Glens Falls High School has undergone a major library culture adaptation. Here is what librarian, Laura Gray, has been working on over the last two years:
What's Happening in the GFHS Library: Tackling the 80-Minute Study Hall
To make COVID procedures more manageable in the fall of 2020, Glens Falls switched to a block schedule. One of the major challenges resulting from this in the library has been the 80-minute study hall, especially as teachers have become less likely to assign homework. Students arrive with little to do, a reliance on their phones, a real need to develop social skills and connections, and a load of boredom.
Ways that I have been working to address this:
Passive Programming
- Monthly STEAM Challenges (longest chain out of one sheet of paper, stepping through a notecard, DIY snowflake design, biggest shake-proof k'nex building, foldology, etc...)
- Book Recommendation Opportunities (book bento "mood board," recommendation shelf tags, recommendations for the Toilet Paper)
- Boredom Board (tough sell...but I'm still working on it)
Collaborative Activities (these are the favorites)
- Stick Together
- Jigsaw Puzzles
- Seasonal Decor (color a feather for a turkey, cut a snowflake, butterfly origami etc...)
- Board and Card Games (Chess, Uno, Othello, Set, The Game, Mancala)
With a strict phones away policy, students have become more likely to engage positively with each other, learn new games and skills from peers, form relationships, find new ways to de-stress, and see the library as a welcoming place where they can do school work, but also pursue their own interests, collaborate with others, and find calm in the storm of high school life.
