ILASCD Spring 2021 Journal

Impact • Service • Advocacy

Quarterly Journal - SPRING 2021

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A Letter from the President

Quick Links Successful Assessment 10 Video Series

12 Whole Child 28 Resource Corner Book Review 32 How Family 38 Engagement Grew Up During the Pandemic

Akemi Sessler, President asessler@sd25.org

Things That Give Me 42 Hope SEL From the Top Down 46 Remote Learning’s 48

Dear Colleagues in Education: On Friday, March 13, 2020 - a little over a year ago - our monthly school-wide “Dolphin Pod” meetings took place for the last time at Dryden Elementary School. It was so fun seeing these small teams of students spanning grades K - 5 playing and working together to create and test leprechaun traps. There have been many days when I’ve longed to return to this moment in time since then!

At the end of that day, we made sure students had enough school materials to take home and continue school remotely during a statewide shelter-in-

Aftermath Five Essential 50 Resilience Practices for School-Based Professionals Silver Lining 54 Silver Linings in Self56 Directed SIP Days

62

Painting

66

We

68

The

My Own Silver Lining Are Capable of Much More Light of Lessons from Covid’s Dirge

70 Article Extensions Upcoming Events 78 School Spotlight 80

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ILASCD Leaders Akemi Sessler, President asessler@sd25.org Dee Ann Schnautz, Past President dschnautz@mtv80.org Belinda Veillon, President-elect bveillon@nsd2.com Doug Wood, Treasurer dwood@bcsd5.org Debbie Poffinbarger, Media Director dpoffinbarger@roe40.com

A Letter from the President (cont.) place to stop the spread of the COVID-19.

We expected this lockdown to last a couple of weeks. Little did we know that our students would be remote through the end of the school year and well into the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.

Virtually overnight when the statewide school closure began, educators across our state transformed how we taught and connected with students in ways that we never imagined before. We worked round the clock to learn new digital platforms

Amy MacCrindle, Secretary amaccrindle@district158.org Ryan Nevius, Executive Director rcneviu@me.com Bill Dodds, Associate Director dwdodds1@me.com

Task Force Leaders: Membership & Partnerships Denise Makowski, Andrew Lobdell Communications & Publications Scott England, Jeff Prickett Advocacy & Influence Richard Lange, Brenda Mendoza Program Development Bev Taylor

and create new and meaningful learning experiences for our students at an astounding scale. I look back on this year in awe when I reflect on what educators learned and accomplished in such a short period of time. Education professionals certainly embody the values of being lifelong learners!

This quarter’s IL ASCD journal celebrates the silver linings experienced in education over the past year. There are

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many thanks to the Herculean efforts of so many educators and educational leaders. For me, the silver lining has been seeing humanity shine through during our darkest and most difficult days.

In order for students to learn, their basic needs must first be met. Since March 2020, food service workers, bus drivers, and school administrators in my district have worked to distribute and deliver over 810,000 free meals to families in

our community alone. I can only imagine how many millions of meals have been provided to families across Illinois.

It has never been more clear that the well-being of our students and staff and our caring relationships with one another is what enables all of us to thrive in the school setting. Reverse parades, home visits, and “chalk-talk” on the pavement around our school filled the hearts of students and educators alike with love, joy, and deep gratitude that fueled our motivation and determination to keep up our best efforts.

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Throughout the summer staff participated in professional development in an effort to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as social-emotional learning and address inequities and mental health needs exacerbated by the pandemic. Each day over the summer, our superintendent recorded a read-aloud video to teach children about acceptance and highlight main characters with black or brown skin.

As the school year began with students fully remote, teachers continued to go above and beyond to make personal, inperson connections with students before the start of the school day with “Rise & Shine” groups and African drum circles.

Then, back in the classroom, they continued to make every effort to reach and teach each child online through multiple devices for hours at a time.

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Despite many hardships, the self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism of many students shined through thanks to the pervasive efforts of educators to reach and teach them.

Students who initially thought “impossible” began believing “I’m possible”.

School librarians, teachers, and volunteers went out of their way to help kids find those “just right” books, fall in love with reading, and experience many exciting adventures through books while needing to stay home and socially distance.

Undeniably, there have also been numerous days over the past year when many of us have felt like our best efforts weren’t good enough and additional adversities in our personal lives compounded our worries, sadness, and exhaustion. On those days, leaning on each other and being there for one another was never more important. In the dark days of December, some anonymous staff members put battery-operated candles in all of the staff mailboxes with this message to help keep us focused on the positive and working towards better days to come: “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. - Desmond Tutu”

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Fast forward to the spring of 2021, we still have a ways to go, but also better days have come! 93% of our students are back in the school building and staff who wanted to be vaccinated have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The school still is not like it was on March 13, 2020.

But, thanks to the amazing efforts of so many passionate, courageous efforts of educators and educational leaders, humanity - the genuine care, compassion, and kindness of others - continues to prevail. That is a huge silver lining.

Throughout the course of this year, Illinois ASCD has continued to successfully pivot and adapt while remaining committed to our mission: building the capacity of educational leaders to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. IL ASCD remains ever ready to support you in your professional learning through these challenging times. Please reach out to us anytime.

Sincerely, Akemi Sessler

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Introducing a new

VIDEO WORKSHOP SERIES

SUCCESSFUL ASSESSMENT 101 a.k.a. Everything you need to know about tests in a standards-based learning environment

A SERIES OF VIDEO LEARNING UNITS FOR TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS Local Assessment Literacy 8-part Series!

Each 35-40 minute video offers: • • • •

live-captured presentation on testing directed activities timed working sessions accompanying handouts and resources

Other topics include: • • • •

Testing overview National/state tests District level tests Local/classroom level tests

Use For: Faculty Meetings • College Classes • PLC Teams Parent Meetings • Board of Education Meetings • Individual PD SPRING 2021 | VOLUME 67 | NUMBER 1 | PAGE 10

SUCCESSFUL ASSESSMENT 101 Learning leaders in classrooms, both teachers and administrators, need a thorough understanding of quality assessment and attributes of the various tests to propel students to achieve the growth model. These video tools will help to explain formative and summative assessment techniques so that teachers and those evaluating them can speak the same language and work together for student standard attainment.

Each video begins with definitions of the tests in the area being covered.

Detailed information about their impact on the learning in classrooms will be provided.

Each video will allow break times within the 30 minute time period for discussion by the viewing group under the leadership of the local host (principal, professor, department chair, PLC leader).

Faculty for these video sessions include: • Linda Brissenden - Teacher, Principal, Staff Developer • Jennifer Garrison - Teacher, Principal, Superintendent, Staff Developer • Steve Oertle - Teacher, Principal, Asst. Superintendent, Creator of CourseMason and Staff Developer • Quintin Shepherd - Teacher, Principal, Superintendent, Staff Developer

Click HERE for more information!

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Whole Child Can Anything Good Emerge in a Pandemic?

Using Whole Child Tenets to Consider Better Accessibility Dr. Andrea P. Dinaro

Dr. Suzanne Stolz

Dr. Yurimi Grigsby

Educators, school systems, families, and learners had to abruptly slam on the brakes in March 2020 as schools were forced to close in an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19. The effects of the pandemic were tremendous and traumatic as individuals and families experienced change, loss, and uncertainty. Amid the chaos though, we look for some silver lining, some hope that we will emerge on the other side with something we can feel good about. The overwhelming challenge catapulted many educators into the realization that things we thought we could not achieve in the past are actually possible. Practices that were previously deemed outside the scope of what could be offered, are now implemented. Accessibility is on everyone’s mind, no longer merely an afterthought or something an advocate must remind us to consider. Through the centering of accessibility, educators are finding more ways of teaching, learning, and supporting. Flexible approaches are now acknowledged and evolving. Artifacts of the status quo are now eligible to be reimagined.

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In this article, we use the Whole Child Approach (2013) tenets as a framework for considering accessibility in K-12 education. What is access really? How can we make it a non-negotiable, deserving the highest priority? In our discussion, we compare Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and individual accommodations. We then present recommendations for expanding our conception of access, for building confidence and capacity in inclusive design, and for developing tools and strategies by applying and connecting the Whole Child Approach tenets.

ASCD Whole Child Approach The ASCD Whole Child Approach provides tenets to guide educators as they plan and implement learning environments for students to be: healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged (ASCD, 2013).

By promoting the long-term development and success of all children the Whole Child Approach works to “move from a vision about educating the whole child to sustainable, collaborative action” (para. 1 ASCD Whole Child Initiative).

In the next section, we explore each tenet in relation to access. How do we provide access for students: (a) to enter school healthy and learn about and practice a healthy lifestyle, (b) to learn in an environment that is physically and emotionally safe, (c) to be engaged in

learning and be connected to the school and broader community, (d) to access personalized learning and be supported by qualified, caring adults, and (e) to be challenged academically and prepared for success in college or further study and for employment and participation in a global environment (ASCD, 2013). Aligning with the aim of the Whole Child Approach, we want to help educators set goals and renew commitments for prioritizing all students’ comprehensive access needs (ASCD, 2013). The Whole Child Approach provides an opportunity to explore what accessibility really means and how it applies to all student populations.

Access within the Whole Child Framework Surviving current pandemic circumstances and those that arise in its aftermath and advancing equity in varied learning environments requires that we consider accessibility deeply. Access is usually defined as a “right or opportunity” to benefit from a particular resource, to enter a specific place, or to participate alongside others. In considering the ways in which we often conceptualize access, disability studies scholar, Bess Williamson (2015) points out that it is used in relation to allowances for people experiencing disability and is also used in terms of economic justice (i.e. access to housing, employment, and health care).

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Whole Child (cont.)

Within education systems, the Covid-19 crisis has illuminated the many ways students, families, and teachers need access, as if those who ordinarily hadn’t thought much about access were suddenly enlightened by their own first-

contributing. Accessibility reduces barriers for anyone’s benefit. Therefore realizing there are physical, intellectual, and social types of access (Jaeger & Bowman, 2005, p.63) helps promote expanded ways to conceptualize and

Access discussions shift conversation from changing people to changing social, economic, and political structures. hand experience with the struggle. Will we now be more conscious of those who regularly are not granted access?

Access discussions shift conversation from changing people to changing social, economic, and political structures. It is not people’s bodies that prevent them from realizing equality, but changeable social structures that create barriers.

Will we change problematic structures?

Using the example of building codes in the 1960s that identified the need for physical access for those with disabilities, Williamson (2015) argues that defining and understanding access has been a much easier task than actually creating it.

Commonly, accessibility is perceived to solely refer to disability access. However, accessibility features aim to empower everyone with the same usability of tools for obtaining information, communicating, participating, and

create opportunities for access and accessibility across the lifespan.

So, what do the Whole Child Approach tenets have to do with these notions of accessibility? Jaeger & Bowman (2005) assert that “access is a multifaceted concept with impacts on every part of daily life” (p.64) and that is difficult to refute. Since we all need access to physical, intellectual, and social spaces, the Whole Child Approach tenets help to identify strengths and gaps in how we create spaces, usable materials, effective delivery, and engagement opportunities.

In examining each of the tenets, we find links to physical, intellectual, and social access, that is to say, access to spaces, information/communication, and participation in society. When we broaden our thinking about what access is and who needs it, we can then reimagine better ways to create it and

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sustain it. Here, we consider access issues during the pandemic that relate to each of the five tenets: Healthy. As schooling went remote last spring, we struggled to find ways to help students stay healthy. Physical proximity became a huge barrier. Many students lost access to the nutrition in meals provided at school sites. Some districts delivered food to families or set up food pick-up times. Although food insecurity was a problem before the pandemic, it became more visible to those of us who don’t face it every day.

While some students have experienced isolation from community, others have been cramped in crowded spaces without much room for exercise. As these issues became widespread, teachers began to focus their work more on health, teaching about hand-washing and wearing masks, talking about mental health and offering social-emotional tools. How else can we build access to healthy practice for students and families?

Safe. Providing school climates that are physically, emotionally, academically, and socially safe is the ongoing work teachers and administrators must always be engaged in. As privacy is a form of safety for some students, teachers have struggled to know if they should require cameras to be on. Feeling vulnerable

when teachers and classmates see into their homes, some students have preferred to leave cameras off while attending remote classes. If students are not in the physical schoolhouse, what access to supervision do they have?

Studies already are showing a rise in child trafficking (Todrea & Diaz, 2021) due to a number of pandemic-related variables. What options do parents have if they need to work? If they lose their income? As students transition back to the school then, other questions arise.

Without access to more classroom space, social distancing requirements have loosened, opening more risks to certain populations.

Engaged. Being engaged is accessing connection, contributing and interacting with peers, teachers and meaningful lessons. Because learning is often a community experience, educators model and facilitate meaningful participation in dialogue and decision making. They work to incorporate creative curriculumrelated experiences. However, without basic access to connection, such as lack of internet, and/or a consistent conducive learning space, engaging learners and providing supports to monitor and direct their own progress, participation has been unsteady for many learners. Still, dedicated educators strive to meet this goal, to ensure learners have access to engagement when no student is

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Whole Child (cont.) prevented from interaction with others or materials (Jaeger & Bowman, 2005).

Supported. Support comes in a variety of forms: through the use of proper tools, by having multiple means for accomplishing goals, with the presence of caring adults, etc. Access to support has been inconsistent for many students.

As teachers built new systems for providing instruction and support

diminished. Virtual meetings have made easier access to language translators and to those family members who work long hours.

Challenged. Being prepared for success in a global environment presents opportunities for every learner to be challenged. Teaching and learning in a pandemic has put most into a survival mode, but also highlights our continual

Although this break in access has been detrimental, many educators are amazed by some positive changes in communication with parents and guardians that has come with the increased use of virtual meetings. during remote teaching, the need for personalized learning increased while the ease of providing it decreased. Access to school counselors, underfunded before the pandemic, and other structured academic, social, and emotional support systems is a need that grows as students and families experience difficult times.

Although this break in access has been detrimental, many educators are amazed by some positive changes in communication with parents and guardians that has come with the increased use of virtual meetings.

Barriers that had previously prevented home-school partnerships have

adaptability. Modeling the relationship between these real world/global awareness experiences, as problemsolving competencies can provide multiple opportunities for learning with and through technology (ASCD, 2013).

Having access to high expectations, a vital part of challenged, is necessary for transformative self-worth. How can we help learners recognize how their own capacities have carried them through challenging experiences? An opportunity that has arisen in many learning communities at this strange time is ongoing discussion about a shared challenge. Teachers and students alike are

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...how do we maintain the team efforts, the empathy, and the openness to more flexible approaches... How can we create communities that look out for everyone all the time? sharing their survival strategies, unique ideas for getting exercise, new skills they’ve had to master, and strategies for keeping or regaining motivation.

Aiming to meet access needs in all five of these tenets, educators have stepped up to the challenge during the pandemic, working tirelessly to knock down barriers. We might question whether we have put the same effort into meeting the access needs of students from marginalized communities who face inequities when there is no pandemic.

And if not, how do we maintain the team efforts, the empathy, and the openness to more flexible approaches when it seems many of our students’ lives are “back to normal”? How can we create communities that look out for everyone all the time?

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Individual Accommodations Perhaps UDL strategies are a good place to start. The impact of inclusive design strategies to achieve access in healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged ways (ASCD, 2013) allows a greater diversity of people the opportunity to

benefit from access with the employment of multiple modalities. The concept of universal design and UDL centers on inclusive design—considering a wide range of users or participants and then building flexibility into the environment to ensure that it works for everyone.

Inclusive design is beneficial, yet it does not always account for or address a specific individual accommodations.

We have seen this to be true with many disability-related accommodations. For example, access for a Deaf/HOH learner may require a qualified sign language interpreter. Access for a learner with low vision may require specialized speech to text software.

As we hone our skills in using UDL concepts, we can keep in mind that we still need to be mindful of setting up individualized accommodations, always on the look-out for access needs that are not yet being met. Proactive planning creates a welcoming inclusive environment, while individualized accommodations or supports become naturally considered and available. Is there a qualified interpreter at the Zoom

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Whole Child (cont.) meeting? As moderator did I remember to explain how to ‘pin’ the interpreter?

Did I consider a professional live transcription? Note that other attendees, in addition to the Deaf/HOH attendee, may also benefit from the transcript. Any efforts in creating physical, intellectual, and social access will likely benefit more than the individual.

Has Access Increased or Decreased During the Pandemic?

Remote learning and teaching has impacted access in many ways. As educators and students navigated through the new and complex demands resulting from various stay-at-home orders and half in-person/half online hybrid approaches, the benefits and challenges of remote learning became clearer. The pandemic caused an increase, out of necessity, in the use of instructional technology. Features and characteristics of teaching and learning changed rapidly. The traditional classroom went online with video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Jitsi. While these platforms enabled some students to access schooling online, the too-often ignored digital divide left many students without any contact with their teachers (Anderson, 2020).

Many school districts partnered with internet providers to offer families affordable connectivity and some sent

buses out with hot spots (Camera, 2020).

For those who could connect, educators took advantage of the increased connectivity to expand the walls of their classrooms. Suddenly, they were able to expose students to more and different learning experiences. Because much of life in the virtual classroom was so new, teachers had the opportunity and ‘permission’ to think outside the brick and mortar, try new resources, and revamp their lessons for an online environment.

For example, technology-infused lessons had the benefit of supporting English learners’ (ELs’) engagement with and practice of the target language in meaningful and authentic ways.

With opportunities to receive digital class notes before or after lessons, ELs could better follow along and gain deeper access to the teacher’s instruction. Further examples of access as engagement are using digital storytelling and digital stories (Grigsby, Theard-Griggs, & Lilly, 2015)— an interdisciplinary, technology-enhanced activity that supports writing, reading, new media, and research skills. Providing multiple means to engage in physical, intellectual, and social ways of access has been crucial. There are some simple actions to take to provide access and support multiple learning styles and preferences; these often provide access since all potential students have been

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considered—not excluded by design.

For example, most remote learning inaccessibility issues experienced by students has to do with posted content

a ‘new normal’ has been established, online learning resources and webbased applications will continue to offer a wealth of opportunity that will

We get to collectively create a new set of nonnegotiables—things that we design and come to expect, for the purpose of having the greatest impact and benefit.

(Harvard, 2020). For more remote learning and teaching examples see Table 1 Inclusive Design Starter Quick Tip Examples for Access.

CHALLENGES AND IMPLICATIONS A Call for Non-Negotiable Status These pandemic times have demonstrated and highlighted creativity in interdependence as well as the need to grow within uncomfortable spaces.

We undoubtedly have been stretched and are emerging with new knowledge as educators. Now, how can we make prioritizing access for all be our new normal, a non-negotiable?

Many school districts are implementing new or changing protocols in response to their fluctuating Covid-19 rates, and there is uncertainty still about what the post-pandemic classroom will look like.

Yet even after Covid-19 is halted and

enhance the face-to-face classroom.

What seems to be clear, however, is that online learning can no longer be on its former fringe—we know too much about how well some students respond, how increased access may help to reduce some unknown and known barriers, and empower newly accepted ways to participate and communicate for students and educators. We get to collectively create a new set of nonnegotiables—things that we design and come to expect, for the purpose of having the greatest impact and benefit.

As educators, the main ‘silver linings’ we cling to in the context of teaching, learning, curriculum, and supervision are (a) the abrupt opportunity we have had to acknowledge the access/accessibility knowledge, skill, and performance gaps that were a part of our pre-pandemic times, (b) the permission to experience and share the trial and error of lessons

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Whole Child (cont.) learned, and (c) realizing we are much more capable of providing access/ accessibility than we might have previously thought or were encouraged to do. It seems natural that more learners emerged demonstrating they will benefit from inclusive design.

Remember high tech cannot replace high touch learning environments Much time and effort has to be devoted to developing activities that integrate technology effectively and have an explicit learning outcome.

Instructional goals must be paired with the appropriate technologies and multimedia resources to facilitate the desired learning outcome(s).

But the fundamental principle of teaching remains true: teaching is, above all, a human activity. Culturally responsive practices and inclusive instruction cannot be forgotten aspects. “High tech” classes of diverse learners must also include “high touch” (Goodwin, 2016); that is to say human connection and empathy.

This concept promotes the importance of also teaching how to think and communicate in real time, and the necessary warmth and empathy that is strongly linked to student success (Cornelius-White, 2007). Pair this with

accessibility, and students’ needs and rights are more likely being met.

The conversation about the Internet being a fundamental right must not fade into the background. In 2016, the United Nations again declared online freedom and access a human right and one that should have protection (see U.N. resolution A/HRC/32/L.20). Whether the Internet is the right or whether it is a tool which enables the rights, not having access to the Internet means not having access to a vital resource of information exchange.

Solidarity in Progress: What’s Next?

Technology is rapidly changing but its integration can provide the optimum learning opportunities that a nontechnology-integrated classroom cannot. With technology permeating and changing how we live, work, and learn, it is evident that multiple modalities are needed now more than ever so technology is needed for optimal access. Alice Wong, author of Disability Visibility emphasized the need for seeking and valuing all perspectives to prevent exclusion, and to create inclusiveness: I do see the future as a time when we really need a lot of solidarity with

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one another. We need to show it.

We need to really understand that asking for help, needing help is not a weakness….there are obvious gaps– knowledge gaps in the way that we design things…. The whole pressure to return back to what we think of as normal really wasn’t great in the first place [inclusive design and access]. (podcast interview Nikolov, 2021) Ultimately, the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and unexpected sudden remote teaching experiences have opened up our perspectives. We believe it is likely that as learning communities, we did not have an opportunity to have accessibility be a non-negotiable in past practices because it was so specialized and seemingly unattainable to know where to start or how to implement. Inclusive design is a genuine form of access and shows us, more clearly, ways for educators to reach everyone, and when disability related accommodations are needed, now they may be more readily available and accepted as a more welcoming new normal.

In her book, Being Heumann, internationally recognized disability rights leader, Judy Heumann (2020)

asked “To...move forward we must ask: What is our vision for our society?” (p.

207). With a Whole Child Approach and inclusive design strategies, access as a non-negotiable is our vision. Moving forward let’s ask ourselves: • Have I given myself credit and celebrated all that I have accomplished in contributing to access?

• How can I promote access as a nonnegotiable among my colleagues and with the students and families I serve?

• Where do I need support to integrate physical, intellectual, and social access? What examples can I share of accessibility in reaching the goals of healthy, safe, engaged, supported, challenged?

We began with the question “Can something good emerge from the pandemic?” and have considered how Whole Child Approach tenets might deepen our understanding of access and accessibility. This jolting opportunity has allowed us to assess what we think we know about access, celebrate what we learned, identify gaps/what we know we don’t know, and the capability by example to advance the ways we design for all.

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Whole Child (cont.)

Table 1. Inclusive Design Starter Quick Tip Examples for Access

Mental Health and Fatigue (Safe, Healthy, Engaged)

Select videos and recorded presentations that have been transcribed or utilize videos that have been professionally captioned (live and/ or post-production captioning) to allow any learner to read and listen. This helps to reduce fatigue (i.e., screen or auditory fatigues) and, by utilizing two modalities, to increase comprehension (i.e., listening and reading along with text) (Harvard, 2020). NOTE: understand that many YouTube auto-captioning is less than the 99% accurate threshold to be considered a legally compliant accommodation (Harvard, 2020).

Avoid using flashing gifs or video with sudden bright flashes—this may reduce screen fatigue, headaches or migraines, as well as avoid triggering a potential seizure. If the content is necessary, provide a warning prior to the start and description of the content.

Simple mental health access can include providing Content Warnings (CW) or Trigger Warnings (TW) because it provides a way for a student to have readiness of upcoming content that might be triggering to a person’s mental health (i.e., CW: neglect, substance abuse, blood, racism, animal cruelty, disability discrimination, etc). Read An-Introduction-toContent-Warnings-and-Trigger-Warnings-Draft.pdf (umich.edu) for example tags/wording.

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Organization, Study, Templates, Contrast, Font or Readability (Supported and Engaged)

For hashtags, use an uppercase letter for the first letter of each word #UpperCaseLetters.

Use easy-to-read fonts; avoid using green and red fonts since those are the most common color blindness areas; provide light-on-dark, or dark-on-light background contrast with text contrast (such as navy blue background, white font) to supports learners with ADHD and reading disabilities, as well as low vision.

Another tip is to remember that the typical minimum font size for a Word document is 12; a basic guide for accessible font size in a Word and in an online document/website is at least 18, for PowerPoint presentation slide is 18 and 24 (Making Illinois accessible for people with disabilities and visImpd_typogTM.pdf (textmatters.com).

ADA-friendly font/character styles are sans serif fonts such as Arial, Verdana, or Tahoma, Calibri, Helvetica, and Times New Roman.

(Great Lakes ADA Center, 2016) Templates are another helpful tools for efficiency and access. Several links and study tips are provided in a How to Study with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia | Affordable Colleges Online.

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Whole Child (cont.)

Use the embedded default access features of templates. Format your Word document using the Heading Styles formatting (Header 1, Header 2 and Header 3)—then it is accessible for most, as well as easier to convert to other formats and creates an automatic updating table of contents (Convert Word to PowerPoint: 5 Common Mistakes to Avoid (nutsandboltsspeedtraining.com).

Accessible pdfs are crucial for access and efficiency. Read the article Make PDFs ADA Compliant for more information.

Visit the ADA Checklist: Website Compliance Guidelines for 2021 in Plain English | by Kris Rivenburgh | Medium for helpful resources that provides specific requirements with ‘do and don’t’ guidance (note: scroll halfway through the article to the WCAG 2.0 AA checklist, start at Section 1).

Collaboration, Note-taking, Comprehension (Supported and Engaged)

Provide a digital shared space such as a Google doc for shared notes (i.e, collective class notes with peers); host small group work in a shared Google slides so educators can monitor synchronous or asynchronous group work; enable videos Zoom, Microsoft Teams with AI closed captioning; select YouTube videos that are captioned, preferably professionally captioned. Share resources for internet access with families if needed (Free & Low-Cost Internet Plans | National Digital Inclusion Alliance).

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NOTE: The content of Table 1 does not provide legal advice about the ADA, Section 504, or Section 508 accessibility compliance; the tips listed are compiled guidance for UDL access and various disability-related accessibility to support educators’ learning how to build inclusive design capacity in providing access for all learners in remote instruction.

Thank you, educators, for every single thing you tried, for every ounce of energy you contributed to helping students, families, and colleagues survive in the face of adversity.

References Adams, A., Reiss, B., and Serlin, D. (2015).

Keywords for disability studies.

NYU Press.

AffordableCollegesOnline.org, a Red Ventures Company (2021). How to study with dyslexia and dysgraphia | Affordable Colleges Online. Study help: Technology edition.

Anderson, J. (2020). Harvard EdCast: Remote learning and the digital divide.

ASCD (2013). Whole child initiative.

Camera, L. (2020). Schools rush to get students internet access during Coronavirus pandemic. U.S.News.com.

Cornelius-White, J. (2007). Learnercentered teacher-student relationships are effective: A metaanalysis. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 113–143.

Goodwin, B. (2016). Research matters / “high touch” is crucial for “high tech” students. Educational Leadership, 74(4) 81-83.

Great Lakes ADA Center. (2016).

Making Illinois accessible for people with disabilities. University of Illinois at Chicago Institute on Disability & Human Development http://www.adagreatlakes.org 800-949-4232 (V/TTY) Grigsby, Y., Theard-Griggs, C., & Lilly, C. (2015). (Re)Claiming voices: Digital storytelling and second language learners. Acta Technologica Dubnicae, 5(1), 60-67. DOI: 10.1515/ atd-2015-0034.

Harvard University Office of the VPAL. (Oct., 2020). [panel, YouTube].

How good accessibility practices enhance online teaching.

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Heumann, J. (2020). Being Heumann: An unrepentant memoir of a disability rights activist. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Jaeger, P. & Bowman, C. (2005).

Understanding disability: Inclusion, access, diversity, and civil rights.

Greenwood Publishing Group.

Jitsi. (2021). What is Jitsi: About video conferencing software. 8x8, Inc. Nikolov, N. (2021). [podcast]. How to create a more inclusive future postCOVID with disability advocate Alice Wong. March 03, 2021 Ramin, S. (2020). Create a breakout room note taker in Google slides.

Todres, J., & Diaz, A. (2021). COVID-19 and human trafficking—the amplified impact on vulnerable populations.

JAMA pediatrics, 175(2), 123-124.

University of Michigan Inclusive Teaching.

(2021). An introduction to content warnings and trigger warnings.

Williamson, B. (2015). 4. Access. In Keywords for disability studies (pp.

14-16 ). NYU Press.

Wong, A. (2020). Disability visibility.

First-person stories from the twenty-first century Vintage Books.

New York.

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (2021). Video conferencing, web conferencing, webinars, screen sharing - Zoom.

Dr. Andrea P. Dinaro is Interim Chair of the Teaching, Learning, and Diversity department and an Associate Professor of Special Education at Concordia University Chicago. Contact: andrea.dinaro@ cuchicago.edu Dr. Suzanne Stolz serves at the University of San Diego as an Assistant Professor. A former high school English teacher and administrator, she has expertise in online instruction, curriculum design, school culture, inclusive education, and disability studies. Contact: sstolz@sandiego.edu Dr. Yurimi Grigsby is Ia professor at Concordia University Chicago. She teaches Language and Linguistics, Assessment of Language Minority Students, Methods and Materials for Teaching CLD Students, Applied Philology and World Englishes, Second Language Acquisition and Issues in Second Language Rhetoric and Composition in the College of Education in the Department of Teaching, Learning, & Diversity. Contact: yurimi.grigsby@ cuchicago.edumail

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Congratulations!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2020 IL ASCD WHOLE CHILD AWARD WINNING SCHOOLS! HEALTHY: JAMES AVANT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLEAST ST.LOUIS SCHOOL DISTRICT 189 SAFE AND ENGAGED: ALDRIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL-CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUPPORTED: GLENWOOD ACADEMY CHALLENGED: JANE L. WESTERHOLD EARLY LEARNING CENTER, COMMUNITY CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 62 OVERALL WINNER: BANNOCKBURN SCHOOL DISTRICT 106

Resource Corner

IDEAS FOR VIRTUAL PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES From how to schedule to preparing parents in advance to how to display student work. READ MORE...

MRS. RICHARDSON’S CLASS BLOG Tips for a successful virtual parent-teacher conference. READ MORE...

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To kick off the spring semester, we’ve rounded up 7 TED Talk favorites to help inspire and support Educators.

Click HERE to discover more!

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Resource Corner (cont.)

Teachers Lounge 15 LESSONS LEARNED FROM ONLINE TEACHING I’m a San Marino High School social studies teacher with more than 30 years of face-to-face, in the classroom, teaching experience. I’m also someone who has acquired a great deal of online teaching experience.

As you begin to venture into the world of online teaching this fall, here are some important lessons I’ve learned.

READ MORE...

5 LESSONS LEARNED ON DIGITAL LEARNING DAY 2021 During the Digital Learning Day (DLDay) 2021 broadcast, we reflected on many of the changes from the past twelve months and celebrated the lessons learned during the past ten years. We visited classrooms, schools, and districts around the country (virtually of course) and witnessed the power that comes when educators combine a growth mindset with perseverance, innovation, and collaborative leadership.

We began in our nation’s capital to learn more about the actions federal and state leaders have taken, and those on the horizon, to ensure all students have access to learning, regardless of the zip code they call home.

Then we journeyed north, east, south, and west to hear stories from teachers, principals, and superintendents who adapted quickly and adopted new innovative learning opportunities to support personalized learning for students both inside and outside the school building.

READ MORE...

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Approximately 1,700 students from 14 districts across the United States participated in testing Rosetta StoneⓇ English™, and over 150 hours of student sound logs were reviewed in order to optimize the program s speech recognition software.

Surveyed educators praised the program for its many benefits.

Over 75% believe that Rosetta Stone English can benefit student learning in speaking, listening, grammar, and academic language.

100% anticipate that Rosetta Stone English will align well with their state standards.

88% found Rosetta Stone English to be culturally appropriate for their students.

Approximately 4 out of 5 agree that Rosetta Stone English has the potential to help students speak confidently and fluently in academic English.

Approximately 2 out of 3 reported that their students liked Rosetta Stone English and were excited to use the program.

I want to say thank you for the program. I actually enjoy it, and I think the kids are going to benefit a lot from it. I appreciate that there s something like this out there for them. I m very excited for this program...it’s going to do a lot of good.

–Elementary Educator, California

Survey results are based on a national sample of 25 educators. Educators in the sample used Rosetta Stone English with students in grades PreK to 8.

ABOUT ROSETTA STONE

Rosetta Stone is a global leader in technology-driven language and learning solutions for individuals, classrooms, and entire organizations. Our scalable, interactive solutions have been used by over 12,000 businesses, 9,000 public sector organizations, and 22,000 education institutions worldwide, and by millions of learners in over 150 countries. For more information, visit www.rosettastone.com.

©2020 Rosetta Stone Ltd. All rights reserved. Rosetta Stone and other names and marks used herein are the property of Rosetta Stone Ltd. and are used and/or registered in the United States and other countries. Some products, features, and options described may still be in development.

Book Review Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities

by Debbie Zacarian, Margarita Calderón, and Margo Gottlieb Review by Sarah Burnett Click the cover to view on Amazon.

A Call To Action: “Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste” An insightful leader once advised me to, “Never let a good crisis go to waste” (Rowe, 2020). These words of wisdom have never been more relevant than throughout the Covid-19 worldwide pandemic. Though no one could have predicted such a tumultuous time in education’s history, there prevails a silver lining in what we have learned and the opportunities that await us.

The terrific trio of Zacarian, Calderón, and Gottlieb publish their book Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities at precisely the right time as we begin to see the light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel.

Beyond Crises is a visionary read as the authors depict a strengths-based framework in which students, families, and educators partner with communities to ensure equitable opportunities and educational flourishing for all students, focused on multilingual and multicultural learners. The book is structured by addressing ‘the BIG three’ of communities, schools, and classrooms, in inverse order from what a reader may typically expect. Structuring the text from the outside-in perspective was a genius move, allowing one’s mind

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to ponder the opportune unification that can be cultivated and sustained among the big three ecosystems. Beyond Crises applies an interactive and reflective format, at which various points in the text prompt you to pause and carefully reflect on the reading, providing a space to physically record your thoughts, as well as online resources to download.

There is a clear theme of connectedness and relationships interwoven throughout each chapter, emphasizing the

have been amplified. The authors point out that as educators, we tend to unintentionally focus on what we perceive to be lacking in our students, to fill the identified gaps. Although the best of intentions may be at heart, this deficit lens can, unfortunately, lead to predictable failures for marginalized students, especially when facing a crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic. By switching from a deficit lens to applying a strengths-based lens to our students

By switching from a deficit lens to applying a strengths-based lens to our students and their families, educators are better able to form effective partnerships with families and provide wraparound supports to best serve their needs. importance of building and maintaining strong relationships, as well as the essential interdependence at all levels within each ecosystem (community, school, classroom).

Macrosystems: Imagining Communities The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in drastic changes in the field of education and with the sudden switch to remote learning and reliance on technology, the alarming inequities and challenges faced by some Latinx, African American, and other marginalized populations

and their families, educators are better able to form effective partnerships with families and provide wraparound supports to best serve their needs.

Reflecting on lessons that have been learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as other historical crises, many silver linings have been discovered. One noteworthy positive is that educators draw a meaningful amount of comfort in extending communication to families to check on their wellbeing. In return, partnerships with community

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Book Review (cont.) organizations can be formed to ensure that students and families have access to the services and support that they need.

We have undeniably learned from past mistakes and made progress towards maintaining a strengths-based lens, embraced by a collaborative, wholechild, and whole-community approach to serving students and families. By taking the time to discover, acknowledge, and value students’, families’, and even our strengths, we are better able to create connected networks of inclusiveness and safety to overcome inequities.

Part One concludes with visions for what each role within the community ecosystem should entail, from the state to a bilingual translator, based on a strengths-based lens.

Mesosystems: Imagining Schools The Covid-19 pandemic unearthed a startling reality that most of us in the field of education were not prepared to adapt to the challenges that confronted us amid the crisis. This leads authors Zacarian, Calderón, and Gottlieb to emphasize professional learning as an essential component within and across each of the big three ecosystems. An emergent silver lining resulting from the pandemic is that it has forced a change and provided a beneficial opportunity for school staff members to collaborate and learn together through joint professional development and job-embedded learning

opportunities. A high value has been placed on collegiality as teachers have had to suddenly shift their instruction to unfamiliar modes. Zacarian, Calderón, and Gottlieb discuss a structure similar to Professional Learning Communities, affectionately named “Teacher Learning Communities”, or TLCs. These TLC structures remain intact after an initial whole-school in-service and encompass diverse teams of teachers who problemsolve and reflect on their craft as they face novel challenges. TLCs can also serve as safe spaces for courageous conversations surrounding the topic of equity, with trusted colleagues.

Before the pandemic, some English Learners received minimal (barely even five minutes) instruction with an ESL teacher in the classroom. This coteaching approach may have looked like several EL students sprinkled throughout a single classroom and the ESL teacher being pulled in various directions, whispering a translation to one student, or attempting to help another focus. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, this was considered coteaching. Looking beyond the crisis, it is evident that much needed to change for true co-teaching to occur, and with the help of effective professional development, these changes are possible. Effective professional development better prepares ESL

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teachers and general education teachers to co-teach when they experience the same cohesive professional development together. They can collaboratively learn instructional strategies and observe demonstrations on how to equally distribute responsibility and care for students, as well as themselves. Additionally, virtual environments have made it easier for instructional coaches and teachers to collaborate, regardless of physical location, to plan, observe, and reflect together. Part Two concludes with a focus on social-emotional wellbeing considerations, as well as realistic and relevant examples of successful schoolwide professional development from the field.

Microsystems: Imagining Classrooms Linguistic and cultural inequities have wreaked havoc on our communities, schools, and classrooms for far too long. Since March 2020 we have witnessed the dismantling of schools and reconfiguration of classrooms as we grasp onto our connections with students and families. Through this turmoil, a silver lining prevails in that people from all walks of life have united for common causes. Classrooms are reflections of schools and communities, and as we enter a new phase beyond crisis, the authentic relationships formed among members of this ecosystem reign more

important than ever. The authors note that learning is a social act in nature and relationships among teachers, students, and families seem to be stronger than ever before. Throughout the pandemic and virtual learning, teachers have been afforded a rare glimpse into the homes of their students, their struggles, and personal experiences that have helped reshape our thinking as professionals, but also enhance our feelings of empathy for students. Beyond the trials and tribulations that teachers have now witnessed for students, insight has also been gained into students’ funds of knowledge or assets that they uniquely contribute to the classroom community as a result of the pandemic. As more students are welcomed back to school in person, though the physical space may seemingly present a barrier to interaction, the authors encourage readers to take on this challenge and support students to not only have voice and choice in their learning but also to cultivate and maintain classroom ecosystems where students’ strengths are featured and linguistic and cultural sensitivity prevails.

Linguistic and culturally sustainable classrooms begin with the mindset of the teacher and a commitment to classrooms that embody multilingualism and multiculturalism. Zacarian, Calderón, and Gottlieb specifically draw attention

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Book Review (cont.) to the role of curriculum and utilizing the cultural capital of students as a springboard for authentic learning. In a linguistic and culturally sustainable classroom, teachers implement practices that naturally facilitate student interaction and engage students in the inquiry process as they expand their linguistic and cultural ranges together.

hopeful people I know” and this theme of hope is an uplifting common thread throughout the text. Zacarian, Calderón, and Gottlieb seamlessly interweave the theme of hope on a more global scale as they discuss valuable partnerships within the macro-meso-and micro-ecosystems of communities, schools, and classrooms.

Beyond Crises is an inspirational text that

As we move beyond the crisis, schools will continuously be reconceptualized to prioritize and highlight the assets that our students and families possess.

Students are viewed as contributing members to the classroom, rather than empty vessels to fill with knowledge.

As we move beyond the crisis, schools will continuously be reconceptualized to prioritize and highlight the assets that our students and families possess. With a newfound vision of classrooms through a strengths-based, equity lens, the authors prompt readers to draw on hope as we envision a future post-pandemic, complete with a strong network of collaboration among communities, schools, and classrooms to best serve our students and families.

The Power of Hope In the forward by Dan Alpert, he states that “K-12 educators are among the most

immerses its readers in empathy and hope through personal voices from the field stories, and ways in which the big three ecosystems can unite to address the inequities exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is this renewed sense of hope and empathetic human nature that we as educators draw on to gain resilience and move beyond the crises, break down barriers to equity, and collaborate in the best interest of our students, families, and communities. With its interactive, reflective prompts and abundance of accessible resources, Beyond Crises emphasizes collaboration and the value of relationships at all levels. Be prepared—this is a book that you will want to read, reread, and then read again with colleagues and friends.

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References Rowe, Scott. June 6, 2020. Personal Interview.

Sarah Burnett is in her eighth year in the field of education and currently an elementary school Assistant Principal in Huntley Community School District 158.

She has experience as a first and thirdgrade teacher, as well as experience as an instructional literacy coach. Her core values include relationships, trust,

integrity, and ensuring that students remain at the forefront of every decision made. Sarah is passionate about professional learning, curriculum, and best practices in instruction, cultivating and maintaining a positive climate and culture, as well as strategic planning.

She has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, a Master’s Degree in Administration, and a Doctorate of Education with a superintendent endorsement, all from Aurora University

Website

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Article How Family Engagement Grew Up During the Pandemic

Mara Paich Grujanac

“I don’t need to be inspired for some future event, I need support for how to get through today.” In March 2020, engagement with families took on new meaning. Parents were thrust into a role where they were asked to be more actively supportive of student learning on a daily basis. High school students no longer left early in the morning to ‘do school’ only to return later in the day with stories about classes, friends, or co-curricular activities.

Students had to spend all of their time at home. When the pandemic hit, everything changed. Remote learning put a different focus on the role parents and caregivers play in their teens’ education (Rebecca Winthrop, 2021).

Parents went from asking ‘How was your day?’ to ‘How can I help you with your day?’...

Parents went from asking ‘How was your day?’ to ‘How can I help you with your day?’ and helping teens manage their learning and emotions. These were changes most parents were not ready to take on and they needed a lot of support, right away.

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Our school environment has always viewed our students’ families as vital components to student success. The school community collaborated to provide opportunities for families to connect and engage in regular discussions designed to help them support their children’s learning and development. Last March, however, our learning environments changed dramatically. We had to rethink family support. All of the learning took place at home, through computer screens, and the role of supporting learning took on an entirely new meaning for parents.

Remote learning called for a different kind of support. It put additional stress on students and their families that did not exist in a traditional school setting.

Teachers, counselors, and tutors learned how to provide support for students through digital office hours or email.

But parents and caregivers now had to support not only a new learning environment but also monitor and support their teens’ mental, social and emotional wellness. Family engagement had to move from ‘just in case’ advice to ‘just in time’ family support. To provide this support, discussions focused on content for parents and caregivers on helping teens build skills and would help support teens’ academic success as well as their social emotional learning (SEL) skills (Joseph A. Durlak, 2011).

Social emotional learning is integrated into classrooms and co-curricular activities throughout our school community. During remote learning, the faculty continued its focus on SEL implementation through studentcentered course content. Relationships with students were different. Interacting was in the context of a digital classroom setting. Teachers and counselors did not have the benefit of informal interactions with students that they enjoyed a traditional in-person school day.

Students were no longer able to ‘hang out’ with friends and develop positive peer relationships during free periods or co-curriculars. This meant there was more of a chance for students to feel disengaged from school and their peers.

In the remote learning environment, parents and caregivers would have to play an integral role to keep students engaged and connected in a meaningful way with their coursework, co-curriculars and friends. Parents would need to help students manage themselves, maintain relationships and make responsible decisions. To meet this need we offer daily 30- minute sessions that focus on how family engagement can support the development and promotion of teens’ SEL skills.

While the relationship between the development of SEL skills and academic achievement (Office of Career, Technical,

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Family Engagement (cont.) and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education, 2013) might be a bit obscure for parents or guardians, it is easier to see SEL skills as being necessary for success as emerging adults. Sessions offer background on subject matter and

of SEL skills at home and in the remote classroom is reviewed at the start of each session using the most updated CASEL framework (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2021).

Sessions equip families with language

Content is timely, is based on developmental experts and relates to what is happening during the academic year. practical advice for how parents and caregivers can support teens. The design of these conversations allows adults to connect, ask questions and talk about how to best support their students. With the understanding that adults are also managing a number of demands on their time, sessions are recorded and available for review at a later time. Content is timely, is based on developmental experts and relates to what is happening during the academic year. Sessions focus on various topics including Supporting Time Management Skills, Communication Strategies with Your Teen or Helping Your Teen Advocate for Themselves. Attendees complete an exit survey which asks how well the session met their needs as well as their input on future sessions.

To reinforce parent understanding of the importance of their involvement in the academic achievement of their students, the intersectionality of the development

that mirrors what students hear from their teachers. Participation provides a demonstrated interest by the parents on what is happening in the teen’s school life and also supports academic achievement (Henderson & Berla, 1994).

The development of family engagement sessions to meet parent and caregiver needs during remote learning provided a number of insights that can be translated into engagement strategies beyond the pandemic. Content provides a context for intentionality in relationship building within families at a time when teens can seem distant or not interested. Explicitly talking with families about how they can provide space for teens to practice SEL skills provides purpose at a time when families may feel unwelcome. It also provides a common language and understanding of developmental skills through which parents can collaborate with their teens, teachers and counselors.

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All of this removes some of the barriers that impact traditional family engagement with schools and reinforces the importance of collaboration and communication that is necessary for student success.

References Henderson, A. T., & Berla, N. E. (1994).

Institute of Education Sciences.

Retrieved from ERIC.gov.

Joseph A. Durlak, R. P. (2011). The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions. Child Development, 82, 405–432. Chicago, Illinois, USA: Child Development.

Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education. (2013). Employability Skills. Retrieved from Perkins Collaborative Resource Network: Rebecca Winthrop, M. E. (2021, March 16). Know Your Parents. Retrieved from Brookings Institute.

Mara Paich Grujanac, Ed.D. is a Family Engagement Coordinator at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, IL. She earned her Doctor of Education degree from Loyola University at Chicago in Curriculum and Instruction. Her dissertation focused on ‘How Internet Facilitated Communication Impacts Teacher and Parent Partnerships’. Her passion is designing and implementing programming that fosters collaborative and sustained relationships within school communities.

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Article Things That Give Me Hope

These things give me hope for the future of education:

Judy A. Kmak

There are still people who want to be teachers As a supervisor for student teachers, I have watched young adults who want to be teachers. They have a passion for their chosen field of study and feel they can make a difference. The university I work with places students with the same teacher for the full year. During the fall semester, they work in the classroom for two days per week and in the spring semester, they begin full-time student teaching. This school year I have had the pleasure of working with four students and cooperating teachers.

Teachers will take on new challenges— even in a pandemic I would like to tell you that this was a smooth process— but it wasn’t. I would like to tell you that all of my students had placements in the fall semester—but they didn’t. What I would like to tell you is that the university found four teachers who were willing to take on the responsibility of a student-teacher when they were asked to help.

Online learning is not so bad This year I haven’t been in the classroom with the student-teachers. I watched their lessons online or viewed recordings of their lesson. In the past, I would meet with the student-teacher after their lesson to talk SPRING 2021 | VOLUME 67 | NUMBER 1 | PAGE 42

This district’s rate of attendance for conferences went up drastically. Parents who didn’t have transportation or had to work in the evening could still meet with the teacher on their time.

Whether they were at home with a baby on their lap or taking a break at work, they now have more flexibility to be online for their conference time. Why didn’t we do this sooner? about their progress. It is important to have the cooperating teacher present, but this was not always possible. In order for the three of us to meet, I found myself hanging around in the building or heading back to the school after students were dismissed.

Online platforms have allowed us to meet when it’s convenient for all of us. I may not be able to see a studentteacher’s mouth moving because of the mask, but I can see the eyes light up when they talk about their students. I don’t think I’ll ever NOT meet with the cooperating teacher and student-teacher for these post-observation discussions,

but if necessary, an online platform may be the way to do this in the future.

A new way of doing business We are not “doing business” the same way we used to, which isn’t bad. In some of my first interactions with the cooperating teachers, I asked them what it was they hoped would never change as we transition back to the classroom. I laughed when a teacher said, “I’ll NEVER make another copy!” It is amazing that students may not miss a day of school in the future, even when it snows due to remote learning. The comment that really made me think the most was when a teacher in a school with 100% low-income students said,

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Things that Give Me Hope (cont.) we should always have online parent conferences. This district’s rate of attendance for conferences went up drastically. Parents who didn’t have transportation or had to work in the evening could still meet with the teacher on their time. Whether they were at home with a baby on their lap or taking a break at work, they now have more flexibility to be online for their conference time. Why didn’t we do this sooner?

Moving forward Take time to look back on the things we did in the 2020-2021 school year. Get rid of the ones that didn’t work, and question the things that did. We have a responsibility to make this profession even stronger. Our children are counting on you.

Judy A. Kmak, Ed.D. is a sort-of retired educator.

Contact Us For your in-district pd needs SPRING 2021 | VOLUME 67 | NUMBER 1 | PAGE 44

Featuring Harvey Silver and Jay McTighe

Harvey F. Silver

Jay McTighe

Based on their award-winning book

ONLINE PD FOR EDUCATORS

Now, More Than Ever, Is the Time for Deep Learning Build the Thinking Skills That Students Need to Become Better Learners In their bestselling Teaching for Deeper Learning, instructional experts Jay McTighe and Harvey Silver identified seven skills that are critical to students’ academic and real-world success. This new online program shows teachers of all grades and content areas how to build these skills into everyday instruction to drive deep learning.

Designed as an on-demand professional learning suite, Teaching for Deeper Learning Online PD provides teachers with practical tools that are easy to integrate into current lessons and units.

ENGAGING AND INTERACTIVE… …so that learning sticks

ON DEMAND AND SELF-PACED… …so that professional learning works on your schedule

THE 7 DEEPER LEARNING SKILLS Conceptualizing Note Making and Summarizing Comparing Reading for Understanding Predicting and Hypothesizing Visualizing and Graphic Representation Perspective Taking and Empathizing

FLEXIBLE AND MANAGEABLE… …so that you can meet your priorities and school improvement goals

Schedule a Free Demo and Trial Visit www.thoughtfulclassroom.com/ILASCD or call 1-800-962-4432 (mention IL ASCD)

Article SEL From the Top Down: Social Emotional Learning for the Administrator

Diante Johnson

Dr. Easterling-Hood

Vince Davis, Jr.

Self-awareness is being aware that emotions can drive our behavior and impact people (positively and negatively), and learning how to manage those emotions – both our own and others – especially when we are under pressure.

Through demonstration of the first SEL competency, Self-Awareness, participants will uncover their personal ACE’s and emotional triggers and determine how doing so will help them to provide professional development for their teachers and staff. This discovery will help administrators 1) Understand how self-awareness helps one to be honest with themselves and people around them, especially people they lead 2) Guide administrators to acknowledge Social Emotional Learning as an approach to prevent ACE’s and remove barriers to student achievement and 3) help the administrator to gauge the readiness and/or progress of implementing a schoolwide SEL program based on the Illinois SEL standards by completing a school-wide planning and implementation rubric developed by CASEL (The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning).

Tsureyah McKee SPRING 2021 | VOLUME 67 | NUMBER 1 | PAGE 46

Diante Johnson actually wrote the soundtrack to It’s OK video and was responsible for the entire music production.

He is a Teacher Assistant with a degree in Music from Columbia University.

Dr. Easterling-Hood is Principal of McDowell School and creator of the Wellness Project, She co-wrote the songtrack, and helped to produce the video. This project was inspired by a presentation she prepared along with her school counselor.

Darril Fountain, entitled: SEL From the Top Down as well as the recognition of the stress teachers were experiencing due to Covid. As a matter of fact, we were selected to present at the Illinois Principal Association Leaders Conference this month but had to decline due to Covid.

Vince Davis is the Technology Coordinator for McDowell School. He is co-producer of music and an actual musician who played keys on the project. He included SEL practices in his Tech classes. He is also a Doctoral Student.

Tsureyah McKee is a Special Education Assistant here at McDowell. She was our videographer and was responsible for capturing the video clips of our staff and participated in the editing. She is also singing on the project. Ms. McKee is a graduate of Southern Illinois University. She is also the sponsor of our female mentoring and empowering program.

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Article Remote Learning’s Aftermath

The power of the pandemic has forced school districts across the nation to overhaul in-person learning. No comparable human force had ever affected the education of students so abruptly. It has tested our thinking and Leotis D. Swopes challenged our ability to execute an equitable, yet responsible form of instruction to students. Like a person learning to swim, teachers and students were thrown into the proverbial remote learning waters and told to “stroke, stroke!” Teachers, who were not techsavvy, found themselves “learning on the run” while simultaneously familiarizing students with ...the pandemic remote learning protocols. They kicked, stroked, provides a and floated the best way they could; attempting to create a semblance of in-person learning. future-focused Each successive day was like being thrown back occurrence that into those turbulent waters until they began to has the potential to swim, though technique, efficiency and style personalize every were lacking. Yet, because of their struggles, the has provided an unimaginable context child’s educational pandemic for future learning.

experience.

There are two noteworthy ramifications forged by the pandemic. First, a practical resolve. The initial launching of remote learning didn’t provide a solid example of “What Works.” Any teacher hesitancy to use remote learning needed time for trial and error before it could fashion their skills. However, after a year into remote learning, a baseline has been established. The

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gained knowledge will be evaluated and analyzed with fidelity. Teacher familiarity with the pedagogy of technology will have added a powerful tool to their arsenal of teaching strategies! This will provide teachers the wherewithal to more effectively influence student outcomes through a virtual model. All mitigated by the pandemic.

Secondly, the pandemic provides a future-focused occurrence that has the potential to personalize every child’s educational experience. The technological platform used to operate remote learning inherently provides a recipe for Individualizing Education on a Mass Scale.

No other tool before technology has had the power to prescribe an individualized educational plan for each and every student. Can you imagine, that?

An individualized plan developed for a student would not replace in-person nor remote learning. It would seriously accentuate both! The technology already exists to do this! Remote Learning has given teachers a two-fisted approach for imparting knowledge to students and perhaps a third: Individualizing education on a mass scale.

Prior to the pandemic, in-person learning was the primary mode of instruction.

Remote Learning-type technologies were used for supplemental or remedial

services to students. The pandemic has made remote learning the primary form of pedagogy. It has brought many more teachers into the technology world of their students and has provided the most powerful tool to have impacted the teaching and learning process to their fingertips. Also, it has provided the kind of access for students (and their parents) to monitor their progress, regardless of where the student may sit. We can only guess what teaching and learning would have been without remote learning during the pandemic!

Leotis Swopes received a terminal degree from the University of NebraskaLincoln in Curriculum and Instruction.

Currently, he volunteers time and service working with the Commission for the Study of Demographics and Diversity in Cook County, Illinois. He has worked at all three levels of schooling as a teacher and administrator for over forty years.

The majority of his time served was in educational leadership administrative positions, as either a building principal or district superintendent. He served as a high school principal in Gary, Indiana (Roosevelt High School) and elementary principal in Kenosha, Wisconsin (Lincoln Elementary School). He has been a Superintendent in Cairo School District 1, (I)l; Posen-Robbins School District 143.5 (Il); and Thornton Township High School District 205 (IL).

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Article Five Essential Resilience Practices for School-Based Professionals

Kristen Esposito Brendel

Due to the increased stressors and demands experienced by school-based professionals (SBP) since the onset of the pandemic, districts have been devoting in-service days and creating professional development opportunities to support staff’s self-care, stress-reduction, and resiliency.

A silver lining to the pandemic is that many districts plan to continue this precedence indefinitely. I’ve been working with several districts, facilitating a variety of stress-reduction trainings for staff and parents during the current academic year. The trainings included five essential sustainable self-care and resilience practices based on my upcoming book. Sustainable self-care is the process of cultivating awareness of one’s state of being and responding with intentional care, non-judgment, and kindness. What makes it sustainable is that it can be practiced throughout the day, with limited resources, and the methods provide short- and long-term resiliency and stress reduction effects. The sustainable selfcare practices presented here include the Window of Tolerance, STOP, non-judgment, SAND, and setting valuebased boundaries. These five practices are tailored to the needs of SBP and can apply to any setting.

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1. The Window of Tolerance.

Coined by Dr. Dan Siegel, the Window of Tolerance (WOT) sets the foundation and starting point for sustainable selfcare practices. The WOT is essentially our optimal state of being where we can tolerate stressors and have a sense of manageability in our responses and reactions. It is also known as homeostasis, or the rest, digest, connect, and restore state of being. When we are in this state, we can better deliver instruction or services, self-and coregulate, receive information with an open mind, think creatively, and manage our mental wellness. The concept of the WOT includes two other states of being: hyperarousal and hypoarousal.

Hyperarousal is characterized by our sympathetic nervous system’s activation and mobilization response of fight or flight. During hyperarousal, our stress responses have been activated, resulting in increased adrenaline and cortisol, which powers up our system to ready us for action. Hypoarousal, triggered by our immobilization responses, helps to facilitate self-preservation. It is most widely known as the freeze or fold response. Examples of this response include freezing up, drawing a blank, withdrawing, and in more extreme situations, fainting and dissociating.

The key practice to strengthen resiliency is frequent check-ins with your WOT.

Ask yourself, how am I feeling right now? What state am I in? What can I do to move one step closer to the WOT or maintain my current place within the WOT? Simple things like taking a few slow breaths, drinking a glass of water, eating something nourishing, closing the computer, putting your phone down, pausing before responding, or moving the body is all that it takes. The most significant self-care benefits arise when we cultivate awareness of our needs then respond accordingly.

2. The STOP practice Created by Dr. Elisha Goldstein, STOP is an acronym for stop what you are doing, take a few slow breaths, observe your state of being, including your thoughts, emotions, and sensations within your body, and proceed gently to the task at hand. This practice can be accomplished in as little as thirty seconds or several minutes, depending on what you need and how much time you have. It’s one of my favorite practices because it’s useful for transitions between activities, classes, and meetings. It helps prevent past events and states of being from creeping into the present.

3. Non-judgment Practicing non-judgment involves recognizing when our thoughts move from observations of an event to escalating or spiraling into worry,

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Five Essential Resilience Practices (cont.) rumination, or strong opinions based on fear, often resulting in moving out of our WOT into hyperarousal or hypoarousal.

Checking in and gauging where you are at within the WOT is a necessary first step to the process, followed by remaining present on what you can observe. When you notice your mind is beginning to judge, kindly and gently bringing your attention back to observing the situation and your experiences. Practicing nonjudgment consistently can help widen our WOT, increasing the space between stimulus and response.

5. Value-Based Boundaries Value-based boundaries involve a boundary fit between a person and their environment. For example, if you value being fully present with your family outside of work hours, choosing not to work on the computer while being with your family is honoring your value-based boundaries. The fact is when you say yes to something, you also are saying no to something else, and what you’re saying no to typically is self-care, including time with family or friends, sleep, or other opportunities to nourish, relax, and

The fact is when you say yes to something, you also are saying no to something else, and what you’re saying no to typically is self-care, including time with family or friends, sleep, or other opportunities to nourish, relax, and restore.

4. The SAND practice The fourth practice for strengthening resilience that builds upon non-judgment is the SAND practice, which is an acronym for setting your intention, attend to your intention/ point of focus while not judging your thoughts, sensations, emotions, and directing your attention, kindly and gently, back to your point of focus. The SAND practice will help you maintain awareness, presence, and homeostasis while engaging in your dayto-day activities.

restore. When you live within your valuebased boundaries, you’ll also be able to contend with the consequences; it will make saying no easier. When you agree to take on an additional project and weigh it up to your values, it will likely make the experience richer and more worthwhile.

Often the most challenging aspect of sustainable self-care is remembering to practice. As you begin to engage in these practices, I suggest that you set an alert

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on your phone or smartwatch, wear a bracelet that can serve as a reminder to practice, get a buddy system together for support, or be creative. Perhaps consider creating a self-care challenge in your building or on social media.

Regularly engaging in the five essential resilience practices of the Window of Tolerance, STOP, non-judgment, SAND, and value-based boundaries will help SBP ride the waves of stress without getting caught in a riptide of adversities.

These sustainable practices help cultivate awareness of your current state of being while increasing resiliency. To quote Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”

Kristen Esposito Brendel, Ph.D., LCSW, PEL, C-IAYT is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Aurora University. Her teaching, research, and practice interests involve the intersection of mindfulnessbased interventions, stress reduction research, and resiliency practices. Dr. Brendel is also the founder and executive director of Per La Vita Wellness, LLC, a social enterprise with the mission of increasing supports and protective mechanisms for health care, mental health, and school-based professionals.

With expertise in mindfulness-based interventions, Dr. Brendel presents nationally and internationally on her research and regularly facilitates professional development workshops and retreats at school districts, non-profits, and the corporate sector.

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Article

Molly Kaminski

Molly Kaminski holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Eastern Illinois University with a Masters degree in Teaching and Learning from the University of St. Francis. Molly was a classroom teacher for 9 years before becoming an instructional coach at Morris Elementary School District 54. She has had the privilege to work with students and staff for the past 11 years, across all grade levels. Molly has presented to teachers and staff at Raising Student Achievement Conference, the Student Illinois Education Association conference as well as multiple neighboring schools through the Joliet Professional Development Alliance.

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Silver Lining Change was needed And last spring the world heeded.

It was scary, dark, and new But globally educators figured out what to do.

As days, weeks, months went on as it would seem, Kids began to learn and grow although behind a screen.

Through it all many positive things came And my hope is some things will never be the same.

Most importantly, educators are viewed as superheroes to all, Their hard work and dedication not just in the fall.

Technology is embraced and used every day, Once a challenge for most, now leading the way.

Dissecting standards and changing up content, Adjusting curriculum and seeing where best time is spent.

Big conversations have happened and change has begun More focus on children and less on testing funds.

Standardized testing isn’t as important as mental health, Providing more resources and support than ever, knowledge is wealth.

Teachers shared ideas and strategies from near and far, Learning and leaning on one another like nothing before.

Professional development is more flexible and formatted online, You can learn and grow as an educator and pause in real time.

Kids are excited and eager to be at school, Before there was a time when learning was uncool.

More time is spent with family and we came together as one, Board games, movie nights, and bonding resulted in more fun.

Taking a step back, and looking at education as a whole, 2020 was a year I hope we never forget, Education has been changed forever, it was truly a gift.

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Article Silver Linings in Self-Directed SIP Days

Lynette Thrasher

It seems to be the nature of the human race to look for the positives in a dark situation. As early as 1634 Milton asked, “Was I deceived or did a sable cloud/Turn forth her silver lining on the night?” And in the midst of a global pandemic, we find ourselves still scanning the skies for that silver lining.

At Momence Community Unit School District #1, a rural, public PreK-12 district in Kankakee County, one of our silver linings was discovered through our need to adapt our School Improvement Planning days to meet social distancing and quarantine restrictions.

Looking for Solutions As we prepared to return to school in a hybrid model in August, it became clear that the traditional form of teacher development days was not going to work. We had teachers being quarantined, we couldn’t meet in large groups, and we didn’t want to cross-expose people in different buildings. And yet, we had just adopted a new math curriculum-including enhanced digital offerings. Teachers needed and wanted training to learn to best utilize these resources and to up their remote teaching game in general. Our district, like so many, was rapidly expanding our 1:1 capabilities through Covid relief funding. What good would all these devices and

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hotspots be for kids if we didn’t help our teachers to feel comfortable teaching in this new environment?

As usual, looking at what our quickadapting teachers were doing in their classrooms helped us find the answer. We would offer remote professional learning for our teachers. We developed a menu of self-directed options for the day that included virtual learning sessions, virtual collaboration, and some reflection and feedback forms to gauge our progress.

Our first attempt was a bit rough around the edges. We had limited choices and kept the topics under the umbrella of either self-directed technology training or some classroom management offerings. Much of the training we offered was in the form of recorded workshops our teachers had previously facilitated for colleagues in a train-thetrainer model. We also gave teachers options like completing their Google Certified Educator training. Teachers had the opportunity to work at school or at home. All we asked was that the reflection/feedback form be completed to tell us what they did during the day and share some thoughts about their experience. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Over 95% of staff members reported that the day met their needs and contributed to their professional growth. We also asked

what types of training and topics staff members would like to explore in further training and the incredible diversity of responses inspired us to take our selfdirected SIP days even further.

In the second and third installments, we vastly expanded our offerings by scouring the go-to resources we rely on for in-person professional growth.

With free access training offered by the Illinois State Board of Education, ILASCD, and many others, we were able to curate a wide range of focus options for our staff. Some offerings were focused on technology integration and remote learning strategies, some were content-specific pedagogical best practices, while others focused on Social Emotional Learning and becoming more trauma-responsive. We were also able to offer a wealth of training options centered around equity, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ topics. And each training day we also offered a number of learning opportunities related to teacher health/ wellness and self-care.

Stepping up the Self Directed With more training options, staff members began asking about learning events that were relevant to them. Some staff members used the time during the SIP day to engage with virtual conference material on-demand. Many reported that they ‘attended’ far more sessions

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Silver Linings (cont.)

In the feedback form, teachers were leaving comments describing a feeling of a real agency in their own learning. than they would be able to in person because of this format. Others used the SIP time for completing continuing education hours related to their unique areas of expertise like Speech Language Pathology or Physical Therapy.

In the feedback form, teachers were leaving comments describing a feeling of a real agency in their own learning. One veteran elementary teacher in the district said, “In a world filled with restrictions, it’s nice to be given choices, options, and freedoms.” Another said that by allowing teachers to choose topics that are of interest and relevant to them, they finally feel that they are able to take learning from the workshop immediately and begin implementing it in their classroom.

We found out later that some teachers were choosing to coordinate their learning options with their teams and collaborate on their own about their key take-aways after the SIP day. Jodi Tobias, a reading specialist working with a unique role in two buildings in the district said, “I really enjoy the choose-yourown-adventure format of these PD days. I often find opportunities that are specific to my unique classroom

situation, so this gives me time to explore those opportunities which may not be relevant to others. I like the mix of content and tech options and the chance to collaborate with colleagues.”

Accountability You may be wondering about the accountability of providing continuing education hours teachers complete on their own. In the beginning, we tried to build more accountability into our day by asking teachers to log the times they started and stopped various sessions.

We also explored building accountability questions. However, it soon became obvious that this wasn’t necessary. As part of the reflection and feedback form, teachers were asked a variety of questions that prompted them to reflect on their learning. Some examples of responses include things like, “One of the webinars that I took part in today went over the Illusion of Comprehension and its effect on students, mainly how students can be affected by information (real or fake) simply by having that information repeated over and over

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again. That repetition makes it more likely for people to succumb to it.

This is a major issue with digital literacy, as students can run into false information and think it’s trustworthy just because it gets parroted over and over again. The webinar went over several ways to teach digital literacy and combat issues such as this one, but this stuck out as being very interesting.”

Other responses reflected on racial equity sessions they attended and how they were planning to apply what they learned in upcoming choice projects they were presenting to students. Some of the feedback reflections read: “If a student doesn’t know how to read, write, multiply, etc., we teach.

If a student doesn’t know how to behave, we punish? They need to be taught, not punished. Respond to the child, not the behavior.”

As a district administrator who has been coordinating teacher professional learning opportunities for several years, this method of self-directed learning and individual reflection and feedback allowed more interaction between myself and the staff than anything I’ve done in the past. The responses were thoughtful and thought-provoking.

It’s evident through them that staff

members were not only engaged in their learning but really applying that learning to their classrooms. Our administrative team was also able to respond to many teachers and staff members via email and in-person to begin a dialogue that was relevant and individualized to the teacher and their own professional learning needs and goals. Some of those conversations have led to further professional development, some to focusing on building and district initiatives, and all of them have been key components of building real relationships with the teachers and staff members in our district.

Keeping the Silver Lining The Covid pandemic is a cloud that’s been hanging over our heads for the last 12 months. We, like all school districts, have experienced some difficult days and difficult choices. We have had some tense discussions in our quest to navigate the situation in the best way possible for our students and the staff members who are dedicated to them. Our selfdirected SIP days have provided us with one silver lining amidst the clouds. It’s allowed our teachers and staff members to grow in their learning, and maybe more importantly, it has allowed us to demonstrate that we respect them by allowing them more agency. As we move past this current reality, these types of self-directed learning opportunities

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Silver Linings (cont.) will continue to be an important part of the professional development plan at Momence CUSD #1, and also a meaningful way we build collaborative relationships.

Dr. Thrasher is a district administrator at a rural school district in Northeast Illinois. She oversees the MTSS program

for the district and coordinates student service plans for general education students. She has served as a reading specialist, technology and instructional coach, assistant principal, and teacher in elementary, middle and high schools in Indiana and Illinois. She earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration from Ball State University.

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CHARACTER EDUCATION CERTIFICATE Targeted to meet the needs of educators and administrators

Goals of the Certificate Program: • Foster a school culture of character that is caring, empowering and inclusive for students and staff • Infuse social-emotional character development into the school culture • Tackle equity through a commitment to the

J O I N T H E S U M M E R C O H O RT N OW

northcentralcollege.edu/ character-certificate

development of student and staff potential

Benefits of the Certificate: • 45 professional development hours for license renewal

“I believe character development is relational and fostered in a lifelong process of navigating and developing our inner and moral selves as we engage with others and cultivate our wisdom, courage and compassion.”

Dr. Julie Nagashima Visiting Assistant Professor of Ethical Leadership; Coordinator of Character Education Certificate Program

northcentralcollege.edu/character-certificate

• A portfolio of resources • A supportive network with which to connect

Article Painting My Own Silver Lining

Tricia Fuglestad

Summer of 2020 was anything but relaxing. I had just finished a 12-week marathon of reinventing instruction for my K-5 art students after my school building closed due to a global pandemic. I had no idea what the fall would look like and unfortunately, that was the only thing I could think about.

My mind kept fixating on the loss I would soon experience as the reality of COVID teaching came into focus. I went into the building in early August to find the art room, the place I’ve taught in for the past 28 years, stripped of the cozy spaces and collaborative seating. The class set of iPads was distributed to the kindergartners for remote learning. The floors were marked with dots six feet apart. I’ve never seen the floor tiles so abundantly. They looked cold.

Before the schools closed on March 13th I had been influenced by a session I attended at IDEA conference to redesign my classroom. They suggested I pull down distractors, declutter, and make the space more intentional. I had begun that work hesitantly in early March, but felt determined to rip the bandage off quickly now. I took down every poster, silly art print, monster mask, speech bubble, and gimmicky sign until the canvas was blank.

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What will be my silver lining? I can choose one. I can paint a silver lining on anything I want because I own the paintbrush.

I found the art I had carefully tucked away for the community art show that never happened. It was bright, vibrant, and saturated with memories of happy creative children. I made a huge display in the hallway not knowing if or when my students would someday see it. So, I filmed each piece to later assemble into an art show movie to share with all my online classes and the school community.

I unboxed the Kindness Campaign Posters. 4th graders (now 5th) had spent weeks on a unit where they developed a unique kindness statement, spoke it expressively in a green screen video, digitally animated wings, layered in the text, and set it up to come to life with augmented reality.

The grants I received for this project paid for beautiful full-color prints with the intention of creating a kindness gallery

where students could scan the posters and hear kids teach kids about kindness.

I stared at my blank walls wondering where I should hang them. It’s funny that it never occurred to me before to make the art room into a kindness gallery. It made perfect sense when I imagined my masked students, spaced apart, with their clutch of art supplies, staring at dozens of

friendly faces sharing messages of love, compassion, empathy, and kindness.

After I hung these posters I felt better seeing their sweet smiling faces fill the space. I filmed every poster coming to life with augmented reality and edited

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Painting My Own Silver Lining (cont.) them into tiny kindness episodes that were eventually shared with all students at the beginning of each remote learning class session.

my words heard, and my thoughts to potentially change the outcome of the show. This is when I realized that our art time could be framed as an interactive

I went home and began trying to re-imagine synchronous art classes through our online platform. I had some experience presenting to teachers through professional development webinars. I knew the tools, the limits, the formality, and the strange quiet of a muted audience. Thinking about little kindergarten students in this environment seemed unfathomable.

How can they feel seen and heard when we have never met in person? How do I make our online time feel personalized, fun, and child-centered? I wondered if this method of instruction could have a silver lining? That’s when I remembered one of my childhood wishes. I had always wanted my TV programs to be interactive. I wanted my name spoken,

art show. I called it Fuglevision, based on my last name. I developed a logo, artrelated video shorts, and even made a TV themed hat to wear while presenting online with my students. I wrote a theme song/video to play at the beginning of each class period that would embody my mission statement and become our classroom mantra: No matter how we gather Each one of you matter And I’m so glad That we are here together Let’s sharpen our pencil As we sharpen our mind And remember to be Creative and kind.

It’s a good decision To tune in to Fuglevision

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After the first few weeks of class I noticed students bopping along and mouthing the words when the video played. It occurred

Tricia Fuglestad, K-5 art teacher from Dryden Elementary School in Arlington Heights, IL, has a master’s in K-12

It was no longer me saying what I hoped for the class. It was kids telling other kids to engage, take risks, and make good decisions.

That had power. to me then, that they should remake the video with their own faces and voices. I gave this opportunity to the 5th graders and soon replaced the old with this new one oozing with life and authenticity. It was no longer me saying what I hoped for the class. It was kids telling other kids to engage, take risks, and make good decisions. That had power.

I found many silver linings over the past year around the edges of each color wheel of feelings experienced. I had to be able to feel all of them to paint them. Then, look at them closely to see the glimmers of silver on the edges. Not every aspect of my classroom design was intentional. Much was out of my control.

However, the most peace I experienced in the chaos of COVID came when I picked up my own paintbrush and dipped into the silver paint.

technology integration and has successfully blended digital and physical art-making with her Transdigital lessons. Her goal is to expand the curriculum, give students an opportunity to explore new media, and find transformative ways for students to demonstrate learning dynamically. Tricia’s classroom is featured in educational publications and higher education textbooks. Her students’ Fugleflicks, student-created, art-related videos have screened at international film festivals and won awards in national contests.

Tricia was was presented with the NAEA Art Technology Outstanding Community Service Award in 2016. Her classroom was honored with a Tech in Action award by the ISTE teachers network in 2018 and her students’ online art gallery through Artsonia was recognized nationally in 2019. https://linktr.ee/fuglefun

I shared a more in-depth version of my story in this interview from K12ArtChat the Podcast SPRING 2021 | VOLUME 67 | NUMBER 1 | PAGE 65

Article We Are Capable of Much More

“You either get bitter or you get better. It’s that simple.

You either take what has been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you Kara Mieszanek

down. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you.” - Josh Shipp

Hard to believe that as I am writing this, it was one year ago that would be the last week we would have experienced a “normal week”. I actually went back in my calendar and looked at my week from last year. It was kind of crazy, actually. There are things I thought, wow,

...relationships can transcend any medium when they are authentic.

I miss that. However, there are also things I thought, I could totally do without that ever again because we have learned of better ways of doing things. This past year has taught me more than I ever could have imagined.

Here are just a few of the things I have taken from a pandemic experience: SPRING 2021 | VOLUME 67 | NUMBER 1 | PAGE 66

1. We are capable of much more than we ever thought we were. Not only have we learned about our ability to be resilient, but we have also taught our students more about resiliency than any program or curriculum could have ever attempted. We often get in the way of ourselves because we think of all the things that could possibly go wrong instead of just putting ourselves out there and seeing what could happen.

educators, we feel we have to be held to superhero standards. And although we will never stop trying, we must know where our boundaries lie. At the end of the day, we have to recognize that we gave it our all and accept it as being enough, or we will never be able to bring our best selves day in and day out. Grace is not just something that you extend to others, you must be willing to provide it to yourself.

2. Relationships are everything.

Build them. Value them. And know that relationships can transcend any medium when they are authentic.

This year could have robbed us [as educators] of our why, but I think it reminded many of us [no matter how difficult it was] exactly WHY we do what we do. Why is this work is worth it? Why we must choose to embrace vulnerability in ways we never have? If you look closely, we are surrounded by silver linings. Choose to be better, not bitter.

3. There are many things we have done for far too long just because that is how we have always done it.

We must learn to embrace unlearning because it has shown us that is when the magic happens. I cannot help but think of some of the things we put into place this year that we had to do because of the situation that we are in and how those things are now going to be implemented from here on out. What if we had never been forced into this situation? Would we have been ok? In education, comfort can be our enemy.

4. There are things that are just not in our control, and we must choose how to respond to the control we do have. We must accept our limitations. As

Kara Mieszanek is the privileged principal of J.W. Riley Intermediate School in Berkeley SD 87. She has served in both assistant principal and principal roles there for the past seven years. Prior to that, she was an elementary physical education teacher. Most recently, she earned her Doctor of Education through National Louis University. When she isn’t busy challenging the status quo in education, she can be found either snowmobiling or laying poolside (always with a good book in hand), or spending time finding new adventures to go on with her family.

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Article The Light of Lessons from Covid’s Dirge

Kathleen King

“Was I deceived? or did a sable cloud/Turn forth her silver lining on the night?” John Milton’s 1634 poem (masque) included these stirring words, sparking our imagination of the bright side. Today we must dare to hear whispers of hope amidst Covid-19’s dirge, silver linings amidst shattered plans, lessons learned from empty classrooms, deeper love found in empty hugs. Covid has been a somber song, filled with loss, yet its reverberations can stir us to lives rebuilt by the gilded wisdom of our sorrows.

First, we have discovered an appreciation for the unseen joys of our lives: our connection with those we love. What might have been an inconvenient trip to visit grandparents is now a joy we yearn to revisit.

The gut-wrenching ache of holding a loved one’s hand in a hospital room is now a privilege we ache to have restored. A meal shared with friends, a birthday party for the kids, voices rising in communal prayer, a concert of swaying fans—all these are gifts we may have taken for granted but savor anew. We are the Who’s of Whoville left with the packages, ribbons, and bows, yearning to gather instead in the communal circle of connection with those we love. Perhaps our hearts have grown three sizes from Covid’s grinchly touch.

Second, we have reimagined education. The stagnant march towards integration of technology in education SPRING 2021 | VOLUME 67 | NUMBER 1 | PAGE 68

got a swift kick, plunging us into utilizing platforms, materials, and tools otherwise tepidly approached. The school day was reimagined, and parents were tossed into a deeper understanding of the learning process, both limitations and

thousand others who helped the essentials of life come to their doorstep.

Survival depended not just on one’s own actions, but on those around us.

At times, there was disagreement and disappointment on what one should be

The value of connection and social-emotional learning to foster academic success was reinforced. frustrations. The value of connection and social-emotional learning to foster academic success was reinforced. The importance of peer interactions and dialogue emerged from the struggles of its absence. Many of the traditions of schools were blown up, leaving contemplation of what was core and how it could be achieved in new ways. This imaginative thinking and reconstruction of education have great potential if adults resist the nostalgia of getting things back to the past exactly as it was, rather than constructing educational institutions that better serve all of our students and their lived experiences.

Third, we have a new understanding of our interdependence. The pandemic knew no borders; no one was able to survive it alone. Even if one sequestered daily while the virus raged, that person relied on delivery personnel and the

doing for self-safety and the safety of others, but regardless of the tensions, we understand in a completely new way that we do not walk this world alone.

Fourth, we have a new understanding of living in the day, never assuming what tomorrow might bring. We lost control over so many aspects of our lives that were never truly in our control in the first place. We are not promised more than the present, and Covid lectured us on the need to live for the day. At times that day was filled with hopelessness and dissatisfaction, but it was still our day to live. All the planning and scheduling was mocked by the unfolding reality of the pandemic, but we were not left with nothing. We had each moment to reimagine and make enough.

Fifth, we gained a prism on our lives as we sequestered with ourselves. We may not have liked all that we had to see,

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The Light of Lessons (cont.) but there were fewer places to go, less noise to fill the empty spaces, and more empty spaces to exist within. At times we can avoid being alone with ourselves, being busy enough to avoid reflection and ponder views of where we are going. Covid crafted time that we could squander, struggle through, or seize, but we had no choice but to gain a new prism from which to view our lives.

“I did not err, there does a sable cloud,/Turn forth her silver lining on the night, And cast a gleam over the rufted grove.” When John Milton talked about sable clouds, they did not dissipate but turned to reveal their silver lining that lit the night. As we embrace vaccines and the possibility of emerging into a world with a light quite different than before the pandemic, Covid’s song will play in our brains like a catchy, overplayed Top 40 hit. We can savor the lessons of its dark lyrics to emerge with gratitude, imagination, connection, humility, and hope.

Extension of Silver Lining Articles

ILASCD is extremely proud of all our authors!

We reached out asking for real experiences that were occurring in the classroom and school buildings. The result of our request was overwhelming. The following are additional articles that we simply did not have room to fully publish, yet wanted to include to honor our authors. Please click on each link and enjoy the additional “SILVER LININGS” submissions.

Kathleen B. King is an associate professor at North Central College in Naperville, IL, mother, wife, foster parent, daughter, sister, aunt and proponent of Covid-19 vaccines.

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Extension of Silver Lining Articles

UNEXPECTED BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS The summer of 2020 is etched in my memory as a baffling mosaic of grief, grit, and growth....

READ MORE Valerie Butrón and Isaac Butrón Valerie is the Behavior Intervention Specialist and a Dean of Students at Wheaton-Warrenville South High School. She is also the Senior Consultant for Reading, Biliteracy & Professional Development at Bee Readers. Valerie is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction at the American College of Education. Her primary research interests are English-Spanish biliteracy, restorative practice, and social-emotional learning. Valerie frequently provides teacher training for the Professional Development Alliance. Her career includes experience as a school district administrator, instructional coach, bilingual classroom teacher, and school improvement specialist at American Institutes for Research. She previously earned a Master of Arts in school leadership from Concordia University and a Master of Science in education from Northern Illinois University.

Isaac is the Art Teacher sparking creativity in students at both Sieden Prairie Elementary and Neil Armstrong Elementary in Elementary District 159. A proud Chicago native whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico, Isaac enjoys planning culturally and linguistically responsive units of instruction that celebrate and affirm his students’ heritage and identities. Isaac has previously held multiple teaching positions in special education, bilingual, ESL, and general education. He earned a Master of Science in education from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in media arts and animation.

THIS YEAR’S SILVER LINING I have watched this team of teachers support students, and each other, in waysI have never seen before...

READ MORE Stephanie Fike serves as the Languages Division Chair at SPRING 2021 | VOLUME 67 | NUMBER 1 | PAGE 71

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Wauconda High School in Wauconda, IL, and is currently working toward her EdD in Instructional Leadership: Coaching and Mentoring from Aurora University. She coaches gymnastics, is learning to love YA fiction, and finds teenagers to be entertaining and inspiring. The beach is her happy place.

RESILIENCY, MINDSET, AND A POSITIVE CULTURE: THE IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR OUR CLASSROOMS AND DISTRICTS IN 2021 Reflecting on the leadership during 2008, and now in 2021 and beyond, we look at all of the shifts that have occurred and how we can provide continued high-quality education for all of our students...

READ MORE Lisa M. Harrod has served as the Superintendent of Schools in Manteno Community Unit School District No 5. Since 2013, She is the CEO of Leveraging Excellence, a High-Quality Professional Development Company. Her career has been built on creating positive relationships based on trust and mutual respect.

She has been a National Education Consultant for the past 22 years. Her areas of specialty are achieving a positive climate and culture, curriculum differentiation and intervention, special education auditing and programming, negotiations, leadership, programmatic reform, and creating sustainable programs that increase the academic achievement of students.

Lisa’s presentations have received the highest of accolades on evaluations and focus on material that is relevant and practical. She has been recognized for her ability to motivate educators and her contagious energy! She can be reached at lmtconsulting@ aol.com or 815-474-5188.

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SPECIAL FUN-SHAPED CRAYONS FOR SCARCE Over the past year, I made thousands of special fun-shaped crayons for SCARCE.org, an environmental education non-profit located in Addison, Illinois...

READ MORE My name is Joyce Hemphill, and I am a retired educator.

Up until last year I would volunteer once a week at a place called SCARCE—an environmental education nonprofit in Addison IL. Please know these crayons are only available to teachers and non-profits through SCARCE. I mention this because I want educators to know about the wonderful resources SCARCE has for them and these crayons are just one part of it. Teachers can fill a box with books, scissors, glue sticks—and these crayons—and only pay $5. Yes, $5 per box.

And if you have any questions, you can reach out to me or Kay McKeen, who is the founder and director of SCARCE at kay@scarce.org or www.scarce.org.

HAPPY HUMANS: FOCUSING ON STUDENT WELL-BEING Professor John Hattie’s research around effective teaching and learning practices ranks belonging as one of the most influencing factors in student achievement. This means schools that promote inherent worth can influence a child’s lifelong trajectory...

READ MORE Emily Lech. I’m an elementary principal in Yorkville District 115 (a far west suburb of Chicago). Our district has a lot to celebrate this year! We’ve come together in wondrous ways and students have remained at the heart of it all!

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THIS SCHOOL YEAR LOOKED VASTLY DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER SCHOOL YEAR ...I had the opportunity to speak to reporters from the Washington Post and Good Morning America to share the difficulties teachers all over the nation were having while teaching amidst a pandemic...

READ MORE Diane Moon is a seventh-grade math teacher in Prospect Heights, IL, at MacArthur Middle School. Before teaching in Prospect Heights, she taught in Berwyn, IL. She has been teaching middle school math for the past six years and has experience teaching in the sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade math. She is a proud alum of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and is currently getting her master’s degree at National Louis University. Follow her @ MrsDianeMoon.

A PANDEMIC WAS NOTHING WE TEACHERS COULD HAVE ANTICIPATED, BUT...

Never embracing the negative, each and every individual in the district was on site helping to gather computers, charging cords, and assisting with whatever was needed in order to provide for our learners...

READ MORE Dr. Kathy O’Brien is a middle school teacher and instructional coach at a Title 1 school in Aurora, Illinois. She teaches language arts and works with her district in providing resources to English Language Learners.

Kathy has worked with Aurora University in an after-school Stem program and on curriculum for the district she works in. Dr. O’Brien strives to show each and every student the value they bring to the world. She is the mother of four adult children which is her greatest accomplishment.

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POSITIVE SILVER LININGS It all started for me during a routine doctor’s appointment in early February of last year...

READ MORE John Otto Kuhlmann. I am an enthusiastic person. I love photography, tennis, cycling, running and swimming. I am a certified personal trainer and participated in six Olympic triathlons. I am also an artist and have a studio in the Cornelia Arts Building in Chicago where I create colorful, abstract paintings. I am also very proud to be a level II volunteer for a CPS high school where I do art consulting with students and help them translate their stories into works of art. I have attended many ASCD Conferences and have met with legislative officials on Capitol Hill by advocating education policies. Finally, a motorcycle and car enthusiast.

TWO GREAT POSITIVE IMPACTS FROM THE PANDEMIC My school has consistently been a 50/50 split regarding students being remote or hybrid. This split is what has led to the positive impacts...

READ MORE Dr. James Robinette has served as principal of Congress Park Elementary School since 2018. Before that, he was principal at Barbour Two-Way Language Immersion K-8 for 3 years. Robinette has presented at several Illinois conferences including Kane County ROE Institute Day (2020), ESSA Conference (2019), IPA Conference (2018), as well as the Statewide Conference on Bilingual Education in 2017, 2018, and 2019. He has also worked with CORWIN on Deep Equity within District 102. Dr. Robinette resides in Lombard where he currently sits as a D44 School Board member.

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OUR TEACHERS HAVE BEEN WARRIORS Living in a world of online platforms has opened up opportunities that teachers have taken advantage of, connecting easily with colleagues of the same content area that they rarely had a chance to meet prepandemic....

READ MORE Dr. Michelle Thompson is the Director of Literacy for Elmhurst District 205. She supports Literacy and Social Studies instruction and curriculum for grades EC-12 in the unit district.

RUMORS SPREAD QUICKLY THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL... ...government officials were to announce that schools would be closed for the following two weeks because of a virus that had yet to be fully understood or realized...

READ MORE Jordan Thorse. I have a wide range of educational experience as both an instructional leader and an administrator. Currently, under my leadership as an Assistant Principal in Plainfield School District 202, I cultivate a safe, productive, and positive environment where all students are given the resources, guidance, and opportunity to learn and be successful. My career experiences also include teaching at the middle school level, serving as a grade-level team leader, and as a learning behavior specialist at the elementary level. I am in the process of obtaining my endorsement as a Chief School Business Official (CSBO) at Northern Illinois University.

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COVID: AN ODD MUSE My immigrant father often stated: don’t be a dreamer. This philosophy probably stemmed from his militant work ethic and his lack of opportunity to be a dreamer when he was a child....

READ MORE Carol Van Gorp has been an Instructional Coach for K-8 educators but has recently decided to return to the classroom. With over thirty years of working with children, she missed the daily interactions with kids. An experienced public speaker, she has been the keynote for church retreats, MOPS, and ongoing professional training. The mom of three healthy and independent adult children, she is excited to focus on writing to bring quality stories in rhyme to children. Her stories in the Gabby Series address some of the serious topics our children experience. She has contributed to Inkspirations, Joyful Living, Christian Communicator, and Christian Living in the Mature Years. An avid organic gardener and beekeeper, you can find her outside or at www.carolvangorp.us.

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Upcoming Events

Illinois Transitional Math Summit with Kathleen Almy June 1st – August 31st | Asynchronous and Synchronous sessions Online Be prepared for the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act (PWR Act) requiring that every public high school implement a transitional math course for their seniors in the 20-21 or 21-22 school year.

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What They Didn’t Teach You in School: Become a Master of Tech Integration with Jennifer Calito June 1st – August 31st | Asynchronous Online Simple yet effective techniques to boost student interest, attention and acquisition of content.

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What Can Be Learned from Great Business, Military, Political, Social & Sports Leaders Presented by Don Kachur June 8th | 9:00am - 2:30pm Zoom Live Event This leadership course will help participants review the characteristics of effective leadership, analyze the principles of leadership used by recognized leaders within business, military, political, social issues, and sports, and prepare a Developmental Application Plan to achieve success within their own educational setting.

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Teaching for Deeper Learning with Harvey Silver and Jay McTighe June 29th | 9:00 am - 3:00pm Live Online In this two-day online institute, Jay McTighe and Harvey Silver, authors of ASCD’s bestselling member book Teaching for Deeper Learning, will guide you through the what, why, and how of deep learning: What it is, why it’s so critical to student success, and how to make it work in your classroom, school, or district.

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Smekens Interactive Virtual Workshops June 3rd – August 3rd | 8:00 am - 3:30 pm Online Writer’s workshops, literacy stations, guided reading and more.

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Building Relevance, Rigor, and Impact Through Standards Based Teaching and Learning featuring Steve Oertle July 14th - September 1st | Asynchronous and Synchronous sessions Live Sessions or On-Demand Viewing In this flexible workshop series, attendees will learn how to maximize their impact by designing a classroom, building, or district framework (Evidence-Based Educational Model) that incorporates countless educational influences that achieve the highest effect sizes on student learning.

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Unit Zero: How to Start a School Year of Success with Janet Moore August 5th | 9:00am - 12:00pm Zoom Online Participants will learn how to implement “Unit Zero” in order to kick off the school year with lessons and activities that prioritize social-emotional learning (SEL), foster classroom relationships, AND get students engaged in meaningful academics.

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4th Annual SEL Summit: Well-Being, Equity, and Recovery July 21st - July 22nd | 8:00am - 3:30pm Live Online Join experts in over 50 breakout sessions to learn the “How” behind SEL implementation and integration. These hands-on workshops are great for folx who are looking to combine equity work, EdTech tools, trauma-informed practices and well-being strategies with practical SEL application.

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Mitigating Learning Loss Presented by Donna Whyte July 26th - July 27th | 9:00am - 12:00pm Live Online Emphasizing Quality over Quantity of Instruction will allow schools to mitigate some of the learning loss and set our students up for success.

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Approximately 1,700 students from 14 districts across the United States participated in testing Rosetta StoneⓇ English™, and over 150 hours of student sound logs were reviewed in order to optimize the program s speech recognition software.

Surveyed educators praised the program for its many benefits.

Over 75% believe that Rosetta Stone English can benefit student learning in speaking, listening, grammar, and academic language.

100% anticipate that Rosetta Stone English will align well with their state standards.

88% found Rosetta Stone English to be culturally appropriate for their students.

Approximately 4 out of 5 agree that Rosetta Stone English has the potential to help students speak confidently and fluently in academic English.

Approximately 2 out of 3 reported that their students liked Rosetta Stone English and were excited to use the program.

I want to say thank you for the program. I actually enjoy it, and I think the kids are going to benefit a lot from it. I appreciate that there s something like this out there for them. I m very excited for this program...it’s going to do a lot of good.

–Elementary Educator, California

Survey results are based on a national sample of 25 educators. Educators in the sample used Rosetta Stone English with students in grades PreK to 8.

ABOUT ROSETTA STONE

Rosetta Stone is a global leader in technology-driven language and learning solutions for individuals, classrooms, and entire organizations. Our scalable, interactive solutions have been used by over 12,000 businesses, 9,000 public sector organizations, and 22,000 education institutions worldwide, and by millions of learners in over 150 countries. For more information, visit www.rosettastone.com.

©2020 Rosetta Stone Ltd. All rights reserved. Rosetta Stone and other names and marks used herein are the property of Rosetta Stone Ltd. and are used and/or registered in the United States and other countries. Some products, features, and options described may still be in development.

School Spotlight Celebrating Seniors

Jeff Prickett

In addition to his work as a principal, Dr. Jeff Prickett runs “The Principal Leadership Lab” podcast with his longtime friend and colleague, Adam DeWitt, serves as the co-publications chair for the Illinois Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ILASCD), the professional development chair for the Kishwaukee Region of the Illinois Principals Association (IPA) and was recently named Illinois High School Principal of the Year for 2021.

In March of 2020, when schools across the country realized that we would probably not be going back to school for the unforeseeable future, one of the very next thoughts on the minds of high school leaders was: “What about the seniors?” Over the next couple of months, and into the next school year, from all around the state, you could see pictures and stories across social media with the incredibly creative ideas that schools were coming up with to honor these kids who were going to lose their athletic seasons, Homecoming, and Prom. In addition, teachers were having to pivot every few weeks as everyone tried to understand this pandemic and what the future would hold for teaching and learning. What follows are pictures from some of those high schools, and the creative ways schools came up with honoring their Seniors during the pandemic.

High Schools Featured: • McHenry High School, McHenry, IL • Harry D. Jacobs High School, Algonquin, IL • Crystal Lake South High School, Crystal Lake, IL • Crystal Lake Central High School, Crystal Lake, IL • Cary Grove High School, Cary Grove, IL • Prairie Ridge High School, Crystal Lake, IL

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School Spotlight (cont.)

H.D. Jacobs High School Above: Senior Dance Team. Below: Senior Night Basketball and Athletic Signing Day.

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Crystal Lake South High School Above: Principal Josh Nobilio & staff visiting students. Below: “Friday Night Lights”

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School Spotlight (cont.)

Cary-Grove High School Principal Neil Lesinski McHenry High School Senior Honors Night at the McHenry Drive-In Theatre and recognizing a Senior Award Winner at her home.

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Prairie Ridge High School Senior Parade Crystal Lake Central High School Senior Parade

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School Spotlight (cont.)

Crystal Lake South High School Senior Parade McHenry High School Senior Parade

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McHenry High School Above and Below: Senior Parade

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IL ASCD Area Representatives In 2014 when IL ASCD reorganized our leadership team, the role of Area Representative was created. Our “Area Reps” as we call them are a link to and from the various regions of our state. IL ASCD follows the same areas established by the Regional Offices of Education.

Our Area Reps are led by two members of our IL ASCD Board of Directors, Scott Estes and Andrew Lobdell. Scott and Andrew are the Co-Leaders of our Membership and Partnerships Focus Area.

Denise Makowski Cyrus H. McCormick Elementary School 773.535.7252 dmakowski@cps.edu

Andrew Lobdell

Principal of the Junior High School in the Lena - Winslow School District # 202 815.369.3116 lobdella@le-win.net

Current Area Reps AREA

AREA AREA AREA AREA AREA

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2: 3: 4: 5: 6:

Chicago North Cook South Cook (Dark Blue) (Yellow) (Pink) (Light Blue) (Gold)

April Jordan Jennie Winters Josh Barron Chad Dougherty Heather Bowman Kelly Glennon Annette Hartlieb Clarence Gross

Contact information for them can be found HERE.

The roles of the IL ASCD Area Representatives are: • Encouraging IL ASCD membership to educators in their local areas; • Assisting with professional development; • Attend board meetings and the annual leadership retreat, when possible; • Disseminating information from IL ASCD board meetings or other sanctioned IL ASCD activities to local school districts or other regional members • Being a two-way communication vehicle between the local IL ASCD members regarding IL ASCD or any educational issues.

• Keeping IL ASCD Board of Directors apprised of pertinent information regarding personnel issues (e.g., job vacancies, job promotions) and district program awards/recognition within the local area.

• Communicating regularly with IL ASCD Executive Director and the Co-Leaders of the Membership and Partnerships Focus Area.

OUR MISSION “To build the capacity of educational leaders to enhance the quality of teaching and learning” EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President—Akemi Sessler (Arlington Heights SD 25) President-Elect—Belinda Veillon (Nippersink 2 & Richmond Burton CHSD 157) Past-President—Dee Ann Schnautz (Mt. Vernon SD 80) Treasurer— Doug Wood (Ball-Chatham CUSD #5) Media Director—Debbie Poffinbarger (ROE 40) Secretary—Amy MacCrindle (Huntley 158)

FOCUS AREA LEADERS Membership and Partnerships

JOIN OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY! Get involved with our social media:

Denise Makowski (CPS) Andrew Lobdell (Lena-Winslow SD 202) Communications and Publications E. Scott England (Fairfield PSD 112) Jeff Prickett (McHenry High School District 156) Advocacy and Influence Richard Lange (National Louis University) Brenda Mendoza (West Aurora SD 129) Program Development Bev Taylor (Oak Brook)

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