One of the busiest times of the year, exam week. Normally there are students and teachers in and out of the LC, but everyone was super focused on studying and getting through the week. While testing was happening I was busy weeding, rearranging, measuring, planning and moving bookcases. The fiction section is officially by the grid windows. I decided to add some book highlights to make it look more inviting and highlight some of the interesting reads. Nonfiction, history and literature was moved to the 'v' shaped area. It's an awkward space so it made sense that the shelves reside there now. Normally it's just wasted space but now it has a function and purpose. As I get to know the Dewey Decimal system, I am finding it very peculiar. For some reason there are pieces that don't make sense to me. There are a lot of interesting books that get hidden within sections that they don't seem like they belong in. So, I'm attempting to make new sections. That may go against Dewey, but if it gets students to find what they need or find what they didn't even know they needed I call that a #win. :) At the beginning of the week, my goal was to get the bookcases on the fiction wall down and start prepping for student collaboration areas. The walls were measured for bookcase dividers, tables, collaboration screen setups, and electrical. Electrical will be installed soon and technology is on its way! These new collaboration areas will be useful for full classes working on projects in small groups. They will also be useful for staff to collaborate and plan together as well. I'm excited to see how these will be used and the projects the students will work on. I am slowly going through the middle of the room (non-fiction). Once this is relocated that whole area will be empty and ready for furniture! :) There's a lot of changes that are going to happen over the next couple of years. Every time you come down there's a little more change. Keep watching the blog or following on Twitter for updates! @rohs_commons
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On January 14, 2016, Jill Hill (Teaching & Learning Specialist @ ROMS) and I gave a presentation to the school board about an overview and update on the Learning Commons. We only had ten minutes, but they definitely felt like ten LONG minutes. : ] It's funny that you can get up in front of students all day long and feel completely comfortable, but as soon as you get up in front of peers it's completely different.
Our overall framework was to present past, present and future. We highlighted why it's essential to have this change. Jill updated the board on our united ROMS/ROHS Learning Commons goals which are the following:
Both Jill and I are at two different points in the ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate) model. It's interesting to note that this process is not unlike the IB Design Cycle that we ask our students to go through. We are going through and modeling what it looks like to go through this process of planning, investigating, creating, and evaluating. It's a slow process, but I am starting to see the change and hope that people in the building also do as well. I think I will start calling it a 'win' when we stop calling this area the library. It will happen over time. As the space changes, I am sure that our view of the space will change as well. More elaboration on this later... Some of the things we have implemented already:
Feel free to review the presentation, watch it online on the Royal Oak Schools website and/or ask Jill or me questions. : ] We would be happy to answer any and all of them! Board Presentation |
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