Standards-based Grading Transition Progress 6-12

Thank you to the leaderhsip teams at both the middle school and high school. I appreciate the time you have taken to speak with your colleagues and share feedback. i wanted to keep you posted on the next steps:

1) We will gather parent feedback at the Citizen's Advisory Committee tomorrow at 7:00 pm. Our main points of discussion will center areound the percentage grading scale, re-assessments, and homework. 

2) We will gather final rounds of feedback from our SBG commitment team meeting January 31st. 

Once all of this feedback is gathered, we will present our plan to the Board in the Spring. I will continue to communicate with teams along the way as necessary. 

If at any time you owuld like to meet and discuss any of this further, please do not hesitate to reach out!

Shout Out...School Bee Coordinators

 A HUGE shout out to our school bee coordinators:  Annie Cantrell, Linda Norton, Stacie Salzman, Erin Eickman, Rachael Wilson, Tricia Nugara, Nicci DiBella, Rob Williams, and Melanie Zack!  Kudos to a job well done today hosting the school bees. We look forward to a great district bee on January 18th at 5:30pm.  Please join the fun and attend to support our top district spellers.  

Guest Writer: Nancy M. Learning Forward

 The theme of this year’s Learning Forward conference was evidence. I walked away with many action steps to ponder.   Here are a few takeaways tied to evidence from a session with Professor and author Dr. Thomas Guskey and Dr. Laura Link on Feedback Teachers Find Most Useful.

• Results were shared from an in depth research study in the midwest involving 92 K-12 teachers and 7400 students.

• Teachers clearly identified the 2 types of feedback that they found most useful. 

• The student (work) feedback was explained as a close look at formative assessments with an item analysis so that teachers can determine next steps in learning.  It was also emphasized that assessment structures could be altered so that teachers build in time after unit assessments to determine gaps in student learning. An alternate instructional strategy should be applied so that more students can gain mastery.

• Digging deeper into this study, student work combined with classroom observations were most valued when feedback was focused on how students are performing based on a specific goal that teachers have set for their students, whether it is a building goal or a professional growth goal.

At Kaneland, we do much of this goal focused work in teams. Jennifer Abrams, a communication consultant and author of many educational professional texts, spoke on Daring Conversations: Strengthening Adult to Adult Conversations in Schools. She emphasized that we need to work effectively together by developing both our students and ourselves. She referenced collective efficacy with a focus on solutions. The way we do this is by stretching our learning edges. A learning edge is the state of mind we enter when we are outside of our comfort zone and pushing our previous knowledge. She emphasized our professionalism matters.  The five facets that influence our ability to grow are:

1. Know your identity (Think of a staff learner profile)

2. Suspend your certainty (Remain open minded to new ways of thinking)

3. Take responsibility

4. Engage in reciprocity

5. Build resiliency

One final thought is that trust is the foundation of these facets.  Included in the notes from this session are more detailed definitions and a list of reflection questions and prompts to dig further into these facets. I value working with grade level teams and modeling for our students that we are lifelong learners and plan to look into her book Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work.

Kane County Registration Opens January 8th

 We are excited to share that the registration for Kane County Day on March 1st opens on January 8th through the ROE website below.  We will send over break the specific link again, but please keep and save this link below to register for sessions starting the 8th (our first day back from break).  On the March 1st date, Kaneland staff may take part in the ROE event, submit a proposal to work internally to Educational Service Department, or select to work on submitting personalized learning tenet evidence.  Each staff member electing to stay on Kaneland campuses will need to share their proposal through this google form.  If attending a Kane County Day session through the ROE, be sure to sign in and out at your session on March 1st for attendance purpose.  We look forward to a great day of learning and sharing.    

https://kaneroe.org/institute-day/

IgKnight Reflection WINNER!

Thank you to the 21 staff members who took time to complete and show evidence of the application of learning from the IgKnight Conference through our reflection raffle.  We were so impressed with all the ways our staff applied their learning.  The winner of the reflection evidence is....Maggie Pacana at HMS.  A winter wonderland basket is headed your way!

What Are You Thankful For

 At the most recent IgKnight Conference we asked staff to share one thing they were thankful for on that day.  Here are all the responses we received!  WOW, we do have a lot to count our blessings for here at Kaneland.  Thank you for taking the time to share!

One thing I learned today I am thankful for: 

Thankful for our admin team

Teachers are willing to share and collaborate with each other

Board games boost creativity and cooperation 

Collecting quality data

Google slides

Providing choices to avoid a power struggle

Supporting each other 

Minecraft in the classroom 

SEL resources 

motivating students and teachers in various ways

Books I can use in my classroom

New ideas and websites

Love that the district provides these wonderful resources

Dancing with friends is fun 

Being a presenter isn't as scary as I thought it would be

Patience

Canva tools

AI in the classroom

How to set up a 403B

Writing 

Power of belonging 

We have great staff

relationships matter 

Important to destress

Time to collaborate

CPR

Open minded staff

How to fill out a referral 

Health benefits 

Greeting students in a positive way

Calm classroom 

Second step 

Journaling daily can help in the classroom 

Danielson framework 

Formative assessment

Belonging environment for students

MTSS

Giving students grace

Great co-workers who make this fun 

Using PBP tables with various student needs

How to manage my time in the classroom

How to crochet 

District 302 teachers are amazing

Using songs can help with lessons

Dismissal strategies

PBP tables are very helpful

Handling “out of control” students 

IEPs 

My duck match

Diving deeper into the graduate profile

Pickleball rules 

Crocheting takes patience 

Having those hard talks with admin 

Strategies for listening  

Do You Know Any Extraordinary Kids?

Do you know any extraordinary kids or students who should be recognized for their work?  A local author has started a campaign to recognize students and kids who give back to the community or peers.  Students can win a signed copy of the new book The Extraordinary Imagination of Jenny Figment.  Check out the Link and submit a student you may know who should be recognized!  Let's celebrate our Kaneland Students and fill the submission box today! 

Guest Writer: Addison S. Assessing Students' Knowledge

 Are you struggling to find a way for students to self assess their proficiency? Using the highlighter method is a great way for students to assess their knowledge in a discrete way without other students knowing. I was never a huge fan of students holding up a number to show their proficiency on a topic. I always caught other students looking around at others, changing their numbers based on their peers around them, and were never fully honest because they did not want to be the student at a 1 or 2. This summer, I came up with the highlighter method. I created posters in different highlighter colors that represented each level of proficiency. Pink represents level 1 - I don’t understand it yet, I need more help. Yellow represents level 2- I am starting to understand, but still need more support . Green represents level 3- I understand, I can do this on my own. Lastly, I added blue, which represents level 4- I’ve got it, I can apply this in a real world situation and teach others. Where students turn in their work, I have placed the posters and highlighters. Students then highlight their name based on the proficiency level they believe they are at. This is a great way to x-ray the room very quickly to determine next steps in learning! 

If you would like the posters, please feel free to email me at 91884@kaneland.org . 

Guest Writer: Brian Z. Learning Forward Reflections

I was excited to be able to attend the Learning Forward Academy and Conference this past week.  Thank you to all staff who covered in my time away at the event.  Here are just a few key takeaways from Learning Forward and the Learning Forward Academy Sessions that focus on feedback: 

Within the cycle of feedback, we must remember that students will not learn with anchorless feedback. As such, we must remember to: 

1. Establish the purpose of learning

2. Maintain daily monitoring of student learning

3. Provide students with information about their success and needs

4. Use student performance for "next steps" instruction that is tied into an instructional model. 

As educators, we give a lot of feedback, but that doesn't mean it has been received. Feedback is only as good as the information being used to create change or improvement. 

The giver of feedback must look for and receive feedback about how they delivered the feedback. If we don't attend to not just the giving but to how the learner is receiving the feedback, we're missing a large piece of the puzzle that moves learning forward. 

A mindset to make when reflecting on the next steps in feedback and learning is to shift from what students will do to what they will learn. In order to support this shift, educators must provide feedback not just on the strong aspects of student work but also on the ways they can strengthen their work. 

A key way to reflect on the impact and quality of feedback is to keep it Growth Oriented, Real, Empathetic, Asked For, and Timely. 

Press Your Luck Winners

 Here we are near the end of the first semester, time to award our Press Your Luck winners!  The Press Your Luck Game is housed at KMAC and is an opportunity for all staff to check their knowledge on Kaneland Connects.  With over 3500 points this semester the winners are.....Samantha M and Stephanie U!!!!!!!  Kudos and great job knowing your strategic plan!  A yummy prize is waiting for you!

Guest Writer: James H. Learning Forward

 As an organization, Learning Forward is dedicated to the professional learning of educators. While attending the annual conference, I was fortunate to participate in a session facilitated by Joellen Killion, who is the author of Assessing Impact. The focus of her presentation was on the utilization of time, effort, and resources to ensure that there is a meaningful impact on any intended outcome.

As educators, we are all practitioners focusing our efforts on improving student learning. We know that shifts in generations, communities, and politics are constant, and that these shifts have a direct impact on learning environments. Professional learning for all educators is crucial to ensure that our work is supported and impactful.

Killion’s presentation discussed the necessity of building professional learning around data and evidence. First, as adult learners, we need to see data supporting that professional learning is necessary. Second, those charged with developing and delivering professional learning, need to see evidence that the learning of adults is impactful. In education, the impact is always on student learning. Professional learning must then evolve with the learning needs of the students.

As a guide for this, Killion offered several models which include:

A logic model - Uses data to justify the need for professional learning

Evidence collection - To determine the evidence of impact on student learning

Similar to the needs of the learners within a classroom, the needs of adults vary and the professional learning must be designed to meet their needs. For Killion, the needs are determined through gathering and assessment of evidence before, during, and after the learning experience. When done with fidelity, the end result is an impact on student achievement.  

Happy Holidays from the Educational Service Department

 

We would like to wish each and every one of you a very happy holiday season!  We hope you are able to find relaxation and fun times in the holiday break!  Cheers to the very best new year!  See you in January 2024! 

Canvas Changes

 For the last few years, Canvas has stopped supporting Google Docs Cloud Assignments and has advised users to switch to Google Assignments. It is now official that Google Docs Cloud Assignments will be deprecated. Please use the Google Assignments external tool instead. HERE is a guide.