Lunch & Learns

A fellow LMS shared a cool idea at our last secondary librarians meeting we had last month.  I had already been toying with the idea of having casual, no-stress mini workshops/share sessions after we got back from winter break.  I was considering Wednesdays after school, since I already stay after on Tuesdays and Thursdays for MakerSpace Club.  I was thinking I would open it up to everyone - teachers and students - because we could learn from all perspectives.  Then this high school librarian told us about her Lunch & Learns, and I thought this would be perfect for Carver.  Not too many teachers stay after school, and if they do, it's because they have something they're already doing.  I won't get the students involved, but I could go for staff.  I seriously want people to start feeling comfortable using Google.  The truth of the matter - the students have no problem jumping in, so maybe it's a good thing to just concentrate on the adults.

I got it approved by my administration and sent out the invitation as soon as we got back for second semester.  I immediately got positive responses.  People were definitely interested.  I sold the Lunch & Learn by promising a light-hearted approach and that all levels of experience are welcome.  They simply needed to bring their lunch to the library, and I would have a treat for them to enjoy.

I created a calendar for possible topics, and the first one would be about personalizing their chromebook and shortcuts.  At a Maker Space conference I attended this past summer, the instructors stressed how important it is to personal your devices.  I have to agree - you are more comfortable on your "own" device - even it's really owned by the school.  You can still make some changes, especially in Google!, making it more personal and unique.  So I went with this idea and added the shortcuts, because who doesn't love to save time!

For the treat I made these -
Oat Fudge Bars
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, divided
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla, divided
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups oatmeal
1 can of sweetened evaporated milk
1 bag of semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*.  Lightly grease a 9 x 13 dish.  Using the stand mixer, whip 1 cup of butter.  Add both sugars and thoroughly combine.  Add 1 tsp of vanilla and the eggs.  In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and oatmeal.  Gradually add this to the butter and sugar mixer.  Spread a little more than half of the dough into the bottom of baking dish.  With a saucepan on low heat, mix 1/2 cup of butter, milk, chocolate chips, and remaining vanilla.  Pour this over the dough in dish.  Then drop the rest of the dough on top on the chocolate layer.  Bake for about 25 min.

One of our teachers had her daughter's birthday party the day before and offered to bring the leftover food - stuff to make sandwiches, some chips, and popcorn.  It was a great bonus!  Hopefully people won't expect such a spread for the next one!

I had about 30 people participate.  The last 2 groups wanted help with Google Classroom, so I highlighted the other and switched gears to answer their classroom questions.  One of the teachers had a super idea for me to setup a Google Classroom for Lunch & Learn.  I already have 8 people enrolled!

All in all, I would say Lunch & Learns is a hit.  A great way to help people with technology!  I plan on having these every other week on Mondays.