#theLibraryLife
News From Your Library Learning Commons
Semester One Fun!
The Kick Off - Semester One Activities
- Peer Tutoring and the Milk Bag Mat club resumed once again!
- We hosted book talks for the English department from grades 9 to 12.
- We conducted lessons on the use of Touchcast Studio, iMovie and Spark Video with the French classes (Grades 10 to 12).
- We hosted a Family of Schools Teacher Librarian meeting to share ideas and best practices with our feeder school colleagues.
- We participated in the Culture Days performance in conjunction with our feeder schools and the Brampton Library.
- We had renowned author Jason Reynolds speak to our students through Skype!
- We took grade 11 and 12 students for a library workshop and campus tour to McMaster University.
- We ran a number of "Art in the Cart" makerspace sessions.
- During financial literacy month, we conducted lessons on financial planning for Mr. Lawrence's math classes.
- We had a visit from Mark Newman to discuss invasive species with our grade 9 Science and Geography classes.
- We hosted our annual Holiday Open House for staff in December.
- We had a Board Game Day challenge with Ms. Bains and Ms. Chauhan's classes.
- We had visits from teacher librarians at other schools to see how we do things here at LASS!
- We published an article in the OSLA magazine about myths and realities of being a teacher librarian.
- We set up new makerspace activities called "Coding and Construction" for use with our Grade 9 Science classes.
- We partnered with the Leadership class to run our annual Book Drive for the Children's Book Bank in Toronto.
Culture Day Performers
We Scare Hunger with our SJC
Hallowe'en Books
Jason Reynold's Skype Visit
OSLA Publication
Peel Fiction Review Committee Books
Construction makerspace
Construction makerspace
Board Game Day Challenge
Circulation Statistics
Check out our number of checkouts!
Grade 9 Females - 1378 Grade 9 Males - 949 Grade 9 Total = 2327
Grade 10 Females - 778 Grade 10 Males - 832 Grade 10 Total = 1610
Grade 11 Females - 580 Grade 11 Males - 484 Grade 11 Total = 1064
Grade 12 Females - 1213 Grade 12 Males - 1096 Grade 12 Total = 2309
Total number of checkouts = 7310
*This number includes checkouts of iPads, Chromebooks, Books and Media Kit items.
Additions to the Collection from September to January
35 Non Fiction Books
14 Graphic Novels
1 Play
As we add books to our collection, we are also always actively weeding books. We strive to represent diverse populations in the books and graphic novels that we purchase.
New Initiatives
2. Chrissy and the EML Lunch and Learns - Chrissy has been doing an outstanding job teaching staff and students about a wide variety of EML tools for teaching and learning. All of her lunch and learn sessions have been full and teachers have been requesting more. Having her in the library learning commons has been wonderful as she has taken up this new leadership role with passion, energy and enthusiasm. She brings a wealth of knowledge to the team.
3. The Culture Days with the Brampton Library - This year we partnered with the Brampton Library to showcase our student talent as part of the Culture Days events in Brampton. We had 10 students participate this year in the areas of dance, song and spoken word. This event will be running again next year and we plan to have our students participate in the fall.
Taking Home Technology
We have also continued to have a high number of checkouts of our Chromebooks to take home after school. In the two and a half years that we have been running this program, only one Chromebook has sustained damage and it was repaired. Students who do not have access to technology at home have come to rely on the library learning commons as a place that they can count on to give them access to much needed resources.
Thanks to Sora, our library is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Students who want to read can easily download an ebook or audiobook anywhere they have wifi access. And the ebooks can be read offline so once the book is downloaded, wifi access is no longer required. Reading regularly has so many benefits to student achievement and success (check out the graphic below)!
Although we empower modern learning by providing access to technology, we also provide other resources that students can take home that do not involve technology. We have project boxes that contain pencil crayons, scissors, glue sticks, pens, pencils, sharpies and white out. Students are also able to sign these boxes out for use at home.
Equitable access to resources is something that we pride ourselves on as a library learning commons team. We will continue to make sure that we provide this for all of our students. We thank our admin team for their continual support to allow us to make this happen for students.
Thank You
Questions, Comments, Concerns? Get in touch with us!
Email: jonelle.staubyn@peelsb.com
Website: jonellestaubyn.weebly.com
Location: 365 Father Tobin Road, Brampton, ON, Canada
Phone: 9057935451
Twitter: @ms_st_aubyn