Students having fun creating buttons in the makerspace.
The library is again a very busy place before school, after school, and especially during reading periods. We see approximately 200 students during the four reading periods. It is quite a lively place!
Many new books in print have arrived and our students also have access to digital books on Overdrive and digital magazines from the library homepage: http://medfieldhslmc.weebly.com/ The 9th grade students were all scheduled for library orientation during their English class and I explained how to sign up to come to the library during Period 5, what resources we have, and the general layout of the library. The orientation included a scavenger hunt and the students had fun locating items and taking selfies. The high school makerspace is coming along. We currently have two button makers, a vinyl cutter, duct tape, puzzles, origami paper, mancala, and hot glue guns. The students are catching on little by little as a makerspace is a new concept for many of our current students. The incoming ninth graders will have already experienced a makerspace in the middle school. The LMC will be hosting Café Read a Latte in celebration of Read Across America from March 5th - 9th. As in years past, we will be offering food and beverages for sale. Breakfast items from Blue Moon and Dunkin Donuts are always a favorite, as well as many donated items from families and volunteers. I am looking forward to a great week!
With the temperatures in the negative digits, what could be a better time to stay inside and with a hot chocolate and a good book? Two books are making the list of top books for 2017 and both are available in the LMC (when they aren't checked out) Little Fires Everywhere and Beartown are must reads! The Richardson family lives in the planned community of Shaker Heights, Ohio—a place of wealth, comfort, and stability—and they are a clan that embodies those traits. But when Mia, a single mother, and her fifteen year old daughter, Pearl, rent a house in the area, their very different lives will merge with those of the Richardson family. The plotting and pacing are nearly perfect, the characters believable and real. (Amazon) In Beartown, a family is pulled apart by an act of violence. It’s a coming-of-age story for a young woman who must choose to speak out or keep silent. (And a young man, too, actually.) It’s a cautionary tale of small-town thinking…yet at the same time celebrates how a handful of people can change a tight-knit community. As the town’s finances decline, small, scrappy Beartown hunkers deeper into itself, proud only of its white-hot junior hockey team led by a coach whose hard-driving mantra is, simply, “Win.” Seizing the upcoming hockey championship could lure a new hockey academy their way and jump start the local economy. But the exposure of a hidden crime sweeps the hockey club into its vortex and fractures the town and longtime friendships, even as it welds together new, unlikely alliances. (Amazon) Several students from wellness classes have come into the library after learning that reading relieves stress. The students have busy schedules and need the time to relax and read. How can reading help to reduce stress? It forces a person to slow down. Reading, even for ten minutes helps a person to relax. It's a way to escape. When a person is in the middle of a stressful situation, sometimes all we need is to step away for a few minutes. It's a chance to unplug. Students spend so much time on their electronic devices and reading gives them the opportunity to take a break. Lastly, it lets students use their imagination to visualize the characters, setting, etc.
A study by The University of Sussex found that reading reduced stress levels by 68%. Reading silently for six minutes slowed down the heart rate and eased tension in the muscles. In comparison, listening to music reduced stress levels by 61%, having a cup of tea or coffee lowered it by 54%, taking a walk by 42%, and playing video games by 21%. Check out the faculty's Pinterest page to see what the staff is reading. I recently emailed information about two free infographic sites to the faculty. They are called venngage and piktochart. Students create visual images such as a chart or diagram to represent information or data. They are great for group projects or just a different way to present research. Mrs. Buckingham recently used infographics for a couple of her classes doing research on Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna. I was pleased to see the students using their creativity and research skills while working on their infographics in the library.
Have you heard about Flipster? Located on the library homepage, Flipster gives you access to magazines online from home and in school. The login and password are the same ones we use for databases. See the library staff if you need this information. I currently subscribe to Consumer Reports, Health, The Atlantic, Wired, Time, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Money, and Foreign Policy online. I also have print copies of many other magazines in the library. Take a look!
Welcome back to faculty and students. It's great to see the number of students taking online classes in the LMC again this year. Students enjoy taking many classes not offered as part of the regular high school curriculum. Some of the classes students are taking are Italian, homeland security, criminology, and astronomy.
The humid beginning to the school year has also brought many students and classes to the LMC to enjoy the air conditioning. Anywhere between four and five classes may be working in the library at one time. With Café Read a Latte behind me, I have begun working on a couple of other projects. I have purchased some items for my maker space. So far the students have enjoyed coloring pages, a puzzle, a brain teaser, and origami books and paper. I have plans to expand the area next year.
I also now have a Technology corner. Neal Sonnenberg, our tech integration specialist, made book recommendations to purchase for faculty. I have labeled shelves for faculty and student resources and will continue to add books to this area. |