District Spelling Bee- Take Two

The District Spelling Bee has been rescheduled to January 23rd.  Please come and cheer on your top speller that evening beginning at 6:00pm.  We look forward to a great event. 

Fifth Grade Choral Festival

After exploring many options and possibilities, the district has decided to keep the Fifth Grade Choral Festival on April 10th, Tuesday.  We will have practice that day at KHS Auditorium in order to not disrupt the instructional time of the Physical Education at KHS.  We thank all staff K-12 for the partnership in making these decisions and exploring all options.  We look for to a great event!

Student Growth Goals

It is that time of year....growth goal editing time.  Please be sure to pull out your student growth goals and check if they are needing any edits.  Please remember the Learner Profile goal will have data collected this February for you.  It is always great practice to reread the goals you have written and signed off on to recall the focus.  Please contact your administrator if you would like to suggest edits. 

Young Knights Fair Workers Needed

We are still looking for about 10 more staff members to work the exciting Young Knights Fair (formally Kindergarten Fair) on February 24th from 7:30 to 12.  The event will be held at Harter Middle School.  Please come and enjoy welcoming and working with our newest Knights on that morning!  Contact Sarah Mumm at 10358@kaneland.org to volunteer today.  Thank you! 

Become an IgKnighter

We are excited to provide opportunity for staff to take the lead and innovate through the IgKnighter Fellowship.  Becoming an IgKnighter provides you support, professional development opportunity, and a chance to learn and explore personalize learning ahead of the curve.  IgKnighters will have priority to professional development, resources, and trying new structures.  Please apply now for this great opportunity:  https://goo.gl/forms/VWm7osOrcc0SGrW53

An informational meeting on what the IgKnighter Fellowship means and how it can benefit your innovation in the classroom will be held on Thursday, January 25th at HMS at 4:00pm.  Please come and explore the IgKnighter Fellowship!

Teacher Advisory Council Updates

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

• Trimesters were discussed and final questions were answered.  The Board of Education memo will be submitted on the consent agenda during a January meeting.  The PR for the shift, if approved, will be discussed at our February meeting.
• The Council voted to apply for the cursive waiver, allowing the district to expose students to cursive writing but not require the practice and explicit teaching of cursive writing.
• Initial discussion of the student recognition based on core values was held.  The Council is looking at student involvement, reflection, and goal setting attainment for the recognition process.  Further discussion will continue on this process in the next months.  
• The guidelines for showing your #kanelandpride in a staff video challenge were discussed and approved.  Get ready to show your pride and have some fun this January!  The competition begins late January and runs through April.  Get your creative juices flowing now!   

Collaborative Inquiry Session

Please note the next Collaborative Inquiry session will be a full day on January 24th.  Please be sure your sub is entered into AESOP.  We look forward to continuing to build a foundation for collective efficacy among all staff.  See you at 8:05 AM on the 24th at KMS LRC.

Inside Out!

As we begin to further investigate the Personalized Learning Honeycomb model, it is essential to remember the process to work through during implementation of the cells.  It is essential to build the foundation of any honeycomb first before building the outer cells.  Just as you do in building your own home, you start with a foundation not the 3rd bedroom.  The honeycomb model is just the same.  In order to make sure the cells are implemented with the correct vision and process, you must first begin on the inside and work out.  It is essential to have a foundation built on knowing your students (leaner profile), understanding where they are in their learning (proficiency based measures), and knowing where they need to go next in learning progression (customized paths).  Once this foundation is built then you can add your own constellations of other cells that meet your students' needs and your classroom preferences.  A few times you may hear, "I do flexible seating so I personalize" but I would ask that person to reflect first, did you build the flexible seating process on the foundation of the three core cells?  Or is it just a nice to do with no foundation behind it?  Be sure you really begin to embrace the core cells first before putting into place any of the outer cells.  Always remember inside out!