9-9-2022

 Thanks to Greg for organizing the Registration meeting between the school secretaries, district nurse and administrators.  It is always smart to review new processes and implement improvements for a smoother process next time around.

Thanks to Jessica and Todd for going to Evergreen to help with Fastbridge screening.  It is nice to see time and time again that we have the mentality of two schools, one district.  

Small daily habits to boost mental health

https://www.edutopia.org/article/small-daily-practices-boost-mental-health

Just a reminder to all staff to make sure we are being consistent with the expectations we set at the opening assembly and in your student handbook presentations the first week of school.  Cell phones, hallway and classroom behavior, study skills, lunch and academic expectations are all important.  Students look to us for guidance and for us to teach expectations in all areas.  Also please remember that while write ups can certainly be necessary at times, fish slips can also be used to reinforce positive expectations.

I would like to thank all of our teaching assistants for doing a fabulous job supporting our students and teachers and a special shout out to Holly, who with almost no notice was switched into the 7th grade teaching assistant position to rave reviews.  I appreciate her flexibility and the 7th grade team appreciates her attention to detail in following their expectations.

Metacognition for teachers:  Quick Habits of Mind Reminder

Do you ever find yourself talking to yourself? How do you take note of what is going on inside your head? Thinking about your thinking is something that we all do, even if we are not aware of it happening. When we become more metacognitive, we grow our inner awareness by becoming more self-observing. It is our ability to plan a strategy for producing what information is needed, to be conscious of our own steps and strategies during the act of problem-solving, and to reflect on and evaluate the productiveness of our own thinking. Planning a strategy before embarking on a course of action assists us as we keep track of the steps in the sequence of planned behavior at the conscious awareness level for the duration of the activity. It facilitates making temporal and comparative judgments, assessing the readiness for more or different activities, and monitoring our interpretations, perceptions, decisions, and behaviors.

• How am I thinking about this?
• What kind of thinking will be called for in this situation? For example, Analyzing? Comparing? Creating?
• How effective is the strategy that I am using? What changes might be needed?
• Did my efforts succeed? What could I have done differently?

 

My students AFTER I provide CLEAR, PRECISE directions

Thanks to Dr. Woell for his assistance with securing buses for our sports and field trips.  It was a lot of work behind the scenes to make it happen and really benefits our students.   

Please don't forget to turn in your social committee $ and PTA $ and membership form.  Also thanks to Kerry, April and Jessica for already signing up to attend a PTA meeting.  Next weeks meeting on the 15th is still open if anyone is interested.  

The cognitive benefits of daydreaming: 

Next week I will be busy after school with a Team Leader Meeting on Monday, Mentee Meeting on Tuesday and the ELA Resource Committee Meeting on Wednesday.  Thanks to all staff for your participation in committees and leadership roles of all kinds. 

Please take time next week to look at the IAR scores I sent and think about possible school improvement input(not necessarily related to IAR)  in your team meetings.  

 "A good example has twice the value of good advice."

-- Albert Schweitzer

"Creativity is the defeat of habit by originality." -- Arthur Koestler

9-2-2022

 As mentioned previously in my email, thanks for all of your hard work and preparation that went into making curriculum night a great success.    

Thanks to Dan, Kerry, Matt, Joe, Bill and Courtney for all of their hard work and dedication in getting the Benjamin Fall Sports Teams ready for competition.  Special thanks to Dan for his role as AD and dealing with a lot of parent questions at the start of the season.  Also thanks to Lynette, Jessica and Megan for helping to supervise the games yesterday.

The 5 types of Mentors you need in your life.  Kind of goes with our beginning of the year discussion on the people you want to be around.

https://blog.ed.ted.com/2018/10/09/the-5-types-of-mentors-you-need-in-your-life/

I was able to get into about a dozen classrooms this week, which is my favorite part of my job.  It's great to see the varied talents of our staff and how they engage students in the lesson by role playing bad science safety, leading a short nature trip behind our school, teaching PE expectations so students can succeed in following them, combining get to you activities with student presentations, leading engaging discussions, keeping students accountable with note cards,  o making the worst cake in America to show the importance of the scientific method and many, many more.

Just to update information from my monthly meeting email:  September 14th the teaching assistants will have PD at Evergreen at 2:20pm and the rest of the staff ML PD at Evergreen from 3:00pm-4pm.  Members of the ELA adoption committee will meet at Evergreen from 3:30pm-4:30pm

Thanks to Bill, Joe, Lynette, Kathy, Sue, and Melissa L for doing such a great job with morning lot duty and Nicole, Jen V, Sue, Sherry and Melissa L for doing a great job with after school bus/car duty.  Getting kiddos to and from school in a safe manner is priority number one.  

Thanks to Angela and Danielle for working with our subs and giving them a refresher training so they know what to do when coming into our buildings.  Knowing we have subs knowledgeable about procedures and tech use makes our school run so much smoother.  

5 ways to get to know students at the start of the school year.

https://spencerauthor.com/5-ways-to-get-to-know-your-students-at-the-start-of-the-school-year/

Thanks to Lauren for picking up donuts and Todd for bringing coffee yesterday for a much needed pick me up after curriculum night! Please don't forget to get your money into Lauren for the social committee as well as your $5 for PTA membership to the PTA mailbox.  

Thanks to Jen V, Jim, Jen H, Bill, Jessica, Lynette and Joe for doing lunch duty each day.  Getting students to follow procedures so that lunch/recess goes smoothly between the 4 grades and two lunch periods is extremely important and requires patience, many verbal and great use of proximity.  

The Power of Relationships in Schools.  Watch this 3 minute video.

Huge thank you to Kathy for stepping up in the lead role for the bookfair on short notice to fill in for an ill Michelle F.  It is a lot of work over three days and one night  including packing everything up at the end.  The students definitely benefited from your dedication.  

"No matter how you feel today, get up, dress up and show up." | Paulo Coelho

"If you can't say it clearly, you don't understand it yourself." -- John Searle

Delusions of grandeur make me feel a lot better about myself.

Jane Wagner

8-26-2022

 What a great first week of school.  Thanks to everyone for coordinating, communicating and helping each other.  Your hard work helped create opportunities for our school to shine brighter. 

Pretty cool callbacks teachers and students can use!

Thanks to Dr. Woell and his hard work to set up the successful opening institute this year.  I think the combination of his Happiness Advantage presentation, the police officer's safety training and  the energy of comedian Tim Clue set the table for a positive school year.

10 ways to teach creativity in the classroom.

https://blog.ed.ted.com/2015/05/08/10-ways-to-teach-creativity-in-the-classroom/

I'm loving the Club bulletin board that Jessica and April set up as well as the announcements advertising the start of our before and after school clubs. Clubs/activities are a great service to our students that allow them to explore known interests as well as discover ones they didn't know they had.  Thanks to all of our club sponsors.

Julie S and Solly have both done a great job of jumping into our district with both feet and are taking great initiative getting things done!  What great additions to our district.

I will be talking to our students during lunch either Friday or Monday about social media use and using photos without student/teacher permission.  Please make sure that everyone is following the agreed upon guidelines for student cell phones and that kids have them in their backpack from homeroom to last bell unless you give them permission.  

I am looking forward to the PTA back to school night tonight in the upper lot.  It will be great fun talking with new and veteran Benjamin families!

3 habits of highly effective teacher teams.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-habits-highly-effective-teacher-teams

I appreciate Melissa, April and Lynette working with our 5th grade students and teaching them the Fish Philosophy!  Watching the Fish video and their presentation reminded me about how well the concepts of  Be There, Make Their Day, Play and Choose Your Attitude match the positive behaviors we desire from our students and teachers.  

The Curriculum Night Letter will be sent out today to parents.  There is a student schedule that will be attached, which students should fill out for their parents.  Parents will go through their student schedule from 6:30-8:00pm on the 31st.  This night is your time to shine!  Remember to focus your light on your curriculum and learning expectations.  

We also have a book fair going during Curriculum Night, anyone that can help Kathy and Michele in any free time you have that evening it would be appreciated.

Thanks to Jen and Joe for their flexibility in using their gym space at the beginning of the year for pictures and other items.  

Finally I would like to thank Kim and Ellen for their hard work this week to help keep us organized and ready for us to do our job teaching students.  

Can't seem to sleep. Lets see if the bright light of my phone containing all of the information in the entire world held inches away from my face for the next 15 minutes manages to lull me into a peaceful slumber.   Twitter

"The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it --basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them." -- Charles Bukowski

"You can't help someone get up a hill without getting closer to the top yourself." -- Norman Schwarzkopf

"If what you are doing is important, you will encounter resistance. If what you are doing isn't important, it will be easy." -- Donald Miller

5-27-2022

 I know when something like what happened in Uvalde Texas takes place we all are filled with sorrow for the victims and their families.  We also take time to reflect on our school and the procedures each of us follow to keep our school safe.  Finally, as Dr. Woell pointed out,  please reach out and talk with someone if you need to, the resources are available to help our staff.  

Bill and Mark did a great job with their 8th grade students Levittown Neighborhood projects.  The projects were very hands on and educational.

The 5th grade team also had an engaging and educational project with their Egg Drop Challenge.  It is exciting to see our teachers having student involved in project based learning right up until the end of the year.

Jessica put out another outstanding edition of the Tiger Times with her crack newspaper staff.  It is great to read the interesting articles and to have 40 different students come to me asking which dog photo was mine.

Matt, Joe, Courtney, Bill and Abby did a great job at the sports awards Wednesday night.  As always, highlighting the sports achievements on the field as well as the character of their players off the field.  

The eighth grade takes off today on their trip to Great America.  I appreciate the hard work and all of the extra time these teachers are putting into making sure the kids have a great time at the end of their 8th grade year.

We are very happy for Sam Lawrence who landed a science teaching position for next year.  We will miss him but are very happy for his future success.  

Thanks to Megan for leading the way with The Bengal Cafe Project.  It has been a great activity for Kerry's class and our school in general.  

Thanks to Kim for all of the work she is doing to finish up final grades/report cards as well as all the help she has been giving to Evergreen with their report cards.  Please don't forget to fill out the curriculum writing form that Dr. Woell sent out if you have something to work on.  I am always available to discuss and answer any questions you might have.  

We have a short period of time left in the school year but a lot going on in the next few days.  I am looking forward to the last days of school, graduation, the awards ceremonies and our end of the year celebrations.  I know we also have a lot of things to tie up with the end of the year, including the end of year check-out process.  

This is the last blog of the year.  I know for every person, activity or event I recognize there are 5 more that I miss.  Thanks for doing your best and going above and beyond this school year. I am lucky to work with such a dedicated and professional staff. 

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." 

-- Mark Twain

 

5-20-2022

Thursday Night's Choir and Band Concert was great! Big thanks to Melissa, April and Morgan for getting our musicians ready for their big night.

Thanks to our 8th grade team for leading a successful high school visitation day on Thursday with our 8th grade students.  This day is a great opportunity for our students to see what next year will be like.

I am looking forward to the NJHS Charity Fest today.  Thanks to Jessica and Jen for all of their efforts with our student leaders while also doing something  to give back to those who are in need.

Thanks to Ellen for organizing our all school picnic today.  Don't forget to grab your hotdog!

We had a full day of 4th to 5th grade transition meetings yesterday.  Thanks to Dr, LeBlanc, Todd, Megan, Nicole, Alex and Natalie for all of the hard work and planning that went into making these meetings successful. 

Seven strategies to get the most out of peer feedback!

https://spencerauthor.com/7-peer-feedback-strategies/ 

Huge shout out to Courtney, Bill, Carrie and Abby for completing a successful track season this week.  Track meets take a lot of work and organization and they gave a lot of both.

Good luck to Matt and Joe as their girls soccer team plays their final games this Saturday in the playoffs. 

Thanks to Tim, Tony and Frank for their efforts this week with all of our set-ups for Benjamin events!

"Beautiful and imaginative things can be destroyed. Beauty and imagination cannot." -- Alan Moore

"Do the jobs you like least first. It makes each successive job easier." -- Jim Henson

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity." -- George Eliot

5-13-2022

 Congrats to Colleen Morgan  and her 6th science students as they successfully utilized their pizza ovens that they built as they cooked (marshmallows) in the parking lot Monday.  

Thanks to Kerry for starting the Kindness Project with her students.  What a great lesson and message for her students and for all who support their class.  

Morgan did a great job with her beginning band recruitment parent meeting on Tuesday Night! She had many high school volunteers who helped the 4th grade students become familiar with a variety of instruments.  It was a great success.  

Congrats to our coaches!  As our spring season heads towards the finish line our track team hosted their home meet this week and girls soccer keeps squeaking out wins.  Thanks to Courtney, Bill, Carrie, Abby, Matt and Joe for their hard work and dedication to our student athletes. 

I'm very happy that within the last week our staff has had the chance to articulate about students (last Friday) and content (Wednesday).  If you throw in the data meetings (Thursday) about student interventions and services, that is a lot of important information that will help us  start the next school year strong!.  

Thanks  to Alex for organizing the Limo Lunch on Thursday for students who sold magazines for student council.  My highlight was when I asked the students how they know the song "Take on Me" by Aha (1985) and one student replied "My grandparents play it for me every once in a while!" ....Monday we have the reverse dunk tank in full effect during lunch time.  It should be a balmy 72 degrees!

I appreciate Tims help in communicating with Matt from Community Fellowship Church and securing what we need for graduation.  It is coming up quickly!

Office Reminders* Final end of the year awards are due to Kim by May 19th.   All final grades are due in power school by May 27th:   8th grade by 7am   5th-7th grade by Noon.  Please help Kim by making these deadlines.  

6th grade has organized an excellent education trip for their students today.  Brookfield Zoo is a wonderful setting for  an engaging and fun experience for our kiddos.  

I am looking forward to our Spring Band and Choir Concerts as well as our All School Picnic and Charity Fest next week.  

12 reasons to teach executive functioning skills.  

https://bit.ly/3snpnzN

Please make sure that we are tightening up on supervision the next couple of weeks. The end of the year is in our students sight and they are becoming a little restless. That means that we have to be structured, keep academics a priority and make students are always supervised. Please let only one student out of your classroom at a time to go to the bathroom, get a drink etc...  I appreciate your efforts during this crazy time.    

A man is what he thinks about all day long.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you expect nothing, you're apt to be surprised. You'll get it.  

Malcolm Forbes

Think you can, think you can't; either way, you'll be right.

Henry Ford

5-6-2022

 No time for the regular blog this week folks.  I did want to say that our Staff Learning Meeting was great! I loved hearing all of the accomplishments, positive feelings, compliments and funny stories each of you shared. Despite everything that happened, we did a lot of good this year! The meeting was a perfect example of why Benjamin is so special.  I think this quote from Todd Whitaker sums it up best.  I hope you had a great week and know that you are appreciated.