Congrats DJ!

Washington School teacher, DJ Narvaez, was recently honored as the recipient of the Reg Weaver Human & Civil Rights Award. As the IEA states, “DJ is an extraordinary person, a humanitarian, and a professional teacher in the truest sense of the word.” His acceptance speech is certainly something to watch, if you haven’t seen it already! I say this often, but I truly believe our district and the community of D81 are blessed to have such dedicated, passionate educators. We are fortunate to learn and work among colleagues such as DJ who continue to inspire me to become a better person each day!

DJ references a sermon from Dr. Martin Luther King whose words echo in his heart and mind everyday…..

“Everyone can be great because everyone can serve. May you feel inspired today to seek out areas that you can be of service. May you forge a greater connection with your students, your fellow colleagues, your staff and parents. And may you truly embrace that you are great…because you are a teacher.”

 

Reg Weaver Human and Civil Rights Award winner Delfidio Marvaez from IEANEA on Vimeo.

Week 34: 04/28/14 – 05/02/14

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Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, April 28th
3rd Grade Field Trip to Field Museum
Reading Room Testing Begins
Spring Benchmarking Begins

Tuesday, April 29th
Wheel of Wisdom <–click for schedule
PEP Parent Meeting @ 6:00pm

Wednesday, April 30th
2nd Grade & 7th Grade Buddy Activity
TAPS Common Plan

Thursday, May 1st
1st Grade Field Trip to Kohl Children’s Museum
Kindergarten Young Authors Day
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm
Spring Band Concert @ 6:30pm

Friday, May 2nd
PreK Screening
RSVPs for Volunteer Breakfast are due! Teachers: If parents RSVP to you, please relay the message to our office ladies so they can mark it down! Thank you! 🙂
Happy Birthday Abelardo Cano 🙂

(05/03) Happy Birthday Molly Cattero 🙂
(05/04) Happy Birthday Abby Ptak 🙂 

Article Worth Reading:
7 Ways to Spread Sunshine in Your School

 

Week 33: 04/21/14 – 04/25/14

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Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, April 21st
Please type parent volunteer names into Google Doc by end of the day!
Happy Birthday Anna Kaminska (Yellow Bus) 🙂

Tuesday, April 22nd
Happy Earth Day
PreK Picnic
Faculty Meeting @ 2:30pm  <—click for agenda

Wednesday, April 23rd
1/2 DAY of SCHOOL
ABC Countdown Begins! 

Thursday, April 24th
Kennedy Singers Rehearsal @ LMS (8:50am)
District SLC/SLBC Metra Trip
PATS Field Trip to Navy Pier & Children’s Museum (Leave @ 3:45pm)
Spring Choral Concert @ 6:30pm (LMS)

Friday, April 25th
Spirit Assembly (Fairness)
Last Day of Pull-Out Reading Interventions
Last Day of Reading Room

Week 32: 04/14/14 – 04/18/14

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Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, April 14th
Keep your eyes open for easter eggs w/QR codes!
MAP Testing Begins: Click here for schedule.
Welcome Back Mayra Tellez 🙂
Buddy Committee Meeting @ 2:45pm (Room 109)

Tuesday, April 15th
Kindergarten Field Trip to Morton Arboretum

Wednesday, April 16th
3rd Grade Buddies to LMS
PATS/PreK Spring Feast (2:00pm-3:30pm)
Happy Birthday Tim O’Connell 🙂
Board of Education Meeting @ 7:00pm

Thursday, April 17th
1st Grade Field Trip to see Little Red Riding Hood Play
SLT Meeting @ 3:00pm

Friday, April 18th
Spring Picture Day

(04/19) Happy Birthday Jacklin Vargas 🙂

Educating with Easter Eggs
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Looking for Brain Break ideas? Click here to learn about GoNoodle.
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Have you installed Google Drive on your iPad yet? Here’s a video on how to use the basic features of Google Drive iPad. At the end of the video, there’s a tip about using multiple sign-ins on shared iPads.

Week 31: 04/07/14 – 04/11/14

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Welcome Back! It is my hope that you all had a restful, relaxing Spring Break. Please extend a warm welcome (back) to Jane Racek, who will be serving as the Interim-Principal for the remainder of the school year. Congrats to Allyson Greenenwald, who welcomed Baby Nicholas to the world on March 21st at 10:53am weighing 7lbs, 6oz and 21″ long. Congrats also to Elyse D’Andrea who got engaged over Spring Break! Any other exciting news for us to share? Please let Donna or me know so we can share your news!

As we enter the final 8 weeks of school, these  weeks can be quite challenging both for students & staff, as (hopefully) the weather gets nicer & we all catch “Spring Fever”. Let’s make a commitment to finish the school year strong & continue with positive momentum until the end of May. As we return from a week away from Kennedy, it’s important to revisit classroom routines/norms with our Kubbies. The more you stray from your normal classroom schedule/routine, the more antsy your students will become. If you keep focused, they will follow your lead. Let’s make these next 8 weeks productive for all!

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, April 7th
Welcome Back!
Happy Birthday Mirta Cruz 🙂

Tuesday, April 8th
PreK & 4th Grade Buddies (9am)
PreK & 3rd Grade Buddies (1pm)
Faculty Meeting @ 2:30pm
Happy Birthday Sharon Muntova 🙂

Wednesday, April 9th
Common Assessment CPT

Thursday, April 10th
Art Fair/Taste of Kennedy @ 6:00pm-7:30pm

Friday, April 11th
Pre School Screening
Reading Room Plan Day

Click below for this freebie on TpT:

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Google Tip: How to Freeze Rows & Columns in Google Spreadsheets
(Tip may come in handy for those teachers tracking MAP data in Google)
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