May the Force Be With Your Teaching!

On this historic day in the galaxy with the premier release of Star Wars Episode VIII "The Last Jedi", I thought I would share with you some of the many educational values that Star Wars can teach.  Enjoy, and May the Force Be With You, Always!

The Star Wars Classroom

http://www.starwarsintheclassroom.com/index.asp

The Science of Star Wars:

http://www.starwarsintheclassroom.com/content/science/index.asp?sw=2

http://www.starwars.com/science-and-star-wars

https://www.amazon.com/Science-Star-Wars-Astrophysicists-Independent/dp/0312263872

http://www.news.gatech.edu/features/science-star-wars

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151209-star-wars-science-movie-film/

http://starwarsscience.com/

The Math of Star Wars:

jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMT668/EMAT6680.F99/Glazer/starwars.ppt

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116913-Pretty-Infographics-Explain-The-Math-of-Star-Wars

https://prezi.com/lftmsxjrkbxm/star-wars-math-project/

http://www.mathematicshed.com/star-wars-maths-shed.html

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/108385475/

The Language Arts of Star Wars:

http://www.starwarsintheclassroom.com/content/ela/index.asp

https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/20/lesson-plan-teaching-star-wars-with-the-new-york-times/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/59672763789607290/

https://royalbaloo.com/downloads/StarWarsK2ndLA.pdf

http://fabulousclassroom.com/2014/05/star-wars-teaching-and-learning-resources/

https://www.coffeewithkenobi.com/category/star-wars-and-education/

https://jojoebi.com/101-free-educational-star-wars-activities/

https://frugalfun4boys.com/2016/05/02/printable-star-wars-writing-prompts/

ESL/ELL--https://magoosh.com/toefl/2016/learn-english-with-star-wars/

The Social Studies of Star Wars:

http://www.starwarsintheclassroom.com/content/ss/index.asp

http://www.nuskool.com/learn/lesson/governments-star-wars-achieve-power-authority/

https://www.the74million.org/article/star-wars-101-how-3-teachers-are-using-the-force-to-teach-politics-myths-and-monsters/

The P.E. of Star Wars:

https://thephysicaleducator.com/game/star-wars-tag/

https://physedreview.weebly.com/star-wars-gym.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAw2uio7nms

http://www.ssww.com/blog/star-wars-activities-physical-education/

https://sites.google.com/a/k12.andoverma.us/west-p-e-with-mr-t/star-wars-gym

The Library and StarWars:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Great_Jedi_Library

https://www.naperville-lib.org/programs/star-wars-day-2017

https://www.facebook.com/events/855649694615119/

http://guides.lib.uchicago.edu/starwars

https://www.google.com/search?q=coruscant+library&sa=X&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ved=0ahUKEwigxrqa_YnYAhUo2oMKHdGICsoQsAQIMg&biw=1833&bih=1020

The Coding of Star Wars:

https://www.tynker.com/play/589d488776f2938e368b4575

https://www.tynker.com/play/?p=5a0d2d5b5ae029f76f8b4567

https://code.org/starwars

http://www.starwars.com/news/take-your-first-programming-steps-with-star-wars-coding-projects

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Coding-Projects-Woodcock/dp/1465464727

https://gizmodo.com/learn-how-to-code-with-star-wars-the-force-awakens-cha-1741510958

https://www.engadget.com/2015/11/10/star-wars-characters-coding/

https://www.thespruce.com/coding-sphero-star-wars-bb8-droid-1258972

http://www.sphero.com/starwars

K-5 Exemplar Use

Please note that there has been some changes to the Math Exemplar program.  If you are having any difficulty at all accessing and logging in to the Exemplar system, please email Sarah Mumm.  The company will need to problem solve some log in processes for some staff.  Our Exemplar license is valid until September 18, 2018.  Remember these are great to use for problem solving and math application. 

Congratulations to our Educators of the Year

Congratulations to the following nominees for the Kane County Educator of the Year!  We are very proud of all of you.

Katie Reilley- Elementary Classroom Teacher Nominee
Christy Kukovec- Middle School Classroom Teacher Nominee
Rachel Giles- High School Classroom Teacher Nominee
Kyle Ahlmann- Early Career Educator Nominee
Mona Fergus- Educational Service Personnel Nominee
Denise Michels- Student Support Personnel Nominee

We look forward to the celebration in May!

Holiday Cheer!

We have seen many great happenings in all the schools this week!  We are excited to see the holiday spirit and fun among the staff.  We wanted to join in a bit with the holiday spirit.  If you are the first 10 to comment to this post with your favorite holiday tradition you will win a sweet reward.  We look forward to staff sharing traditions and what is important to all of you.  We wish you a very happy holiday and we hope that you will all take time for yourself and find some relaxation.   Be sure to add your first name and school to the comment.  At this time comments only are shown as unknown.  To win a prize your name is needed.

February 26th Kaneland 2020 Gallery Walk

Once again, we are excited to highlight the work happening throughout our district that is tied to Kaneland 2020 at a Gallery Walk in the Harter Cafeteria.  On February 26th prior to the board meeting, we are looking for volunteers who would be interested in sharing with the Board of Education, community, fellow staff members, and students.

If you're interested in sharing something happening in your classroom or learning more about the details of the evening, please click this link.

Please respond as soon as possible to ensure you're spot!  The registration form will close on February 1st.

IPad IMovie update

This week we met with the Technology Department.  We are excited to share that IMovie will be available as a working app by the end of the first semester, if not a bit sooner.  Please know it will be available for use on the main menu of the IPads.  Thank you to the Technology Department for their hard work planned over Holiday Break. 

RTI Staff and Coaching Meeting

On December 21st the RTI Staff and Coaches will meet on December 21st to our end of semester collaboration meeting.  We will meet at KMS (Meredith) from 1-3.  Please be sure to check out and submit your ideas to the agenda.  Here is the agenda link: RTI and Coaching Agenda

Teacher Advisory Council Update

Please remember the Teacher Advisory Council December meeting is virtual.  Membership attendance is based on the responses sent to Sarah Mumm.  Be sure to respond to the questions posted by January 1st.  Do not worry about a response to the trimester question, we will bring that discussion to our face to face meeting in January. 

NIU Waivers Received

As per the contract, we would like to continue to update staff when the NIU waivers were received.  We just received the waivers for hosting last spring.  We now have 161 waivers on file for use.  Please note if you are submitting a waiver request please add your ZID and your IEIN number, both are now required.  We also issue waivers to those who host the student teacher or clinical students first, then staff in programs and cohorts, then open requests.  Also please do not submit the request until you have registered.  If you send the request and have not registered we will not be able to use the waiver and we will lose it to NIU.  Please be sure to register first.  Thank you.

Teacher Initatives Council Update

Today the Teacher Initiative Council met for their monthly meeting.  The following were topics discussed:

• An update from the Collaborative Inquiry work was shared.  The focus of the work is on building collective efficacy among staff and providing structures that allow staff to build trust, efficacy and sharing.  The work will continue over the course of the next month.  
• The KIDS assessment was discussed and the progress and use of the assessment were shared.  At this time it is only required after the 40th day of school.  The assessment was shorter than previous years and did provide more feedback on soft skills.  Kindergarten staff will review if there are any aspects of KIDS assessment that are beneficial for reporting to parents.
• The Council discussed a need for further parent education and expectations for learning in Kindergarten and for number sense.  The district will be looking into options for parent education.  We will also explore the connection to preschools in the area and instruction during the preschool years.  We will drill a bit more down into data with RTI, Exploratories, and Kindergarten to identify any trend that would assist with parent education.  
• A discussion on fact fluency, math data, and number sense was held.  There is a need to investigate what practices are successful in fact fluency and building number sense.  Ideas were shared this month will be shared next month for targeted sharing.   
• A special thank you to Erin for providing treats, since we all forgot!  Happy holidays.

Important Dates EC-5th Grades

Just a few dates to jot down and keep track of for the new year!  Enjoy
First day back- January 8
TAC- January 8
AIMS testing begins- January 10
Data days will begin- January 12
District Spelling Bee 6:00- January 11
PDS Site Council- January 18
PDS Seminar One- January 18 4:15 at Meredith School
TIC- January 22
Collaborative Inquiry Session- January 24
Amboy Personalized Learning Visit- January 25
CES Primary Visit-January 25
Joint PTO- January 29
Host Teacher for PDS Training- January 29

Report card dates are as follows:
*Please note we are sticking to midnight on Wednesday for at least another quarter.  We can review at TIC this process after the new year.
2nd quarter-go live January 26 at 4pm
Due in Tyler by midnight on Wednesday, Jan. 24
3rd quarter-go live April 6 at 4pm
Due in Tyler by midnight on Wednesday, April 4
4th quarter-go live May 30 at 4pm
Due in Tyler by midnight on Wednesday, May 28

ILTS Test Development Opportunities

Good afternoon! 

I recently received the following message and thought I would share here for anyone inerested:

The Illinois State Board of Education and Evaluation Systems group of Pearson are currently seeking Illinois educators to apply to participate in test development activities for the Illinois Licensure Testing System (ILTS) program.

During Q1 of 2018 (January - March), we will be convening committees for the following tests:

• English Language Arts
• Foreign Language: French
• Foreign Language: German
• Foreign Language: Hebrew
• Foreign Language: Italian
• Foreign Language: Japanese
• Foreign Language: Russian
• Foreign Language: Spanish
• General Middle Grades
• Library Information Specialist
• Mathematics
• Music
• Reading Teacher
• School Counselor
• School Nurse
• Social Science: Economics
• Social Science: Geography
• Social Science: History
• Social Science: Political Science
• Social Science: Psychology
• Social Science: Sociology and Anthropology

Benefits of participation include:

• opportunity to make a difference in Illinois educator development and performance, and
• professional growth and collaboration with educators in their field.

Qualified participants are eligible for:

• substitute reimbursement for their school (public school educators only)
• reimbursement for travel and meal expenses
• hotel accommodations, if necessary

Interested educators can click here to complete an application to be considered for participation. 

The application can also be accessed via this URL:http://www.cvent.com/d/8dqyvh

Congrats to Shelley Hueber!

Congratulations to Shelley Hueber on her nominee as Elementary Principal of the Year through the Illinois Principal Association (IPA).  Nominees are required to be members of the IPA, have a history of high student achievement and demonstrate the ability to foster and maintain a positive school culture.  Shelley along with the other nominees, will be celebrated at a recognition reception in February. Way to go Shelley, the KSS Staff, and the Kaneland Community!