Reflections: Let Your Imagination Fly

Sphero 2.0

New addition to the MakerSpace

Sphero 2.0 is the latest addition to our MakerSpace. "Sphero lets you play, learn, and explore." It is an app-enabled robotic ball, smart toy and gaming system in one. You can "drive" Sphero from your smartphone or tablet. Sphero comes with a library of free apps for your iPod, iPhone, and iPad. MacWorld wrote that Sphero "will inspire a love of robotics, coding, and STEM principles… all through play." We named our Sphero, "Roger" for our school mascot Jolly Roger. Roger came with us to computer club this past week, we taped our session via Periscope and posted it to our Twitter account.

New Books!!!

New Books Display

Our new fiction and non-fiction books have arrived! They are now located in the reference section next to the flag pole.  For a full list, click here and select "Fall 2015 New Books" from the Resource Lists (which is right in the middle of the page). If you are looking for a book and we do not have it here in our library, you can request it here. Fill out all fields in the form.

Our New iMac Lab

New iMac Lab in the School Library

Our new iMac Lab debuted this Fall. We now have 30 Apple iMacs and a new SMART Interactive Flat Panel on the classroom side of the library. These new computers will be used by our broadcasting and art classes. They will also be used by our other disciplines when creating public service announcements, commercials, and other video/photo-related content. We are very excited to see what our students create. Stay tuned for features from our best and brightest.

Fragments: Nostalgia

Fragments, Mepham's literary magazine has new contest: Nostalgia

Image Source

Submit your original poetry, short stories, essays, artwork or photography on the topic of nostalgia to win a prize and the chance to be published. All pieces are due by Wednesday, October 27th. Please submit entries to fragmentsemail@gmail.com.  

ELITE Event: littleBits in Mepham’s MakerSpace

Ever wondered how electronics work? Want to try making a noise maker or “prank handshake”?

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We will be hosting our first littleBits in Mepham's NEW MakerSpace. This is a sanctioned ELITE Event. You can sign up by clicking here.

Date: Monday, October 5th
Time: 2:15 pm
Location: School Library (Room 300)

These kits come with easy-to-use colorful instructions on how to make over 20 different prototypes! littleBit modules are tiny circuit-boards with simple, unique functions that are engineered to snap together with magnets.  Modules each have a unique function (light, sound, sensors, buttons, thresholds, pulse, motors, etc.) and the modules snap together to make larger circuits. Just as LEGOs™ allow you to create complex structures with very little engineering knowledge, littleBits modules are powerfully small, intuitive, blocks that make creating with sophisticated electronics a snap.

No experience necessary. All are welcome!

UPDATE: THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN! Using littleBits, students created a prank handshake, a motorized Lego car that operates on the amount of light available, and a windmill generated from our 3D doodle pen whose speed is dependent on the noise level.  This friendly competition stimulated the students creativity and they were able to problem solve when things didn’t work properly.  The students went back to the design model and made adjustments to get things back on track.

Prank handshake