4-27-2018

Betty's dad, Gerald Nordegren is on Honor Flight Chicago on May 9th.  It is so great that him and other veterans of the Korean War will be honored in this way.  If there is a spare 5 minutes at the end of class she can take cards to him and the other veterans but today is the deadline!  Bring them down to her if you can.

Lauren and Jessica  put on a fun night for the kids with their 3v3 basketball tournament  fundraiser for NJHS Thursday night.  Neela 3-d printed the trophies!

Thanks to Melissa L, Melissa F, Chris, MJ, Danielle, and Matt for making 4th grade students and parents feel comfortable in their first steps in their transition to Benjamin Wednesday during the student visit and Parent Night.  

The specials team spearheaded a make Your Mark on the World bookmark project last week.  Yesterday I saw the finished project and I am impressed!  Please make sure they get passed out to your students.  

Marla and Ally at the IPA Recognition Breakfast.

Megan P had her students celebrating National Poem in Your Pocket Day with student poems (in their pockets) and on the sidewalks!

 

JFK on Why artists and Poets are Indispensable to the American Public.  

http://www.openculture.com/2017/05/john-f-kennedy-explains-why-artists-poets-are-indispensable-to-american-democracy.html

PLEASE, PLEASE sign up to work the Track Meet on Tuesday May 1st.  Courtney really needs your help!

Thanks to Adrienne and the 7th grade team for organizing the Career Fair Friday.  What a great experience for our students and a wonderful opportunity for parents to come in and volunteer.  

How well do your grades represent student learning?  Article for reflection.  

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/accurate-grades/

The 8th grade team and students are heading to Wrigley Field today to see the Cubs play.  What  a great experience for the kids who may have never been to a professional game and have only seen the White Sox or Kane County Cougars game.  😄

Dr. Ehrhardt got to jam with Michael Miles!  

April Tepe's 5th grade students share some of their projects from their IMSA Fusion class.

Take Your Child to Work Day.

4-20-2018

Matthew Turek received his IEA New Teacher of the Year Award yesterday at a nice ceremony at the O'Hare Hyatt Regency.  We are very proud of his accomplishments.

Red, White and Beautiful was a great success.  Thanks to everyone for the hard work you put into highlighting student work.  Special thanks to Mrs. LaMantia, Mr. Turek, Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Burkholder, Mrs. Tepe, Mrs. Fiorini, Mrs. Vidic, and Mrs. Wright.

Memo or power point for meetings?
https://work.qz.com/1256645/for-meetings-amazon-makes-its-employees-write-anonymous-six-page-stories-instead-of-powerpoints-or-slides/

Thanks to Jessica for giving her newspaper club students the opportunity to Skype with a real newspaper reporter.  What a great experience for these students.  

Thanks to Lauren and Jessica as they put on the NJHS movie night tonight with The Greatest Showman.

Mrs. Peterson always upping the bulletin board game!


Good Luck to Colleen and Alex as they take students to student council convention this weekend.

Are Iphones bad for kids?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/books/review/are-iphones-bad-for-kids.html

Congrats to Courtney, Bill and Abby for successfully hosting the track meet last night.  A break in the weather is just what we needed.  Thanks to Dan Baker and any other staff that ended up helping to work the meet.

Good luck to Matt and Corey in the home soccer game tonight.



Thanks to Michelle for completing all of the PARCC make-ups tests.


Thanks to Namita for the wonderful job she is doing so far with our success track program.

Some days it just flows and I feel like I’m born to do this, other days it feels like I’m trudging through hell. Every day I make the choice to show up and see what I’ve got, and to try and be better. My advice: keep showing up.
Des Linden Womens Boston Marathon Winner 2018

4-13-2018

Thanks to Greg for giving a thorough presentation on the new student device at the board meeting this past Monday.  Melissa and Danielle also did a great job recognizing all of the theater volunteers.

50 questions to get students to think about how they think.
https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/metacognition-50-questions-help-students-think-think/


Thanks to all of the SS teachers for making a decision to move forward with a quality resource adoption as well as a philosophical shift in instructional delivery and expectations.  Working together I know there is nothing that you can't accomplish  as you start "digging into" the materials.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas A. Edison

We had our last TA meeting of the year yesterday and can I just say my socks were blown off by the quality of the presentations that they delivered after researching topics all year.  Kim, Debbie, Gail and Michelle presented on the rise of ADHD, Heather G and Jen P prepared a presentation on Mindfulness in Education that Heather presented and Jennifer H and Heather F presented on the importance of Motivation in the Classroom.  I am so proud of the hard work they put into these projects.  Great Job!

17 ways to reduce Cognitive Overload  Graphic.  use your fingers on your touchscreen to enlarge....go ahead...really what are you waiting for


Thanks to Michelle F for working on the PARCC Make-ups next week.  We will send out a schedule when finalized.



Thanks to Melissa, Lyn, April, Jen V, and Lynette for traveling to Evergreen for a special articulation with our new Core Class students, teachers and TA's that will be here next year.  I have heard very positive feedback on your discussions.

The Magazine Rack....The Internet Archive of 34,000 digitized magazines.  Pretty Cool.
https://archive.org/details/magazine_rack



Thanks to Matthew, Lauren Dusing, Alex, Angela, Sherry, Lynette and Jen V for submitting and presenting proposals to the Foundation Wednesday after school.

Promoting positive struggle in Math.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/promoting-productive-struggle-math


Good luck to Courtney, Bill, Abby, Matt Tylk and Corey as they lead our sports teams into competition  this spring.

Being defeated is often a temporary condition.  Giving up is what makes it permanent.
Marilyn Vos Savant

4-6-2018

Thanks to Jessica for organizing the engineering expo trip today to Madison, Wisconsin.  This should be a fun and educational trip.

Helping students identify their values through writing prompts.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/helping-your-students-identify-their-values-maurice-elias?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Big thanks to Jen H, Lori P, Matt T, Bill W, Lynette W, Courtney M, Rich F, Jen P, Jen V, Jim A and Corey M for helping with the very popular transition to selling ala carte items in the lunchroom.  We will go through one more change today which will be selling all lunch students first, without letting them buy ala carte items and then calling all students up to buy ala carte items separately.  This should help Ellen T out on the back end as she has been doing a tremendous job balancing the numbers.

The importance of Purpose in education.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/importance-purpose-education

Thanks to the teachers that have submitted foundation grants.  There is still time to get one submitted.  These grants are a great way to supplement your classroom resources. 

Jessica found this great article.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/We-re-Teaching-Grit-the/242854

Thanks to Mark, Jim, Colleen, Lynette and Jen V who have been working hard to pack up supplies/materials for the upcoming renovations. 

The 30 best science websites.

https://www.weareteachers.com/best-science-websites/

 Thanks to Frank and Tony who have been putting together the large order of flexible furniture that has been delivered intermittently throughout the last week.  Getting this done on top of all the other work they have been doing is impressive. 

Incorporating spoken word into the classroom.  

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/18/04/lifting-youth-voices-through-spoken-word

Thanks to Michelle Fiorini for bringing big-time author Blue Balliett in to talk to the 5^th and 6^th grade students.  They were enthralled with her talk about the writing process…and the ghosts that she has seen!

Angela and Colleen have been taking advantage of the virtual reality Zspace stations in the maker space.  I appreciate taking a risk on this new technology that will hopefully help learning as much as their engagement. 

I want to thank everyone for their hard work to execute PARCC testing. From administering the test, to pulling together special lessons for PE and Specials as well as the tech work from Angela, Kim, Ellen B and Greg has made it smooth sailing so far.  Obviously, the most important work is the work that everyone is doing daily to get the students learning, PARCC or no PARCC the rigor and engagement that you employ with your students is making a difference.   

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

3-23-2018

Thanks to Jessica for putting out another hard hitting edition of the Tiger Times and supervising the Tiger Times staff through their journalistic endeavors.

Wynton Marsalis 12 ways to practice
http://arbanmethod.com/wyntons-twelve-ways-to-practice/

Thanks to Melissa F and Mark B for administrating the Illinois Science Assessment and to Greg and Ellen B for all of the tech help.

Thanks to the 5th grade team for administering the CogAT test this week.  This will help us refine the placement of students for next year.

Please make sure that everyone is careful about opening up the front door or middle door for adults/parents as they visit our school.  We have had a couple of situations where parents are entering the building without being buzzed in through the office.

Thanks to Courtney, Bill and Abby for starting their track tryouts this week.

The building will be open over spring break for all of you guys that want to spend your spring break in your classroom getting ready for the stretch run.  You are also free to come in on the weekend using the same procedure of scanning your id on the outside card reader and signing in on the clipboard.  Just check the clipboard before you leave and scan your id on the square to re-arm the building.  I can help anyone that needs a review.

Please make sure you review all of your PARCC procedures on Monday, April 2nd  in preparation for the April 3rd start of testing.  Let me know if you have questions.


Thanks to Matt Tylk, Dan, Nicole and Keriann for doing a great job with Wednesday night's sports awards.

After we get back from break we will be starting to sell a la carte items in the lunch room.  This will give students who bring their lunch a chance to get a drink or small snack.  Teacher lunches will also be starting back soon.  Thanks to Ellen Trush for helping me organize this.

Thanks to Lynette and Christine for starting the talent show tryouts this week.

Come on you have time to read one....just one before you head into spring break!


https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/12-must-read-articles-assessment/


I hope everyone enjoys their spring break and has some time to kick back and relax.

"The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." -- Samuel Johnson

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” — John Steinbeck

3-16-2018

The day has arrived, can't wait to see the performance of H2SIB today at the assembly and through the weekend.  What an unbelievable learning experience for the cast and crew over the past few months culminating with these performances.  Thanks to Melissa, Danielle, April and"stage manager" Bill Wadman for all of their hard work. 

Fun info-graphic on fictional mentors, 30 days of inspiring quotes. 
https://electricliterature.com/infographic-inspirational-quotes-from-fictional-mentors-8111c4f2e9b1


Thanks to Jen Pope for teaching yoga on Wednesday to the 5th, 6th and 7th grade PE students.  What a great opportunity for our Benjamin students.

10 reasons to use Inquiry Based learning in your classrooms.
https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/10-reasons-to-use-inquiry-based-learning-in-your-classroom/


Please remember to fill out a foundation grant.  This is an opportunity to get those "extras" that may not be in the budget, but would enhance your teaching experience.  Let me know if you need help.

3 grading practices that need to be blown up, Star wars style.
https://medium.com/@hhschiaravalli/3-assessment-and-grading-practices-that-need-to-be-obliterated-5c48050e9400


Lyn did a great job at the board meeting on Monday night, having students present their works of art created this year. Also thanks to Lynette and Mark for attending to sign the new teacher contract with the school board. 

Microsoft is offering free coding classes to girls in March.
https://www.simplemost.com/microsoft-offers-teen-girls-free-coding-classes-march-2018/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social


Thanks to Greg for presenting the PARCC training on Wednesday afternoon.  Please make sure that you review the test booklet, guidelines and website prior to testing. 



Who's winning book madness?  Thanks to Michelle F for putting this together for staff and students.

Read all of Shakespeare's plays online for free.
http://www.openculture.com/2014/03/read-all-of-shakespeares-plays-free-online-courtesy-of-the-folger-shakespeare-library.html


Please remember to review the extra duty email Mark sent out this week and if you need a form for a new extra duty proposal let me know and I will send you one.  They are due April 13th. 

Thanks to Angela and Colleen for working with the students on the ZSpace virtual reality computer program. 


"If life becomes hard to bear we think of a change in our circumstances. But the most important and effective change, a change in our own attitude, hardly even occurs to us." -- Ludwig Wittgenstein

3-9-2018

One week to go for H2SIB!  So excited to see the result of all the hard work the students, Mrs. LaMantia, Mrs. DeChristopher and Mrs. Tepe are putting in for the awesome performance next Friday. 

7 minute writes...a sixty second video.....just click and watch

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry Artwork from Mrs. Peterson's students.  

Jen and Lynette are bringing in the Teen Decision group to talk to the 8th graders, next week which is a great learning opportunity for our students.  

Nicole gave an awesome presentation on Mindfulness last week.  Here is the full Ted Talk Video.  

Professionalism in a Digital World

Thanks to MJ, Alex, Megan D and Angela for being at the Tech Integration Committee Meeting on Tuesday Night.  Ellen B and Greg are looking at the new student devices closely and we should have a decision soon.  

Please remember we have PARCC Training on Wednesday at our early release day, followed by a short training on the web communication APP we all have.  Bring your computers and make sure you have established your PEARSON Access Next password from the email Greg sent out. 

Want to duplicate yourself to help your students, watch this 1 minute video.  

Two field trips and a reward trip today = students learning and having fun outside the school walls.

A Big Thank You to Frank, Tony and Tim for hanging up the backdrop for the musical.  Please sign up for Musical Supervision for March 16th and 17th today.  Sign-up will be in the lounge.  

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. Theodore Roosevelt