Our first book of the year is Karen Mc Manus' new title, Nothing More to Tell. In case you missed our table, the QR code below links to the sign-up form.
The makerspace is reemerging as a hub for engaging NCHS student learning. Science, Social Studies, English, and Math classes all visited the expanded makerspace to work on curricular assignments. As we write this, a U.S. History class is creating conversation starters for a "speed dating" experience between key figures of the Reconstruction Era. When asked to describe what he was working on, one student explained that he was creating a scale to introduce W. J. Whipper, a lawyer who was a freedom activist. He explained that the scale of justice effectively symbolized Mr. Whipper's commitment to equality.
The Podcasting Studio is back in business (initially launched in February 2020). Mr. Remley's AP Literature students are recording conversations about one of two books they read, either Crime and Punishment or Pride and Prejudice. The group we spoke with crafted a guiding question for their discussion, "What is punishment, and what forms does it take?". They completed their recording and will collaboratively edit their conversation in WeVideo.
The green screen room is back too! The first day it reopened, students used it to record projects for their U.S. History class. It's been in nonstop use since.
Our new banquettes arrived and quickly became a popular spot for students to congregate in the library. The tables, which arrived about a week after the banquettes, facilitate collaborative work, which was the desired effect of the purchase.
We are working through the introduction to inquiry with our 10th-grade social studies students as they start working on their Absolutism project. The following is the slide deck we used for our lesson. We hope to record it shortly.
We completed a round of first-quarter independent reading book talks with 9th, 10th, and 11th graders, and helped to launch lit circle units for several AP Language classes. A few Junior English classes started working on their Junior Research paper. The library's instructional program uses this and the spring research paper in social studies as critical benchmarks for measuring the impact of our instruction on student learning.
The Workshop, which is what we are calling our new innovation lab (for now), is coming together. The 3D printers are working. The Cricut is calibrated and equipped with a fresh cutting tool. The Cricut Press was used for its first appliqué. We've started organizing the equipment and look forward to getting feedback on how to proceed from the district Innovation Committee, which will hold its next meeting in the NCHS library.
We can't believe that Halloween is almost here, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. It feels so great to truly be back on track with a busy library filled with learners actively engaged in new learning. The old adage appears to be true. Time does fly when you are having fun!
