*From my favorite blog; Venspired

School? It’s about the kids. Society loves to simplify our jobs. Make it about facts and kids knowing stuff. Make it about graphs and charts that display our school’s weak points. But what aren’t people seeing? The kids.

The kids whose parents no longer live in the home. The kids who get one meal a day, their school lunch. The kids who cry at night because they are the adult in the house. The kids who have amazing potential buried in trying to help raise a younger sibling or who have big struggles caused by the fact that they are caring for themselves. The kids whose parents have a terrible drug problem and are headed to prison. The kids who haven’t lived more than six months in the same place since they were born. The kids who don’t know what Santa visits are like. The ones who don’t have a Crockpot with warm meals filling their house when they hop off the bus.

Every teacher knows a student whose story would break your heart.

A story that would stop you in your tracks.

A story that would remind you what education is about. Education? It’s about the kids.

The charts & graphs in the paper are just numbers. Teachers? We impact lives.
Thank you for all that you do to make an impact on our Kennedy Kubbies each and everyday! They are blessed to have you in their lives. 🙂 Make some AWESOME connections with students today…..let them know you see them!

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, October 19th
Fire Prevention Week – SPFD Visits <—click for schedule *tabs at the bottom for each day
Happy Birthday Eva Popowska 🙂

Tuesday, October 20th
Fire Prevention Week – SPFD Visits
Paraprofessionals Meeting @ 2:45pm (Faculty Lounge)

Wednesday, October 21st
Fire Prevention Week – SPFD Visits
Happy Birthday Natalie Yorty 🙂
Compass Learning Training for 2nd/3rd/Multiage Teachers (2:00pm-2:40pm)
Board of Education Meeting @ 7:00pm (@ Washington School)

Thursday, October 22nd
Kindergarten Field Trip to Didier Farm
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm

Friday, October 23rd
5 Positive Connections by Friday 🙂
Laura Helm from American National Insurance will be in faculty lounge
Fall Birthday Treats in Faculty Lounge
PreK Workshops

*Don’t forget to sign up for your Halloween Read-Aloud with a Principal here

See ideas below for Fire Prevention Week 🙂

I hope you had a wonderful 3-day weekend and enjoyed this beautiful October weather with your family & friends! Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, October 12th
NO SCHOOL: Columbus Day

Tuesday, October 13th
Faculty Meeting @ 2:50pm

Wednesday, October 14th
PATS Field Trip to Heritage Farm

Thursday, October 15th
Medical Exclusion Day
Happy Birthday Rose Karas 🙂
Earthquake Drill @ 10:15am

Friday, October 16th
PreK Field Trip to Johansen Farm
Happy Birthday Rosa Worwa 🙂

Blogs Worth Reading:
Seesaw: The Ultimate ePortfolio

How to Use Voice Typing in Google Docs

3 Tricks in Google Docs to Try

Monster Math App

Four Visual Dictionaries & A Thesaurus for Kids

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, October 5th
Happy Birthday Barbara Brzozowska 🙂
Bring Your Parent to School Day (9-10am and 1-2pm)
Dentist Visits (Conference Room)

Tuesday, October 6th
Happy Birthday Anna Gabriel 🙂 (green bus)
Dentist Visits (Conference Room)
2nd Grade Field Trip to Goebbert’s

Wednesday, October 7th
Happy Birthday Nicole Novak 🙂
Dentist Visits (Conference Room)
Multiage Field Trip to Goebbert’s

Thursday, October 8th
1st Grade Field Trip to Goebbert’s
3rd Grade Field Trip to Goebbert’s
Think College Thursday #tct  *wear a college shirt or colors*

Friday, October 9th
Happy Birthday Mandy Vanderwaal 🙂 
NO SCHOOL for Students: Teacher Institute Day
PRE K SCREENING DAY

(10/12) NO SCHOOL: Columbus Day

Blog Posts Worth Reading:
Photo Stream in the Classroom

15 Awesome Halloween Books for Kids

Translations Are Coming Soon to Remind

Connected Educator Month, 2015

5 Google Add-Ons I Frequently Use

Create QR Codes that Talk

“Schools are not buildings, curriculums, and machines. Schools are relationships and interactions among people.”

“What makes a good school has very little to do with how rich or poor the students are, or the type of curriculum that’s taught. It has very little to do with the special programs, expansive playing fields, snappy uniforms, or whether the school is wired to the Internet. What makes a good school, whether it’s public or private, religious or nonreligious, charter or non-charter, is a feeling. A feeling shared by the entire staff that their particular school is special. The feeling that their school really belongs to them.” (Manna, 1999).

At Kennedy School, each member of our team has a distinctive character that cares deeply about each and every one of our Kennedy Kubbies. Your unique attributes and talents contribute to the feeling people get when they enter this building. As a result, our children will remember you long after they leave Kennedy.

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, September 28th

Tuesday, September 29th
1st Grade Field Trip to Safety Town
APPY Hour in Room 110 @ 2:30pm ~ Come learn about Adobe Voice & enjoy some appetizers! Attend the Appy Hour & enter your name for the raffle prizes!

Wednesday, September 30th

Thursday, October 1st
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm
Happy Birthday Sarah Sicher 🙂

Friday, October 2nd
Reading Room Plan Day
Spirit Assembly @ 8:45am
Fall Spiritwear Orders Due

(10/03) Project Heart Well 5K
Sign up at the link below! There is still time to register. Check-in is at 8:00am & the run/walk begins at 9:00am. The event starts & finishes at Kennedy School. We look forward to seeing you there, as it is a great opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to community involvement. Please sign up to participate or volunteer. Please join us as we show our children that working together, we can all make a difference!   www.projectheartwell.com

Blog Posts Worth Reading:
Google Keep: It’s a Keeper
Building A Growth Mindset 

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, September 21st
Cycle 1 Assessments
Kennedy Spiritwear Sale Begins!
RTI Committee Meeting @ 2:40pm (Room 108)
Happy Birthday Bridget Elliott 🙂

Tuesday, September 22nd
Faculty Meeting @ 2:50pm <–click for agenda

Wednesday, September 23rd
PATS & PreK Field Trip to Lincoln Park Zoo
*First SIP Committee Meet-Up* 2:50pm-3:10pm
Happy Birthday Amanda Peterson 🙂

Thursday, September 24th
Project HeartWell Tye Dye T-Shirt Event @ 4:00pm-5:30pm
Happy Birthday Britney Lane 🙂

Friday, September 25th
Fall Picture Day! <—click here for schedule
Happy Birthday Marta Ocon 🙂
Happy Birthday Ashely Zolt 🙂

Reminders:
-Please fill out the Google Form for our Think College Thursdays bulletin board
-Please sign up for a School Improvement Committee for this year (see Kennedy conference for an email sent with link to sign up). Our first ‘check-in’ will be this Wednesday at the end of common plan time.
-Certified Non-Tenured Staff: Please be sure to schedule your first observation with your administrator 🙂

Articles Worth Reading:
Finding your Teaching Legs

25 Attention Getters

11 Habits of an Effective Teacher

Here’s our week at a glance:

*Congratulations to Alicia Villanueva on her wedding this past weekend. Please join me in wishing the new Mrs. Peccatiello all the best!

Monday, September 14th
First Investors Visit (in faculty lounge during lunch periods)
RTI Committee Meeting @ 2:45pm (Room 108)

Tuesday, September 15th

Wednesday, September 16th
Happy Birthday Jody (Orange Bus)
1/2 Day of School  ~ SIP Agenda will be emailed

Thursday, September 17th
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm
Blast Into Scouting Event @ 7:00pm

Friday, September 18th
5 by Friday!

09/19: Happy Birthday Roger 🙂
09/20: Happy Birthday Michelle McMorrow 🙂

*Reminder to Non-Tenured Teachers: Please schedule your 1st Observation, if you haven’t done so already! 

Blog Posts Worth Reading:
Snag Chrome Extension

Did you know you can now write with your voice in a Google Doc? No add-on or extension or anything fancy needed!
Adapting Morning Meeting: Speech & Anxiety Needs

Share the Story of Your Classroom with “Class Story” <–if you like/use Class Dojo, you’ll love Class Story!

Add To-Do Lists to Google Calendars

I absolutely love this post from Krissy Venosdale’s blog Venspired this week & had to share:

“Every single child in your school is a message to the world.  Some speak in writing, some in song, some in code.  Others speak in paintings created with their hands.  Some have a raw talent for crunching numbers.  There’s even a child or ten who has a a deep passion for understanding the stories of our past.  There’s a kid making Origami who can’t get enough of engineering with paper.  There’s a bunch of students who are on a waiting list at the library for the new book in their favorite series.

There’s a student who struggles to see patterns the way others do.  There are kids who see words differently than you or I.  There are kids who don’t want to get messy with paint.  There is a child who is more bothered by the tag on their shirt than any “consequence” you could impose for their meltdown.

There are kids waiting to be something they are rarely invited to be.

Themselves.

Not the kid described in a teacher’s guide, nor the kid that fits in “Class A” or “Class B.”

The kid that is exactly who they are.  What is their message to the world?

You won’t hear it unless you listen. And if you only listen for words, you’ll miss it even more.

We’ve spent forever celebrating a few skills like great handwriting, work completion, memorization.  Sure, those things make for nice looking assignments.  But do they tell the message?

It’s time for the artists, scientists, engineers, twirlers, hallway-skippers, introverts, doers, thinkers, writers, poets, journalists, problem solvers, Lego builders, deep thinkers, water color painters, paper folding, gadget geeking, history researching, language lovers, creative paper airplane designers… and more…  to have a place where their message, in whatever format is their way to share, is not only welcomed, but heard.

Can we honestly say that we’ve honored every kid in every school for exactly who they are? I’m not talking about a gold star or a blue ribbon. I’m talking about the kind of honor where we  help them believe in what they can become.

Until we can all answer “Yes,” with total confidence, in every school, in every corner of the world, we have work to do.   And it’s probably one of the most important jobs in the world, maybe one of the hardest, but it’s definitely the most rewarding.”

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, September 7th
NO SCHOOL: Labor Day

Tuesday, September 8th
Laura Helm in Faculty Lounge during Lunch Periods
Faculty Meeting @ 2:50pm
District Technology Committee Meeting @ 3:45pm (LMS Conference Room)

Wednesday, September 9th
RTI Committee Meeting @ 2:40pm (Room 108)

Thursday, September 10th
State Superintendent Dr. Tony Smith visits District 81 Schools 9am-10:30am
AXA Advisors in Faculty Lounge during Lunch Periods

Friday, September 11th
Happy Birthday Beatriz Diaz 🙂
5 By Friday! <—Have you made 5 positive connections with parents this week?

Blog Posts Worth Reading:
A Quick Way to Access a Countdown Timer on Your Computer

Google Sheets: Partial Formatting Within a Cell

Google Drive: Shared with Me is a Filter, Not a Folder

Building A Reading Community For Your Kids In Biblionasium

There will certainly be some challenges this year. Things won’t always go well or how you had hoped. What will your attitude be like? Will you find the positives and/or look for solutions? Or will you complain and be a naysayer? Attitudes are contagious, is yours worth catching? We can plan and be as proactive as possible, but sometimes it won’t go well. We just need to remember that life is 10% what happens and 90% how we respond to it. Others are always watching us. Here’s to making this week supportive, visible, reassuring and positive for our Kennedy Kubbies! Donna, Tiffany & I thank you in advance for all the time & hard work you have put into preparing for Curriculum Night this Thursday.

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, August 31st
Book Fair Browse Begins (Book Fair is located in hallway near courtyard)
Starting Today: 2nd & 3rd Grade Kids Klub Students should report to the ART ROOM at dismissal

Tuesday, September 1st
Beginning of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Reading Room Plan Day
MAP for Primary Grades will continue (in classrooms/laptops on a cart)
Happy Birthday Rosa Andreuccetti 🙂

Wednesday, September 2nd
1st Day of Reading Room

Thursday, September 3rd
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm
Kennedy Curriculum Night 6:00pm-7:30pm

Friday, September 4th
Wear Yellow! GO GOLD for Childhood Cancer Awareness
5 Positive Connections by Friday 🙂

09/07: NO SCHOOL (Labor Day)

Blogs Worth Reading:

Digital Tools/Apps to Kick Off the New School Year

Starting a New School Year: Nine Tips for Collaboration

Great Google Drive Add-Ons & Chrome Extensions for Teachers

12 Choices to Help You Step Back From Burnout

Curriculum Night Ideas (click on picture to take you to blog-post/link):
    

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, August 24th
New Teacher Meeting @ 2:45pm (Room 205)

Tuesday, August 25th
Evacuation Drill @ 8:45am
MAP Testing Begins <–click for schedule
Faculty Meeting @ 2:50pm <—click for agenda

Wednesday, August 26th
Common Plan Time

Thursday, August 27th

Friday, August 28th
Code Red Drill <–click for procedures
5 by Friday 🙂

Blog Posts Worth Reading:
Dear Teachers: You’re Not Fooling Me

First Day of School From A Kindergartener’s Perspective

The Small Changes I Can Make

What Students Remember Most About Teachers

Tech Tip: Google Docs – Change Your Default Font

What a great first week (technically 3 days) at Kennedy! As expected, there were a few tears, but the smiles and giggles outweighed the few. I appreciate everyone’s help and extra care during arrival. Thank you to ALL staff for going the extra mile to help get our year off to an amazing start. 

As we prepare for our first full week with the students, I hope you will take a few quiet moments to put aside lesson planning, forget about your “To-Do” list and consider our purpose (as a school, and as individual educators). When we walk in on Monday morning, please remember that you are a difference maker! The small gestures you make to welcome students and show an interest in their lives will have an impact. This year, you will have opportunities to build confidence where it hasn’t existed, develop connections that have never been present, and generate hope with your students. Our classrooms are filled with individuals with a variety of needs, and it’s up to US to make sure they thrive! The only way for that to happen is to build a connection with each student. When we truly know them all as individuals, we can understand them as learners. Please take some time to read this blog post entitled, “Dear Teacher…” as it perfectly captures the life of an educator.

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, August 17th
1st Day of Pre School (all hands on deck at 8:30am and 12:15pm for arrival)
Fall AIMs Benchmarking Begins
Morning Intervention Routines begin in classrooms

Tuesday, August 18th

Wednesday, August 19th
Common Plan
Board Meeting @ 7:00pm (LMS)

Thursday, August 20th
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm

Friday, August 21st
5 Positive Family Connections by Friday
Please use the Positive Postcards in the office, as well as any other form (phone call, email, note home, certificate) to make 5 positive connections with your students’ families by Friday! 🙂

Blogs Worth Reading:

Padlet  Now Offers an iPad App

4 Cues To Remember for First Days of School