ITHSA Library Newsletter

• Swank Online Streaming Platform: the Swank app is assigned to high school students and staff in Classlink. A sub won't have direct access. But if you post the link to a video on your Google Classroom, a sub can play that link using their Sub-Chromebook. Students can also use the link to watch a video on their device using headphones. If you are new to Swank, the app is located in a deep purple folder in Classlink called For Staff@YourLibrary. Click on the app and you can search for movies that are already part of our library or request ones you want me to add. I have to click to approve your request and the turnaround by Swank is usually 24 hours or less. (Evidently it takes time for Swank to auto-process the permissions required at their end). If your sub clicks on a video link you have shared with them and it prompts them for a login, they can use this one: User: ITHSSub Password: SubStream123 .
• DVD Players: you will need to checkout a player that connects with your board (we have some that connect to the Chromebook). Ideally you can connect the player & make sure the DVD plays the day before because often there are issues. Of course there are unplanned absences and sometimes you can email library staff to reach out to the sub to give them a DVD/player, but very often that means there will be issues that result in the movie not playing for the first class.

• Anime Art Club: Tuesdays 2:53-3:30 PM: students who like to draw Anime come and eat a snack & draw together as a community. I provide ipads with Procreate App & styluses and high quality drawing materials.
• Battle of the Books: Tuesdays 2:53-3:30 PM: 20 newly published books are selected by a state-wide committee and our team divides and conquers them. We eat a snack and chit chat about what we love or despise about each book and practice answering questions as a team as we prepare for an online battle in February. We also do an in person Read-In with the other high school's BOB teams where we eat food that show up in the books, wear our team hoodies, battle against those teams Jeopardy style.
• 3D Print Club: Thursdays 2:53-3:30 PM: I teach students to design in 3D using Tinkercad and we print what they create. I teach them the basics, but the students mentor each other and tend to advance way beyond my abilities by senior year!

I updated our Library Pass Procedures sign that you can post in your room to help forestall any inappropriate requests.

• Substitute Teachers can not send students to the library. Please add that to your sub plans!
• Max of 3 students can be sent to library from each class (unless you have made special arrangements with the library).
• Hall Pass does not allow me to block individual students from creating a pass to the library like Securely did. So now when a student is truant in the library or chronically misbehaves, we write a dean referral and they let the parents and students know they have lost library access for two weeks. When a students is "banned" three times in a school year, they lose library pass access for the year.