Chris Bell
chrisb@isb.ac.th
This week we focus on changes. We aired the live election results for the United States in the library and it created quite a bit of a scene in between classes and for those students who were on their off periods. It was good to see how interested students were in politics and concerned about the future. Hopefully, things in America will change for the better.
Yet many people fearsome changes. They can be resistant and often do not want to see the ‘old way’ go away. It must be said that not all changes are for the better. It is most often trust or a lack of trust that seems to play a role in the response. I think as a librarian, I have to embrace change. Libraries are everything to everyone. We have become so much more than just a place to check out books. We offer places to study, Podcasting rooms, video rooms, VR rooms, meeting places, display places, basically anything our community asks for we try to make happen. To that end, let us know if there is something you would like to see happen in the Library.
At the same time this week, we hosted the entire Grade 7 class for a VR Experience, which served as a large-scale test for implementations in the High School. Students came to the library in classes and went through a brief UN Created experience called, ‘Clouds Over Sidra’ which is an 11-year-old Syrian girl, Sidra, explaining her daily life in a refugee camp. It is a powerful experience for the students. We have things lined up for High School students to begin soon and we hope to offer parent events in the future.
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Shiver (Series) ~ by Maggie Stiefvater
Paranormal books are fun, exciting, and offer something out of the ordinary. The Shiver series is an award-winning book that has a different look at werewolves. This time the wolves change based on seasons and they aren’t a bad group. Our lead character meets her wolves in an attack. Yet she is drawn to them for some reason. We learn to like wolves and care for them. This book has all the high school drama, with the wolves having their own issues. This is definitely a face-paced book.
TECH RECOMMENDATION
Lucidcharts is one of my favorite apps. It has something very close. Linked here is a template, and there are many more, that you can use just like sticky notes in a virtual setting. You can put all your ideas and thoughts on each ‘sticky note’ then organize them so they are grouped by an idea, by set, or some other measure. For more cool ideas go to your Google Apps and find LucidCharts. Then look at the themes. There are great brainstorming ideas, ways to organize thinking, and flowcharts.
Warmest Regards,
Christopher Bell
High School Technology Coordinator and Librarian
christob@isb.ac.th +66 963-58900 ext 1193