Thursday, April 30, 2015

Crazy Hat Day

Last Friday was Student Council's Crazy Hat Day at Dryden. We work hard, but also have fun while learning! It was so enjoyable to see everyone's creative personalities shine on Crazy Hat Day!









Thursday, April 23, 2015

Healthy, Helpful and Hungry


What a beautiful morning we had for Walk to School Day! Our teachers met students at different starting points around our school and enjoyed a brisk and healthy walk to school together. It was so great to see so many families and friends walking to school together on Earth Day, saving gas and reducing air pollution while getting some exercise. 







Our fifth grade students put forth their best effort at the Basketball Shoot Out fundraiser. The fifth grade classes competed to see which class would score the most baskets in a given amount of time. The fifth grade students will use the proceeds from this fundraiser to choose a special gift to leave to the school that will benefit future Dryden students for years to come. We thank the Class of 2015, their families and our wonderful PTA for coordinating this special event. 




We also took time to thank two of the most helpful people in the whole school, Mrs. Lane and Mrs. Kelly, on Administrative Professionals Day. It's difficult to put into words all the ways Mrs. Lane and Mrs. Kelly go above and beyond to help every student, parent, visitor and staff member at Dryden, but these first graders sure did a great job!

It was such a delight to see so many families come out for Moms & Munchies early Thursday morning before school. We thank the PTA for providing this opportunity for our students, parents and caregivers to get together and enjoy some social time before the start of the school day. 

















Friday, April 17, 2015

A Glimpse of the Past

This week, I got to join second grade on their field trip to the Arlington Heights Historical Museum. We learned a lot about what life was like when this community was first becoming established in the 1800's. We also got to learn more about some of the important people who were instrumental in establishing this great village.


 Students got to see and touch items that families would pack in covered wagons as they moved west. They got to see and feel how big a real covered wagon would have been. 
 
The docent taught us about bartering, then students were given pennies and harvested crops to barter for treats from the general store. 


 We experienced learning in a one room school house.


We felt what it was like to live in a one room log cabin, then helped with the "chores" for the day.
Carrying water

Sweeping

Beating the rugs

Churning butter

We even had a few minutes to play a corn cob tossing game.

While touring the Mullers' house, we learned about home and family life in the 1800's in Arlington Heights.


There were many interesting appliances in the kitchen, and it was fun trying to figure out what they were used for.

We ended our visit by playing with old-fashioned toys that were carved out of leftover wood and other materials. Many children said these toys were more amusing than their current electronic toys that they have at home. How interesting! 






We thank all of the volunteers at the Arlington Heights Historical Museum for a captivating and enriching visit. We learned so much about this wonderful community's rich history, and feel even more grateful to be a part of it!!

Friday, April 10, 2015

All for a Good Cause

We thank our PTA for bringing children's author Candace Fleming to Dryden School. By sharing her craft, she inspired us to grow our thoughts and ideas creatively through writing.

Congratulations and thank you to our 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Schwarz! Mrs. Schwarz received a grant from the ABC/25 Foundation to acquire a set of Greek mythology books for the 4th grade team. The students are very interested in learning about the different constellations and the stories behind them through this book. 

The Just Move It! Challenge at South Middle School on Saturday, April 11th will benefit the ABC/25 teacher grant and PTA student scholarship programs. We hope to see you there!



Students and staff have been taking on the Blue Lip Challenge to bring awareness and promote fundraising for Pulmonary Hypertension. This Friday, April 10th at Rolling Meadows High School, the 10th annual South v. Thomas Middle School Basketball Showdown will feature the fundraiser, Crossing the Court for Cordelia. All proceeds will benefit the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. We hope you can attend!




Friday, April 3, 2015

Live, Laugh & LEARN!

Wow! What a great turn-out at the rollerskating party last night! The positive persistence of new skaters, and the grace and speed of our experienced skaters was impressive. Thank you, PTA, for coordinating this fun opportunity for our families.


On April 1st, we had a little fun with the students by surprising them with a staff switch. It made us laugh to see the initial confused looks on the children's faces, then the lightbulb moment of realization, followed by their giggles and smiles at the April Fools joke that we played. 

Our PE Teacher was "Mr. Secretary" and gave the morning announcements on April Fools Day, too!

Several Dryden teachers and I had a wonderful opportunity to spend the first days of our spring break in Houston at an international education conference by ASCD. We learned so much, and are excited to share with our colleagues, students and school community over the coming months.  

One of the keynote speakers was Yale Professor, Dr. Sarah Lewis, author of The Rise: Creativity, The Gift of Failure and The Search for Mastery

In her speech, she focused on three main traits of great scholars, artists and entrepreneurs such as J.K. Rowling, Albert Einstein and Fredrick Douglas, worth nurturing in ourselves and in our children: 
  1. Focus on Mastery--Let yourself be a "deliberate amateur". There is no end to striving towards mastery. Approach learning with the curiosity and wonder of a child. There are no foolish questions.  Explore and play! Play sustains interest and attention.
  2. Cultivating a Private Domain--Everyone needs a safe, personal space to try things out and be protected from premature critique. Innovation can at first look like failure. Innovation can be suppressed if the person feels like there are high stakes for being wrong. 
  3. Nimble Grit--Grit is the greatest predictor of educational achievement. It is developed through experience and partnership. Persistence and perseverance need to be combined with the insight to know when to "surrender" to failure and choose a different path. The path to excellence is not a straight line. 

Another keynote speaker was Nicholas Negreponte, Founder and Chairman of One Laptop per Child, and Co-founder, Director and Chairman Emeritus of MIT Media Lab. He views one's right to Internet connectivity as synonymous with one's right to an education. He believes our motivation is not so much about using technology as it is about learning, collaborating, communicating and innovating. Through his proto-type of $100 hand-generated and solar-powered laptops, he has brought over 3 million laptops to the most remote areas of the world. This access to education is empowering underdeveloped, struggling villages to overcome many of their challenges. 


Negreponte also spoke to the value of learning computer programming. Coding requires one to think about thinking, and take an iterative approach to learning.


Negreponte concluded with the reminder that children are our most precious resource. He challenged us to create learning opportunities for them where there are no ceilings.