September 30, 2011

Welcome back to the principals’ blog!

On October 6th we will be mailing out student results from ISAT and MAP testing. We
are currently formatting the MAP information in a way that will make it easy for parents to read and understand. If you have any questions about the results, please feel free to contact the school.

As many of you have heard, our Book Fair kickoff challenge to raise funds was a
tremendous success! Because of the students’ generosity, Mr. Murphy had to sport a
Packer’s jersey and I had to wear the colors of my least favorite team. Although wearing a Bears’ jersey was tough, the end result is that Woodlawn & Central Middle School in Zion are each receiving $539 worth of books for their libraries. I will take that deal every year. Personally, I noticed that Mr. Murphy had a content, happy smile on his face all day long. Please check out the PTO Newsletter to see how happy Mr. Murphy looks.

Attention 6th grade parents: On October 18th, Mike Byster (numbers guru) will be putting on an assembly in our learning center and you are invited. It will be in the morning and I will pass along further details when they are available. Mark your calendars; this is a very interesting assembly!

And finally, it is sad when the most interesting part of a Chicago baseball season is when October rolls around and you see who is getting fired.

Mr. Grana

Cross Country: Hawthorn Invitational, 9/14

The Woodlawn Cross Country team had an excellent showing at the Hawthorne Invitational with each race consisting of over 100 runners. Students are working hard to prepare to the upcoming Conference meet where they have had exceptional success in the past. Go Wolves!

Here you can see members of our team looking to dominate the Patriot Conference as they begin a 2-mile race.

Attention 6th graders/parents Fall Halloween Party

The rumor mill is running wild...

The Fall/Halloween Party on Friday, October 28th is NOT a "date" dance.  The 6th graders are in full middle school panic mode and running with the idea that everyone needs a date to attend this event.

In reality, no one brings a date.  Students come with their friends and have a lot of fun listening to our
 D.J.(usually very loud), playing games, dancing to DDR (dance, dance revolution) and eating a ton of sweets.  Good times.  We will make this announcement to the 6th grade homeroom classes on Tuesday.

One last FYI...this happens every year.

Mr. G-

September 23, 2011

Welcome back to the Woodlawn principals’ blog! 

I had an amazing educational experience this week!  In a ground-breaking experiment, we brought the grades 9-10 English/LA teachers from Stevenson High School, along with representatives from each of the middle school feeder districts (grades 6-8), together to align the learning standards and targets for the Common Core.   In a nutshell, here is what that means…every student (grades 6-8) going into SHS, will have the same set of learning targets regardless of the middle school they attend.  As a consortium we worked together to clearly define the new E/LA learning targets and agreed upon which ones were the most important.  In the future, we will continue this work for the good of all students attending SHS.  

Join in the D96 Dash at Twin Groves Middle School on Sunday, October 2^nd.  The proceeds for this event will go to towards funding technology in our schools. 

In conjunction with our book fair, our Woodlawn students are raising money to send a donation to an underprivileged school in Zion.  The book company is sweetening the pot by giving both the school in Zion and our own Woodlawn library up to $500 in free books. Stay tuned to see if we met our goal. 

I hope that everyone is able to access our new Homework Hotline on the Woodlawn website.  Please make it a bookmark so that you can be up to date with the assignments. 

We have put the PTO newsletter link at the top of this blog.  Check it out!

Have a great week and let’s hope for a good Packers vs. Bears game.  

6th-Grade Reading Strategies

Learning targets are essential in helping our students meet district and state standards.  Inferencing is one of our learning targets for 6g English & Language Arts curriculum.  Enjoy this video clip of students practicing using their observation skills and background knowledge in order to formulate an inference about a fellow classmate.

Staff Email, Webpages & Homework

Oops, there appears to be an error with the link posted in an earlier blog post.

Click/bookmark this link to access staff email and webpages.  Teachers are regularly posting homework assignments on their webpages.  We are no longer using "Homework Hotline."

http://www.kcsd96.org/W/2009_newsite/staff_email.html

Mid-Term Grade/Comment Reports

The 24-hour accessibility to student progress using the parent portal of PowerSchool, coupled with the resource-saving concept of "going green," has led Woodlawn to make a change in how we provide mid-term student progress reports.  Woodlawn will not be sending home printed mid-term reports to parents this year.  We've been weaning ourselves off of this practice for some time, and now is the time to move on to our new system of reporting mid-term grades and comments.

On Tuesday, September 20, all Woodlawn teachers will personally begin contacting parents of students who are earning letter grades less than a C, or who have shown a pattern of behaviors that has caused a concern in the learning environment.  In order to provide parents a clear snapshot of student progress, all student grades will be updated in PowerSchool on Wednesday, September 28. 

The Quarter 1 reporting period ends on Friday, October 28, so we believe that providing an update on our struggling students during this upcoming week will afford students ample time to seek ways in which to improve upon their achievement- and for parents and teachers to increase their communication about students.  Teachers may contact parents via email or phone, depending upon your preference.  However, understanding that most everyone has quite a busy schedule, we request that parents confirm that they have received a voicemail or email, with a reply.  It is important to all of us at Woodlawn that our message is clear and productive.  

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact either Greg or me at ggrana@kcsd96.org or cmurphy@kcsd96.org or at 847.353.8500.

September 16, 2011

Woodlawn families,

This is a very important announcement regarding HOMEWORK HOTLINE.  With the change in our network system, we have decided to use teacher web pages for students and parents to access the homework hotline. Here is the link to access your teachers' web page from the Woodlawn site.  I recommend that you bookmark this link to have easy access to the homework hotline.   

   http://www.kcsd96.org/W/2009_newsite/staff_email.html

Earlier this week, as I walked past our Learning Center, there was a meeting going on with P.T.O. Book Fair committee members and our Learning Center Director, Jessica Woods.  Showing tremendously poor judgment, I decided to stop in and offer my support.  Before I knew it, I was part of a plan to raise money as a part of the book fair, compromising my very strong NFL allegiance.  So here it is…If the students can raise $500.00 by donating loose change during their lunch hours, beginning this Monday, September 19^th, I will wear the dreaded colors of my arch enemy, the Chicago Bears.  That’s right, I will wear a Bears jersey.  Ugh!  In a shameless act of pulling rank on another person, I have volunteered Mr. Murphy to go against his better judgement and wear the beautiful colors of green & gold if the students meet the donation dollar amount.  Packer fans, send in your coins, it almost makes it worth it to see our resident Bear fanatic in the colors of the Superbowl champs!

Information on this and all P.T.O. activities can be accessed via the P.T.O. Newsletter.  Make sure you check it out! PTO Newsletter Link

The inaugural District 96 Dash is coming up on October 2^nd  beginning at 8 a.m. Everyone can participate in this 5k walk/run that will be very fun for the whole family. The starting point and finish line is at Twin Groves Middle School.  Registration information is available online at D96 Dash. Register now and the cost is $15/per person through Monday, Sept. 26th. You can  also register on the day of the walk/run at a cost of $20/per person.

Thank you and have a great weekend.  

...3...2...1...LAUNCH!!!

This week, Mr. Polidoro's 8th grade science classes are modeling the scientific process by designing paper rockets, launching them by using compressed air, and modifying their designs based upon flight path and length of air time... Oh, and for future reference, it's not wise to stand downwind of the launch site!

September 9, 2011

The big news this week is that MAP testing is going very well and the information gained by the staff will lead to better, more individualized instruction for your student.  By early next week we will have all of our students tested and begin breaking down the data.

Construction began this week and it has caused a few of our buses to be delayed at the start of the day.  Fortunately, the delays have been minor and students have been in class for the start of our school day.

Thank you to our P.T.O. volunteers for the work they did with dessert day!  The Woodlawn students were able to enjoy a special treat at lunch and kick off the weekend in style.  More information regarding the P.T.O. and Woodlawn can be found by clicking on the NEWSLETTER LINK.  I recommend that you click on this link weekly to stay on top of everything related to students and the school.  http://www.kcsd96.org/W/PTO_NEWS-2011-12/current.pdf

Have a great weekend!

Homework Hotline Issues!

We have been having some issues with our Homework Hotline.  Since we have not been able to solve our server issue, it looks like we will be doing the program on another site.  As of right now, we will be shooting for a beginning date of Tuesday, September 13th.  In the meantime, please talk to your student about the importance of writing down all of their homework assignments in their assignment notebook.

Thank you for your patience.

Teacher Institute Day, 9/2

While all District teachers and staff were engaged in various forms of staff development, the middle school English & Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Spanish, ELL, SpEd, and Learning Center Directors all enjoyed a highly informative workshop on Literacy in the Content Areas.  The workshop seen in this image was facilitated by teachers, Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Flaskamp, and was geared towards increasing our understanding of effective instructional strategies to use across all content areas.

We all hope that you and yours enjoy a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend!

Make sure you read below for Mr. Grana's earlier post...

September Begins!

Writing a blog has been a very enlightening experience for me.  It seems easier than writing a newsletter because I can post things when I choose and they can be timely.  Last week when this blog went out, I had a single (1) follower.  Currently, the number stands at 13.  Talk about a celebration.  Mr. Murphy who also has access to post on the blog, is trying to take credit for the enormous leap in followers.  I don't want to break his spirit, but let's be honest, I'm the big deal around here.  Join the blog to help me prove to this young whipper-snapper that I am still the king.

Now onto the important stuff...It amazes me how fast the students get into the routines here at Woodlawn.  In only our second abbreviated week, students were confident walking through the hallways, doing their combinations and getting a feel for their classes.  I am excited about the prospects of this school year and the direction we are headed.

Two big things begin next week.  The first one is academic, as our fall MAP testing begins for all students.  The students are assessed on the computer in the areas of Math & Language Arts, and the immediate data results are used for student goal setting, interventions and gaining a deeper understanding of conceptual awareness.   The second big thing this week is that our PTO sponsored magazine sale begins.  This is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year, which allows us to purchase items for the students of Woodlawn.

Click here to visit the P.T.O. website. Information on the magazine sale should be up on their site.  You can also access the P.T.O. newsletter here as well.

Have a great day and remember to become a subscriber to the Woodlawn Principals' Blog.