Tammy Ross

Everyone, and thank you for joining for us for today's webinar, Cultivating Social Emotional Learning Using Library Databases. I'm Tammy Ross, senior product marketing manager for EBSCO School and Public Library databases.

My co presenter today is Gerri Walls, a librarian and instructional technologist at Saint Mary's Hall in San Antonio, Texas. In just one moment, she will introduce herself further and review our agenda for today. But first, I'd like to go over a few housekeeping item.

So this presentation is scheduled for about forty minutes with an additional fifteen minutes at the end for questions.

Please feel free to submit your questions at any time during the presentation.

Enter them in the q and a box, please. You'll find that at the bottom of your screen. There's, like, a row of different icons there. At the end of presentation, we'll go through your questions and answer as many of them as time allows. If we don't have enough time, at the end, we'll be sure to respond directly to you within a day or two with an answer.

This session is being recorded, and the recording will be made available to you by the end of the week. I will also post some relevant links in the chat.

Please be advised that attendees are muted to avoid any sound feedback or interruptions. If you're having any technical difficulties during the webinar, please use the chat box to communicate with me, and I'll do my best to help you resolve them. If you'd like to adjust the view, there's an icon in the top right of your screen.

I'm moderating and co presenting today, so I apologize if I am a little, you know, darting around here, but I'll do my best. So I'm just going to hand it off to Gerri to introduce herself and go over our agenda.

Gerri Walls

Sounds great. Thank you. As Tammy said, I'm Gerri Walls, and I am the middle and upper school librarian at Saint Mary's Hall in San Antonio, Texas.

I this is my eighteenth year at Saint Mary's Hall and my sixth as the head librarian.

I am a coeducator for our form nine National History Day project. I sponsored the school's issues day event, and I may be co teaching a class next year that will be centered on civil discourse. We will talk about these in more detail and how they figure into my support for social emotional learning at my school in a moment.

But today, we're going to be looking at how research and inquiry supported by library databases can strengthen students' social emotional learning as well as their relationship and decision-making skills.

First, Tammy will begin by going into more detail about what SEL is, including the five core competencies, and then she'll share some key insights from the EBSCO sponsored SEL survey with school library journal, and that will give us a snapshot of how educators see the library's role. From there, we'll take a closer look at the SEO skills that naturally emerge during the research process, skills like self-management and social awareness that students use whenever they evaluate sources or look at different perspectives.

We'll also discuss how databases can be used more intentionally to support SEL, which can help students with skills like building empathy and thinking critically.

Finally, we'll highlight some practical strategies for embedding SEL into information literacy instruction, and then we'll wrap up with a few ways that librarians can step into the role of instructional partner where we are working alongside teachers to create meaningful SEL rich learning research experience.

Now I will hand it back over to Tammy to talk more about the foundations of SEL and how they are highlighted in the EBSCO step.

Tammy Ross

Thank you, Jerry. Okay. So this is the interactive portion of our session.

I have a link here. I'm going to drop this link in the chat as well, but you can also scan the QR code. Give me one second here.

Okay. So I just dropped a link in the chat.

If you want to just take a minute to tell me or tell us what words come to mind when you think of social emotional learning.

You can also scan the QR code if that link if you prefer to use your phone.

Let me just open up this other thing here. So I'm going to give you a minute or so to do that. And if you, for some reason, can't access the Mentimeter, then you can just post some of your ideas in the chat.

But then we'll take a look at the word cloud that comes up.

I'm seeing a lot of responses so far. Keep them coming. Nice. Alright. Few seconds more, and I'll share the results. I can get my cursor to work here.

Alright. I'm going to you can keep at entering your answers. I think they'll populate. So wow, this looks really cool.

Empathy, a big one. Feelings, emotions.

Diversity, equity, inclusion.

Understanding, these are great. Awesome.

So I keep adding your comments, but I'm going to move on just in the interest of time. But you guys all know really well what we're sort of leading into.

So SEL or social emotional learning is about helping students manage emotions, achieve their goals, make thoughtful choices, and build positive relationships.

What's important here is that SEL doesn't only happen through direct instruction, it also develops through everyday learning experiences.

And research is one of those experiences that can be most powerful. Alright.

So CASEL did I go backwards? No. I didn't. Okay.

CASEL is the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. It defines the five SEL competencies. And as we walk through these, I'd invite you to think about how often you already support them in your library.

So research naturally asks us asks students to reflect, manage their time, consider other perspectives, collaborate, and evaluate information before making decisions.

So while we don't always label this as work as SEL, these competencies are already embedded in information literacy instruction.

So to better understand this connection, EBSCO partnered with School Library Journal to survey school librarians nationwide. We had four hundred and forty-six responses across grade levels. And the survey really explored how we perceive the relationship between research, information literacy, and social emotional learning, and what we're actually seeing in students as a result.

But how intentionally we integrate it varies.

I'm going to share a quote with you right now.

And this really captures what so many librarians shared with us. Research gives structured opportunities to step outside themselves, for students to step outside themselves, hear new stories, and wrestle with multiple interpretations of reality.

That phrase, wrestle with, is key.

SEL growth doesn't come from easy answers. It comes from navigating complexity, uncertainty, and different viewpoints, which research naturally provides.

So when we asked which SEL competencies are most supported through research and information literacy whoops, I just lost my screen. Sorry.

Two of the competencies really came to the top, social awareness and responsible decision making. That tells us that research is especially powerful when students are exposed to multiple perspectives and asked to evaluate evidence, bias, and credibility.

Self-awareness, self-management, and relationship skills were also strongly represented, showing that research supports the whole student, even if some of those outcomes are more immediately visible than others.

We also ask librarians what they're already doing to support SEL through research.

None of these strategies are surprising.

Reflection, student choice, discussion and group work. What's notable is that these don't require separate SEL curriculum. They are instructional choices that shape how students experience research and how deeply they engage with it.

So it isn't about adding more to your plate, it's about being intentional with the work you're already doing.

When we look at the resources, we already rely on for SEL, biographies, primary sources, social issues, literature, a lot of that content already lives inside our full text databases.

One of the reasons we developed this session and wanted to share it with you is to help reframe databases as SEL tools, not just research tools.

When we can make that connection clearly, it becomes easier to advocate for a well-rounded database collection that supports both student learning and student well-being.

When students have access to real voices and credible perspectives and we design research experiences intentionally, we start to see clear changes in how they show up as learners.

So that brings us to what librarians told us they're observing in students who engage deeply with research.

So the most common outcomes include more thoughtful communication, greater confidence, increased empathy, and stronger collaboration.

You might notice something interesting here though. On a previous slide, responsible decision making was one of the top competencies that librarians said research supports. But here, fewer librarians are naming it as visible outcomes as a visible outcome. That doesn't mean it's not happening.

Responsible decision making tends to show up in more subtle ways. So how students evaluate sources, weigh evidence, or reconsider their thinking about a topic. And those moments can be harder to observe and measure in a concrete way. But taken together, these outcomes reinforce that research isn't just about finding information, it's about developing skills that students can carry into other classes and into their lives.

So despite strong belief in the value of SEL, or social emotional learning, librarians were also very clear about what gets in the way.

And feel free to chime in in the chat if you agree. Time constraints were the biggest barriers followed by limited teacher collaboration and access to resources. Some librarians also shared that they aren't always sure how to clearly articulate the SEL connections in their instruction. And this gap between belief and practice came up again and again in our survey.

So when we asked what would actually make a difference, librarians told us exactly what they need. You want practical instructional assets, professional development that connects SEL to instruction, and broader access to relevant content.

In other words, you don't need convincing that SEL is valuable, but you need support that fits into the reality of your day. So what does that look like in real school library work? Well now Jerry is going to walk us through examples from St. Mary's Hall and highlight how research there naturally supports SEL.

Gerri Walls

Thank you, Tammy.

First, I'm going to share with you three student centered projects that I use to bring social emotional learning into my work with students and teachers.

I'll start with how we use the National History Day project at Saint Mary's Hall. Just for clarity throughout, I may say NHD for National History Day or SMH for Saint Mary's Hall, just for clarity there.

For those not familiar, National History Day is a program and competition for students grade six through twelve that combines research and critical thinking skills to encourage in-depth looks at historical topics, which is grounded in the belief that in studying the past is essential to making sense of the present and also for young people to think about their role in the future.

The Form nine Global Studies NHD project, which was designed by two of our social science sciences teachers, is our freshman students' introduction to high school level research. Here, we'll also talk about how it's a really powerful space for SEL.

One of the biggest reasons for that is choice. Students get to choose their topic, within a broad annual theme that is, provided by National History Day. They can decide how they want to present their work, whether that is a documentary, a website, a live performance, a paper, or an exhibit board. And then finally, they can even choose whether they want to work individually or in a group. In our experience, they prefer to work in groups.

That level of ownership is what makes a huge difference. Students feel more connected to the work and more engaged in the process as they're learning how to use the information.

This very complex project was also intentionally structured by our teachers. Since it takes the entire first quarter of the school year, they created a very detailed process breaking it down into steps with benchmarks along the way to keep students from becoming overwhelmed.

This way, they can build the skills gradually, everything from putting events and people into historical context to creating final products, whether that's editing video or building a website.

Students who are working in groups have to learn how to define responsibilities, communicate clearly, and navigate disagreements. They are also doing things like evaluating sources together, deciding what is credible and what is relevant to their project.

That shared process builds trust, and it helps them learn how to respectfully solve problems as a team.

NHD at Saint Mary's Hall is also highly collaborative. I work very closely with the teachers throughout the project, curating resources, introducing databases, and supporting students through the research process. For me, it's a great opportunity because I get to introduce myself and the library's resources to this grade level because they are forging a new community, because we welcome many new students in Form nine. And for them, the library becomes a space where they can ask questions, they can explore, and they can support each other through this this intense project. It's also where I can step in, to guide them when the research gets frustrating, scaffolding when needed, but also knowing when to step back and let them figure things out on their own. And that's because the frustration is part of the learning process. When students don't find what they want immediately, the hope is that they will learn persistence, and they will be creative about trying new strategies.

National history day has specific requirements for each project, and one of those is primary sources, and that's where the databases really shine.

They give students access to biographies, firsthand accounts, and diverse perspectives.

Seeing events through the eyes of the people who were there really helps students to build empathy and understanding of how lived experiences shape viewpoints.

They are a safe, structured environment where we have access to credible information and primary sources, which allows the students to analyze evidence from original documents.

They also provide scholarly information, like peer reviewed articles from academic journals, and that shows what evidence-based sources look like, which is important for students who may not have seen research at this level before.

For the educators, databases provide tools that can assist them in teaching information literacy, including its ethical use. For example, built in citation generators, they can help prevent plagiarism by giving accurate source documentation and acknowledgment of intellectual property, and that in turn promotes academic integrity.

Learning how to use filters and keyword searches teaches students how to formulate and refine their research questions, and then tools like abstracts can help students develop skills in synthesizing information.

All of these combine to move the students beyond simple searching to where the information is being managed rather than just consumed.

At the same time, students are learning a lot about themselves as researchers. What works for them? What challenges them? And that builds their self-awareness.

The process encourages strong self-management skills. Students are setting timelines, tracking progress, and pivoting when their research takes them in unexpected directions.

And they are also learning to tolerate confusion and deal with ambiguity, which takes a lot of practice.

The last stage of the teacher developed project is focusing on the legacy of the topic that the students chose.

They're connecting the past to current events. They're showing the through lines in the ensuing decades, and they're thinking about how history shapes the present.

Making these connections makes the learning even more relevant and meaningful.

The culmination of the work comes in the National History Day showcase in the library, which you can see in the two slides.

Students present their work to their peers, their teachers, and their families, and they get feedback from faculty judges on improving their projects before they potentially move on to district competitions.

Younger classes are often brought in to learn from the student projects, which is really fun to watch, and it is a great moment for the students to share what they've learned and present to an audience.

The most rewarding part for us is that we as educators got to know our students and what they care about in a much more profound way and early on in their high school career.

So in the slide, you can see some exhibit boards from our first National History Day showcase. You can see the man in black, which is about Johnny Cash, obviously. You might be able to see Christian Dior on the pink background further back, but you may not be able to make out what the little one says, and it is titled Queen Elizabeth, breaking the barrier between the Catholic and Anglican churches.

And then on the next slide, you will see, a screen from a website about the African American surgeon, Doctor Daniel Hale Williams, and his work in the advancement of open-heart surgery. So when you remember that these are first quarter ninth grade students, you can tell that these have become passion projects and that they enjoyed learning about something important to them because they got to choose it themselves.

For me, to say that choosing their topics sparked inquiry and help them to explore self-identity is an understatement as you can see from these examples.

When you put it all together, the student choice, the collaboration, the reflection, and the strong support tools, the research becomes a meaningful driver of SEO growth.

Students can see the relevance of history in their own lives and also engage more thoughtfully with each other, with their teachers, and hopefully with the librarian. 

A quick note about National History Day for those that are interested. School level participation is free, but there are entry fees for district, state, and national contests.

There are also many, many resources on the website. Some are free and some are for purchase. But those include lesson plans and research guides, and you can adapt from a ready-made structure, which makes it a little bit easier.

The program also aligns well with many curriculum standards and works with a wide range of learning environments. They include public school, private school, and there are a lot of homeschool participants as well.

Now I'd like to talk about a project that is very particular to Saint Mary's Hall, and it is called Issues Day. So it is a long-standing tradition for our Form eleven students. Since 1992, the junior class has nominated, voted on, and chosen the topic. They have formed a self-selected research team, and then they have invited speakers for a half day panel discussion for the entire upper school. And then they are released for the day. The teachers stay behind, but the students release. So this is a really important day for us.

It has shown us that when students dig into complex social issues like AI, immigration, gun control, the impact of social media, they're not just learning content, they're engaging with it.

For what we call the speaker team who does the initial research and then chooses who to invite, it asks them to reflect on their own beliefs and to try to understand those of others.

Databases can support them in this. They offer both access to multiple perspectives and also tools that recognize bias and misinformation.

The process is totally student driven, but also with a lot of guidance.

But that means that the students are making the important decision, what facets of the topic to address, which voices need to be included, and therefore, which experts to invite to speak.

That process requires judgment, empathy, and thoughtful communication with each other as a team. My role as the librarian and faculty sponsor is to support them in this progression, to help them to navigate sources, to weigh evidence, and to think deeply about the information that they're using.

To make the broad topics more manageable and to direct our research, we break them into what we call streams. These are aspects or subtopics that will help to create a more well-rounded discussion.

Databases are really helpful here as well because they often break down large issues in ways that point students towards these different facets for us to look at.

One of the biggest takeaways from issues day for students is realizing just how complex these issues are. They quickly see that there are rarely, if ever, just two sides and that there are no easy answers to extremely nuanced problems.

Similar to National History Day, but in modern contexts, they're encountering ideas that may challenge their own and finding ways to wrestle with unresolved conflict.

Databases are essential in supporting that process as well.

Social issues databases like points of view, those are especially helpful as they offer overviews, point counterpoint arguments, and critical analysis.

These built in resources help students to question their assumptions, broaden their thinking, and this leads to more constructive discussion.

Also, as with NHD, the group the group dynamic is where much of the SEL growth happens.

Students have to navigate these different opinions to check their own biases and to learn how to disagree respectfully with using evidence.

These conversations can feel very high stakes and emotional because the issues are current and personal, but that's also what makes the learning even more meaningful.

It is important to point out though that the per the point of issue stay is not to change the minds of the students. It's to provide them with balanced information and expert analysis to help them make up their own minds. So my work on National History Day and then also on Issues Day has led to another opportunity, which is potentially coteaching a class on civil discourse with one of the social sciences teachers that, developed the NHD project. And right now, we are waiting to see if the numbers, are going to make for the class, and therefore, what I may or may not have gotten myself into for next year and where I'll be spending my summer giving.

So, if it does make, it will be a new high school, social sciences elective called civil discourse and intercultural dialogue. It's a semester long course that's designed to help students engage in informed productive conversations about contentious social issues.

This class grew out of my collaboration with the social sciences department through several projects, mainly National History Day. Together, we're trying to create a space where student voice is front and center and where SEL skills can be built intentionally through inquiry, media literacy, and open dialogue.

We plan to begin the course with a survey and then repeat it at the end of the semester to see how the students have hopefully grown and evolved in areas like confidence, empathy, and communication.

We also hope to see positive shifts in working through complex information and relating to others.

A big part of the class will be practicing how to really talk with others to work towards resolution through things like empathic listening and finding common ground.

Ultimately, it's the design of these research experiences paired with the right source material that shapes the SEL outcomes.

They will explore what informed debate looks like in a healthy democracy, why representation matters, and how to communicate thoughtfully with people who may see things very, very differently.

At this stage in their development, students are already stepping into more independence. They're figuring out how to make big decisions, and they're trying to understand their own perspectives. This course is designed to meet them in that moment.

This is where the databases can help to ground their discussions in evidence-based information and analysis, and especially when they're tackling very sensitive and polarizing topics, which is the whole point of the class.

The goal is to then send them out of the class ready to participate more responsibly in civic life, whether that's in the classroom, online, or in the community.

So we've looked at some examples of how we've used these resources at Saint Mary's Hall.

Now I'd like to talk about some ways that SEL can be built into information literacy and research instruction and not as something that is just tacked on at the end.

First, one way we can bring SEL in is to give students choice but with structure, like the annual theme from National History Day.

When students get to choose their topic, they're practicing decision making, and they're immediately more invested, which was evident to me in National History Day projects.

But having a few limits keeps things more focused and more manageable.

Another simple shift is teaching perspective taking through source comparison.

This is something databases also make.

When students look at different viewpoints and weigh evidence, they're learning to look for bias but also for understanding.

You can prompt them to think about whose voices are included, whose are missing, and how someone's context and experiences shape their views with tools like biographies and primary sources.

It also helps to break the research process into smaller steps like we did with National History Day. Research can feel overwhelming, so when you scaffold it with clear targets, students have time to build their self-management skills and to feel less stressed. So it also reinforces the idea that uncertainty is part of the process and not something to be afraid.

Structured group work is another big opportunity for SEL. When students have known roles and expectations, collaboration becomes much more productive.

They practice accountability and how to move toward resolution together in a constructive way.

So then following, it's important to anchor the research in real world and ethical questions. When students explore issues that matter to them and affect them personally, like privacy, equity, technology, they are more emotionally and intellectually connected, as I've seen time and again with issues day.

Building in time for reflection is another key piece. Even short moments of reflection can help students to recognize how they've grown, how they handle challenges, how they their thinking may have changed, and what skills they used along the way, like persistence or open mindedness.

Finally, just naming the skills makes a difference. Using language that students understand, words like empathy, perseverance, good choices, helps them to connect what they're doing and why it matters.

It feels more real when they are entrusted with their own learning.

Together, these strategies turn research into a powerful SEL experience, one that builds not only information literacy but also the emotional and interpersonal skills that students will need to thrive.

So I will be honest. Projects like the ones that I shared today do take time, and that was one of the biggest challenges that librarians talked about in the study. But the good news is you don't have to do it all at once or in the exact same way.

Elements of each of these can be taken out individually, or what I like to do is to do abbreviated versions of the same models. So the NHD project doesn't have to take an entire quarter. If you have one week, you can do one class period where they do research, one where they build their projects, and then one where they present them. Or, also, I love to do a mini-issues day where a class chooses a topic, they research it, and then they are the experts in the panel discussion.

Those are kind of some fun ways to incorporate those kinds of discussions.

So that said, what I have found is that when you start with small shifts that leads to real results, the trust builds.

Over time, teachers and administrators begin to see the value, and that can result in you being given more time, more collaboration opportunities, and more support, especially as they realize how much you can take on as the person who best understands both the research process and the resources that support it.

So now we can look at how to propose your ideas by thinking how to successfully approach teachers.

First, when it comes to bringing SEL into research and information literacy instruction, there has to be collaboration with the classroom teachers, and that is easiest when we connect it to what they already care about.

First, when you start with their goals, you can anchor the SEL instruction in outcomes they already value.

When they see improved critical thinking and more skillful communication, it becomes clear that SEL is not something extra. It's already embedded in the research skills that we are teaching.

Another helpful approach is to make the invisible visible by naming what's already happening. When students evaluate bias, they're practicing perspective taking. When they revise the search strategy, that's persistence. When they work in groups, that's communication.

So using that shared language helps the teachers and the students to see the value of what's going on in the classroom already.

It also helps to come with ready to use collaborative ideas.

The easier you make it, the more likely teachers are to say yes to partnering.

If you provide turnkey lessons or you can even just provide some targeted database suggestions that are tied to one of their projects, you can also volunteer to facilitate teacher PD, or you can package SEL aligned lessons for the teachers.

One of my go-to tools for supporting the teachers is LibGuides that they really have grabbed onto. I use them to gather their resources for a project or a lesson all in one place. That can be assignment documents, rubrics, but especially subject specific and age-appropriate database and other links into a visually appealing format. And having one web URL where they have all that they need gives students the clear starting point, and that may keep them from wandering off into Google or AI territory, is what we hope when we're beginning stages of research.

Another strategy is to look for units that already lend themselves to SEO. There are already several natural entry points. For example, digital citizen citizenship activities, like exploring ethical online behavior or thinking about how media shapes social discourse. You don't have to reinvent the curriculum. You just build onto what's already there.

Sharing student work can also go a long way towards building buy in. As we've said before, when teachers see the students demonstrating collaboration or personal reflection, it makes the impact tangible.

The National History Day projects and the Issues Day panel discussion are highly visible products of what can be done when students take the reins of SEL. The library can also be a low-risk place for to try new things.

Teachers can experiment with new instructional strategies for SEL aligned activities, and they are in a supportive environment that has curated embedded resources.

That piece alone can make a big difference in their comfort level with the information sources that they are directing their students to use.

Finally, it's important to highlight the librarian as an instructional partner in SEL integration across the curriculum.

We can assist in designing learning experiences that build SEL competencies by curating resources, collaborating on instruction, and framing research to connect academic skills with how students think, learn, and communicate.

So now I will turn it back over to Tammy to talk about how you can get the word out.

Tammy Ross

Almost forgot to unmute myself. Thank you so much, Gerri. That was such great information. I'm sure people on the call are still processing it, but I just want to remind you if you have any questions about what Jerry just shared to please, put your questions in the q and a box, and, we'll get to them after I do my little part here. So, as I mentioned earlier, I am the marketing manager, for Schools of Public Library. So, that's why I'm doing this section, because it's about marketing, and that is part of what you need to do as a librarian.

So I want to leave you with a few simple ways to get the word out in your own school. One of them is a handout we've created for you, and I'm going to just grab that link really quickly.

If I can find the right, there we go.

Okay. I just posted the link in the chat. So this is a try this handout, and it's a ready to use activity that you can share directly with teachers or use yourself with students in the library. It's a quick twenty to thirty minute lesson where students explore multiple perspectives, compare sources, and reflect on how their thinking shifts. It builds research skills and SEL at the same time, and it doesn't add a lot of extra lift for you.

So from there, you can build outward.

You might send a short, targeted email with a resource or lesson plan idea like this one.

It's something that teachers can immediately use. If you have the opportunity, even five minutes at a faculty or department meeting can go a long way in helping colleagues see what's possible.

You might also offer a short professional development session, or even better, co plan a lesson with a willing teacher and let that success build momentum through word-of-mouth.

And don't underestimate the power of visibility.

Displays that highlight what students are researching and learning can make that work more tangible across your school.

And this doesn't have to happen all at once. A lot of it is already happening in your libraries. It's about making that connection between research and student growth more visible to your administrators, your teachers, and your parents so that they can see the full value of what you do.

So let me just go to our last slide. I just wanted to reiterate that we will be providing a recording of this later in the week. I will also include a link, that will point you to this handout that I just sent you along with some other resources you might be interested in in checking out, including the white paper that we wrote that's based on the survey that I shared some results of with you earlier in the session.

So with that, I'm going to start. There are a couple of questions already in the in the q and a box, but please add more if you have them. The first question, Gerri, who are the panelists that are in issues day, and how do you go about getting them?

Gerri Walls

Absolutely. So like I said, each year, the form eleven students, they choose the own topic. And so from there, they have what they call the speak team, and that's these are self-selected students that I mean, it is from September to February. It is a it's a process.

And so they do this intense research, and then they have to start reaching out to people, to experts, to ask them to be on this panel.

And they have to learn how to hear the word no, which is another really good SEO skill to have.

And then but you'd be amazed at how many times people say yes.

Really busy people, you know, with big people. So this year, they chose the topic for of AI and jobs, and we had three PhDs, a JD, and someone who worked from NVIDIA who works at NVIDIA. So we reach out to you know, I have to admit I we go to the universities around here a lot because that's where the experts are often, and that's where they're doing a lot of studies and things. But, yeah, it can be you know, we've had from all walks of life, and every topic is different.

We've done immigration, gun control. We've done abortion. You name it. But it depends on the topic, who all ends up in the chairs on the stage.

But that's how we go about it. I hope that answered your question.

Tammy Ross

Awesome. Thank you. Another question was related to how you could adapt National History Day at the elementary level. Is it something that's specifically for high schools, or can you can you do it also in elementary and middle schools?

Gerri Walls

I think that you could totally adapt it to elementary school. There's not a competition.

The competition for is for grades six through twelve, so it's not like they could enter into something, but that's not really, I think, the value of National History Day. I mean, that's fun and everything. But I think you could I could absolutely using the materials that are on the National History Day website and the model that they provide, I think you could absolutely make that into an elementary, you know, where that works for younger students. And I think it could be a really great way to even start that whole student choice, because I cannot stress that enough.

That is an incredible driver of I was amazed, the shocked, the first year that we did National History Day, the work that they produced because it was something they were extremely passionate about. So that can be a third grader that can be super pass I mean, elementary school students are passionate about so many fun, cool things. So I think that you could absolutely take the model, take the, the, you know, instructional tools that they have on there, and then combine that with databases that are created for elementary students just because, you know, we usually use the databases for middle and upper school.

You could absolutely use databases for elementary school students and then create national history data. I think that would be a fabulous thing.

Tammy Ross

Yeah. And I think you mentioned earlier too, you can take pieces of it. Like, you don't have to take the whole thing. Like, maybe they're just going to create a presentation. They don't have to write, like, an, you know, paper, a long paper, but just create, like, a poster board and teach the class something about they what they learned on their topic of choice.

Gerri Walls

Yeah. Rather than, like, kind of this multimedia. I mean, that's fun. Don't get me wrong because we've got documentary screening on one room and then websites and everything.

I mean, that's super fun, but that's a lot to do with second graders. But right. Exactly. Make it more like a poster session, you know, like when we go to TI, you know, something like that.

Tammy Ross

Right. And I just want to also comment on the student choice piece. I mean, I was a high school English teacher for nine years, and I you know, we obviously had a canon of literature that they had to read. But I always, the end of the year, would do this independent reading project where the students would get to pick their book, you know, as long as it wasn't, like, you know, too, you know, advanced for them.

But they had a pretty wide span of choices. And the books that they chose to read, they were so much more engaged, so much more excited to do the different projects associated with that book. So it is a huge, sort of almost like a confidence booster too with kids. At least that's what I've noticed.

So there is another question here from Natalie. She asks, is there a library link on your school's website where you direct students to LibGuides, or is that just for the educators that you have LibGuides for?

Gerri Walls

No. Absolutely. I use LibGuides for our entire library website. So if you go to libguides.smpoll.org, if you want to go take a look at it, that is where I put all of our resources, and, you know, they're tagged.

And that's where I send both my teachers and my students and my parents. That's where it all lives. And that's where I mean, I've got databases both in an a to z list, and I've got databases in a more visual, you know, a visual presentation because, you know, I'm a very visual learner. So, I like to make it colorful.

I like to have, you know, just different ways of accessing the same place, the same things. I've got it kind of chock full. I wonder if it may be a little overwhelming, but I like to be very, very thorough. But, yeah, I use that for, you know, the whole library website.

And then, also, there's individual LibGuides for the different projects. Like, I've got a LibGuide for the, you know, form seven life science cell project, and I've got a LibGuide for the APLIT, you know, whatever paper. So when you oh, sure. It's, LibGuides.SMHall.org.

I think you have to put HTTPS in front. But, yeah, there you go. Thank you.

And then LibGuides is one word together just so you don't get caught up. But yeah. And like I said, if anybody would like to email me and, you know, have me email that, you know, to them, I'm more than happy to do that and answer any questions I can. It's through Springshare is the company. You do pay for access to LibGuides, but you I looked up some other there's resources out there that I have not vetted or looked at, but that are similar that you might be able to use for LibGuides if you don't have that in your budget or screen share. But I love using them. I love them.

Tammy Ross

Well, that seems to be the end of the questions. Thank you. I just dropped that link in there.

Gerri Walls

Thank you. I forgot the learning comments part.

Tammy Ross

I apologize. No. That's okay.

Gerri Walls

That's how I always start. I'm with guys when I start. But, yes, the learning comments.

Tammy Ross

But, no, I it was easy. It was easy one. At least it wasn't a really long one. Yes. So I do have our emails on the on the screen in front of you. If you have any other questions that you want to follow-up with, you're more than welcome to reach out to Jerry or me, and we'll do our best to respond.

And like I said, we'll be sending you the recording for this, and we really appreciate you taking time out of your day to attend this session. I know we threw a lot at you, so you you'll you can revisit it if you if you want at a later time.

And, again, please let us know if you have any questions at all. We really appreciate you all for joining us. Thank you so much. Thank you, guys. Bye. Bye.