It’s Here: The Learning Commons

Our journey towards revamping our Library space began over a year ago. We had transitioned from a high school setting to a newly created Kindergarten to Grade 8 school, Lakewood Elementary.

As a former high school we were lucky to have a large Library space with a variety of built-in resources. Seminar rooms, risers, screens, study-carols, and many charging outlets.  However, the Lakewood Leaders shared their voice and felt this space was designed for older students.

Our Lakewood Leaders worked with students of all ages to poll what they would like to see in a collaborative space, called the Learning Commons.  They shared ideas of flexible spaces and comfy furniture.  They also wanted quiet sections, tables for all ages, and cozy spots to read.

We researched other Learning Commons, asked for a Teacher Committee, and did an inventory of our current resources.  The Committee determined we could use existing storage and shelves in new ways to better suit a younger audience. Simple changes could be made to position sections for all divisions.

With hard work and lots of thought we were able to re-purpose the space, and we welcome you to our Learning Commons.  The following is a tour of our Commons and an overview how it came to be…

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Our first step, was to organize our books to be more student friendly. Newly graduated Grade 8 students volunteered their time to help sort and move our massive collection of books.  They were surprised how many books we had and how many they had never used in their entire elementary career.  They felt the books were jammed pack and could only see the spines. They then discovered that they missed out on many great titles as they pulled them all out to sort.

Again, students shared their voice and thought all could benefit from organizing books by author and topic, rather than the Dewey Decimal System.  The team concluded that organizing with bins would help students see topics more efficiently, and help transport what they needed to work areas.  Students who helped sort books agreed, and stated it would be easier to manage when putting books away too.

As we continued to research and discuss options we realized there was a lack of flexible seating, and work stations for primary students.  Tables where younger students felt comfortable and didn’t have to sit on their knees to reach.  We made the decision to purchase wave tables, and other flexible seating options that would be easy to move.  Wave tables with light seating would give us a variety of options to organize and meet the needs of all age groups.

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We already had an area with risers where students liked to perch up on and read. It was shared that this would be an ideal place to freshen up and add some colour and comfort.  A place where students could recharge comfortably (with or without an outlet). We purchased cozy pillows, and small gaming type chairs where students could read or work with tablets.

Technology was another area we wished to address.  Our computers were scattered across the Library and students with questions would often go unnoticed (small students couldn’t be seen on the other side of computers).  Re-arranging the space allowed us to bank all our computers in one area by adding a few new network drops.  This also freed up more space to add in a Collaboration Station where students could work together and share ideas. The purchase of a Media table would again provide charging options for tablets and personal devices, as well as a large screen computer to work together.  We supplemented the space with some added tablets, Sphero Robots and a Recording Studio. Another popular addition was the newly created Web Lounge to offer up a few more Internet connected desktops.

It may always be a work in progress, but it’s here and we hope all students will benefit from this new collaborative space.  And, with the pedagogy of a Learning Commons we still plan on adapting and changing this space to best meet our learning needs! Be sure to follow along with us here as this will be the Virtual Space of our Learning Commons.

If you have ideas on how our area could improve feel free to share with us. We have our wishes (a few more pieces of furniture, some artwork, and  a paint face-lift) and we are sure you have your ideas too – so share away – we are listening!

Pj Day Gives Back

We had an idea we had a plan and we wanted to help out in the community we wanted to make a difference and so it began. Two of the grade 8 students here at Lakewood Elementary came up with an idea to help out people who are in need and that’s where it started.

The two students had a plan to help out the homeless with baskets of necessities but then they didn’t think it was safe to walk up to the homeless on the street. Their idea then went to going to a homeless shelter but there weren’t any shelters around their area. Finally the idea of going to the woman’s shelter that is just 15 minutes away from them came up and they knew they had a winner as its best to help out in your own community first. The girls knew exactly what they wanted to do they didn’t just want to give them money they wanted to go out and physically buy the supplies that the shelter needed as they felt like that would mean more than just handing over a cheque. The girls knew it was time to get fundraising.

The girls started pitching ideas to their principle about different fundraising ideas in hope that one of the ideas would be a hit. They thought about what their favourite spirit day is and which one gets the most participation and pajama day came to mind. They then again asked their principle if they could have Money Monday where you bring in any loose change laying around your house and you then get to wear pajamas to school for the day and they got the okay.

The day was March 9^th 2015, they spent three hours counting nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies, and toonies and finally they had their total. The school raised $427 for the shelter and that was well over what the girls had thought they would raise. The girls got their budget and their shopping lists together and they were ready to get their shopping on.

Lip Balm, Razors, Shaving Cream, Tooth brushes, Q-tips, these were some of the items on the girls shopping list and by the end of the trip they were swamped with them. The girls had 18 items to get and if they thought it out right they would stay right in their budget, but nothing ever goes according to plan. The girls ended up going a little over budget as they saw deals they couldn’t pass up, but in the end they got everything they needed and wanted for the shelter. The girls were beyond happy with the turn out of their project and how it was going to help so many others in their community. They might be counting nickels in their sleep for a while but they were happy to know they were making a difference.

The Luncheon

Well I would say it was a success! This past Friday Lakewood Elementary School had there Valentine’s Day Dinner and it was a very well organized and an appealing dinner. We started out with the ABC salad with French bread and maple dip and moved onto the Goopy Bacon Carbonara and ended with something sweet being brownies, cupcakes and cookies. Each dish was prepared by the grade 8’s and the desserts were made by the grade 4’s the night before so they could be the servers along with the grade 2’s for the day. Everyone knew their job and that’s why the day went out with a bang.

When the day came we were worried that we didn’t have what we needed that we would somehow mess up but then we also knew we wouldn’t as we had been organizing this event for weeks and we knew everything that had to be done.

The recipe was confusing, we bought too much bacon, and we didn’t have maple, the pastas not cooking, Oww that water’s hot. These were the problems we were facing throughout the day and at one point we just wanted to give up but then we remembered we are doing this for a good cause so we continued with the mind set of “We can do this.” Most of our problems happened at the first serving so it was good that we could learn from that and make the second serving more successful. We got the recipe down, we still had too much bacon, and yes we didn’t have maple but we created a new and improved dip from what we did have, we got the pasta cooking at the right time and we are happy to not make any other mistakes. We overcame our problems and learned from them and we realized not everything is perfect because having it perfect wouldn’t be any fun.

Everyone was proud, everyone felt accomplished and everyone took something away from this dinner. By the end of the day we were tired and stressed out but the knowledge and success that came with this event was so much more than words could describe. We were all happy that we could help out teachers and be able to support and donate to such a great organization.

The photos below are pictures that were took throughout the day of the Valentine’s dinner. Thanks for Reading!

What’s Coming

Lakewood Leaders has taken on the challenge of cooking a Valentine’s dinner for all the teachers at Lakewood. Students from grades 2, 4 and 8 are preparing the dinner for around 30 teachers on Friday February 13, 2015.

Each student has taken on their own responsibilities for the event. Grades 2 and 4 are making the decorations with the help of a grade 8 student. The grade 8’s are cooking the dinner and the grade 4’s are making dessert. Lakewood Leaders is all about taking on responsibilities and not only being a leader for other people but being a leader for yourself.

With 2 weeks of planning we have come down now to the final week. This week we will be finishing the reservations and collecting all donations, the grade 2 and 4’s will be finishing the decorations while the grade 8’s go grocery shopping and finish everything else that needs to be finished before Friday comes around.

Being in Lakewood Leaders has helped the grade 8’s develop stronger leadership skills while dealing with events, and groups of people. The grade 8’s have become strong mentors to the younger kids and leading them to success by being by their side and lending a helping hand. The mentors don’t act like they are in charge of everything to where the younger students don’t get a say they act like they are their friends to make them feel comfortable and that they belong and have a say in what we do. We all have a common goal and that is to make our school community a better place by leading it to success and having that common goal has made us a stronger group all together but also stronger individuals.

   Stay tuned for pictures and a summary of the Valentine’s Day diner event!

Our Student Voice Project

Our project idea is to improve our School Community by developing a newly created student organization. Lakewood Leaders will create an inclusive environment that will encourage students to take on more leadership roles.

Grade seven and eight students will act as leadership mentors encouraging the student population to get involved in their learning. They will use a promotion campaign to encourage their peers to get involved and take on leadership tasks within the school and community. Mentors will hold weekly meetings that welcome all age groups. During these meetings students will share their ideas for projects that will improve our community. This group will then work together to share resources and work to complete these projects.

We as Lakewood Leaders, will showcase all projects through the use of News Boards in our School, and online through the creation of this Blog. Highlighting the positive work that is being completed by the student population will be a key component of this project. Students who complete leadership projects will be recognize at assemblies and be presented Leading Laker t-shirts. We hope to promote how students can make a difference to improve our school, and thank them for their effort in making our school environment a positive place.

Since the beginning of Lakewood Leaders we have started a few projects such as the Lakewood App, the Valentine’s day diner and the Minecraft Club which were all thought of and are being created by students. The Lakewood App is an app that is specifically designed for our school with permission forms, news letters and photos of special events. We are organizing a Valentine’s day diner for the teachers at our school to help raise money for the Jump Rope for Heart organization by making the teachers a 3 course meal at a charge of $20 for a donation to Jump Rope for Heart. Lastly the Minecraft club will be a group of students who get together to participate in challenges and develop projects online while also talking about being respectful citizens in the online world and learning new things that will help them further understand the brilliant things the internet can do.

Please feel free to leave comment about projects we could maybe do or ideas to help us further succeed our goals. Thank you for reading!