Welcome Back Slides (EC-12)

 Here are the Welcome Back slides from the first day.  Thank you for a great kick off morning.

Welcome slides

Welcome to Our New Staff

KIPLA- Year 2 (K-12)

 

Kaneland IgKnight Personalized Learning Academy (KIPLA) is excited to head into Year 2! To stay informed about all things IgKnight Academy, please take a moment to review the information below:

• The KIPLA Information Guide has been updated, and can be accessed HERE. 
• Visitors are welcome! We will be hosting several visits for identified staff on designated dates. These opportunities will be shared in the Curriculum Connection throughout the year. Aside from formal visits, any staff interested in seeing IgKnight in action is welcome to contact Laura Garland (10166@kaneland.org) to schedule a visit.
• The first formal tours of IgKnight Academy will be held for those participating in k-5 math norming on 9/5 and 9/11 (KPASS staff), 9/6 (3rd grade), 9/9 (2nd grade), 9/10 (1st grade), and 9/13 (kindergarten). Tours will be held from 8:05 am- 9:15 am, with norming beginning at 9:30am. 
• Registration for the 2025-2026 school year will start early, running from 9/3/24- 11/22/24. More information regarding indicators that can help to identify potential KIPLA students will be shared over the next few weeks.

302 Seconds While You Wait Kaneland Podcast is LIVE! (EC-12)

 

We are excited to announce the creation of our new Kaneland School District podcast for our community to listen and learn more about our district, exciting events, and even win prizes! New episodes will be released the 1st and 3rd Tuesday each week at 2:50pm in order to capture our community while they wait to pick up their students, for the athletic game to start, or for their child to get home for a great day of learning. Please share the link below and the QR code with all of your families and add it into your signature line for more sharing options. You can listen and win too! Each podcasts ends with a secret phrase to send to an email to enter to win a prize! Join the fun and share our exciting news with all!

Podcast site:  https://rss.com/podcasts/302seconds/

QR Code

Comprehensive Literacy Plan Review Team (EC-12)

 This year a subgroup will be working to review the State of Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan.  We are still looking for members to represent all grade spans.  Please contact Sarah or James if interested.  We are very excited to get our work reviewing the state plan and beginning to make decisions on Kaneland implementation of the plan.  Our first meeting will take place on October 2nd at KMAC from 9:00-2:00 in Room 203.  Come join the shared decision making fun!  

Exploratory Review Team K-5 (K-5)

 We are excited to kick off the beginning of a one to two year review cycle for Exploratory learning.  Our first meeting is September 26th from 8:00-3:00 at KMAC Room 203.  We are in need of a few more team members for a full review.  Currently we have the following:

 2 Critical Thinking

4 Technology

1 P.E.

1 Art

We are in need of reps from:

PE (one more needed)

Music (two more needed)

Please email Sarah Mumm at 10358@kaneland.org if you are interested in being part of the essential shared decision making team!

Handwriting Assessment Trial (K-2)

Last year a team of staff came together to draft support and screeners for handwriting.  While the support and the writing delivery table are now our expectations, the screener is in a trial phase.  If you are in grades K-2 and would like to pilot and try the handwriting assessment with your classroom, or a small group of students, please access the information using the link below.  If you do try the screener please send your feedback on how the screening process went with students to Sarah Mumm at 10358@kaneland.org.  Please note this is optional for our staff.  

LINK

Math SAVVAS Educator Support Link (K-12)

 For all staff that are using SAVVAS math programs, the company has shared this great link with us where there is a lot of Teacher support and other educational tools to use.  Please check it out for any support or lesson ideas you are looking for in math.  Please note once you click on the link you must then hit the redirection link in order to access the Back to School Educator information.  

Show Your Kaneland Pride (EC-12)

 We are excited to have yard signs available for staff members that live in Kaneland Schools to show school pride.  We have yard signs available for  staff to share the exciting Kaneland by the Numbers.  Please see picture below.  If you would like a sign to post in your front year or a neighbor is interested, please contact Sarah Mumm at 10358@kaneland.org to get your sign today!  

Connections Competition (EC-12)

 We are so excited to welcome all staff back and hope you are as eager as all of us to make new connections and renew old connections.  As you heard at the kick off this year, we are hosting a connections competition throughout this year.  We encourage all staff to check the back of their puzzle pieces and connect with a staff member that holds that job title this year.  You can connect in a variety of ways and earn raffle tickets for our semester raffle baskets.  Please see the chart below to see all the great ways to make connections!  Get out there and find your staff member.  Remember you can also earn a prize if you find the other 8 people and create a complete 9 piece puzzle and share the motto with Sarah Mumm.  Good luck and happy connecting.  

Connect and Commit Levels

Level of Connecting and Committing	Activity	Evidence of Connection and Commitment	Raffle Entries if Completed
WAY: Who Are You	There is always a “WAY” to make someone’s day!  Research and identify the person that holds the position you randomly selected.  Send them a note, email or quick text to make their day.  No response or interaction is needed, just a supportive message to them.	Submit who you connected with and sent a supportive message to and the job category they hold to Education Service Department	1 entry
WIL: What I Learned	Where there is a “WIL” there is a way.  Email, text, call the person and share a bit about yourself and ask them about what they do for our students in Kaneland.	Submit a WIL, what I learned from reflection that includes three things that you learned about the person and how they are committed to our students. To the Education Service Department	3 entries
WHY: We Hear You	“WHY” not actively listen and learn from each other?. Connect and discuss your why with your randomly selected job category person. Create a visual or snap a picture together showing how your whys connect to each other.	Submit your visual or picture to Education Service Department	4 entries
WWF: We Want Feedback	Let’s get electrified with some feedback.  To earn 5 entries, you and the chosen partner will share a teaching video, lesson or go observe each other and use the feedback delivery table to co-construct feedback around learning for each other.	Submit a summary of what one thing you may want to shift in your practice based on your peer’s feedback.	5 entries
WIMS: Walk In My Shoes	On a “WIM” go and visit the randomly selected job category to see for yourself their job. Take a half day sub to shadow and observe in the person’s classroom or job area.  While you are there, consider how what they do daily connects to what you do.	Submit the date of your observation along with three things you learned during the observation to Educational Service Department	6 entries

Learning Walks, Audits, and KEA Classroom Visits

 

Both building and district administration is committed to supporting high quality instruction within the classroom. So that the administration can best support teachers, we need to be aware of the current realities of the classroom and this is best done through our presence in classrooms. There are three types of classroom visits that will be utilized this school year.

Learning Walk: this is done by any member of the administration. These are brief visits to the classroom. If / when appropriate, an administrator might ask questions of a student or a group of students; however, questions will not be asked if it interrupts the teacher’s instruction or the student's learning. The purpose of the student questioning is to have the administrator better understand the learning occurring in the classroom. There is a district learning walk tool that is utilized in all learning walks. This tool has a section for notes on what was observed as well as a section for questions that the administrator has about the lesson. The form will be provided to the teacher along with the name of the administrator conducting the learning walk. 

Audit: this is done to gather data on initiatives within the district. For example, there is a Personalized Learning Audit tool that could be used. Data is gathered to gauge the work of the district and is shared as a summary statement. The audit tool is not shared directly with the teacher unless the teacher requests it. An audit could be done by any member of the administration and it is also conducted by individuals from outside the district. If it is completed by someone from outside the district, this observer will be accompanied by a Kaneland administrator or you will be notified that an outside person will be making observations so that there is not any confusion.

KEA classroom visits: this is conducted specifically by the members of cabinet and was a request of the KEA. These visits are for a longer period of time, 20 - 30 minutes, and during the visit the administrator does not write anything down, use any tool, or collect any data. As such, nothing is left for the classroom teacher after the visit. The purpose of these visits is for the members of cabinet to have a stronger frame of reference for the environments of the classroom and the great work occurring within our buildings.

We are a district committed to professional learning. The various ways we use classroom visits help to guide this learning and help the administrative team stay aware of authentic learning.