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@D114Stanton
@D114Lotus
@FLGSD114
#District114proud
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Kudos to Melissa Boyce who took the time over Spring Break to investigate the EL Screener laws on ISBE/SIS to correct a Skyward error report.
-Michele Burgess
Thank you Natalie & Rachelle for everything you do!! Happy AP Week!
National Assistant Principals Week is April 9-13, 2018! #APWeek18 https://t.co/eB2icQRak6 #NAESP #APWeek18 https://t.co/a8OJDuxyZghttps://twitter.com/NAESP/
-From Tiffany Tardio
To my partners in crime, Paula and Sue for holding down the office while this kidney stone has been kicking my butt this last week. I couldn't ask for a better team to work with.
and
Jessica Lanners for coming over and helping out on Thursday.
-From Colleen Robinson
To everyone who has made and is making PARCC run so smoothly! Thank you, thank you, thank you! By making it all work with no issues, you help create conditions where our students can show their stuff! Can't wait to see how they do!
-From Heather
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 Dates
Just a few reminders about upcoming dates...
April 13--all staff expected to report, as this is the make up for the February 9 snow day.
In looking at past years' calendars, it seems that the day after the last student attendance day has, most of the time, been indicated as an institute day that's been used as a records day. Please note that, in this year's calendar, we used 2 institute days at the beginning of the year and two during the year (October and February/April). The state allows for 4 institute days. Given all this, for this school year, the last staff day is also the last student day--there is no extra day (May 24). This doesn't change the expectation that all staff are expected to "check out" per building procedures prior to leaving for summer. Please also note that this is the plan moving forward into the 2018-19 calendar as well. It's just good practice, as it builds in time for our shared learning and professional growth during the school year.
Seniority Lists
As shared last week, we are continuing to work on updating the seniority lists to make sure everything--most importantly, Skyward--is accurate. I'll share the update back with everyone just as soon as possible.
As a reminder, we have rescheduled the February 9 Institute Day that was snowed out to April 13. The final agenda is still a work in progress due to a couple of needed changes--I'll send it out by Wednesday afternoon!
INFINITEC MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR APRIL/MAY 2018
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.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE NEW ELC ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY WEBSITE!!! This newsletter will be posted there, as well as, cheat sheets for a variety of common assistive technology tools.
VIEW FREE WEBINARS WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR A FREE ACCOUNT:
Click here to register for a free account. For ELC member district staff and parents ONLY. 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:
- 4/12/18 Mindfulness: A Strategy for Success & Wellness for People with Disabilities by Stefanie Patterson
WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES:
FUN APPS, SOFTWARE OR RESOURCES:
PLEASE CONTACT BRANDT ROSEN brosen@elced.org or (224)513-6455 FOR ANY QUESTIONS OR ISSUES
Speech and Language Tips from Abbey
Check out this week's tips from Abbey! She came up with the fabulous idea of putting each week's ideas on a slide, then adding the slides so all the info is in one place...you can go back and look at any time!
Click here to see her amazing ideas! Updated today!
FACILITIES UPDATES
Don't forget...if you have a maintenance request, please use the work request link to share it. Our team will take care of it ASAP!
YES, YOU CAN CHAT!
Thanks to our amazing tech team (aka Mike and David), Google Chat/Hangouts is now open for staff use. Please note that students cannot access this feature. I LOVE Google Chat--it's a huge timesaver.
Below is a link to a great video explaining the basics of Hangouts. The extension and Hangouts are only available to staff.
Video link:
Extension:
Mike and David are happy to help if you need assistance!
Education Association of Fox Lake News and Updates
Upcoming Events
Staff Outing: Friday, April 13th, 3:30 p.m. @Cuda's (appetizers will be provided by the EAFL)
Family Easter Egg Hunt: Saturday, April 14th; 10 a.m. @Lotus (thank you Cheryl Schuck!)
EAFL Executive Board Elections: Thursday, March 19th (details to follow)
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
Link to D114 Friday Facts Blog--ADDED 3/11/18
LINK to Strategic Planning Presentations/Documents--ADDED 2/25/18
LINK to Strategic Planning Presentations/Documents--ADDED 2/25/18
17-18 Payroll Schedule--UPDATED 10/22/17
Blue Cross Blue Shield:
Guardian:
Questions for thought as you read...
Do you have an innovator's mindset?
Do your students?
What does the infographic say to you?
Innovation Does Not Happen in Isolation
In “The Innovator’s Mindset,” I share the following eight characteristics:
What is important to understand regarding these characteristics is that none of them make you innovative in isolation. It is their combinations that lead to new and better solutions. If I am “observant” and understand the world around me, yet “create” nothing, what would be solved? Flip it though; if I am “creating” without understanding the context of where I work and who I serve (observant), you might be creating solutions to things that is helpful to no one.
This thinking was sparked by a post I recently read that was written by Mrs. Krolicki,talking about the importance of reflection leading to action:
Reflection is an important component of quality teaching. As preservice teachers, we are trained to think deeply about our emerging and improving practice, all with the expectation that the emphasis on that act will not only become habit, but also will serve as a continuous springboard for growth and change; the intention is not simply to think about it, but also to act on it.
Really, reflection should be ReflAction — reflection + action.
That seems simple enough: think about it and then make a change based on your observations and data. As a preservice and first year teacher, I felt pretty confident in my ability to do that. My mentors told me it was clear I was thinking about my choices and then adjusting based on what I thought was needed. Often, they felt my adjustments helped student learning.
The “reflection” leading to “action” idea seems obvious, but far too often, we talk in circles in educations, and organizations outside. Saying things like, “Let me think on that” become stall-tactics when there is no follow up or lead to action.
As I was talking to a group of new teachers, I told them straight out that they should be so much better at the beginning of their careers than I was at the beginning of mine. The reason for this is that they have access to so many teachers doing the same job that they are doing. Who better to learn from as a grade two teacher than another grade two teacher, whether they are in your building or on the other side of the world.
But the reality is that there are still too many teachers that are not taking advantage of those “networks.” The notion that young teachers are innovative and more experienced teachers are not, is unbelievably false. I have seen some new teachers as the most “traditional”, and some veteran teachers as the most innovative. The difference is the mindset, not skill set. The craving to get better
This is not to say that some traditional practices do not work with students. It is just that no traditional practice works with all students. Never has and never will.
To be “networked” does not make you innovative. It is what you apply from learning from those networks that creates the innovation.
The opportunities in front of us only matter if we take advantage of them.
In “The Innovator’s Mindset,” I share the following eight characteristics:
What is important to understand regarding these characteristics is that none of them make you innovative in isolation. It is their combinations that lead to new and better solutions. If I am “observant” and understand the world around me, yet “create” nothing, what would be solved? Flip it though; if I am “creating” without understanding the context of where I work and who I serve (observant), you might be creating solutions to things that is helpful to no one.
This thinking was sparked by a post I recently read that was written by Mrs. Krolicki,talking about the importance of reflection leading to action:
Reflection is an important component of quality teaching. As preservice teachers, we are trained to think deeply about our emerging and improving practice, all with the expectation that the emphasis on that act will not only become habit, but also will serve as a continuous springboard for growth and change; the intention is not simply to think about it, but also to act on it.Really, reflection should be ReflAction — reflection + action.That seems simple enough: think about it and then make a change based on your observations and data. As a preservice and first year teacher, I felt pretty confident in my ability to do that. My mentors told me it was clear I was thinking about my choices and then adjusting based on what I thought was needed. Often, they felt my adjustments helped student learning.
The “reflection” leading to “action” idea seems obvious, but far too often, we talk in circles in educations, and organizations outside. Saying things like, “Let me think on that” become stall-tactics when there is no follow up or lead to action.
As I was talking to a group of new teachers, I told them straight out that they should be so much better at the beginning of their careers than I was at the beginning of mine. The reason for this is that they have access to so many teachers doing the same job that they are doing. Who better to learn from as a grade two teacher than another grade two teacher, whether they are in your building or on the other side of the world.
But the reality is that there are still too many teachers that are not taking advantage of those “networks.” The notion that young teachers are innovative and more experienced teachers are not, is unbelievably false. I have seen some new teachers as the most “traditional”, and some veteran teachers as the most innovative. The difference is the mindset, not skill set. The craving to get better
This is not to say that some traditional practices do not work with students. It is just that no traditional practice works with all students. Never has and never will.
To be “networked” does not make you innovative. It is what you apply from learning from those networks that creates the innovation.
The opportunities in front of us only matter if we take advantage of them.
April 13--Institute Day!
April 17--Board of Education Meeting (with student and staff recognition)--7:00 PM at Lotus
April 22--Promote Fox Lake Earth Day event at Millennium Park in Fox Lake. The Gathering will start at 11:00 AM and will include speakers rom different local environmental organizations, music, a craft for kids and more.
Just before Spring Break, the staff at Lotus rallied together to support World Down Syndrome Day. Here's a picture of them showing their stuff...and support for a great cause. ❤
Have a wonderful week!
Heather
