3-21-2025

 I am so excited to see the Bye Bye Birdie musical today!  The Benjamin Musical is always a cumulation of hard work from staff, students and parents.  Thanks to Stephen, Danielle and April for going above and beyond to put on a great show.  We are on a double morning assembly schedule today.

Speaking of hard work and a combined effort.  Thanks to everyone for the effort put into executing the IAR testing this week.      Obviously, beyond this weeks test execution is the hard work everyone has put in all year teaching the content  and supporting our students to help them learn and grow!  Special shout out to Greg for all the work he did on the back end to get testing ready, Kim for entering accommodations and to Vanessa for preparing student devices and on the spot tech support.  

We have another fantastic parade video from Sherry and her STEM students.  Of course her trusty sidekicks Megan P and Angela are there to join in the fun along with other staff and students in the after parade film roll.  Thanks to Angela for her film/editing expertise.  

https://youtu.be/Qpm7m7cCGkY

I want to thank the team leaders for always being there to help me guide our school in a positive direction.  Being able to bounce ideas off of them along with their problem solving and communication skills are a big reason why we work together as a solid team.

Great ideas to keep students engaged when they finish early.  

https://www.edutopia.org/article/fast-finishers-school-keeping-students-any-grade-engaged

I appreciate Mrs. Smith giving my principal report at The PTA meeting on Tuesday as well as Jen V's  kind gesture of providing some "healthy cooking" food  for people to eat.  The PTA also provided a fun event on Monday with Lynette and Kerry K being crowned the Rock, Paper Scissors Champions!

I appreciate Jen and Joe's flexibility in working around the musical for tech week.  With bad weather coming in this week it required extra planning.  

Thanks to Tim, Frank and Isidro for all the help with the set-ups required for this busy week.  

Thanks to Dr. Salamone for helping to get the DLM testing up and working. 

 This is your weekly reminder that the deadline for spending out of the district accounts is March 28th.  

Please make sure that you get your news articles into Margaret for the newsletter.  

Thanks to Lauren and Colleen for their hard work in getting a new Outdoor Ed plan put together for approval. They are almost at the finish line.  

Better to look weak and be strong than to look strong and be weak.

Laura Moncur (1969 - )

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.

Colette (1873 - 1954)

3-14-2025

Thanks to the ELA teachers for letting me take some of their class time this week so i could pull each student and talk with them about their IAR scores last year and tips for taking the test this year.  The students seemed interested and were good listeners.  

I appreciate staff members who made scheduling their summative meeting with me a priority the last two weeks so I could make my deadline.  These meetings are always valuable as opportunities to talk about strengths and areas for continued growth.  

The Winter Sports Awards were held on Wednesday night.  I appreciate Dan, Matt and Nicole for their hard work this past season and for preparing their thoughtful speeches.  Huge thanks to Kim for running all of the fun and creative certificates for students.  

Thanks to Greg for the IAR presentation.  We have scratch paper, graph paper and headphones in the office available for pick-up.  I will let everyone know when the folders that Greg prepared are ready with scripts, math forms and student tickets included. Please have students login to test Nav on Friday or Monday at the lastest so we can eliminate any login problems before testing.  I will confirm all non homeroom test administrators on Friday as there were a few switches when we moved some 504 students around on Thursday.  Specials teacher will be available for breaks and communicating testing problems to our tech support team.  Please let me know if you have any other questions.  

Stephen, April and Danielle are preparing for tech week next week. With IAR and tech week happening at the same time I appreciate the staff's willingness to not give hw next week.  (as talked about with your team leader)  

Ensuring Math Instruction provides opportunities for all.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/strategies-differentiate-math-instruction

We have a PTA meeting on Tuesday and and they will be providing a fun St. Patricks Day activity for staff on Monday.  

NJHS packed the multi-purpose room on Monday to have their regular meeting.  Thanks to Jessica and Jen H for all of their hard work to run this organization.  

Thanks to Grade level Teams for getting all of the student 5Essentials Surveys completed.  If you haven't taken your personal survey please do that soon.  

If anyone would be willing to host a College of DuPage student observer please let me know.  It is only a 20 hour commitment. 

"We just don't recognize life's most significant moments while they're happening. Back then I thought, "Well, there'll be other days." I didn't realize that that was the only day." - Field of Dreams

Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything. Sydney Smith

The one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be taken too seriously. Nicholas Butler

3-7-2025

 I want to thank Danielle and Angela for running the book club this past Wednesday.  I was able to pop in and see some pretty lively discussions.  Anytime spent together having great discussions is valuable, when it can help educators help students it is even better!  If you missed out on this book club this time here is a 13 minute animated summary of the book. 

Please don't forget that we have our new IAR Training this Wednesday, March 12th at 2:00pm in the multi-purpose room.  I will get more details from Greg about the training and I will get testing booklets in your mailbox by Monday if you are testing a group of students.  I want to thank Kim who is helping me get all the student testing groups together for Greg.

Here is a great article about the science behind happiness.   Oh and it is written by a former Bengal!

https://wildcatchronicle.org/28632/features/no-more-fake-smiling-the-scientific-pursuit-of-happiness/

I went to an IASB dinner at Addison Trail high school on Wednesday night with superintendent Langton and school board member Dennis Peterson.  Mr. Peterson received recognition for his years of service on the board and we saw a very interesting presentation on K-12 career pathways.  I look forward to learning more about this topic and sharing with you in the future.  

Don't forget the deadline for spending is Friday March 28th.  

Congratulations to  Matt, Dan & the girls basketball team. Thursday night they defeated Harvest Christian by the score of 18 to 5. On Saturday they will play in the semi-final of the SWAC tournament.  Good luck Bengals!!

Visual Book Summary of Deep Work by Cal Newport

If you want to help out Marquita's daughter win a girl scout contest trip to medieval times.  Just click the link below and you vote for their castle!  

https://woobox.com/ytptxw/gallery/unkkPzkycII

I appreciate Dr. Salamone and Solly securing subs for our Thursday SPED meetings.  Having coverage makes the day so much smoother.  

If you are looking for dinner this Tuesday night stop by Chipotle and help the PTA.   Use code NM73926 from 5pm-9pm you can order online or in person.  

Thanks to Michelle and Carrie for running the March Book Madness.  I believe teachers can also get in on the fun and vote online.  

It was fun to have 100% student attendance on Thursday.  What a great opportunity to push all of our students forward with no worries of make-up work.  

I will send out a schedule to ELA teachers for my student data talks next week in preparation for our IAR tests.  

Teaching teens to separate fact and fiction.  

Thanks to Angela and Vanessa for their help with technology for the Superintendent focus groups this week.  It is always a team effort to have these events run smoothly!

Between the 8th grade reward trip and the combined 7th grade & theater club (all grade) field trip we will have a lot of the students having learning experiences outside the building today.  Thanks to all of the staff that helped put together and supervise these trips. 

"People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for." -- Harper Lee

"Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults." -- Benjamin Franklin

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.

Sidney J. Harris

2-28-25

 Thanks to Michelle and Carrie for throwing the Caudill party for our students.  Motivating our students to read is important and the celebration included an author talk by Kate O'Shaughnessy.  

Thanks to Alex for running the Student Council Badminton Tournament.  The students had a blast.  

Speaking of Student Council, Colleen Morgan also had student council students busy selling hot chocolate before school on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.  Keeping students active and helping others is a great service model to have.  

How PE can build leadership in our students. 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-leadership-skills-4-pe-games

I am asking that starting on Monday we do not park in the two street spots that are on the left of our parking lot exit.  I have had numerous concerns shared with me about those spots being a blind spot for parents exiting our school at drop off and dismissal and I have to agree.  It is better to be safe especially when we have plenty of other parking spots.  

Coach Wolski is finishing an awesome chess season with a round robin tournament practice Thursday Night to crown a Benjamin Team Champion and then a final team tournament in Wheaton this weekend.  I appreciate his dedication to this team that requires late nights and weekends!

I am grateful for the work the science committee has done this year as we move closer to a final resource for our students.  We had a very successful meeting on Wednesday after school where input was shared and action steps were decided to get us to the finish line.  

Danielle and Angela will be splitting up the Book Club between Evergreen and Benjamin due to scheduling problems.  Our time for the book discussion will be March 5th right after school until the Superintendent Input meeting for staff at 3:30pm.  I will send the full March meeting schedule out later on Friday. 

Please remember to take the 5essentials survey when you have time.  Also team leaders, please let me know when the students in your grade are taking the survey if you have not done so already.  

Thanks to Margaret for getting out the monthly Newsletter.  Also Margaret was honored with a staff spotlight for her "service with a smile" I have to agree that the transition of Margaret into the secretary position has been very smooth and I have heard nothing but compliments on her initiative and her efficiency in task completion.  It doesn't hurt to have a great coach/mentor in Kim!  Way to go Margaret!

Thanks to Kim for getting our new digital report cards uploaded for parents.  Thanks to our special ed and EL staff for getting their student goal updates to the office for mailing.  

I am looking forward to the Institute day on Friday.  Thanks to Todd, Jana and Megan P who are all using their day to present to others.  A day dedicated to professional learning is so important to take advantage of.  Please try to put aside other tasks/responsibilities and focus on your personal growth.  

"You will never get any more out of life than you expect." -- Bruce Lee

"Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast — you also miss the sense of where you are going and why." -- Eddie Cantor

Beware of no man more than yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.

G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936)

2-21-25

 Thanks to Mark, Jim, Lauren, Jen H, Nicole, April, Kim, Nicolett and Sherry for taking time after school to meet with the school board consultant.  Your thoughtful and insightful input given on behalf of the whole school staff is greatly appreciated. 

Reminder that the 5essentials survey is ready to take.  Take yours when you have time and alert me when you plan on giving it to your students. Here is the teacher link:

http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/teacher/

Danielle and Angela were able to get some great PD at the Ideacon Conference.  I am looking forward to them sharing with us some of the concepts/ideas that they learned.  

Greg has passed along another IAR/ISA resource where you can have the students  take a practice assessment to learn how to navigate the test and experience the types of questions they will see on the actual assessment. These practice tests do not require any proctor print cards or student print cards and are available for all grade levels and subjects.

https://il.mypearsonsupport.com/practice-items/

Encouraging Students To Own Their Academic Growth (short video and article) about what we have been talking about with students and test scores. 

https://www.edutopia.org/video/encouraging-students-to-track-their-academic-growth

Staff Spotlight recognition has been received by more of  our staff from their peers, parents and students.  Congratulation to Margaret, Jessica, Dan, Nicolett,  and Jen V on being outstanding!  

The purchasing deadline from school accounts is March 28th.  

I know I speak for everyone when I say how grateful we are for our teaching assistants.  Michele S, Ali K, Holly, Nicolett, Michele D, and Lori all work hard to find that balance between supporting students and giving space, being positive and reassuring to students even or especially when they are being difficult and carrying out staff directions to create growth and learning for our students.    

Please make sure you have followed superintendent Langton's direction of checking the seniority lists by today and alerting Solly of any discrepancies.  

The trimester ends today.  I appreciate your efforts to track down and accept students late work so grades can be finalized.  Special teachers please remind students of what special they will have on Monday when the next trimester starts.  

If you are on cycle I need to complete all summative Evaluations by March 15th.  Please send me your input for Domains 1 and 4 if you have not done so already.  

I appreciate April sending out the moving procedures for classes that will be renovated this summer.  

I also appreciate Joe completely taking over the activity bus duties. 

Resource databases to help explore Black History.  

https://blog.tcea.org/celebrate-black-history-month-in-your-classroom/

Thanks to Dr. Filas and the science teachers for meeting with the room designer Thursday to give their input on  science furniture.

"If the risk is fully aligned with your purpose and mission, then it’s worth considering." -- Peter Diamandis

"Don’t allow your wounds to transform you into someone you are not." -- Paulo Coelho

"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for 30 years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found." -- Calvin Trillin

2-14-25

 Congrats to Michele Davis and the Tiger Times Staff on their newest issue. The Wedding Song quiz will get a lot of staff guessing and I like that Michele wrote articles to model great writing for her student journalists!

Congratulations to Morgan and the band students who participated in the Solo and Ensemble contest this past weekend.  Two students earned a Division 2 rating, and five students earned a Division 1 rating with a perfect score.  Way to go!

I appreciate the continued interest by teachers in attending the board meetings. As an added bonus many teachers were able to see the wonderful theater presentation from Stephen, Danielle, April and our wonderful cast and crew.

Grade level teachers......please go through the list of new additions to our student supports programs check in/check out and hw club and make sure students are aware of their new placement.  We had quite a few students that did not know this week.  

Using tech tools to promote SEL

Tech tools to promote SEL

I appreciate the effort everyone put into pushing out meaningful lessons and being available for students on our elearning day.  I will go to team to talk about rescheduling our learning activities/data dives that we missed. 

Speaking of data, superintendent Langton, Sarah and myself met with the Abre team yesterday to explore our new data platform.  Abre will be a powerful tool that will make accessing and analyzing all of our school and student data easy and efficient.  Much more information to come your way in the following weeks.  

I am super excited about our school visitation day on Tuesday, February 18th.  As a reminder, every teacher will visit another classroom during their plan or team time on that day.  How exciting to learn from each other.  

I appreciate Danielle and Angela presenting at our mentee meeting this week on Learning about Learning.  They did a great job as usual.

  Stress isn't all bad,,,here's when it can help.

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/64891/stress-isnt-all-bad-heres-when-it-can-help

Student council and NJHS are making this Valentine's Day special with the SC candy grams that come with a  crush soda that can be used to wash down all of the wonderful NJHS bake sale treats.  

Kerri Snyder has been posting away on social media highlighting our great students and staff.  Great job Kerri!

Team Leaders, Sherry, Kim and Michele Stein will represent our school in the 3:15 pm meeting with our school board consultant on February 19th.  

Huge props to Kim for her work to make online report cards possible.  

As a reminder the last day of the trimester is one week away.  Please encourage students to get assignments turned in and to study for any upcoming assessments.  

Remember, your Valentine’s card shows you care enough to send the very best, even though you’re too lazy to put it in your own words.

                                                           Melanie White

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.

                                                                                      Socrates

I want to be the reason you look down at your phone and smile. Then walk into a pole.

                                                                                           Unknown

2-7-25

 I appreciate Nicole's willingness to help me out with a couple student situations this week.  Her social worker SEL approach is a good balance to the questions/conversations that I have with the students.  She is also keeping our weekly attendance meetings on track which help us improve attendance, tardies and parent communication.  

Please take  a look at the draft of the IAR schedule I sent out and give any feedback you have to your team leader.  

Only one article this week as it is filled with great information.  Take a minute to preview and then some longer time to explore when you have more time...some tried and true and some new.

Cognitive, metacognitive, and procedural scaffolding techniques:

scaffolding techniques

April and I met with the school board consultant, Dr. Sharma-Lewis on Thursday and she is looking to meet with a small group of staff representatives on Wednesday February 19th at 3:15pm.  This short meeting will follow the "continue, stop, start" format that she had planned for the community forum.  Please see me if you have questions.  

Our grade level data meetings Thursday were a spark for new interventions and parent communications but also a reason for celebration and praise for the students being released from our various supports.  Thanks for your hard work toward these efforts and remember to celebrate your successes. 

 

The PTA will be hard at work Friday night providing our 8th grade students with a class dance. I will be around to make sure they have everything they need to get started and then ...

Angela is doing an awesome job with the yearbook club.  I love the advertising with our students in action shots.  Now is the time to purchase if you want one.  

I am looking forward to the Theater Club presentation at the board meeting on Monday night.  I know that Stephen, April and Danielle have been working hard to get the kiddos ready for this early preview performance.  

Best of luck to Morgan Martin and her students that are performing at the band solo and ensemble contest this Saturday

We have a lot going on at our early release day on Wednesday February 12th.  I am grateful for the efforts of our instructional coaches who will be leading the book club conversation at the end of the day.  

Colleen and Alex are doing a great job of leading our student council kids with the Valentine Grams next week and are planning a school spirit week in the near future.  

It is great having Ellen Behrman in the house!  Having her as Vanessa's sub translates to seamless support! 

Dr. Filas, Tim, Aly A, Sarah and April all met this week for an initial moving meeting.  Working on the planning process details for moving class furniture and materials will ensure a smooth transition when it comes time for our summer construction projects.  More information to follow.  

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Thomas A. Edison 

If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the thinking.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908 - 1973) 

I know that there are people who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that!

Tom Lehrer