Sunday, December 17, 2017

Beaming With Pride


As we reflect on 2017, we are just beaming with pride over all of our students' learning and accomplishments!


We are very proud of how our students are applying their learning and using their creativity as they prepare for the all-school Cardboard Challenge. Our fifth grade students have been researching what it will take for humans to travel to Mars. They are applying what they have learned as they build and design space crafts of the future. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up becoming astronauts or engineers at NASA. 


Similarly, these fourth grade students have been making exciting discoveries in math as they study lines and angles. Here, they are categorizing and sorting photographs according to similar line patterns. It's exciting to listen to the way they question and challenge one another's thinking as they realize there are many ways to organize information and solve problems. 


This is perhaps the most amazing, dedicated, hardworking group of teachers one will ever find! They truly bring out the best in our students and one another. They inspire us beyond belief. 

Dryden's students, staff and families are the reasons why you will always see Assistant Principal Mrs. Beane and me beaming with Dolphin Pride!

Happy Holidays!
May 2018 be filled with much happiness and health for you!

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Cultivating a Love of Learning


We know we are doing our jobs as educators well when we see students finding joy in discovering their learning passions and persevering through meaningful challenges. 

This friend LOVES geography! 
I have learned so much about the countries and maps of Europe from him. 

These students enjoyed the challenge of solving bar model math problems created by their peers.  

The PTA supports our students' love of reading with allowing every student to choose a book for their birthday. 

Former First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy has been quoted as saying, "There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all."

At our Book Buddies Club, you can feel the children's love of reading growing and growing! It is truly remarkable how the older and younger students enjoy listening to one another read and talk about books!








Sunday, December 3, 2017

Leading the Way


 Whether by title, by example or both, we are inspired by many leaders at Dryden to be and do our best. 

We were thrilled to have Mayor Hayes visit our second grade classrooms to teach our students about local government and his role in it. 

The PTA welcomed many dads, uncles, grandfathers, and guests for Dads & Doughnuts before school one day last week. It was wonderful to see and thank all these positive role models for supporting our students' education throughout their lives.





Our second graders showed wonderful leadership as they provided presentations of their landmark ressearch to parents and fourth grade students. 


Assistant Principal Mrs. Beane and fifth grade students were inspirational leaders as they taught all of the students the Lazy Eight Breathing strategy as a way to help us regulate through strong emotions. The fifth grade students performed entertaining, thought-provoking skits of situations where this strategy may come in handy. 




Art Teacher Mrs. Fuglestad and this talented fifth grade student are leaders in the arts! Mrs. Fuglestad was a featured presenter at the recent Illinois Art Education Association Conference, and this student's artwork was chosen to be part of a traveling student art show throughout the state of Illinois! We are so proud of them!















Sunday, November 26, 2017

So Much to Be Thankful For!

All around Dryden, not just at Thanksgiving, you can hear the students and staff saying "Thank you". This attitude of gratitude is what makes Dryden such a kind and joyful place for children to learn and grow. 


We were very thankful for the opportunity to meet with the parents of our students to talk about student progress and goals.  We also thank our awesome PTA for a lovely dinner during our Parent-Teacher Conference marathon! This kept our staff energized throughout the long day!

To see our students' love of reading grow fills us with much gratitude! 
It's truly wonderful to see them reading so many great books with teachers who love to share their love of reading and vast knowledge of children's literature. 


This poster created by our students captures what reading is all about. It says, "Reading is a conversation between the author and the reader."


We are grateful that our students can share their knowledge and learning with us in multiple ways. This student demonstrates how to solve a three-digit subtraction problem. I love his chant "If there's more on the floor, go next door, take ten more!"


Our students are thankful for their teachers who make learning fun! These students really enjoyed a classroom scavenger hunt to find facts and answer questions to learn about the history of Thanksgiving. 

Encouraging messages created by staff and students can be found all around Dryden! We are so thankful for the kind, supportive environment everyone at Dryden works together to create!








Sunday, November 12, 2017

Inspired By Others


To culminate our One Book One School program, author/illustrator Henry Cole paid Dryden a visit early in the week.


We were captivated by his storytelling and artistic creations. 


He shared valuable insights on the writing, illustrating and publishing process. 


We were inspired to persist through revisions in our own work, just like Henry Cole does, in order to keep improving our skills and our craft. 


It was also a treat to see Henry Cole and art teacher Mrs. Fuglestad collaborate during an opportunity for children to draw with Henry Cole while he was at Dryden. 


We greatly appreciate all the fun and engaging activities LMC Director Mrs. O'Kelly brought to our students in preparing them for a meaningful and worthwhile visit with Henry Cole, too!


We certainly ended our school week on a high note as well. Thanks to our PTA, teachers and student Kindness Ambassadors, we were able to welcome and honor our local veterans with breakfast. 


The breakfast was followed by an assembly to recognize our veterans with a special flag ceremony by our local scouts, and songs, poems and videos by our students.

Following the assembly, many veterans volunteered to visit classrooms to share a bit about their experiences and answer questions by students. 








We greatly appreciate the sacrifices our veterans have made so that we can enjoy our freedom in the United States! They are our heroes!