#theLibraryLife
An Update from Your LASS Library Learning Commons
Our Objective for the 2017-2018 School Year
Our objective for this year is to meet the greatest areas of need for both staff and students. To meet our objective we have been meeting with different departments and offering support in curricular areas.We continue to grow and expand on the number of teachers and departments that work with us collaboratively and who rely on us for 21st century teaching and learning skills.
End of Semester Success!
It has been a very busy second half to the semester in the LASS Library Learning Commons but busy is what we like! We've hosted presentations, ran workshops, collaborated with our feeder schools and more. Below is a list of the things that we have done in the library learning commons during the months of November, December and January:
- We continued with our library based GLS programming and conducted lessons on research skills and filming.
- We welcomed a veteran to the library for a live streamed presentation.
- We conducted lessons on podcasting for Ms. D'Amata's Grade 10 Family Studies class.
- We hosted teen guest author Alessia Dickson for the GLS classes.
- With the help of Logan St. Clair and Mark Miller we ran mini workshops on podcasting, filming, TED talks and how to have a great workshop.
- We ran a collaborative lesson in conjunction with the Business and Hospitality departments on table manners both in Canada and across the globe!
- We hosted the Grade 11 Wellness day.
- We planned and taught history lessons for the novels "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Things Fall Apart" for the Grade 10 English classes as they work toward culturally responsive practices in that course with culturally responsive texts.
- We ran lessons on how to do a podcast, how to film and how to create an e-portfolio for Ms. Meszaros's HSP 3U0 class.
- We had Mark Newman visit our library to give an amazing presentation to our Grade 9 Science and Geography classes about invasive species.
- We sewed baby moccasins with Ms. Niro's Equity and Social Justice class as part of the "So They Can Go Home" initiative to enhance our student learning about Indigenous Education.
- We hosted our first Teacher Librarian collaborative session with our feeder school teacher librarians.
- We ran another successful book drive and collected over 300 books. This year not only did we donate books to the Children's Book Bank, we also donated books to Eagle Plains PS to help them start their own in school book drive!
- We hosted the Grade 9 Geography first annual film festival.
- We joined other teacher librarian colleagues on the Makerspace road trip tour across Peel.
- We hosted our third annual Library Learning Commons Holiday Open house!
- The redesign of Room 228 is almost complete! Staff and students will be able to use the space in semester 2 for their filming and podcasting needs.
- We met with Susan Bartoletta at the Brampton Public Library to discuss future collaboration and student use of the public library and had a tour of the new facilities.
Circulation Statistics
Grade 9 Females - 564 Grade 9 Males - 905 Grade 9 Total = 1472
Grade 10 Females 177 Grade 10 Males - 354 Grade 10 Total = 531
Grade 11 Females - 450 Grade 11 Males - 1168 Grade 11 Total = 1618
Grade 12 Females - 948 Grade 12 Males - 1715 Grade 12 Total = 1715
Total Checkouts = 5336
- This number also includes Chromebook and iPad checkouts.
- Circulation is up again during this time period!
- Our book displays have revolved around the new books that we have purchased this year.
Additions to the Collection for November, December and January
24 Books that will support the "We Rise Together" initiative in our school
104 Fiction Books24 Graphic Novel
27 Non-fiction books
New Initiatives
- Empowering Modern Learners - The Library Learning Commons is playing a very large role in supporting staff and students to become modern learners. Our workshops on filming and podcasting are highly requested and we have more and more students signing out devices to complete assignments.
- Feeder School Collaboration - We hosted our first meeting with the Teacher Librarians from our feeder schools here at LASS. It was a very productive meeting and allowed us to share best practices, resources and ideas. It also allowed us to figure out ways to ease the transition for students from middle school to high school.
- Redesign of Room 228 - This project is almost complete and we are so excited to be rolling it out to teachers during the PD day in February. We are very grateful for the assistance that Kirsty has provided in ordering most of the equipment needed for this space and to the admin team for funding this project. With the increase of teachers and students using technology for assessments and assignments, we know that this space will be well used in the future.
- Indigenous Education/We Rise Together - We purchased a number of new books for our collection that will help to support the "We Rise Together" initiative here in Peel. There are novels for students as well as non-fiction resources for students and educators. We have also been looking at ways to embed Indigenous Education into our courses in a real and meaningful way. We started with the baby moccasin project through the "So They Can Go Home" project with our social justice and equity class to bring awareness of the modern day child apprehension that is going on in our First Nations communities.
The Peer Tutoring Program
The LASS LLC peer tutoring program has over 30 students volunteering in the program. Some are returnees from last year and are continuing to tutor their previous tutee. The new tutors to the program have been great. They are on time, responsible and have worked hard to help their tutees achieve a higher level of success.
Some tutors meet with their tutees every week, sometimes meeting up to two or three times a week. Some tutees only need a tutor for particular units or topics in a course and do not require ongoing tutoring.
Both the tutors and the tutees have input as to when the tutoring will take place and with whom. We try to make it a very comfortable experience and match up as many requirements with the tutors and tutees to ensure that they are able to make their sessions.
This is our third year of the peer tutoring program and some students have come to rely on it as a way of getting tutored without having to pay the high cost of tutoring. And it allows our students an opportunity to help other students at LASS. It's a win-win situation for everyone!
Questions, Comments, Concerns? Get in touch with us!
Ms. C. Niro - Part Time Teacher Librarian (Period 3 in Semester 2)
Mrs. H. Armstrong - Full Time Library Technician
Email: jonelle.staubyn@peelsb.com
Website: https://jonellestaubyn.weebly.com/
Location: 365 Father Tobin Road, Brampton, ON, Canada
Phone: 905-793-5451
Twitter: @Ms_St_Aubyn