The Lions for Literacy is a local program to promote and provide books for students and families in the Kaneland area that may not have a home library or access to reading materials. This spring they are once again running their Spring Book Bags around Easter. We are currently in the process of collecting the age and grade level of students who may benefit from a book bag filled with books and treats for Easter from the Lions club. Each Spring they create mini-book bag with Easter goodies and age appropriate reading books in them for students that might not have books to read at home. If you have any students that you know could benefit from receiving one this year, please send Sarah Mumm at 10358@kaneland.org the age, gender and grade level of the students. Once we have the bags ready Sarah will send you the bags to give to students right before Spring Break. Thanks
Thursday, February 15, 2024
THEEE 302 Podcast Coming Tomorrow!
The 302 Podcast: Sharing Voices, Growing Mindsets, Shaping Learning
Getting bored with your usual podcasts? Want to connect with your Kaneland community in a new way? Have we got the podcast for you! This week we are celebrating the release of THE 302 Podcast. Our premiere episode includes conversations about being stuck, finally talking in class, writing books, and playing pickleball along with a few "educationy" things. Be on the lookout for the first episode in your inbox this week. It will come from THE302Podcast@kaneland.org
Please reach out to Elsa Glover, Rachael Walker, or Faye Licari if you would like to share your voice on the podcast.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Personalized Learning Academy 3.0 Update
We would like to offer a reminder that we are approaching our 2-year mark for all teachers who were hired before this year. For those of you who were hired as new staff this year, don't panic, you still have through the end of next year to complete. If you have any questions regarding the tenets, please do not hesitate to reach out to Ed Services! Thank you for your work in all of these, we have seen so many pieces of evidence of these tenets in action! Our students truly are benefitting!
KEA and Administration Spring Initiatives Meetings
We are excited to collaborate with among KEA and Administration for a shift in the structure for the Spring Initiatives Meeting. In order to have opportunity to build actions with shared decision making, we are moving our meeting to March 7th from 1:00-3:00 at HMS and having our staff review possible edits and changes for next year using this communication grid and bring questions or solutions to the meeting. Please take time to review the video snippets and review the posed questions and share your feedback, ideas, and solutions prior to the March meeting date.
Lucky Duck Weekly Winner!
We were excited to see the connections across the schools continuing to happen this week! We had 5 more lucky duck matches! Keep up your hunt and be sure to let us know when you find your match so you can be entered into the HUGE spring raffle! This week if you would like a treat sent to you and you are luck duck number 411, please email Sarah Mumm!
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
K-5 Collaborative Inquiry Follow Up
This month the Collaborative Inquiry team at K-5 met to further the action plans from goals identified from a data dive in the Fall. One of the main goals was to further develop clarity on our instructional practices in writing and writer's workshop. As part of this goal we want to take time this Spring to focus on developing the top non-negotiables for writer's workshop and continue that work into the Fall. In order to begin our work we are asking all teachers (all content) to consider what writing should look like based on a relfection of the writing delivery table. Please take just 2 mins to complete this survey and assist our small group in beginning to bring the clarity in writing we all are looking for.
Teacher Book Give Away
This month at the K-5 Schools and KIPLA we have local author Jennifer Hayes coming. She recently published the Extraordinary Imagination of Jenny Figment. She will be coming to visit and talk about her writing journey with our 2nd to 5th grade students during February. In order to share a bit of fun and promote finding the extraordinary things our staff does, we have 10 of her autographed books to give away to our staff. February tends to be the month that our educators may need a little boost and reminder of just how extraordinary you all are. If you would like to be part of our raffle for the book give away, please email Sarah Mumm to nominate a peer for any extraordinary thing they do for others or students. Let's celebrate each other along with a chance to win a brand new autographed book! We will conduct the drawing on March 1st!
K-5 Writing Post Audits Starting Soon
In order to have time outside of end of the year test dates, we will begin our post writing audits with Anne Olsen in the coming weeks. Please know that these are non-evaluative audits to look for the implementation of writer's workshop and our delivery table. We are looking specifically for feedback conferences and co-constructed feedback cycles, status of the class, and mini-lesson use. While no names are collected during the audits, there has been a request for individual feedback. If you would like Anne to leave you feedback please email Sarah Mumm and your name will be submitted to Anne as someone who would like their personal audit results shared with them. We look forward to the ability to compare our fall audits to the progress observed in the spring.
Expanded Five Schools One Book Escape Room Dates
We are so excited about all the learning and fun our students are engaging through the Five Schools, One Book program. We have added a few more dates to explore the escape room. If interested please email Sarah Mumm to confirm the date for your team or classroom. The following are added dates: