Creating the Learning Commons

Course

Space as a Resource [7:02]

The fourth step in creating the learning commons is to think of your space as a resource and create multiple creation zones for your users.

So now we're user-centered. We've had the mindset shift and we're connecting users with information in new ways. The fourth step is to think of your space as a resource and create multiple creation zones for your users. Think of ways that you can simplify your space. Do you have storage room for old equipment and magazines, nearly empty shelves anywhere, a print reference collection that's no longer used? If you still have a separate print reference collection, consider integrating it into your non-fiction collection and allowing students and teachers to check out those books. You could make room for some big space changes by doing something like this. Think about clearing space in your new learning commons. Do you have areas you can unclutter? Remember, we're no longer about preserving information and resources. Even if you just have a small space, you can create zones by using bookshelves or mobile whiteboards, space dividers. We can use desks for studying, soft seating for reading, and stools and tables on wheels for collaborating.

I like to think of ways our students can be involved in our space. By creating participatory zones, you can hang big green Lego panels on the end of your circulation desk or on the end of an empty wall, and put a bin of Legos nearby for students to create their own masterpieces. Or even put out a big piece of paper on a table and some markers, and invite students to participate by adding to the mural, it's a big collaborative mural that we're making today. Maybe write a question for students to answer: what book changed your life, or what books to be made into a movie? And then, step back. Let your users use the space and trust them.

I've seen similar ideas using post-it notes or dry-erase boards. Think of different ways for students to participate in your space. It will make them feel ownership over the space and they will also feel trusted by you. I also think it's important that we create independent self-serve zones in our learning commons. I love going into a Kinko's Copy Center and thinking about the ways I can incorporate that project building environment into my learning commons.

So I have counter space and supplies out for students to access. When I first put scissors out in a cup, I noticed they disappeared right away. So I put two more pairs of scissors out and those disappeared. So one day, he just received this big order of supplies and I decided I was going to put out ten pairs of scissors. The crazy thing is those did not disappear. I refer to this as our scissors tipping point. I think it works like this, scissors had rarely been available for students, they were a hot commodity. So when they saw two pairs, they thought they needed to hoard them away in case they needed them in the future. But when they see ten pairs of scissors, they're sort of comforted in knowing that there's plenty of scissors now, there will always be scissors for them in the learning commons. I don't know if this works across the board for other resources. I know it doesn't work for pens and pencils, there's no tipping point for pens and pencils. I bet I could put out a hundred a day and we'd go through one hundred a day. But it does work for me with rulers, tape dispensers, staplers and, obviously, scissors.

When you do put your supplies out, it doesn't have to be fancy, but it should look professional. Not old shoe boxes and coffee cans, unless you want to decorate them with contact paper and ribbons, there are some really cool ideas on Pinterest. You could go to the Dollar Store and get really simple containers. The neater it looks, the neater students will keep it.

I also think it's important to set up a charging zone in your learning commons. Especially if you are a BYOD school or a one-to-one school. I was invited to a library in Vermont. that had just gone one-to-one Chromebooks and nobody was using the library. When I walked into this very old building, before I even got to the library, I noticed students sitting in clusters on the hallway floors, they're sitting on the ground in this old building's hallways. When I approached them, I saw they're huddled around electric outlets, charging their Chromebooks and working on the floor. That's crazy. When I asked the librarian about outlets for students to use, she said they're all taken up by their computer workstations. But no one was using the computers anymore, or the library.

So we talked and we moved several of the oldest computers out and laid out power strips on these work tables that were formally our computer stands. Library usage increased that same day. Once the students were in space, the librarian could help them, she could help them cite their sources or find resources. Some students walked by shelves, noticed a book they wanted to read, some just came in to charge, but that's okay. Once they're hooked, you've got them.

I also think it's important that we create media zones by putting up green screens. You can do things like just hang a cloth on the wall that's green, or if you don't have any empty wall space, you can purchase a pop up green screen, or you could hang some green paper on an old whiteboard. And if you really don't have room for anything like that, or the money for it, you could paint a shoe box green and make a mini stop motion green screen for your students to use. Study carrels are definitely out. Academic librarians report that students were using study carrels and incredibly high amounts in the 1980s when I was in college. Now, students go to the library to be seen.

All of these collaborative participatory spaces are allowed and we need to be mindful of the fact that 25% of the population are introverts and can't focus or read in a loud space. Be sure to incorporate quiet reading zones in your learning commons. Some libraries use soft seating divided by some taller shelves. Other have quiet sections of their space with tabletop signs. Imagine, again, what it's like to walk into your learning commons for the very first time. Can your students participate in your space? Is there space to work together? Share ideas? Could students read quietly somewhere? Take some time to think of your space as a resource, not a space filled with resources, and create some short-term goals for getting there.

Try a Green Screen Lesson

Context:

Creating collaborative participatory spaces is the focus of Lesson 4. One example is green screen media zones. The green screen allows students to add video, images, or drawings as backgrounds for acting, news reporting, or dialogues. Many apps, such as Touchcast, support green screen video editing. By hanging green cloth or paper or painting a wall green, you can create this type of backdrop for student video productions. Or, as Pam Harland suggests, if budgets or space don't allow a life-size green screen, "you could paint a shoe box green and make a mini stop motion green screen for your students to use."

Instructions:

First, read the article, "Green Screen Dream: Taking Your Curriculum Videos to a Whole New Level" by Brian T. Johnson for basics on green screen videos. Then, for lesson ideas, read "Growing Competence and Creativity with the Touchcast Video App" by Laura Gardner (secondary) or "Green Screening and Your Elementary Students" by Jane E. Martellino (elementary).

Building from these suggestions, design a green-screen lesson plan for a grade level you teach.

Materials:

Lesson plan template (AASL or your school template)

Articles:

Gardner, Laura. "Growing Competence and Creativity with the Touchcast Video App." School Library Connection January/February 2017.

Johnson, Brian T. "Green Screen Dream: Taking Your Curriculum Videos to a Whole New Level." School Library Connection November 2015.

Martellino, Jane E. "Green Screening and Your Elementary Students." School Library Connection November 2015.

MLA Citation

Morris, Rebecca J. "Creating the Learning Commons: Try a Green Screen Lesson." School Library Connection, November 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987401?learningModuleId=1987406&topicCenterId=2247903.

Entry ID: 2122729

Additional Resources

Annotated Bibliography.

About the Author

Pam Harland, EdD, served as a librarian for 25 years working in schools, public libraries, academic libraries, and at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. She is now a member of the faculty at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire where she directs the School Librarian and Digital Learning Specialist educator preparation programs. Pam served in several leadership positions at the state level in NH and on the Board of Directors of the American Association of School Librarians. She was awarded NH's Elsie Domingo Service Award in 2016, NH's School Librarian of the Year Award in 2010, and NH's Intellectual Freedom Award in 2009. Pam authored The Learning Commons: Seven Simple Steps to Transforming Your Library (Libraries Unlimited, 2011). She earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership in 2019 in which she researched the leadership behaviors of school librarians. Connect with her on Twitter @pamlibrarian

MLA Citation

Harland, Pam. "Creating the Learning Commons. Space as a Resource [7:02]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, November 2015, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987401?learningModuleId=1987406&topicCenterId=2247903.

View all citation styles

https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987401?learningModuleId=1987406&topicCenterId=2247903

Entry ID: 1987401