Week 28: 03/11/13 – 03/15/13

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, March 11th
RTI Committee Meeting @ 2:30pm

Tuesday, March 12th
PATS Field Trip to Peggy Notebaert Museum
Multiage Field Trip to Kohl Children’s Museum
Faculty Meetingย @ 2:30pm & 3:30pm <–click for agenda

Wednesday, March 13th
SLBC to the HIP
Discipline Committee Meeting @ 3:45pm

Thursday, March 14th
1st Grade Field Trip to Kohl Children’s Museum
NEDSRA Bowling
Dress Rehearsal (Kennedy Singers & 202) @ LMS
Music In Our Schools Concert @ 6:30pm

Friday, March 15th
March Buddy Event
5 by Friday! ๐Ÿ™‚

*Thank you for taking time last week to work with your students to teach about differences & tolerance in conjunction with the national campaign to “Spread the Word to End the Word”. Please take a moment to watch the video below, as I think it’s a wonderful example of someone who didn’t let anything stop him from fulfilling his dream. Enjoy!

Week 27: 03/04/13 – 03/18/13

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, March 4th
ISAT Testing Begins (*There will be NO announcements during ISAT. Please check your email int he Kennedy Conference to see if it will be indoor or outdoor recess.*)ย Alternate specials schedule begins today & Reading Room will be on a cart!ย 

Tuesday, March 5th
Happy Birthday Debi Cesario ๐Ÿ™‚
Buddy Committee Meeting @ 7:20am (Room 109)
Kindergarten Field Trip to Field Museum
Talent Show Rehearsal (after school)
RTI Committee Meeting @ 2:30pm
Mentor Meeting @ 3:45pm

Wednesday, March 6th
Special Olympics Swim Meet
Common Core Common Plan (in cafeteria: continuing with curriculum mapping)

Thursday, March 7th
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm
District RTI Committee Meeting @ 3:45pm

Friday, March 8th
Non-Tenured Teachers: Summative Conferences

(03/10) Pancake Breakfast @ LMS 9am-12pm

Week 26: 02/25/13 – 03/01/13

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, February 25th:
Crazy/Mismatched Socks Day!
ISAT Meeting @ 2:30pm (Room 205)
Project Unify Basketball Game @ LMS 4:00pm

Tuesday, February 26th:
NO STUDENT ATTENDANCE: Parent/Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, February 27th:
Green Eggs & Ham Day! Wear Green!
Report Cards Sent Home
PreK Field Trip to Chicago Kids Company
Delta Dental Assembliesย @ 9:00am & 10:10am <–click for schedule
Dr. Seussย Photo Boothย Common Plan
Dr. Seuss Food Preparation in cafe 2:30pm-4:30pm

Thursday, February 28th:
Hat Day!
Happy Birthday Alicia Villanueva ๐Ÿ™‚

Multiage Young Authors @ 10:15am (Room 101/109)
Multiage Young Authors @ 1:20pm (Room 103/107)
Dr. Seuss Night 6:00pm-7:30pm *Hope to see you all there!*

Friday, March 1st:
Dress in Kubbie Gear!
Happy Birthday Tami Ericksen ๐Ÿ™‚

Spirit Assembly (Caring)

(03/02) Happy Birthday Bonnie Bricker ๐Ÿ™‚
(03/03) Happy Birthday Natalie Barcas ๐Ÿ™‚ย 

Week 25: 02/18/13 – 02/22/13

I hope you all enjoyed your 3-day weekend!ย Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, February 18th
NO SCHOOL: President’s Day
Happy Birthday Nikki Culberson ๐Ÿ™‚ย 

Tuesday, February 19th
PATS Field Trip to Shed Aquarium
Talent Show Tryouts *during the day*

Wednesday, February 20th
2nd Grade Field Trip to PF Changs (Room 104/105)
1:45pm/3:00pm IL 5 Essentials: Common Plan in cafeteria *certified staff only*
ย  ย  ย  ย  ย Please bring a laptop
Board Meeting @ 7:00pm

Thursday, February 21st
2nd Grade Field Trip to PF Changs (106/115)
1st Grade/Multiage Field Trip to Museum
Celebrations Committee Meeting @ 2:30pm (Room 104)
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm
Kindergarten Roundup Meeting @ 6:00pm

Friday, February 22nd
5 by Friday

Week 24: 02/11/13 – 02/15/13

I’ve been to a lot of meetings. Most of them great: well run, followed an agenda, gave authentic opportunities for interaction and discussion, had an agreed upon end point, and left off with plans for future action. Other meetings haven’t been so efficient: aimless, dominated by a few speakers, provided littler chance for dialogue & gave excessive amounts of information that could have easily been communicated via email for people to read at their leisure.

As a result, I’d like to make a commitment to our staff to change faculty meetings so that they’re more engaging and provide an outlet for the whole staff to collaborate together. Ultimately, faculty meetings should be meaningful and worthwhile.

Communication is key! There is still much value in disseminating information, but I’d like to shift our mindset so that this information can be read rather than taking the time to announce items to the whole staff at a faculty meeting. I’ve created a Google Form for F.M.I. (Faculty Meeting Info) that the staff can contribute to prior to the meetings. I plan gather any info submitted via the form, add it to the bottom of the faculty meeting agenda and distribute it to you electronically the day before each faculty meeting, for people to read on their own time.

I Stand For…. must continue ๐Ÿ™‚ Having a sense of community when coming to staff meetings is essential! ๐Ÿ™‚

Another practice that will continue is having the staff pass along good practices & new ideas that they are trying in classrooms. Let’s continue to share our best practices with one another to make learning experiences for our students at Kennedy rich and purposeful.

Also, I want to make sure that we have extensive blocks of time (in addition to our common plan time each Wednesday) for us to reflect upon student achievement and improve our practices in teaching, learning, engagement and assessment. With the alignment to Common Core State Standards being a time-intensive initiative, we will spend many of our future faculty meetings working collaboratively.

Ultimately, it is our goal to make faculty meetings a more productive & engaging environment for all of us!

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, February 11th:
Cycle 4 Assessments
Yearbook collages due! *See email from Kristen S. w/directions, if needed*

Tuesday, February 12th:
February Buddy Event
Faculty Meeting ย @ 2:30pm & 3:30pm <–click for agenda
PEP Event @ 6:00pm (LMS)

Wednesday, February 13th:
SLBC to Jewel
SEL Activities: 2nd Grade & 7th Grade Buddies at Kennedy @ 11:00am
Common Core Common Plan (continuing our work in the cafeteria from day before)

Thursday, February 14th:
1st-3rd Grade to LMS for Washington Musical @ 9:00am

Friday, February 15th:
End of Trimester 2
Happy Birthday Agnes Niewinski ๐Ÿ™‚
*Please remember to submit parent/teacher conference schedules to the office by Fri!

(02/17) Happy Birthday Mike Deany ๐Ÿ™‚
(02/18) NO SCHOOL

Week 23: 02/04/13 – 02/08/13

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, February 4th:
Happy Birthday Anne Weinthaler ๐Ÿ™‚
Pennies for Patients Begins!ย 

Tuesday, February 5th:
Buddy Committee Meeting @ 7:20am (Room 109)

Wednesday, February 6th:
AM PreK going to Washington for SEL Buddy Activity (@ 9:20am)
Happy Birthday Dina Natale ๐Ÿ™‚ย 

Thursday, February 7th:
Earthquake Drillย @ 10:15am <–click for safety actions
Celebrations Committee Meeting @ 2:30pm (Room 104)
McDonald’s McTeacher Night 3pm-7pm <–click to sign up!
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm
District RTI Committee Meeting @ 3:45pm

Friday, February 8th:
Kindergarten Field Trip to Disney on Ice
PM PreK SEL Buddy Activity with 3rd Grade (@ 1:20pm)

(02/09) Happy Birthday Myra Gilio ๐Ÿ™‚ย 

This has been circulating Twitter & my Google Reader feed….Thanks to Molly for passing it along:

A Pep Talk

Week 22: 01/28/13 – 02/01/13

From Venspired:

I used to think collaboration was just ‘working with others.’ Get together & make some plans. Divide up the workload. But it’s really so much more. It’s about people. It’s about a willingness to know that you can learn something new from every person you meet. Simple moments that become something more because of others. It’s the kind of collaboration that asks each other the hard questions, that pushes each of us to move forward, and the kind that continually inspires us to be come better versions of ourselves. It’s the kind of collaboration that matters.

I look forward to working with all of you during this Wednesday’s 1/2 Day on creating I CAN statements based on our powered standards. Let’s all come prepared to collaborate.

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, January 28th:
Reading Room Begins Again
*Thanks to the Reading Room Team for administering ACCESS to our ELL students! Thank you also to Rebecka Mirandola, our building ELL Coordinator, for organizing and facilitating a smooth ACCESS administration period this year!*
100th Day of School! ๐Ÿ™‚ *check below for some ideas*
SEL Committee Meeting @ 3:45pm (Teacher’s Lounge)

Tuesday, January 29th:
Parent/Teacher Collaboration Committee Meeting 5:30pm-6:30pm

Wednesday, January 30th:
SLBC to Subway
1/2 Day: School Improvement Day

Thursday, January 31st:

Friday, February 1st:
Happy Birthday Christa Henkel ๐Ÿ™‚
Pre School Screeningย 

Here are some ideas I’ve pinned for the 100th Day:

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Week 21: 01/21/13 – 01/25/13

I hope everyone enjoyed their 3-day weekend! Bundle up….it’s cold out there!
Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, January 21st:
NO SCHOOL: MLK Jr. Day

Tuesday, January 22nd:
*Effective Today* All Staff Members Must Wear their ID Badges while in the building.
PATS Field Trip to the Field Museum
Faculty Meetings at 2:30pm & 3:30pm
Happy Birthday Michelle Morgan ๐Ÿ™‚ย 

Wednesday, January 23rd:
2nd Grade Field Trip to Cernan Space Center
SLBC to Aracely’s Bakery
TAPS Common Plan

Thursday, January 24th:
NO Kennedy Singers this week

Friday, January 25th:
Spirit Assembly (Respect) @ 9:00am
Happy Birthday Brooke Gorowski ๐Ÿ™‚ย 

(01/27) Special Olympics: Basketball Competition at Deerfield HS from 9:15am-1:00pm
*We’d like to welcome everyone to come cheer on our District 81 athletes as they participate in the Special Olympics Individual Basketball Skills Competition this Sunday!

Week 20: 01/14/13 – 01/18/13

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, January 14th:
Health/Life Safety Visits…remember not to prop doors open, no candles, 2 foot clearing from ceiling to anything stored up high on cabinets!
ACCESS TESTING BEGINS! >> Reminder: No Reading Room this week!
(Faculty Lounge will be closed for testing during parts of the day)
Reading/ELL Committee Meeting @ 3:30pm

Tuesday, January 15th:
Happy Birthday Ami Freeman ๐Ÿ™‚
Buddy Committee Meeting @ 7:20am (Room 109)
Mentor Meeting @ 3:45pm

Wednesday, January 16th:
Reading/ELL Common Plan
Board of Education Meeting @ 7:00pm (LMS)

Thursday, January 17th:
Happy Birthday Cheri Grimaldi ๐Ÿ™‚
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm

Friday, January 18th:
PreK Field Trip to Museum of Science & Industry
5 by Friday! Let’s send out those Kubbie postcards! ๐Ÿ™‚

(01/21) NO SCHOOL: MLK JR. DAY

Our nurse, Patty, started her maternity leave today. Nidia (Washington’s LPN) will be filling in at Kennedy until Patty returns. Please be sure to stop in and introduce yourself to Nidia and show her a warm, Kennedy welcome.ย ย 

Week 19: 01/07/13 – 01/11-13

Quoted From Venspired:
The best part about a New Year is that it always feels like a fresh start. No matter what. We turn the page, finish one calendar and start another. We try to start remembering to put the right year when we write the date (I’m sure most of us will be writing 2012/2013 tomorrow on our boards!).

2012 was a year full of memorable moments—may your 2013 be a year of “new”….
new ideas, new connections, new challenges, new gratitude, new perspectives.

As we embark on the second half of the school year, I encourage everyone to take some time and reflect on your performance since the beginning of the school year. The KEEP, STOP, and DO activity always helps me reflect on my practices; both professional & personal.ย What do I want to keep doing? What do I want to stop doing? What do I want to start doing?

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, January 7th:
Welcome Back!
Winter Benchmarking begins

Tuesday, January 8th:
Faculty Meeting @ 2:30pm *email Melissa or Donna with any items to add to the agenda*

Wednesday, January 9th:
SLBC to Jewel
SEL 8th Grade Buddies visit 3rd Grade at Kennedy
Assessment Common Plan (*Review Cycle 3 assessment results*)

Thursday, January 10th:
Celebrations Committee Meeting @ 2:30pm (Room 104)
District RTI Committee Meeting @ 3:45pm (District Office Conference Room)
Happy Birthday Ricardo Cano ๐Ÿ™‚ย 

Friday, January 11th:
Happy Birthday Nicole Smit ๐Ÿ™‚
5 by Friday

Here are some New Years activities I found on Pinterest. Click on each picture for more info:
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