1-17-2025

Jessica and Jen did a great job organizing and facilitating the National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony on Wednesday night.  I appreciate their hard work and effort to make this a special night for the students and their family members.  

Kim Gertser and Jim Allard are the latest recipients of the staff spotlight recognition.  Both have been highlighted from their peers for their hard work and preparation to the many aspects of their job. Their personal interactions with staff and students were also highlighted.  I believe staff recognizing each other is appreciated even more than other types of recognition.   Let's hear it for Kim and Jim!!!

I appreciate the team leaders meeting with me and dispersing important information back to you.  I not only count on them to help lead initiatives but I also continue to learn from them as much as (hopefully) they learn from me.  

IAR testing will be on March 18th, 20th, and 25th.  Because of the earlier testing we are also overlapping with Tech Week for the musical.  Due to these two events (IAR and Tech Week) I am asking that you not give homework for the week or at minimum not give homework on Monday the 17th and Wednesday March 20th.  I will work with staff who have longer range assignments to help them reduce workload expectations for that specific week.  I appreciate everyone's flexibility in making these adjustments.  I would not ask if I did not feel like it was important.  

Helping students manage their emotions can help your classroom thrive.

4 ways to Leverage Emotions for learning

Please read the email regarding the character spirit week from April that will take place from January 27th-31st. .  Reinforcing the "What is a Benjamin Student" and the Fish Philosophy with fun activities and incentives while also promoting good citizenship will keep our school environment strong.  Thanks to April for putting this together.  I look forward to the BMX bike motivational speaker, drinking my disgusting smoothies and being made into a human sundae, all of which are in my job description...I think.

The PTA is meeting Tuesday, January 21st at 7pm in the boardroom.  Having a couple staff members attend the meeting is always a positive.  The PTA does a lot for our school community and the more participation we have from staff, parents and community members, the more they can accomplish towards supporting our schools.  Let me know if you can make it.

Make room in your life for Habits!

Congrats to the Boys JV BB team as they finished third in the end of the year tournament in a very competitive league.  Dan and Matt have already moved into Girls BB mode. Please sign up to supervise a game on the link that Mr. Baker has sent out.  

Alumni Alert!  Speaking of girls basketball, former Bengal, Jasmine Trigueros scored her 2,000th point this week at WCCHS.  This level of scoring is very unusual for HS girls basketball.  (A lot of former Bengals in this pic!)

Nicole J will be conducting ACCESS testing next week.  This is a long process and I appreciate her detailed scheduling to keep everyone aware of when students will be pulled for testing.

I love walking down the hallway and seeing all of the student artwork/projects that personalize and beautify our school space.  

I met with the Mentee first year teachers on Cultivating Compassion in yourself and others. Here is a pretty cool video resource (9 minutes long) that was included. Use it for a good pick me up when you are feeling down.    

"Skill and confidence are an unconquered army." -- George Herbert

You must not think me necessarily foolish because I am facetious, nor will I consider you necessarily wise because you are grave.

Sydney Smith (1771 - 1845) 

I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long.

Mitch Hedberg

 

1-10-2025

I want to thank Superintendent Langton for his encouraging words at our staff learning meeting and for being so visible in his first week in our district.    

Vanessa, Angela and Danielle have been hard at work setting up and creating feedback forms for the new touch panels in select teachers rooms.  This process will enable the district to obtain more information on different models to give us more data on future purchases.  

How to Engage students to turn in quality work.  

https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-encourage-quality-student-work

Please finish your online health trainings by the end of this month.  

I went to teams this week to talk about our current sub shortage.  Solly is reaching out to everyone on our list to try to fill positions.  April created a well designed informative flyer to be posted on social media that will hopefully attract new subs.  Solly also was able to sign up a new sub (who is also a current parent) that will start subbing on Friday.  I appreciate everyone's flexibility and want to give shout outs to Holly and Nicolett who are really helping to cover a lot of absences.  Thanks also to Stephen, Mark and Bill for helping me cover the boys locker room on Friday.  

Good luck to Matt, Dan and our boys basketball team as they begin their playoff journey this week.  

I appreciate the 8th grade team's preparation for their students transition to WCCHS.  This week that involved a presentation from the high school and working on their recommendation forms.  

Quick Check-ins in the classroom.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/make-most-quick-check-ins-school

A great time was had at the staff vs. varsity boys basketball game.  The staff was humble in their victory and showed great sportsmanship.  

Please check out the Instructional Coaches Newsletter this week, specifically the article and resources on TAG feedback.  Thanks to Danielle, Angela and Allison for putting this newsletter together. 

Josh just opened up slots for additional students in the Maker Space Club.  Students were hard at work  after school on Tuesday using creative exploration of technology with their peers.  

 Kelly has done a great job covering for Colleen this week in 6th grade.  I appreciate her effort and hard work to stay prepared for our kiddos.  I am also thankful for the help that Lauren and Dan have shown her since joining the 6th grade team.  

Each grade level has set up their STAR testing dates for the next window.  Please check your email for details.  

I am ready for the next round of formal classroom observations.  Please reach out to schedule if you are on cycle this year.  

I want to thank everyone for coming together quickly after break to help support a new medical 504 plan in 6th grade.  Special thanks to Marcia and Megan S for making the mom feel at ease with their attention to detail and frequent communications.  

I appreciate everyone's attention during the staff learning meeting as we reviewed the 5 Essentials Survey to prepare for not only the new survey, but to make genuine strides for improvement in our school.  Next week I will send out a summary of our weaknesses identified in the survey along with some possible resources and strategies for improvement.  I am excited to announce that February 18th will be our day of shadowing, where all teachers will use their team time to observe another teacher.  Special Ed will do this on the 20th during first period.  What a great way to learn from each other!  Joe will send out a spreadsheet showing who is teaching what during each of the grade level team times to make it easier for people to choose where they are going on this day.  

I want to thank Janice Youngwith for her many years of service working with the district social media, highlighting the events and achievements of our students, staff and schools.  

"Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present." -- Albert Camus

"New ideas are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common." -- John Locke

"Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say." -- Barbara Kingsolver

309

12-20-24

 I want to thank Dr. Woell for his years of service to Benjamin SD 25.  He has led us through some difficult times and has always been positive and encouraging of his belief in our ability to make a difference.  Also thanks to Sherry and the BEA for having a very nice reception for him after school on Thursday to give everyone a chance to say goodbye and thank you.

Sherry had a fantastic tamale party on Wednesday in her spanish classes.  The students enjoyed learning about the process of making the tamales but enjoyed eating them even more!  As usual parents were there helping out. Special shout out to Mrs. Perez for making all of the tamales for students and staff!

Short video on ways to boost retention.  

Mr. Lewis and the 5th grade team did a wonderful job of leading our 5th graders in caroling on Thursday to three different retirement facilities. As usual the residents loved it.  Giving back to the community during this holiday season is a great lesson for our 5th grade students.  

Thanks to Margaret for getting out the newsletter each month.  This is a great avenue of communication to our parents. Getting me to turn my article in on time is a major achievement in itself!

Kerri Snyder shared a "Staff Shout Out Link" earlier this week.  This is another avenue to recognize our great staff.  I am going to reshare the link below.  Basically, you fill out the form and pay a compliment forward to a fellow staff member.  If you don't want them to know it was you you can also do this anonymously.  We have already had shout outs for Lauren Dunne completed by a fellow staff member, and I just received shout outs for Joe Hauser and Mark Bradbury completed by parents for things that they have done for their students.  (I will pass them out later in the day on Friday) There can never be too many ways to recognize the hard work that each of you do.

Staff Spotlight Submission

I appreciate the team leaders meeting with me on Tuesday after school for our monthly meeting.  Leadership is not an island and I certainly could not run the school, without their leadership.

The 8th grade team took their trimester reward trip to the skating rink on Thursday and had a blast out on the ice.  Students also need many different kinds of recognition for a job well done, sometimes simple words of encouragement, sometimes a big celebration.  I appreciate grade level teams efforts to put together these special trips.  

Pretty Cool video.  

Kim and Margaret did a fantastic job of  treating the whole staff to some awesome charcuterie!  What a special surprise.  

Please remember to finish up your online  health trainings if you haven't done so already.  

April and I want to thank you for the generous gifts you gave us.  We put a small gift in your mailbox as a sign of appreciation for the great job you do everyday.  We hope you have a restful holiday with family and friends and we will see you back in January. 

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”

― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

"I don't know what to say, but it's Christmas and we're all in misery." —Ellen Griswold

12-13-2024

 Morgan, April and Stephen did a spectacular job of preparing their band and choir students for our assembly and their evening winter concert before a packed house on Wednesday night. The kids sounded great from beginning to end.

Big shout out to Tim, Frank, Isidrio, the night crew and even some help from the Evergreen custodial 

staff to help with all of our set-ups and take downs from the Board meeting, to the assembly, concert, holiday breakfast and Saturday's Chess tournament  they have gotten a real workout.  

16 variations on Think Pair Share.

16 variations on Think Pair Share

I am looking forward to today's holiday breakfast.  It is always nice to get together as a district and bond over food, conversation, laughter and some excellent music from the WCCHS Choir.

This Saturday we have a massive chess tournament right here at BMS.  This has been an annual tradition for many years.  I appreciate all of the work that Coach Wolski has done to get our students ready.  Thanks to Bill and Joe who are working the tournament and to Jessica for getting me NJHS volunteers for concessions.   Please remember to put away valuable/breakable items to be safe.  The rooms will have an adult supervisor and Bill will be checking on on rotations around the building.  

What ELA teachers should know about AI detectors.  

What ELA teachers should know about AI detectors.

Thanks to Michele Davis for putting out the underground teacher spirit week.  It was fun seeing so much participation and seeing if the students would catch on.....

I appreciate Colleen and Lauren going to a potential outdoor ed site this week to get prepared for next year so our students still experience a great trip despite Laredo Taft shutting down.  

I am trucking along with my formal observations!  I still have some open spots for next week if you want to get one done before break.  If you are doing an alternative evaluation please make sure you are making progress toward your goals and maybe plan for an observation after break that ties in with your project/plan.  

I hope everyone wasn't too bored with my school improvement plan presentation.  I did send the reunification document with roles to team leaders so they could share out. I also presented to our mentee teachers a presentation on Time/Management, self-care and focusing on the positive. I may share it with you as the week before break can be stressful. Check it out or not the choice is yours.  

Dr. Filas has been busy going to meet with different teachers about furniture possibilities for next year.  I appreciate his attention to detail and efficiency.  

Thanks to Colleen and Alex for putting together the Student Council Spirit week next week.  

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage." -- Dale Carnegie

"Things do not grow better; they remain as they are. It is we who grow better, by the changes we make in ourselves." -- Swami Vivekananda

"The future is not fixed, it's fluid. The world is more malleable than you think and it's waiting for you to hammer it into shape. -- Bono

12-6-2024

 Congrats to Melissa Falkos and the 5th grade team for the wonderful Too Good for Drugs Ceremony they organized and facilitated on Wednesday of this week.  Thanks to Dr. Woell for covering for me when I was at my administrator academy and to Angela for all of the awesome pictures.

I enjoyed the Ripple article that Danielle, Angela and Allison put out in there  Coaching newsletter on Total Participation Techniques.  It is worth your time.  

TPT Ripple 

I am very excited  that Friday, a former student, Sabrina Echinberger, who now works at CodeHS will be presenting to students in Specials classes about careers in Computer Science. Stop by April's room 1st-5th and 7th period if you want to view part of the presentation.  Thanks to April for setting this up.  I love it when we can bring former students into the building for a chance to give back to our school.

Article from Sal Khan on the impact of A.I. on Teaching.  Has anyone further explored the Khanmigo since it was presented at a learning meeting earlier this year?  

A.I. and teaching

Thanks to all my morning and afternoon bus/lot/car duty staff.  I appreciate the job you do to make sure our students are dropped off, picked up and supervised safely before and after school.  

I am looking forward to the Holiday Bazaar at Evergreen this weekend.  Our band and choir will be performing around 10am on Saturday if you want to stop by. I appreciate Ms. Martin, Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Tepe's hard work to get them ready.  I was listening outside their doors this week and they sound awesome! There will also be a blood drive that I think is a great way to give back to those in need.  

I am also looking forward to the Band and Choir winter concert coming up on Wednesday.  Please remember that we will be on a assembly schedule during that day.  Here is the schedule that April sent out.  Here is the schedule

Congrats to Joe and the wrestling Bengals!  That's right Benjamin participated in its first wrestling meet ever yesterday and even came away with some individual victories.  

The basketball teams under coach Tylk and Baker played hard leading to some victories yesterday and the Dance and Cheer Team under Mrs. Colburn's tutelage performed two new routines.  Way to go Bengals!   

Coach Wolski has been working hard with our small but mighty Chess team Thursday evenings leading up to our big tournament we host on Saturday December 14th.  We have a LOT of students registered for this tournament and we will be using a lot of classrooms and the rest of the building.  Joe Hauser will send an informational email out with more details early next week.  

I know we all wish Greg a speedy recovery from his surgery next week!  Also please check out his email on STEAM Camp interest.  It is a great opportunity that our Benjamin Families love.  

How to support all types of readers

How to support all kinds of readers

I hope everyone will be attending the Holiday breakfast on Friday December 13th.  I know it is early but it is a great tradition and it is important for the whole district to get together, share food and laughs and hear some wonderful music from the WCCHS choir.  

“It is impossible to get better and look good at the same time. Give yourself permission to be a beginner.”​
— Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”
​― Jesse Carr

Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.

Fletcher Knebel

11-22-2024

 Thanks to the 8th grade team for working with the high school to make sure the pre-ACT testing went smoothly.  Special thanks to Greg, Vanessa, Angela and Danielle for their technology assistance as everything was online and functioned as it should.

34 ways to quiet a rambunctious class.  

edutopia ways to quiet a loud class

I attended the PTA meeting on Tuesday. They always do such a wonderful job of supporting us.  I appreciate the people that wrote thank you notes to them for various things (that they read at the meetings).  Please consider attending a PTA meeting this year and also joining if you haven't yet.  We have 27 members so far.  

Today (Friday Nov 22) is the last day to sign up for open enrollment for FSA/Flex spend.  Please refer to Leslie's email for details.  

Why think, pair share is important and how to do it.

https://www.innerdrive.co.uk/blog/think-pair-share/

Please continue to promote the Veteran collection that April is running.  It ends on December 13th.  I look forward to drinking the strange concoction of the winning grade level classrooms for this worthy cause. 

Busy week for the  8th graders!  Thanks to Kim and April for their assistance in getting their height measurements and for making sure they looked their best for their graduation photos.  

Helping our EL students love reading.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/encouraging-love-reading-ells

The 7th and 8th grade band and choir kids went to West Chicago High School to work with their band and choir students and teachers.  I appreciate Ms. Martin and Mr. Lewis providing this opportunity that not only is fun but also educational and will assist with their eventual transition to the high school.

5th graders took their cultural field trip to the Paramount Theater on Thursday. These field trips are great because they help expose our students to experiences they might not always get to experience on their own.  Thanks to the 5th grade team who in conjunction with Mr. Lewis helped plan this specific trip.  

Jessica upgrade the intramural volleyball to Primetime when she had their end of season match and celebration in the Big Gym.  It was neat to see their excitement of getting to play on the big stage!

Teachers, want to create a more positive classroom atmosphere? Discover how to teach gratitude to your students with engaging activities that promote kindness and appreciation!

sbee.link/m6u9pnk7ef

Thanks to Margaret for organizing and collecting all of the information for our monthly newsletter. This is a valuable line of communication to our families on what is happening in your classrooms.

6 classroom management Mistakes (pretty fun video)

I had an awesome time at the fun run student lunches this week.  Eating pizza and cake was only half as fun as listening to their crazy stories (5th grade) as they tried to one up each other.  "I ate so many carrots one time my face actually turned orange!"   

Turkey anyone? I enjoyed carving turkeys with Dr. Woell on Wednesday for students and staff.  Truth be told Jim is way better at the carving part then I am.  Tuesday's feast was ridiculous and everyone went above and beyond in preparing their dishes.  Special thanks to Lauren and Michele D for bringing the main courses!

Team leaders will be sharing important information with you from our meeting this week. I am grateful for their leadership and thankful for the open communication our staff has with each other even when there are differences of opinion.  Being open and honest holds us together as a group!

I will be leaving in the morning on Friday to a conference I am attending Friday and Saturday.  April is available 1st, 2nd, 6th and 8th periods to handle situations that may come up. I will also have access to email.  I hope everyone has a great weekend and a restful Thanksgiving break.  I will stay off of the ladders and will see you all soon.  

"The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions." — Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

• “If you start drinking now, Thanksgiving could be a lot of fun.” — Conan O’Brien

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)