Staff Update: December Calendar and One Book One San Diego Guest Speaker

December “Discussion Prompts” Calendar

Inspired by results of the recent WE HEAR YouTH survey conducted by Mending Matters, December’s calendar features two discussion prompts a day to encourage conversation and connection. Bookmark or print your own copy: bit.ly/dec20cal

Guest Speaker Opportunity Inspired by GUHSD’s One Book, One San Diego on Monday, January  25th 11 am

To complement the One Book, One San Diego reading of They Called Us Enemy, Granite Hills English Teacher Maria Schembri has organized a guest speaker event with the Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego and it is open for any GUHSD student, teacher, or staff member. Simply submit the form (bit.ly/jahs-event) to get the join information. You can also learn more about One Book, One San Diego at bit.ly/rst-tcue.

Staff Update: PrepSTEP and Career Accelerator

If you are working on career assignments with students, know of students who are trying to get an after school job, or have students preparing for tests (e.g., SAT, ACT, ASVAB, AP exams, etc.), consider recommending PrepSTEP, a GUHSD subscription resource. Here is a help video that I recently shared with students about its Job and Career Accelerator module. You can also direct students to information about test prep resources (including PrepSTEP) at bit.ly/whhstestprep. Plus, of course, you and students are also welcome to reach out to me (ssannwald@guhsd.net) anytime for more information!

Staff Update: One Book One San Diego and November Calendar

Join GUHSD’s One Book, One San Diego Book Chat on November 16th 3-4 pm

GUHSD’s Library Council is hosting a district-specific chat about this year’s One Book, One San Diego pick They Called Us Enemy via Zoom on Monday, November 16th from 3-4 pm. Students, teachers, and staff are welcome to participate whether they have completed the book, just started, or are somewhere in between. To receive the Zoom join link for the November 16th event, simply submit this form (bit.ly/guhsd-tcue). When submitting the form, you will also have the opportunity to request a print copy of the book to borrow. You may also email Suzanne (ssannwald@guhsd.net) if you would like to request multiple copies or have any questions. Learn even more at bit.ly/rst-tcue.

November 2020 Calendar: ‘Tis the Season to be Thankful

For November, we highlighted National Native American Heritage Month, National Veterans and Military Families Month, National Novel Writing Month, and National Gratitude Month. Print and/or bookmark your own copy to follow along: bit.ly/nov20cal

Library News: Join GUHSD's One Book, One San Diego Email List & Borrow a Print Copy

Have you ever wanted to be part of a book club? Here's your chance to be part of a countywide one! Join us in reading the graphic novel They Called Us Enemy, a memoir by George Takei about his family's experience in Japanese Incarceration Camps during World War II. All students may borrow the eBook using the Sora app, and we even have print copies available to check out through the WHHS Library - submit a request at bit.ly/guhsd-tcue. Learn how to access the eBook and more about One Book, One San Diego at http://bit.ly/rst-tcue.

Staff Update: Schoology Monday Reminder and One Book One San Diego

Schoology Monday Reminder

Each Monday through December 7th GUHSDtech is partnering with Schoology to offer 1-hour Zoom trainings for interested GUHSD teachers. This Monday, October 19, there will be two offerings: "Introduction to Assessments" and "Using Google with Schoology." You will find registration links to these sessions and all other offerings at bit.do/SGYmondays. Space is limited to 25 participants per session so don't wait! 

Join the GUHSD One Book, One San Diego Email List & Request a Print Copy

Thanks to our collaborative relationship with the San Diego County Library, our school was able to get 34 copies of They Called Us Enemy for free! While the book is not yet on the approved textbook list, students may be invited to optionally read the book as an independent read, as part of a literature circle, or just for fun! Teachers, staff, or students who would like to request a print copy just fill out this form. You may also email Suzanne (ssannwald@guhsd.net) if you would like to request multiple copies on a first come, first serve basis. NOTE: Even after One Book, One San Diego, the 34 copies will be available in our textbook collection for future use. Learn even more at bit.ly/rst-tcue.

Staff Update: October Calendar, Chromebook Help Reminders, and One Book One San Diego

 October Calendar: Taking it one week at a time! (bit.ly/oct2020cal)

Chromebook Help Reminders

• The library only issues students additional Chromebooks and chargers when they have broken or lost/stolen items. We do not provide day loan items. If teachers have classroom loaner Chromebooks that need to be fixed/troubleshot, we are happy to help you. 

• Curbside Chromebook help continues at the Flag Circle on Mondays 1-3pm and Wednesday 8-10am.

• When attending classes on campus, students may get help in the library 7:30am-12pm.

• Outside of these hours, students may also continue to get help by email and phone from:

• Jovan Bessette, Technology Specialist, jbessette@guhsd.net, 619-956-0463

• Suzanne Sannwald, Teacher Librarian, ssannwald@guhsd.net, 619-956-0461

GUHSD Joins One Book, One San Diego (bit.ly/rst-tcue)

As Robin emailed earlier this week, the One Book, One San Diego read for 2020 is They Called Us Enemy, a graphic novel by George Takei about his family’s experiences in Japanese incarceration camps during World War II. Access the link above to learn more about the One Book, One San Diego countywide reading program and how anyone with an @guhsd.net account may borrow the book from the San Diego County Library using the Sora app. p.s.This is a subject that has personal resonance for me (Suzanne) since my family members were also incarcerated and when becoming a teacher librarian, I learned that my grandmother worked in a library in Poston!

Staff Update: Chromebook Insurance, Student Technology Tutorials, Sora Access, and Self-Advocacy

Chromebook Insurance Purchasing Window If you have a chance, please remind students that this is the last week they can buy Chromebook insurance. There is only a purchasing window at the start of each year (unless a student transfers in mid-year), and the deadline for 2020-21 is September 18, 2020. 

Distance Learning Hub: Student Technology Tutorials

Check out this link from the Distance Learning Hub to some crowdsourced student-facing technology help resources. Some recently added ones that address common questions include the following:

• Student Zoom Troubleshooting 

• Schoology: Student Assignment Submission Directions

• Schoology: How to Set Up Parent Accounts

• How to Install the Kami Chrome Extension

• Logging into Chrome on a Personal Computer

Sora Access for GUHSD (bit.ly/rst-sora)

See the link above for info on how to access Sora for eBook and audiobook access for anyone with an @guhsd.net account. Related to this, the new One Book, One San Diego selection was recently announced: They Called Us Enemy. The eBook version may be checked out without wait from SDCL via Sora using these instructions through the end of December. For even more “no wait” SDCL titles, check out this link.

Helping Students Improve Self-Advocacy: Teaching effective email writing skills to communicate needs more effectively (bit.ly/rst-email)

After encountering a number of students who are having a difficult time communicating effectively with teachers and staff members during distance learning, I collaborated with Teacher Librarians Anthony Devine and Stephanie Macceca to create a lesson template that you’re welcome to customize and use. Even if you don’t use the full lesson, the tips, sample, and sentence starters may be useful to share. 

Staff Update: Help Crowdsource Student Technology Tech Help Links

GUHSD Teacher Librarians and Brent Enerva are working on a project that we hope will be helpful to students. We are collecting student-facing video tutorials and infographics around the wide variety of tech tools that students are using in the district.

Many of you may remember the GUHSDtech "Vault." Our idea is similar and actually inspired by teacher requests for resources so keep them coming! We want to create a student-facing resource where they can search and find videos and infographics that help them figure out how to use and troubleshoot the tech tools we're having them use.

We're hoping to gather resources that are relatively general: videos and images that could apply to many students across the district for commonly used tech tools. We're trying to crowdsource this. The more responses the merrier! Librarians will be working with district tech folks to curate what gets gathered.

Link to the form where you can submit tools you created/use - remember that our audience for these are students and their families (not internal info teachers & staff). 

Thanks in advance for anything you share! If you have questions or ideas, please reply to me, Suzanne (ssannwald@guhsd.net)

Staff Update: Chromebook Repair Exchanges, Insurance Purchasing Window, Librarian Help Line, and Sora Access

Chromebook Repair Exchanges Now Wednesdays 8-10am The weekly Chromebook repair exchanges continue on Wednesdays. The time slot has been moved to 8-10 am so that it does not overlap with live class Zoom sessions. If you have a student who needs immediate access to a Chromebook on other days (e.g., if they have no other technology options), please contact Jovan (jbessette@guhsd.net).

Chromebook Insurance Purchasing Window

If students ask about Chromebook insurance, refer to this information about how they can buy it. There is only a purchasing window at the start of each year (unless a student transfers in mid-year), and the deadline for 2020-21 is September 18, 2020.

Distance Librarian WHHS Help Line

Do you have students or parents who could use some extra one-on-one help navigating all of the tech programs for school? I am happy to help! Please feel free to share my information with them, and/or forward me their information, and I will reach out to them.

Sora Access for GUHSD (bit.ly/rst-sora)

This past summer, GUHSD access was set up for Sora, an eBook and audiobook lending app that now allows anyone with an @guhsd.net account to borrow books from the San Diego County Library’s OverDrive digital collection through single sign-on. Contact Suzanne if you have questions or want to discuss how you might use it.

Staff Update: Chromebook Annoucements, Default Textbook Due Date, The Danger of a Single Story, Library Services Menu

Chromebook Back-to-School Announcements for Students (bit.ly/wh-bts-cbs)

If you have students with Chromebook-related questions, please share this link with them, as it offers helpful info and links. If there are other tech-related needs that are not covered, let me know, and I’m happy to share more links or create new guidance.

Default Textbook Due Date

Textbook checkout is different than usual this year, but just in case this information is helpful for you, the default textbook due date for 2020-21 is Wednesday, May 19, 2021. After this date, students will be invoiced for textbooks still checked out on student accounts. See also: Destiny Staff Help.

The Danger of a Single Story & Diversifying Our Curriculum

The recent EPOCH training included a TEDTalk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on The Danger of a Single Story. Perfectly complementing this, there are GUHSD students currently participating in a student-led Diversity Our Narrative movement. They have started an Instagram account @donguhsd that you can follow, and they recently shared this digital poster to invite petition signatures. Also along these lines, GUHSD’s new ELA/Literacy Curriculum Specialist Sophia Jacoub recently shared in her Literacy Link newsletter this “Library Learnings” resource on Updating Our Classroom Texts: Developing as Culturally Responsive Educators. I’d love to connect with you anytime to support related efforts!

How can the WHHS Teacher librarian support you? 

Please do not hesitate to contact me anytime throughout the year to collaborate in any of the ways (or more) shared in this linked menu.

Invitation for Students (and Staff) to Join Growing Readers: GUHSD's Summer Reading Program

Students are invited to join GUHSD's summer reading program: Growing Readers. They simply go to growing.gameful.me to create a FREE account using an @guhsd.net account. Once logged in, they may access Quest Maps to complete a variety of challenges to earn points and badges, level up, and earn prizes! Keep playing all summer with new quest options added weekly! Questions? Email Ms. Sannwald (ssannwald@guhsd.net).

Destiny Help Links & More

Destiny Help Links for Checkouts & Invoices:

• FOR STUDENTS:
• Logging into your Destiny (webpage version of help)
• How to check your school account (1 minute video)
• How to distinguish between textbooks & library books (1 minute video)
• FOR TEACHERS & STAFF: Destiny Help Site
• Destiny Textbook Check-In Procedures and Reports
• Destiny Invoice Correction Form
• Textbook Replacement Approval Form

Just FYI:

• Honoring Class of 2020 (bit.ly/honor2020grads) - Links to public opportunities
• Navigating the Infodemic - Highlights the News Literacy Project’s 7 "how to know what to trust" steps: bit.ly/NewsLitTrust (with helpful PDF linked at bottom). A recent misinformation webinar recording may also be viewed at https://youtu.be/h7hRl4lZfUo‬

Inkwell, May-June 2020 Calendar, Distance Learning Study Skills, Free YA Bookish Resources, Virtual WHHS Library

Inkwell 2019-20 (bit.ly/inkwell2020) - The 2019-20 Inkwell, WHHS’s annually published literary-art magazine, is now available to read online. We plan to print hard copies for contributors once we are back on campus again. In the meantime, check out their awesome work online!

May-June 2020 Calendar (bit.ly/may2020cal) - Since we’re on our screens a lot these days, here are some daily videos that go along with observances. Full playlist: bit.ly/may-june-playlist 

Distance Learning Study Skills Series - Throughout this week, the library has shared study skill reminders each day on social media: 

• Using an Online Planner During Distance Learning (bit.ly/rst-planner)
• Trying a Brain Dump with printable form (bit.ly/rst-braindump)
• Organizing Your To Do List with printable form (bit.ly/rst-todo)
• Creating a Schedule
• Making Your Work Visible

Free YA Bookish Resources:

• The Everywhere Book Fest takes place May 1-2 (see schedule), but all events are being archived on their YouTube channel, which is also where sessions will livestreamed and released (some are pre-recorded).
• Audiobook SYNC has become an annual summer program that allows teens to get 2 FREE audiobooks per week. It just launched April 30th, with the first week’s pairing available for download through May 6th. Learn more at bit.ly/syncbooks

Virtual WHHS Library - The optional Google Classroom (class code: hfvvbcy) has been one way that the library has continued to connect with students through daily asynchronous Questions of the Day and live synchronous Zoom session 3-3:30pm on school days. Feel free to share the info with students.

GUHSD Libraries During Distance Learning

Schools are closed, but classes are in session, and the library is online! - In addition to regular West Hills Library website resources, there is a special GUHSD Libraries collection of distance learning resources for both students and teachers.

• Academic Support for Students - Teachers are welcome to share this with students and may suggest additions.
• Learning Beyond the Classroom - Find GUHSD Digital Reading Options, a National Poetry Month calendar for April, a Google Calendar of Free Online Learning Events for Teens, and more.
• For Teachers - Suzanne is eager to collaborate with WHHS teachers to support distance teaching and learning. Whether it is getting tech set up, curating digital resources, creating help documents, or just having another person to bounce ideas off of - you can always email ssannwald@guhsd.net. (For a full overview of library services during distance learning, see this 1-pager.)

Library News: March 2020

March 2020 Calendar: Behold the Eyes of March - Visual Literacy (bit.ly/mar2020cal) - The first week of March is #WillEisnerWeek. The library has joined in the celebration (bit.ly/rst-eisner2020) to promote graphic novel literacy, free speech, and the sequential arts. Following this theme, the March calendar highlights visual literacy resources throughout the whole month. Print your own copy of the calendar to follow along. Also, if you want to see books that staff members shared as favorites from when they were little, check out our February calendar (bit.ly/feb2020cal).

Resource Snack Time - The library regularly highlights instructional resources in a bite-sized format for teachers, but students and families may also find this information helpful. Below is a recent sampling:

• ILA’s What’s Hot in Literacy Report (bit.ly/rst-ila20) - When looking at findings from the International Literacy Association, we celebrate all of the WHHS teachers who collaborate with the library to increase student access to high-quality, authentic texts. As of March 3rd, we’ve already surpassed the number of library checkouts by 17% when comparing the current school year with all of last year.
• News Literacy Week (bit.ly/rst-nnlw) - There are many types of literacies. The last week of January was #NewsLiteracyWeek. Check out curated resources we shared from the News Literacy Project.
• GUHSD Discovery Search (bit.ly/rst-discovery) - Students now have access to a discovery search tool when searching for information in online databases. This allows our students to start practicing college-level research skills.
• Google Scholar (bit.ly/rst-scholar) - Another option now available for searching online databases is Google Scholar, now linked with our GUHSD subscriptions. 
• Smithsonian Open Access (bit.ly/rst-smithCC) - The Smithsonian recently released nearly 3 million images under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) licensing and our students (and others) may now use them for creating projects.
• Instapoetry (bit.ly/rst-instapoetry) - Many students enjoy reading poetry both online (especially on Instagram) and in published print versions. Explore some #instapoets!

Staff Update: March 2020 Visual Literacy Calendar, Smithsonian Open Access, End-of-Year Textbook Due Dates

March 2020 Calendar: Behold the Eyes of March - Visual Literacy (bit.ly/mar2020cal) - The first week of March is #WillEisnerWeek. The library has joined in the celebration (bit.ly/rst-eisner2020) to promote graphic novel literacy, free speech, and the sequential arts. Following this theme, the March calendar highlights visual literacy resources throughout the whole month. Print your own copy of the calendar to follow along. 

Resource Snack Time: Smithsonian Open Access (bit.ly/rst-smithCC) - The Smithsonian recently released nearly 3 million images under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) licensing and our students (and others) may now use them for creating projects.

End-of-Year Textbook Due Dates - The default due date for textbooks is Wednesday, 5/20/2020 - due dates are only different if teachers set a different date during checkout. For reference, see this summary of textbooks by department and due date. After textbook due dates, students will be invoiced for any textbooks not checked into Destiny. Students with outstanding invoices will not be eligible for early yearbook distribution.

Staff Update: Google Scholar and Instapoetry

Resource Snack Time: Google Scholar (bit.ly/rst-scholar) - Did you know that Google Scholar is now integrated with the GUHSD online database subscriptions? Learn more about Google Scholar and how to use it: bit.ly/rst-scholar

Resource Snack Time: Instapoetry (bit.ly/rst-instapoetry) - For Valentine's Day, we updated this #instapoetry resource. Find a list of #instapoets to follow online and article links to learn more at bit.ly/rst-instapoetry