Woodlawn Principal's Blog 4/10/20

Happy Thursday Woodlawn!  Good job this week as we continue with our Remote Learning!  I have been in communication with students and parents as we roll along on this journey.  There are a few items for the blog this week!  


No Remote Learning on 4/10/20 

Friday, April 10th is a District Holiday.  No assignments will be given.  


Lesson Plans for Monday, April 13th

Monday, April 13th, is a designated planning day for all district staff. The students’ lessons will be available in their lunch course in Schoology. The students will be receiving the following message on Monday morning. Please have the students check their lunch course in Schoology for Monday’s work. Friday, April 10th the students will be receiving a message in their Schoology lunch course regarding this change for Monday, April 13th.

 


Remote Spirit Week!  

Starting Monday, April 13th, you can take a picture of yourself doing the following activities.  Share them with Ms. Gember via email and they may be on the morning announcements.  

 

Movement Monday

Share your favorite way to stay active!

 

Tik Tok Tuesday

Let’s see your best “RENEGADE” dance!

 

“Wag Wednesday”

Share a pic of you and your pet or stuffed animal!

 

Thankful Thursday

Share a pic holding a homemade sign thanking our

essential workers! (Doctors, Nurses, Police Officers, Grocery Store Employees, and more)

 

Fun Family Friday

Share a selfie with your loved ones!

 

Email your photos to Ms. Gember at [email protected] Please be sure that anything you send is school appropriate! Photo submissions will be added to a slideshow to be shared next week during morning announcements!



Brighter Days Art Contest

The Imagination Project is an opportunity for Chicago-area elementary, middle, and high-school students to submit their visual creations to a student art contest sponsored by the Chicago Sun Times. The theme of this season’s Imagination Project is Brighter Days. Entrants may submit up to 5 pieces of their original artwork–drawings, paintings, or digital designs. The contest runs from Apr. 6–24. A parent must complete the electronic submission form. MORE INFO https://chicago.suntimes.com/pages/imagination


 



SHS Message

Since 8th graders will not have the opportunity to attend the Stevenson Co-Curricular Fair this year, if any students are interested in the Stevenson journalism program please read the attached information.  Important, if you would like to participate in the Stevenson newspaper/journalism program, you will need to choose journalism classes as your elective before the Fall. Enclosed is a flyer explaining the journalism program at Stevenson and the last issue of the school paper.   Students, if you are interested, Mrs. Cooper or I will send you a pdf with some information.  Just shoot us an email.  


Middle School Learning Plans

As stated in the Superintendent’s message, our child’s teachers will use Schoology to send directly to your child all instructions and work. Parents will not receive a daily instruction email from middle school teachers.  

If you are interested in seeing the daily assignments, I recommend sitting with your child at night and reviewing the next day’s work that is found in Schoology.


Please read the Superintendent’s Message from 4/7/20

District 96 Community

Thank you to everyone who provided donations to our food bank a few weeks ago! Families are receiving both breakfast and lunch for kids AND food pantry items to supplement them.

We are now in need of additional items to support our families.

As this food bank is a collaborative effort of the Exceptional Learners Collaborative (ELC), School District 96, and School Districts 125 (Stevenson), 102, and 103, each community is asked to provide specific items.

The following are the items we would like District 96 Community families to provide, as you choose and are able:

Large brown paper grocery bags

Pasta sauce (cans or jars)

"Helper" Meal Kits, such as Hamburger Helper® (do not provide meat or poultry)

Butter

Canned fruit

Cereal

Juice boxes

Delivering Donations

Donations will be accepted 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM on Thursday, April 9th, and on Monday, April 13th – Friday, April 17th. 

Please deliver donations to the FRONT of the ELC building, 990 Corporate Woods Parkway, Vernon Hills. Boxes for collecting donated pantry items will be outside, near the door.

Please observe social distancing when making deliveries. 

It's my privilege to serve such a caring community!

Thank you,

– Julie Schmidt, District 96 Superintendent of Schools

Please read the Superintendent’s Message from 4/5/20

District 96 Community,

I hope each of you and your students are well. I appreciate your time to read all of this message, to be prepared for the week ahead.

Update on Remote Learning Plans

In my Apr. 1 message to you, I outlined some adjustments that would be made to our Remote Learning Plan effective Mon., Apr. 6. Below are some specific updates. Please review them as we begin the week.  

We have also updated the Remote Learning FAQs, linked HERE. This information answers many questions about the remote learning plan, expectations, flexibility, grading, and more.  

The most important message that I want you to hear is that–while we are making every effort to meet the vastly different needs of our students and families–we want to emphasize FLEXIBILITY in how you navigate remote learning in your own home. 

Elementary Remote Learning Plan Update

Your child’s classroom teacher will send a Google Slideshow to your email by 5 p.m. on the day preceding instruction. Monday's instruction will be emailed no later than 5 p.m. on Sunday, but could come earlier. Please remember the email includes lessons intended for Monday. Teachers will be available for support on Monday, but not during the weekend. 

The slideshow includes all the work and the instructions embedded for all content areas.

The slideshow will also be available to students through SeeSaw or Schoology, which your children can access from their iPads. 

We are pleased to offer learning in this new format. We have made every effort to create these slides to be student friendly, so our students can navigate their remote learning more independently. Once acclimated, they will find the slides provide guided structure for them.

We acknowledge this structure may be new for some of your children. For this reason, we are asking you to spend the first day or two ensuring they understand how to manage the slide presentation. For example, many slides include links to video or audio sound clips. Your child might need some support determining how and when to "click" certain links. After some initial support, most students should be able to navigate the slideshows independently.

More Messaging Through Your Doors and Windows

Send an encouraging message and an important reminder for safety from your household to the community. Download and print these signs and post them in your window(s) or on your front door.

Observing Social Distancing in KCSD96 (1-page pdf)

All In Illinois (multipage pdf–choose the version(s) you prefer)

These times require patience, understanding, and flexibility. We will get through this together....

Thinking of you all and wishing you well,

– Julie Schmidt, District 96 Superintendent of Schools



Finally, the Grana household has a bit of a competition problem.  I will take the blame for this because everything turns into a game in my life.  When we used to go to a restaurant, I would play pass the red, your table is ready buzzer from child to child until it went off.  There is a steep flight of stairs at the mall, the first one to the top wins. How much does this item (really didn’t matter what the item was) cost? We played the Price is Right closest without going over game.  Thus, placing us all in a house for an extended period of time will lead to nightly competitions. Card games, board games, Wii bowling and golf, Yahtzee, you name it. This may sound harsh but in my house, there are winners and losers for every event.  My favorite games are card games. We play Crazy 8’s, Shanghai (this one if fun) and Cheat Your Neighbor. I would love to hear card games that your family plays or I can try to explain my favorites if you are interested. Gather the family and remember that even though the Grana family plays for keeps, we are all good sports about it.  Most of the time.