Panther Go - Freshman Library Orientation

2016 - 2017: It's a new year with new goals...and another year of new administrators, both on our campus and in the district.  To be honest, we didn't have time to worry about that situation at the beginning of the year.  Instead, we had about 1,400 Freshman students that needed to learn more about our school's library. So how did we do that this year?  We tapped into the ever popular Pokemon Go craze that happened at the end of the summer.

I sent a text before school started to my cohorts in crime, Blanca, Karen and Judy, expressing my interest in rearranging the Freshman Library Orientation around the Pokemon Go game, and they were ready. So ...how were we going to do this?  A few days into my research, I came across this article, Pokemon Scavenger Hunt in the Library. It was the information we needed to organize this part of the orientation.

In the article, the author is so organized and even has resources to download which was great. However, instead of using her information as is, we put our own spin on things by creating a Panther Go scavenger hunt. Our mascot is a panther, and our new principal, Ms. Simmons, was and still is focused on school spirit.  Our Panther Go game could promote school spirit while helping the students learn more about the library.

Instead of 8 Pokemon "hidden" around the library, we had 8 panthers.  Each panther also had a QR code the students scanned to learn more about that area of the library.  Either the kids could bring their own device and download a free QR Reader, or use one of the school's iPads.  We broke the students up into groups of 2, 3, or 4. (We let them decide.) Then the students explored the library, found the Panthers, scanned the QR codes, and then had to record where they found each panther on the Panther Pokedex sheet.

That was the  fun part of our library orientation, but it wasn't the only thing we did with them.  To give you the "big picture," our Freshman Orientation went something like this...

• students logged onto a computer and set their first password of the year (While they did this, we played the school's first ever "Lip Dub.")
• students logged into their Skyward Student Access account to see their grades, class schedule, and new district Google email addresses
• librarian gave a short explanation of the library brochure...including where to go to access our databases (see link below for a copy of the brochure - minus our usernames and passwords for the databases.  Those are only available to our students - sorry)
• librarians gave a short explanation about the Panther Go scavenger hunt and the expectations and boundaries needed (we have a really big space, and kids like to run...even 9th graders).
• librarian passed out iPads to the groups that weren't using their own devices and let them wander around the library to find the Panthers.
• student groups who completed their Pokedex were able to pick a prize from the basket.  We had pencils, stickers, tattoos, and blue or red beads...all Panther stuff since it was a Panther game.
• After the scavenger hunt, students were free to check out a book, play a game, do some homework, or access a computer until the period was over.  We called this their "free time."

 In order to cover all of the Freshman, we targeted the English classes.  Those teachers have been working with us for years.  We are always grateful they are willing to give us a day to cover our library routines.  We all know how precious time is.  So we ended up doing this class 48 different times, or 16 times each for the 3 of us.  It was a long 3 weeks, but we managed to see all of the classes.

       

 In addition to the 48 English classes, we also did the Panther Go scavenger hunt during our "Meet the Teacher" night.  Then it was open to all grade levels, not just the 9th graders.  Overall, I think the students had fun and were able to learn more about our library in a way that "speaks" to them....using tablets and games.

Thanks for stopping by!

For all of our Freshman Library Orientation links, handouts and brochures, go to http://duncanvillehs.libguides.com/Freshman2020