As you know, every school year, our college has a theme for Campus Explorations. Through seminars (every Wednesday from 2 to 3pm in P-32), films, guest speakers, and special projects, Campus Explorations immerses everybody in thought-provoking conversations about important topics. This year's theme is "The Environment & Sustainable Living: Global Crises and Solutions"--a very timely topic.
If you are like me, you may have been wondering how to get your class to participate in this dynamic discourse more, since my ESL 35 students are only at the intermediate level of English proficiency and the class meets at 4:30pm.
Well, thanks to our colleagues in the library, you may worry no more. According to an email sent by librarian Katy French last week, you can now have your class participate in the Campus Explorations theme at the library. A librarian-led session will focus on information-competency building by examining conflicting messages "regarding the environment and sustainable living. For example, hybrid cars are the rave, but some sources say the cost of the production is not worth the benefit of driving one." Not only will your students then learn about finding pertinent information, but they will also learn how to evaluate it, a very real critical thinking skill.
In a subsequent email, Katy told me that most librarians have worked with ESL classes before and know how to tailor the content to the needs of our students. In addition, the librarians are available from 8am to 9pm Monday through Thursday, 8am to 4pm on Friday, and 9am to 1pm on Saturday.
Therefore, I'd like to encourage you to take advantage of this wonderful service offered by our librarians, especially if you teach a class at the intermediate level and above. On this library instruction request form, you can specify your assignment as well as learning outcomes. Katy's email address is on the form, too, but you can call her at ext. 3640 to start the collaboration.
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