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@D114Stanton
@D114Lotus
@FLGSD114
#District114proud
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A HUGE thank you to the first-grade team for helping me while I was gone. Because of them, my students didn't skip a beat with curriculum and I came back to a well-organized classroom! You girls are my favorite!
-From Erica Barraza
Kudos to Georgette for catching my diabetic student from grabbing a whole PBJ, Slushy and a chocolate milk. You Rock
-From Colleen Robinson
Congratulations to Michelle Magness on being nominated for a 2018 Golden Apple Award for grades PreK-3! We are so proud of you!
-Natalie Udstuen
Thank you to Jackie Harmon and Mollie Herchenbach for having their class present a monthly bucket filler activity to administration!
-Natalie Udstuen
I'd like to express appreciation for the kind and encouraging energy that Victoria Miller and Kim VanHoorelbeke share with Lotus citizens as they help monitor the morning traffic to and from the cafeteria!
Thank you.
I love upbeat morning folk. :)
-Joe Fernandez
To everyone who had anything at all do to with my "Welcome to D114". That totally surprised me and means more to me than you'll ever, ever know.
and
Thanks to the mental health team for your leadership and knowledge--we SO appreciate you leading learning on Friday's trainings!
and
To EVERYONE at Friday's morning session for making Bob feel so welcome and for being so actively involved and engaged in learning!
and
To Jeff Sefcik for being the ultimate trooper as Elsa!
and
To Colleen and Tom Robinson for helping with my foot injury!
-All from Heather
I wanted to send out a kudos to Amber Mysliwiec. She graciously helped me out Thursday by staying and making sure my gymnastic club students' parents picked them up, while I had to leave early to head to Stanton. Thank you so much!
-From Victoria Miller
When you have a kudo to share for someone, please just email me and I'll include it here! The goal is to create system celebrations--so your input is truly welcome!
Just for fun...mine is Leader of the Glue Sticks! :)
News from the Business Office
Insurance
As I've communicated in email updates, your patience with BCBS is greatly appreciated. I can assure you that they have had all the information they needed from us and that all issues remaining are on their end. I was still informed over the weekend that some staff could not access their active membership, even with the direct assistance from Matt, our BCBS account rep. You can trust that I've been in touch and online with our insurance team all weekend and that I'll continue to keep you posted. Bottom line--you are covered effective 10/1/17. We are working out the details on cards and numbers but, no matter what, you are protected and we'll take care of all the rest.
As a result of the time I've needed to spend on insurance this week, I've been unable to print and organize contract verifications. I'll do so just as soon as I can--this is a priority and important to me. Just need a little time to be able to ensure accuracy.
Board Policies Online
Hurrah! We are in compliance and our Board policies are now posted online. This has to be facilitated by an outside agency, thus the delay. If you'd like to take a peek, here's the link to follow:
October 6 Institute Day
Thanks again so very much such a positive day on Friday! Attached to the email with the link to this blog update, you'll find the slides Bob presented. Please use/review as you'd like. You can trust that we'll follow up on identifying essentials as well as the commitments work with started. At the building level, please continue to work on your SMART goals. Again, more training and support will be provided, so get messy with these and just give them a try!!
FACILITIES UPDATES
FYI, we'll now be replacing one of the water heaters at Stanton. Unfortunately, in the facilities plan, the date of installation and useful life information were inaccurate---this heater was 13 years old, and functions to heat the kitchen dishwasher...which, obviously, has to get super hot in order to clean the dishes to meet health department code. This one heats the water for the dishwasher in the kitchen, among other things. It's a must do!
Hello!
If you would like to save a Google Doc to more than one folder it is very simple!
Select the Doc you wish to move to a 2nd folder and press Shift+Z and you’ll see an “Add to Folder” pop-up (see screenshot). Next select the folder where you wish to add the selected files and click OK.
Education Association of Fox Lake News and Updates
Correction: The check presentation for the SCORE Grant awarded to Kim VanHoorelbeke will not be at the October school board meeting. Stayed tuned for more information!
Barb Brown, Chris Brown, Betty Cwiak, Tiffany Mihovilovich, Amber Mysliwiec, and Melissa Williams attended the Resilience training hosted by the IEA in Libertyville last Wednesday. The data is clear, children who are exposed to toxic stress as a result of adverse childhood experiences are at disadvantage when it comes to their health and their ability to learn. While it may be comfortable to believe that these experiences are rare, the reality is that out of 10 adverse experiences measured, 64% of adults had been exposed to at least one as child. If we are truly committed to ensuring that all students achieve at high levels, as educators we need to do more to help students and their families overcome these barriers. The group that attended the training is looking forward to bringing you more information about this important topic in the near future.
Upcoming IEA Events:
- IEA Professional Development Conference 12/1-12/2 in Springfield Click Here to Register (Early bird pricing ends 10/15)
Melissa Williams, President
Maureen DeVoss, Vice President for Certified Staff
Chris Brown, Vice President for Non-Certified Staff
Katy Gardner, Treasurer
Betty Cwiak, Secretary
Barb Brown, Region Representative
Matt Shannon, Stanton School Representative
Tiffany Tardio, Lotus School Representative
Questions for thought as you read...
How can we tap into our own fabulous internal resources more regularly?
How can YOU contribute? What amazing things/ideas do you have to share?
Using a School’s Internal Expertise for Professional Development
In this article in Independent School, teacher/author Lauren Porosoff suggests four ways of tapping in-school resources for PD:
• The Workshop – A faculty member presents an idea that’s had a positive impact on students. Then, with the presenter’s guidance, colleagues try doing it themselves. For example, a math teacher at Porosoff’s school showed how he was making short explanatory videos for students to watch at home, opening up more class time for working with groups of students on challenging problems. This teacher showed colleagues how to make videos in their subject areas and deal with the inevitable challenges – students who don’t watch the video or don’t understand fundamental aspects of the content, and how to help students work together to solve problems. In Porosoff’s school, there’s been no shortage of teachers with useful ideas to share in workshops.
• The Council – Several teachers describe a classroom challenge or dilemma and ask colleagues for ideas. Some examples:
- How can I teach grammar in a way that improves student writing?
- How can I make algebra fun?
- How can I incorporate discussions of current events?
- What creative project can I assign instead of the Civil War essay?
- Why did so many of my students fail this test when it seemed they were well prepared?
- How can I include service learning in my classroom?
- How can I make best use of new technology without letting it use me?
- How can I ensure 100 percent participation?
- How can I teach compassionate behaviors?
- How can I give students brain and body breaks?
- How can I take better care of myself?
- How can I get Donny Crawford to talk in my class?
Once several questions have been posed, teachers form groups of 4-7 and serve as a “council” for each question. The presenter describes exactly what is happening in the classroom, states the desired outcome, answers clarifying questions, and then is silent while the group discusses the issue and offers insights.
Tackling the question of how to get Donny Crawford participating in class, a colleague who knows the student might tell about his interest in current events, another teacher might suggest partner discussions and writing prompts, yet another might suggest rethinking what participation looks like. “By presenting,” says Porosoff, “teachers benefit from the collective expertise of their colleagues, who in turn benefit from hearing and wrestling with a colleague’s dilemma. Even if the groups don’t solve every problem, presenters might leave feeling surprised by successes they hadn’t noticed, inspired by their colleagues’ insights, aware of new resources, and ready to try new methods… And the whole group becomes stronger by working together toward the success of one of its members.”
Porosoff suggests asking a few accomplished veteran staff members to take the lead presenting problems to overcome the fear others might have admitting classroom weaknesses and failures.
• The Toolbox Share – A school leader or department chair poses a question to colleagues and everyone contributes ideas. Some examples:
- How do we incorporate movement into our sixth-grade classes?
- How do we communicate with parents when a kid gets a bad grade?
- How do we examine math resources for bias?
- How do we use historical fiction in our classes?
On the last question, members of the history department might ponder this question before the meeting and bring books from their classroom libraries and historical fiction writing assignments they’ve given. “Rather than having one expert share a ‘best’ practice,” says Porosoff, “– and narrowing the faculty’s repertoire to include only that practice – teachers can expand and diversify their collective repertoire to include more ways to help students learn.”
• The Bring-Back – Teachers who have been to conferences share ideas they found particularly helpful. For example, a teacher went to a technology conference and attended a workshop on how game-making helps students be creative and understand how ideas interconnect. Back in her school, she showed slides from the workshop and led a discussion on how her colleagues might use the ideas in their classes. A science teacher thought about how to make games to learn the parts of a plant and a history teacher considered modifying a board game about the U.S. Constitution that he once used. “In a bring-back,” says Porosoff, “everyone explores and experiments together – in much the same way as we aim for our students to do.”
School leaders – principals, department chairs, deans, directors – can use all four of these formats to orchestrate high-quality professional development meetings. In classroom visits, team meetings, and conversations with colleagues, leaders need to keep their eyes open:
- Spotting expertise within the faculty;
- Listening for common concerns;
- Noticing teaching strengths and weaknesses;
- Keeping track of conferences teachers are attending and books they’re reading;
- Carving out time for PD;
- Observing whether ideas are being used in classrooms and are making a difference.
“Closer Than You Think” by Lauren Porosoff in Independent School, Fall 2017 (Vol. 77, #1, p. 30-36), http://bit.ly/2fDYnX3; Porosoff can be reached at lporosoff@ecfs.org.
October 17--Board of Education meeting (7:00 PM at Lotus)
Welcome back to Gayle McManamon! We're so happy you're back with us!
Thanks to Rachel Lundberg for being simply amazing in our Blended EC class. So glad you'll still be supporting our little learners!
I hope you enjoy the Monday off and have a spectacular week!
Thanks so much for all you do!
Heather
