May 22, 2015

As the year is coming to a close, I’ve been thinking about the wild ride we’ve taken with our new learning commons.  It’s still hard for me to say learning commons instead of library.  Shhh! don’t tell anyone, but I use those terms interchangeably.  What some people may not realize is that we still have a library.  We still have all of the books and other things you think of when you think of a library.  We just use our space a little differently.

Instead of being a quiet place for solitude and reflection, it is now a place of open communication and collaboration.  Being what I consider to be “old school”, it has been quite an adjustment getting use to the mostly joyful noise of students learning and working together.  As the year has progressed and more teachers have taken advantage of the space, it has become apparent to me that when a teacher truly realizes the potential for this space the results are quite remarkable.  It is easy to differentiate the classes that come often and those that don’t.  Those that do come often have students that are totally engaged in what they are doing and they are doing what they are supposed to be doing.  Classes that don’t come as often have students that are frequently off task because they are too busy acclimating to this new environment. 

 

I’m not the only one that has to get used to this new way of using our library.  It’s an adjustment for everyone who uses it.  With that in mind, I feel as though we’ve come a long way this year.  Don’t get me wrong, we still have a long way to go to get to what I would call “optimal” appreciation and usage of our new learning commons, but I feel confident that the new year will bring us even closer to that goal.

So, I will continue to use the terms “library” and “learning commons” interchangeably and I will continue getting used to the change in the overall atmosphere.  After all, change is good.  Right?