A New Twist On Library Orientation!

One of the most important things for us to do at the beginning of every year is to make sure we see all of the students to connect them to the library resources and technology that we have at our school. 

With over 900 students, we have to get creative on how we see and share this information with them and with our teachers and families. 

This year, I decided to put a new twist on library orientation by putting together a fun Google Slide presentation to share with the students and teachers when I visit their classrooms.  

I use this time to also help them bookmark the library website, Symbaloo and a few other places in the Google Chrome. 

First, I shared the Van Meter School Library website.  I made some changes this year and pointed these out so everyone could navigate it successfully.

I made the url's that I shared into new ones with bit.ly so it would be easy for them to type, search and bookmark.

Next, I shared the Symbaloo.  We have two main ones...one for the elementary and one for the secondary.

On the elementary Symbaloo, each grade has one so we had them bookmark the one for their grade on their Chrome. This will take them right to all of the resources they need for class work, related arts, etc...  We love how easy Symbaloo is to set up and share.  And the kids love it!

On the Secondary Symbaloo, we link specific grade levels, classes and resources they need too. 

This is so handy to also link the awesome Collections by Follett Destiny that we create for projects and classes.  Last week, we linked the Collection I put together for the freshman science class as they worked on their first big project of the year.  

By having the Collection on the Symbaloo, they will be able to locate these resources at home, school and on their devices. 

In addition to the bit.ly's, I added QR codes for them to scan for their devices.

We can have the students scan these with our iPads and add them to the home screen.

They can also scan them with their own devices to assure they have the resources with them all the time.

It is also very important to make sure they have these links and resources at home.

I created a simple poster and encouraged them to take it home and hang it in a safe and handy spot. 

At the end, I offered my help....just like I do every time I talk to them.  I included my email in this message.

As I shared these resources with them in their classrooms, I also made sure to share them with teachers and families.

I shared it with the teachers in Google Classroom so they would be able to go back to the information throughout the year and could even share the links...

...in their Google Classroom for students and Seesaw for families. 

 I printed off the posters on heavy bright paper for the teachers classrooms.

And I made sure to share the library orientation presentation on the Van Meter Library Voice Facebook page for families to see and keep. 

By doing all of this work at the start of the year, we can be assured that our students and school community have what they need.  As we share more resources, we can update these online to make sure this sharing continues all year long. 

You will find a copy of our Library Orientation Google Slide presentation here.  Please feel free to make a copy and use the ideas and template too.