@D114Stanton

@D114Lotus

@FLGSD114

#District114proud

Happy Monday, everyone!

To Jackie Harmon for planning a great to a movie for her students! Look what a great job they're doing!!!

and

Kudos to Lisa Huck, Sue Marker, and Matt Peters for joining us at the Rotary event on Sunday and making sure our Lotus students had an AWESOME experience! It was so great to see them there...and you giving your time is truly appreciated!

and

To everyone who helped in any way with Santa's Breakfast at Stanton on Saturday! What an amazing event...even bigger and better than last year!! It was a fabulous community event, and I truly appreciate your time and dedication!

-All From Heather :)

KUDOS to Skyward Guru, Paula Kvacik, for sharing her knowledge & expertise with patience and humor to help me adjust our 1st hour ELT classes for GPA calculation in Skyward gradebooks.
-Michele Burgess

Kudos to the Stanton Kitchen for putting out a lovely array of
food for the transportation meeting. Everything was wonderful
and the soup warmed us up!

and

Kudos to all the D114 drivers and aides. Getting the kids to school and
back home safely everyday with a smile on your face all while
trying to pay attention to the traffic - you are awesome and appreciated!

and

Kudos to Becky Allard - her knowledge and willingness to share
and collaborate is priceless. Thanks!
-All From Andrea DeMatteo

Thank you so much to Joe Fernandez, Chris Carvell, Ryan Hawkins, Paige Shaffer, Beth Rendon, and Oner Medrano who have been so flexible with sharing our limited space at Stanton to accommodate boys basketball, wrestling, cheerleading, and the drama performance. Great teamwork!

and

Thank you to Dan Olson who has helped with internal subbing several times because of student meetings. I appreciate your support for our students!

and

Thank you so much to Beth Rendon, our amazing kitchen staff, Sarah Ferens, and Liz Andersen for all their work preparing, making, and serving sundaes for a PBIS incentive for students during lunch. Amazing work!
-All From Rachelle Peters

Kudos to The Food Service Staff for all the help and hard work to have a successful Breakfast with Santa.
You did an amazing job!
-From Georgette Franco

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!

News from the Business Office

Upcoming Payrolls

Please be aware of the following payroll dates---and please be sure to plan accordingly. :)

3 paychecks in December:

December 1, 15, 20

1 paycheck in January:

January 13

2 paycheck in February:

February 1 and 15

Any time sheets received by end of day on 12/8/17 will be paid on 12/15/17 check.

Any time sheets received by end of day on 12/15/17 will be paid on the 12/22/17 check.

From PayFlex

November 30, 2017

We’re pleased to offer a more convenient, 24/7 solution when it comes to employees contacting PayFlex customer service…email! That’s right, now you can directly email us questions throughout the plan year.

Where can you find the email option?

You can find the “send an email” option from the PayFlex member website.

Once you log into the PayFlex member website, you select "Help & Support" at the top of the screen.

Then, select "Contact Us".

From that page, you have the option to select send an email.

Math Materials Review Process

As you are likely aware, we are examining math materials in order to adopt a resource aligned to the Common Core and to help our students make even more progress in math. I got some questions last week about how this process is going, so see below for an update...

This process will be implemented whenever we are selecting materials. By following these steps and starting with best practice, research-based criteria, we will find the best of the best for our students! It also helps us ensure that all staff interested in being a part of the process have a voice!

Please contact me if you have any questions at all! ❤

INFINITEC MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR DECEMBER/JANUARY/FEBRUARY

Infinitec is an Special Education and Assistive Technology Initiative that provides webinars, workshops, resources and other services to member districts. Their website not only includes a calendar of events of one day webinars and workshops, but also free archived webinars of a variety of topics for staff with any level of knowledge. Please contact Brandt Rosen (brosen@elced.org) for more information of what Infinitec has to offer.

VIEW FREE WEBINARS WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR A FREE ACCOUNT:

Click here to register for a free account. When signing up, under "District/coop," be sure to type in the "Exceptional Learners' Collaborative." Please remember that if you sign up, one day webinars are archived for a certain amount of time following the time of the webinar, so it's good to sign up even though if you may not be able to attend the exact date and/or time of the webinar. You will be able to watch the webinar later. Click on the "Online Classroom" tab to view all archived webinars.

FREE WEBINARS:

12/5/17 Adapting and Creating Classroom Content using Free Open Educational Resources by Dan Herlihy

12/7/17 What’s New in iOS 11 for Supporting Diverse Learners by Luis Perez

12/11/17 A Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Approach to AAC Services by Sue Mahoney

12/12/17 The Hidden Curriculum of the Cycle of Meltdowns for Individuals with High Functioning-Autism Spectrum Disorder By Dr. Brenda Smith Myles

12/13/17 Assistive Technology for Dyslexia: Chrome Tools by Jamie Martin

WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES:

2/7/18 IL -- Social Emotional Engagement Within The UDL Classroom w/Emily Rubin Glendale Heights, IL $35

2/20/18 IL STATEWIDE -- HIDDEN CURRICULUM w/Dr. Brenda Myles Tinley Park, IL FREE

2/22/18 IL STATEWIDE -- HIDDEN CURRICULUM w/Dr. Brenda Myles Rockford, IL FREE

2/23/18 IL STATEWIDE -- HIDDEN CURRICULUM w/Dr. Brenda Myles Champaign, IL FREE

2/26/18 IL - Practical Strategies For Supporting AAC In The Schools w/Lauren Enders $35

FUN APPS, SOFTWARE OR RESOURCES:

The Assistive Technology Glossary- a new publication from the Center on Technology and Disability (CTD), PACER and FHI 360. It covers AT terms from Access to X-10 and is a great tool for parents and guardians to understand the language of AT.

Emergency profile sheet- from the National Autism Association provides important information about a child with autism including a physical description, medical needs, allergies/diet, signs of escalation, likes and dislikes and a few symbols to aid in communication. Recommended to share with school staff, family, friends, neighbors, etc.

Books with Repeated Lines- This list from AAC Intervention has oodles of books with repeated lines plus a listing of favorite books for preschoolers covering winter, colors, food, monsters, family, friends and more. The predictability of these books works great for involving students who use switches and speech paths love them for students with apraxia.

PLEASE CONTACT BRANDT ROSEN brosen@elced.org or (224)513-6455 FOR ANY QUESTIONS OR ISSUES

FACILITIES UPDATES

I'm working this week to finalize emergency procedures/information for winter weather. You'll all be shared on this, and it will be posted on the D114 website, too.

If you have any input or suggestions, please call or email me. Your input is welcome!

Keep watching here for updates!

Education Association of Fox Lake News and Updates

Don't forget... as an IEA member you have access to free professional development via the Online Learning Portal. You can earn clock hours at your own pace on your own schedule. Once you log-in on the website, click the "Professional Development" drop down menu and then "Online Learning Portal" to see what is available and start taking courses.

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

Business Office "Who Do I Go To"

Work Order Request

Technology Support Request

17-18 Payroll Schedule--UPDATED 10/22/17

Mentor Expectations

Mentoring Log Sheet

Mileage Recording Form

Early Release Plan 17-18

Blue Cross Blue Shield:

www.bcbsil.com

Guardian:

www.guardiananytime.com

Workshop/Conference Request Procedure

Starting a series on STUDENT ENGAGEMENT...

Questions for thought as you read...

Why are RELATIONSHIPS important?

Where do COMMON FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS connect with this piece?

How do you already create opportunities for students to "own" their learning? What's 1 thing you could add in order to increase engagement?

What Does Student Engagement Look Like?

By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD

Last week’s post encouraged us to reconsider what student engagement means and entails. Today I’d like to explore just some of the things teachers can do to better promote it. I’m offering six ideas here and encourage you to add to the list.

Redefine participation. Let it include more than verbal comments. Invite students to contribute electronically—with an email or post on the course website—with a question they didn’t ask in class, a comment they didn’t get to make, or a thought that came to them after class. Remind students that listening is also part of participation!

Model and promote good listening skills. “Did you hear what Fredric just said? That’s an explanation that belongs in your notes.” Let the definition of participation honor silence—and give students the time needed to think about a question and assemble an answer. Maybe it’s time to stop grading participation and let students speak because they have something to say.

Cultivate a teacher presence that invites engagement. It starts with being present. This means not just being there physically but also being mentally attentive to what’s happening every day and in every interaction. An engaging teaching presence is communicated by nonverbal behaviors that convey confidence, comfort, anticipation, and great expectations.

The classroom space, whether it’s physical or virtual, is one you share with fellow learners. Move about in it. See who’s in class. Smile, extend a greeting, or comment on the weather or a current event. There are lots of different ways you can show that you are present. Your actions will promote student engagement so long as they’re genuine and authentic and so long as you are engaged—with the content, with the students, and with the learning.

Devote time to talk about learning—what it entails and why it’s important.This is not the same tired old lecture about how this is such a hard course and a certain percentage of students won’t make it through. Yes, there’s tough content to master, but with effort it can be conquered. It’s about your own ongoing love affair with learning. Most students haven’t yet fallen in love with learning. They think they like easy learning, memorizing bits of information they can then forget, or getting by doing the bare minimum. Let yours be the class that introduces students to learning that captivates their attention, arouses their curiosity, stretches their minds, and makes them feel accomplished.

Give students a stake in the process. Teachers make all the decisions about learning for students. They decide what students will learn, how they will learn (taking tests, writing papers, etc.), the pace at which they will learn, and the conditions under which they will learn. Teachers then decide whether students have learned it. Students can be given some control without abrogating responsibilities associated with the teacher. Let students start making small decisions about learning—what topics they want discussed in the exam review session, whether quizzes will count 10% or 20% of their grade, whether the teacher calls on them or they volunteer, whether their final project is a paper or a presentation—and watch what happens to their engagement.

Design authentic assignments and learning experiences. Doing the work of the discipline is more likely to engage students than hearing how the discipline does its work. Try presenting students with a hypothesis and asking them to predict the results or introducing them to the concept of literary criticism and having them critique a reading. Will they do the work of the discipline well? Probably not. They’re novices working with difficult content in front of an expert. But making mistakes is how we learn. Furthermore, doing the work of the discipline feels like work that matters—and that motivates engagement.

Use cumulative quizzes, finals, and exams. If you’re interested in long-term retention of course content and if you want students to transfer and/or apply knowledge, then their exposure to the material needs to be ongoing. Every time they retrieve what they’ve learned, that material becomes easier to remember. Students would rather have unit exams. Three weeks of content is easier to manage than six weeks of content. Teachers can help students prepare for cumulative exams by creating activities that require regular reviews of course material, such as challenging them to find something in their notes or opening class with a short review session—not on the content covered in yesterday’s class but instead on the content covered last week or the week before. Scheduling regular quizzes can also provide low-stakes opportunities for learning and support the intensive study students will require before a high-stakes exam.

Source: https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/six-things-faculty-can-promote-student-engagement/