In 9th grade Spanish class, the students, in preparation for a class presentation, were given a presentation about what mediums they could use to create presentations and tips on how to present more effectively.  Students explored Powerpoint, Prezi, Popplet, Google Presentations, Photostory3, and more in order to critically think about when one medium of presenting might be better or worse than another.

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IB Film students were just about to start on a series of research heavy final projects.  In order to support them in this endeavor, we had a research seminar specific to their task for class. 

Students were led to explore the features and materials in Ebrary and EBSCO, as well as how to broaden and narrow their search terms in order to get the best search results for film topics!

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Students in high school Panamanian Studies are in the process of creating a video of Panamanian colonial history.  After trying in vain to find a video online to teach students about this topic, the Panamanian Studies teacher and myself decided that we would fill the online gap by having students make their own video to post.

Students researched independently, created a storyboard to organize their video, and filmed the sequence of events and information.  This video will be posted on YouTube ...
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After seeing the improvement that 10th graders made by doing this seminar and mini-research assignment, 9th grade history students also went through the same process!

Students were asked to use the library databases to research a list of information on food item.  They were to take this information and use it in a mini-research paper with proper MLA style in-text citation.  Students turned their assignment in  via email and after grading them each class met again to talk about what items i...
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In order to help 10th grade students with in-text citation and other general research skills before embarking on a larger higher-stakes research paper for History class we created a low-stakes research assignment in order to practice those skills in a controlled setting.

Students were asked to use the library databases to research a list of information on food item.  They were to take this information and use it in a mini-research paper with proper MLA style in-text citation.  Students turned ...
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9th grade History students came in to research the different phases of the Crusades.  I gave a presentation about how to use library databases to find good sources about the topic of the Crusades, how to narrow and broaden their search as needed, and how to quickly decide if a source is good or not. 

Students then used the library resources to research and create their group presentation and paper about their phase of the Crusades.

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10th grade Literature students participated in a research seminar.  This seminar covered the basics of researching, how to choose a research topic, how to find good sources, databases through the library, and source citation. 

Students then completed a research task for their upcoming written term paper about George Orwell's novel 1984.
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11th grade IB Literature students participated in a research seminar.  This seminar covered the basics of researching, how to choose a research topic, how to find good sources, databases through the library, and source citation. 

Students then completed a research task for their upcoming oral presentation and used the seminar to do an assignment about the research process.

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The IB Extended Essay!  This task asks students to do high quality and challenging research in order to pursue answers to a research question in a topic that interests them. 

The library supported 11th grade students on the start of their IB EE journey by giving a lunch research seminar, ordering EE books, obtaining Ebrary - an online database for non-fiction books, and helping individuals with research problems.

The library also supported 12th grade students as they brought their essays to a ...
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11th grade IB Film came in to the library in order to do research on an era of film of their choosing.  Students used the library databases, the collection of Film DVDs, and the collection of IB Film reference books, and were reminded about good sources for their research.
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The library was teeming with students before ISP's annual PANAMUN conference.  Students before and during PANAMUN do research for their various topics and debates and the library was the hotspot for doing this research.  This year's PANAMUN had the distinction of having research activities done in the old library and having the Environmental Committee Meeting in the empty new library space!

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The high school journalism class came to the library to learn how to use the Newsbank database for research.  Students were asked to look at an international news topic and see how it was reported differently depending on the location of the newspaper. 

Students examined the cultural differences in reporting styles and ideas of justice, as well as, looking at the different points of view on the same "factual" story.

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Students in the Health elective class came in for a tutorial on how to use the library's resources - including the databases and the online catalog.  They then did research for their project on the body's different systems.

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The journalism class took a virtual field trip to Lincoln, Nebraska with the help of Skype!  I set up an question and answer session with the high school journalism class and News Reporter, Kelly Sommariva of Lincoln's ABC news.

Students were able to ask her questions about what being a journalist was really like - the good and the bad and about the realities of a changing news audience and starting out in today's market.

Thank you to Kelly and Lincoln's Channel 8 Eyewitness News for their help...
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Students from IB 11th grade art came in and took old books and materials that the library was discarding.  Students then took a couple of months and turned our library "trash" into beautiful library treasure.  Many of these works of art are now on display on the library shelves!


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At the beginning of the school year, students in 11th grade IB History came in for a review of good research methods.  We reviewed types of sources, where to find good sources, and how to critically decide if a source is right for your project or not!

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Working with the Journalism teacher and myself, 10th grade students were taught to create a Photostory3 video to present their History of Journalism Project. 

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