11-30-2018

Basketball won some exciting games yesterday!  Thanks to Matt Tylk and Dan B for doing a great job coaching. We also had Mr. turek and the PEP Band, bringing down the house. What a fun time!



What a Cool idea!  Book Vending machine where kids earn tokens and choose their free book.


Thanks to Michelle Fiorini for meeting with Mrs. Pasker as she gets ready to run the December Bookfair.  There will be a few coverage lapses in the library during the bookfair since it is in the Gym lobby.  I will help out covering the library as well, so I can sharpen my book scanning and shelving skills!

Melissa Falkos is hosting officer Castillo in her room for Too Good for Drugs!  This is a great learning experience for the students to talk to an actual police officer.


Jessica and Chris were fighting off heat issues in their rooms like rockstars the last two days. I'm thankful for their patience as they worked through the different problems. 


April, Sherry, Melissa and Lyn are ready for Hour of Code. They will be showing an awesome video that April found and then will be doing coding games and activities the next day. I want to thank them for joining educators across America (including Josh at Evergreen!) in getting students practicing this skill.

Ellen Behrman's Awesome Tiger Cruise Video. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE2D3pleIgE


If you haven't had a chance yet, take a mini field trip outside today to see the new stair railing, sidewalk and wall that were just replaced.  These improvements greatly enhance the safety of our students.

Tips to use your phone less.

Thanks to Namita for doing an excellent job in the office Tuesday and Wednesday in Ellen's absence. Also thanks to Kim for getting all the grades set and imported for report cards.

6 ways to help students understand math.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/ways-help-students-understand-math-matthew-beyranevand?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=twitter


 Good luck to Joe Splinter and our chess team as we host a huge Chess Tournament this Saturday.

Thanks to Bill Wadman for supervising the Northwestern Accelerated Weekend at Benjamin this weekend.  I am excited to hear about the experience from the kids on Monday. 

How drawing something is a massive benefit to your memory.
https://digest.bps.org.uk/2018/11/22/the-act-of-drawing-something-has-a-massive-benefit-for-memory-compared-with-writing-it-down/

Good luck to our 8th grade and 5th grade team as they take their reward trip today. These special excursions are a great reinforcement to the majority of our students that are doing things right!

The cafeteria manager has gone bananas!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2018/11/26/why-this-school-cafeteria-manager-has-gone-bananas-kids-love-it/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.063552781197


I enjoy watching the BB300 announcements in a different classroom each week. Thanks to Mrs. Dunne for hosting me today. 

11-16-2018

Welcome back to Danielle!  It's good to have you back at Benjamin!

Funny video on a Device Free Dinner

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/device-free-dinner?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

What a great Veterans Day Assembly we had on Monday.  Thanks to Melissa and Betty for all of their hard work on the assembly and fundraisers. Also, thanks to Ellen B for a great presentation.


Interesting take on student compliance, behavioral charts and student engagement.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept18/vol76/num01/Tear-Down-Your-Behavior-Chart!.aspx


Betty did a great job at Monday nights board meeting giving a presentation about our ELL services and how she is helping students in our district.



Flexible furniture proposals are due to ne by the end of the day today.

5 Minute math videos for every algebra concept
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAB83F3D1135AC670

Thanks to Nicole for organizing the Kindness day on Tuesday.  What a great message to send to our students.


The generosity article/challenge. 

https://www.success.com/how-30-days-of-kindness-made-me-a-better-person/

Kerry also found this kindness video challenge.  Who wants to give it a shot?

Thanks to Matt T for organizing the Professional Marimba concert on Tuesday night.  This also opened up an opportunity for these professional musicians to work with some of our band students throughout the day.  Matt also did a great job taking one of our students to the ILMEA  music contest last weekend.  Your time and effort outside the school day is appreciated.

Music can make you a better reader.
http://theconversation.com/learning-music-early-can-make-your-child-a-better-reader-106066


Many educators can make a great lesson plan. The true talent of an educator is the ability to adjust it to the needs of students when it is actually taught live.


I was at the PTA meeting last night.  They are having a spirit wear sale. You have to order by December 2nd.  I have attached the link below.  April is also selling some Benjamin Wear as well. heck out the email she sent yesterday for details.  The PTA will also be posting your amazon lists over break. 
http://www.epiapparel.com/ben120.html

I appreciate the great job everyone did on parent visitation day this week.  Parents enjoyed getting a glimpse at their children's experience. 

NPR Student Podcast Challenge.
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/664671123/npr-student-podcast-challenge-turn-an-idea-into-sound-and-win



I hope you enjoy the breakfast this morning.  You guys deserve the best.  Enjoy your fall break and spend some quality time with family and friends.   

"Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant." -- Horace

“You know, my motto is ‘Excelsior.’ That’s an old word that means ‘upward and onward to greater glory’. It’s on the seal of the state of New York. Keep moving forward, and if it’s time to go, it’s time. Nothing lasts forever.”   Stan Lee

11-9-2018

A big thank you to Julie "the professional" Seeman as she completed another teacher leave. It is so great to have somebody so skilled to teach our students, helpful to her coworkers and someone I can count on.  I'm sure we will see you soon.

Dig a ditch or build a bridge.  Doug Reeves.
https://www.creativeleadership.net/blog/2016/11/29/do-you-want-to-dig-a-ditch-or-build-a-bridge-your-grading-system-will-answer-the-question

PTA wish lists are due today.  Please make sure you added to the team list so that team leaders can send me the links to each teams list today.



While the 5th and 6th grade Camfel Production Assembly sent a positive message, I will have to say that the 7th and 8th grade assembly hit it out of the park.  Lots of feedback from students and staff about how relative it was to what we want students to know and how they can realize "It's Their Life"

Parent Teacher Conferences were a great success. Even last night was quite busy with many positive comments from parents.  Thanks to Kim for working all three nights and for setting up and dealing with the sign-up genius program as well as all the questions and requests from our parents.  Also thanks to the Specials and Special Ed Teachers who called all of the parents last night that had not scheduled conferences.

Help students fact check the web like a professional (or better)

Melissa LaMantia is working overtime to make Monday's Veterans Day Assembly the biggest and best one yet.  The color guard were in practicing last night and I am really looking forward to this assembly.



A big thank you to the growth mindset committee who are presenting this morning to start your day in a positive way.  Please let me know if you have any questions on the agenda for the rest of the day.


Thanks to Debbie L and the PST Team who have been working relentlessly on different situations in our district to make sure kids have everything they need to be successful.  We couldn't do it without your hard work and care for kids.

Megan  P with a great fishbowl activity as students discuss freedom of press and student voice. Student Quote- “kids care about a lot of the same stuff that adults care about. They are just not heard, so people don’t know that they care.”


I was able to also see great lessons from Sherry, Bill, Megan D and Courtney recently.  Please make sure you are scheduling your observations with me if you are on the regular evaluation cycle and don't forget to check in regularly with your student growth data to make sure that you are on track.



Speaking of data, I have good news to share.  We were in the top 5% of student growth scores in our PARCC math and reading in DuPage county as outlined in Dr. Ehrhardt's letter last week.  In addition we were in the top 10.8% in PARCC scores for the whole state.  This is a big improvement of which much credit goes to you.  Nice Job!

Cooperative Learning Roles a 60 second video to help!

Next week is American Education Week.  Thank you to all of the staff for everything you do for kids.  I feel very lucky to work in such a great district with such a caring and hardworking staff.  Please review the calendar for foodapalooza updates and remember that parent visitation is on Tuesday.

11-2-2018

I was able to sit in on the 8th grade Team as they recognized the students of the month.  Students had no idea why they were being called down and were very surprised to be "attacked" with praise from multiple teachers about why they were chosen.  The smiles were from ear to ear.  What a great way to make the recognition even more meaningful. Great Job!

Great article on going from consuming to creating.
http://www.spencerauthor.com/consuming-to-creating/


Kim Gerster did a great job of serving with a smile yesterday as she checked in parents for Parent Teacher Conferences.  I also want to thank her for organizing the conferences in Sign-up Genius.  Things went very smooth.

Speaking of Conferences, thank you for starting and ending your conferences ON TIME!  It makes such a difference in terms of parent demeanor and anxiety about being late for their next conference.  Please let me know if you need any conference ending strategies.  I am an expert in this area.

Megan P celebrating her student's reading achievements with a "reading stack" photo bulletin board.


The Chess Championship Sign is being installed outside the office.  What, you didn't know that Benjamin is a multiple time state champion in Chess.  Well now you do and we will have a sign to prove it. 


Kerry K and Alex A  took their students on a field trip to Kuipers Farm this week.  It was a fun and educational trip for everyone.

6 strategies for challenging gifted/talented learners.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/apr16/vol58/num04/Six-Strategies-for-Challenging-Gifted-Learners.aspx

The 5 Essential Survey is now live. I will be checking in with Team Leaders to make sure we are setting students up to take the survey in a knowledgeable way.

Long Work vs. Hard Work
https://seths.blog/2011/05/hard-work-vs-long-work/

The time between Halloween and Thanksgiving Break can be a combination of restlessness and high energy mischief.  (and that's just the teachers!) Please make sure you make classroom and hallway supervision a priority during these next two weeks.  (video of one of our district 25 kids below on November 1)



Thanks to the growth mindset committee who met this week to plan our November 9th training.  Dr. LeBlanc, Laura P, Courtney, Melissa L, Megan P, Megan D, Angela S and Julie M who represent our district on this committee.  Here is something to read to hold you over until then:

10 ways to instill a growth mindset in students.
https://www.prodigygame.com/blog/growth-mindset-in-students/

Best of luck to Dr. Ehrhardt, Laura Pfanenstiel and Allison who will be traveling to Washington DC to receive the National Blue Ribbon Award.  You can see below that Laura is very excited about the opportunity to get a selfie with Donald .



No matter what you're doing, throw yourself into it. People notice and appreciate it. And Karma always pays you back with interest.