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!
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!
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
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.
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
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:
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
What a week packed with fun and inspirational activities to get students to think more about kindness and respect. Thanks once again to April for spearheading this week and to the many other staff who helped implement and facilitate the activities. Special shout out to Carrie Liszka who stayed late on Thursday to use her art background to put together the Art Installation with April. When you put everyone's individual artwork together to make a bigger piece of art, it is pretty spectacular. When you think about it.... it's similar to our staff coming together to make our school a spectacular place to be.
Thanks to Joel for working with me to get the new locker placement set for the summer. This will be a big improvement for our students.
Glad to see Matt and Dan get some wins this week with the girls basketball team. We have some home games coming up.
Thanks to the staff who went to the Special Board meeting on Monday and the Community Forum tonight. Staying informed is what helps us make educated decisions. I always feel very grateful that the staff takes so much pride in our school and what we have accomplished and continue to come to board meetings, special board meetings. community forums, PTA meetings etc....You are the most important part to the success of our students. Also a big shout out to Danielle and Angela for setting up the sound system and to Vanessa for coming back to help the presenter with technology on both nights! Thanks for "being there"
We are all leaders in this building and the admin team has recently done a lot of work with servant leadership. This image is a good summary to keep in mind.
If you have time please take a few minutes to fill out Betty's survey. It will close at the end of next week.
Speaking of surveys...The 5Essentials Survey official window is February 18th-March 28th. More info will be coming soon.
Thanks to everyone for getting your newsletter articles in to Margaret and to Margaret for getting it organized and out to parents. This is a very important avenue for letting parents know the great things that are going on in your classrooms.
Health Trainings are due Friday. If you did not finish them, please finish this weekend. Please reach out to me if you have questions.
I would like to welcome Dawn K to the Ben 25 district. She has been busy assisting Julie with all things special education. All of you will eventually be receiving emails from her at some point inviting you to IEP meetings. Take a moment to go upstairs and say hello if you have time.
I don't know how many other middle schools have roller skating at their school but what a great experience for our students. Thanks to Jen and Joe for putting this together each year.
6 Ways that technology can help you teach reading more effectively.
There have been a few behavior situations this week. I appreciate the fact that staff handle this with me in the forms of clear communication to me and in many cases following up with parents to help me out. I could not do such a good job of working to help these students without your help.
Thanks to the lunch supervisors who always have a tough job but this week we made it even more difficult with the addition of lunchtime activities such as "fishing for prizes" and "gross smoothie making" Thanks to Bill, Joe, Jen V, Jim, Jessica, Lynette, Jen H, Chris and Lori for keeping the kids in order.
I would like to send another special shout out to Ali K who has been helping out in every way possible. I appreciate the job she is doing assisting teachers, covering check in/check out, always listening to feedback to get better and choosing to eat her lunch everyday with Jen M's kids in the lunchroom. Thanks for giving your best!
Thanks to Chris and Dan for being great sports for their students!
Pray not for lighter burdens, but for stronger backs.
Theodore Roosevelt
Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.
I appreciate all of the time Coach Wolski is spending with our chess team on Thursday Nights and on the weekend. This past weekend the team took first place in the North Chicago Cup! Way to go!
I appreciate all of the work Kim is doing to assist Solly with the Civil Rights Data Collection report. This involves securing a lot of data and is long tedious work. Thank you.
Jen and her health students invited our local firemen in for some of their healthy cooking. The firemen included a couple Benjamin Alumni as well. Helping the people that help us is a great message of community for our students!
Health training Reminder! The health trainings are due soon! Please get them done.
Looking for dinner on Tuesday? PTA is doing a fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse. Stop by on your way home for an easy dinner night.
The arts allow students to express themselves, their ideas, and their feelings creatively. For English learners, the arts can help build confidence while allowing adults and their classmates to get to know them better.
I will be meeting with Dr. Bhavna Sharma-Lewis on January 29th to talk about district goals, priorities and initiatives. Part of that conversation will be setting up times to meet with staff representatives on February 6th. All staff are welcome to attend the community forum on Thursday, January 30th at 7pm in Benjamin's small gym.
With all of the nasty weather continuing I know we all appreciate the work that Tim, Frank and Esidrio have been doing to keep our sidewalks and parking lot clear and safe.
I so appreciate all of the hard work that April has put into Character Education Week next week. Please make sure that you read the flyer. (connected below) The assembly will be action packed and we will need to call students down a little early from 8th period so we can start the assembly by 1:45pm.
I appreciate the hard work that the Science Committee is doing to pick our next resource. Our meeting on Wednesday was very productive in seeing where we were at in our pilot and what questions or obstacles committee members needed help with. As always I appreciate Danielle and Angela's help with this as well as our weekly Wednesday Instructional Coaches Meetings.
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