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To Georgette Francofor always making sure KF numbers are good before she gives her extra and always walking her up to me with her tray
-From Colleen Robinson
A week late (sorry)... Thank you to Rachel Lundberg, Amber Mysliwiec, Mollie Herchenbach & Lisa Huck for taking Kindergarten for extended P.E. and dismissal Wednesday so we were able to go visit K96 and learn about Planned and Purposeful Play in K! Thank you Natalie Udstuen for coordinating! :-)
and
Thank you to Georgette & the Kitchen staff for always being so willing to let us take over the cafeteria for Kinder events!
-From the Kinder Team
Thanks to Jill Becmer for all the planning and coordination on the 8th grade trips!
-From Heather
Thank you Lotus and Stanton Kitchen Staff for the wonderful work done
for the Teacher Appreciation Week, and for always having a smile when you serve.
That is TEAM WORK!
-From Georgette Franco
A big thank you to Andrea De Matteo for backing me up while I was out of the office. I truly appreciate it!
-From Maureen Koenig
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
Stipends
Stipend payments will be made in a separate payroll on May 15, in addition to our regular payroll. Please call or email Madeline Espinoza, our fabulous Human Resources and Payroll Specialist, with any questions.
Summer Professional Development
Please be on the look out for correspondence on plans for Math and SEL learning this summer in preparation for curriculum launches next year.
In addition, dates for special education trainings will be shared ASAP.
Last, you'll also get info on team-based summer work--some requests are already received, but your team wants summer curriculum time, please discuss with your principal ASAP if you haven't done so already.
THANKS!
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!
FOX LAKE ROAD UPDATES
FOX LAKE ROAD UPDATES
As we head toward the end of the year, please be sure that you let David/Mike know of technology issues you may be having. We're currently building next year's budget so if there are issues--we need to know. THANKS!
Education Association of Fox Lake News and Updates
Lots of committees will be meeting this week to continue their work. The evaluation committee will be meeting today (Monday), the RIF committee will be meeting on Tuesday, and the EAFL executive board will be meeting on Wednesday. Thank you to everyone who continues to give their time and energy to serve on these committees, your commitment is great appreciated!
The 2018 Summer Leadership Academy (SLA) registration is now open! This is a great training opportunity for newly elected Presidents, Leaders and Officers as well as Building Reps, Executive Board members and any IEA member who has a desire to learn and lead the IEA and their local into the future. Here is the link to the registration: https://ieanea.
Don't forget about the end of the year party on Thursday, May 24th at The Wave in Johnsburg!
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
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...
What are the changes we've made this year?
WHY have we made them
What do you think we should keep doing? Start doing?
What do you think we should keep doing? Start doing?
What is Your Why?
By Jonathan G. Vander Els
Many efforts at school improvement have been stymied despite the best intentions of those involved. Once schools are in the thick of things, and the change efforts schools are engaged in begin to inevitably face challenges and the initial excitement begins to wane, schools will be faced with a decision. Do we continue to push forward, despite the difficulties we are facing, or do we go back to what we have always done and what is, in many ways, easier?
As a school principal, I was prepared for the “implementation dip.” I remember clearly listening to Dr. Rick DuFour discuss how (and when) it would happen. Sure enough, our school faced this implementation dip around 5–6 months into a substantial change that we had collectively initiated. We were beginning to utilize professional learning community structures in our school to work collaboratively, provide students with a tiered system of interventions and extensions, and focus our efforts on issues directly related to student learning, rather than adult-centered issues.
But, as many of you know, this work is not easy. The level of communication required to collaborate effectively is difficult. And the level of trust required to do this well takes time. We had neither the experience nor the depth of trust within our working relationships necessary to do this work seamlessly, and therefore, we struggled.
I remember clearly sitting in my office prior to a meeting with all staff, understanding that we had to have open conversations about these difficulties, because if we ignored them, like so many do, our original intent in making these changes would falter, and ultimately, our efforts would fail. I began the discussion by recognizing that meeting the needs of all learners is tremendously challenging, but that it was important to talk about what specifically these challenges were. The answers varied, but revolved mostly around the time needed to do this effectively, the level of communication and collaboration needed to successfully support the needs of all students, and the difficulty in formatively assessing students, with very different needs, in a way that was manageable.
I listened, and didn’t attempt to offer “answers,” but ultimately asked our staff two questions:
- Why did we decide to undertake this change in the first place?
- Can we ever go back to doing things the way we were doing them before, knowing what we know now?
The first question spoke to the lengthy discussions we had when we started our PLC work. We asked questions like, “What is it we want for all students?” and “Do we believe all students can learn at high levels?” As a staff, we worked through these questions and came to consensus on what this meant to us as a staff. We developed a vision and mission that helped us to develop norms and create SMART goals that would support our “why.” The results of these conversations became our guiding North Star.
Staff were able to recall and revisit the vision for learning we had articulated the summer before, and it seemed to get us back on course. Additionally, the answer to the second question (Can we ever go back…) was a resounding “no”. Everyone agreed that to do so would be “educational malpractice.”
Eventually, one teacher stood up and said, “I don’t know if this is going to work, but I’m going to do everything I can to help make it work.” I responded to her that this was all any of us could ask. That same teacher stood up four months later, after we had pushed through this implementation dip (it would not be the only time we faced significant challenges), and after seeing the improvement her students had made, and said, “This is the best thing we ever could have done as a school for our students.” We were on our way.
Upon reflection, I think about the importance of clearly articulating the “why.” If we had not done that as a staff, it would have been very difficult to put the challenges we were facing in perspective. In my work with schools across the country, I stress the importance of ensuring that the “why” is clear to all, so that when the inevitable challenges we face in our schools rear themselves, we are able to remember precisely why we recognized the need to change in the first place. It begins, and ends, with meeting the learning needs of every single student that comes into our classrooms.
Week of May 7---STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK!
May 15--Regular Board of Education Meeting
May 24--End of year party!
D114 Baby Watch continues!
Congrats to Stephanie Brual and family on welcoming Paige and Penelope...
Thanks for being YOU! Have a wonderful week!
Heather
