[0:01] Good evening. I would like to welcome everyone to the School Board of Education meeting that is held in public for West Aurora School District 129.

[0:08] Mrs. Secretary, please go on the roll. Mr. Gonzalez, Mrs. Dykstra, here, Mr. Lathen, Mr. St. Jewells, Mrs. Saberson, here, Mrs. Stone, here, Mr. Kerns.

[0:18] Here, please rise and recite the pledge allegiance.

[0:33] are

[0:39] there any in the audience wishing to be recognized?

[0:45] There you go.

[0:47] Anyone else?

[0:52] Good.

[0:53] Glad to hear.

[0:54] Mr. Secretary, do we have anyone wishing to make a public comment to a gender and non-agenda

[0:59] item?

[0:59] We do not.

[1:01] Then I'd like to turn it over to Mrs. Gonzales to those who make a difference, who

[1:07] aren't

[1:08] here.

[1:10] I will feel this one.

[1:13] As we shared with our newest selection of our student board members for the 22-23 school

[1:21] year. Tonight is a great evidence of the the busy schedule that our students have and

[1:27] both of our young ladies have prior obligations and so we're not able to be here tonight.

[1:34] Tonight was supposed to be the night where we acknowledge our two sitting student board members

[1:40] or we give them plaques say nice things about them and then we take the plaques away and we

[1:46] We represent them at the Senior Awards tonight.

[1:49] So if I might, we would push this, see if we can make sure we clear schedules for the

[1:55] May 2 board meeting, which will be the last board meeting that they will be attending.

[2:01] And then the following meeting in May, we would see our three new board members with the

[2:05] oath in the entire process.

[2:08] Sounds great.

[2:09] Great.

[2:09] Thanks.

[2:12] So we come to the consent agenda where we have items we have discussed from previous

[2:16] meetings. Do I have a motion? Yes. I move that the Board of Education approve the items contained in the consent agenda for April 18, 2022.

[2:24] I flag in the motion. Are there any questions or comments?

[2:29] Here in none, Mrs. Secretary, please call the roll.

[2:32] Mrs. Saperstein. Mr. Lathan. Mr. Gonzalez.

[2:36] Hi. Mrs. Dykstra.

[2:37] Hi. Mrs. Stone.

[2:38] Hi. Mr. St. Jewels.

[2:39] Yes. Mr. Kern.

[2:40] Hi. The motion passes.

[2:42] We now come to the information part of our agenda and it turned over to Dr. Gray.

[2:46] Thank you, President Crohn's.

[2:47] Tonight, we have round two of our elementary school improvement presentations.

[2:53] And I asked Dr. Woodell to introduce our presentation.

[3:01] Thank you.

[3:02] As you saw the last time with our Nicholson and Schneider Group, we have some exciting work

[3:07] happening at our elementary buildings.

[3:09] Last time, the group focused on a specific program.

[3:11] Tonight you will see more about the day-to-day work of a building of building a culture of learning that's happening to some extent in all of our buildings.

[3:20] It is an honor tonight to introduce Jeff Hattrick, Principal at Goodwin, and Janna Reame, Principal at Freeman, to illustrate the work that they are doing around building a culture of learning within their schools.

[3:36] All

[3:41] right, good evening, and before we get started, we do have our assistant principals with us.

[3:45] So Melissa Reiter is at Freeman and Regina Gerdy is at Goodwin.

[3:49] So we are excited tonight to meet with all of you to share with you the thinking and

[3:53] the growth that has been going on in our buildings.

[3:57] Over the past couple of years, we've all had the opportunity to pause and reflect on

[4:00] the culture of education broadly, but more specifically within our building.

[4:05] The pandemic has brought with it numerous challenges, but it's also given us the time to reflect

[4:09] on our instructional practices within our buildings and how those have impacted our

[4:13] students' experiences. When we've kind of reflect on our instructional practices we've really

[4:19] noticed that we often focus on the product of learning rather than the process. So we noticed

[4:24] that we were focusing more on how students were succeeding on standardized assessments as opposed

[4:30] to really looking at evidence to indicate whether or not students were deeply learning and critically

[4:34] thinking.

[4:38] As we began to have conversations about the culture of teaching and learning we started

[4:43] to notice a plateau, if you will, in our practices.

[4:47] Instead of committing to teach the same thing,

[4:50] same way in our classrooms,

[4:52] our curiosity caused us to ask why we do some things

[4:56] and discuss and explore.

[4:59] As administrators, we visit our classrooms a lot.

[5:03] We know we possess our staffs,

[5:05] possess a wide diversity of experiences,

[5:08] skills, and instructional styles.

[5:11] This year, the challenge was to find a way for our teachers to experience what we

[5:17] experienced to step out of their comfort zones, open up their doors, and learn

[5:22] from each other to ensure that we are moving closer to a culture that

[5:26] embraces our district vision.

[5:32] After noticing these trends, we became curious about

[5:35] how to move out of our comfort zones and really take that road less traveled, which

[5:40] can be kind of scary for us yet also interesting and allows for, you know, the need for reflection

[5:45] and definitely deeper thought so that we can move into that culture of learning. This ties

[5:50] closely with our district's commitment to dialogue and we know that in navigating our journey

[5:55] towards meeting that commitment, we are staff indicated that established relationships and that trust

[6:00] between colleagues who are really necessary to engage in that true dialogue. So we needed to really

[6:06] build up our systems and habits of dialogue among ourselves as professionals but also hopefully

[6:11] to transfer that to our students. So ultimately we really want students to be able to engage in that

[6:16] dialogue rigorously and see that transfer into the classroom.

[6:24] So during administration collaboration

[6:26] meetings we began to notice that both Freeman and Goodwin had common themes in our school improvement

[6:32] plan. We identified that both buildings were headed on a similar trajectory in developing a

[6:38] culture of learning. We found that we needed to dig in with our staff to build trust,

[6:44] embrace vulnerability and move beyond those collegial relationships to explore

[6:49] partnership and then engage in solitary talk with one another as well as in our learning

[6:55] environments.

[7:03] So as Regina said we really wanted to start by focusing on how to create a culture of trust

[7:07] within our buildings. We know that trust is an incredibly complex construct. We know that it

[7:14] It moves beyond just being friendly with our colleagues.

[7:17] It involves being vulnerable, being willing to ask for support when we need it, and

[7:20] being willing to recognize that it's okay to experience failure from time to time,

[7:25] as long as we're learning from those failures.

[7:27] So we as administrators were curious how to create that culture of trust.

[7:31] And moreover, we were curious how that trust could lead to joy within our staff and

[7:35] our students, and then deepen the opportunities for learning with our students in the classroom.

[7:40] from.

[7:47] So as Mrs. Williams spoke earlier, we know that throughout the pandemic, we really

[7:52] recognize that our educators recognize the value that we placed on having those relationships

[7:57] really developing and maintaining those relationships not only with our students and our families,

[8:02] but as well as with each other as colleagues and as staff overall. Because of the strong relationships,

[8:08] it was evident that trust was being built due to those relationships. As we return to full

[8:14] in person learning this year, we really wanted to leverage what we learned over the last

[8:18] couple years of being away from the classroom in person and really leveraging that impact

[8:25] of relationships that we were able to identify.

[8:28] So we began to question if the quality of the relationships that we had were really aligning

[8:33] with our vision of embracing that curiosity, complexity, and joy.

[8:37] And if we've really used these relationships to challenge our students as well as ourselves

[8:41] to think more deeply.

[8:42] And

[8:47] as we focused on developing those relationships and building a culture of learning, we realized that we needed to foster a sense of agency and cognitive independence for students rather than a pedagogy of compliance.

[9:01] What we want is our students become self-directed and independent learners versus dependent learners.

[9:07] Last

[9:18] year, our building leadership team embarked on a journey together through a book study

[9:23] in which we read Culturally Responsive Teaching by Zoretta Hannon.

[9:27] Every time we met, Dr. McCall challenged us to do four things.

[9:30] Number one, stay engaged, two, experienced discomfort, three, speak our truth, sorry, and

[9:39] four, to expect and accept nonclosure.

[9:43] As we opened up, we became vulnerable with each other.

[9:46] The dialogue became deeper and we learned more about each other and our perspectives.

[9:51] We decided this to be a powerful experience that needed to be experienced with the rest of our teachers.

[9:57] The norms followed in our book study, our expectations we found important for progress.

[10:03] As we opened up with each other, we began looking for ways to challenge our teams to experience and

[10:09] discomfort and present specifically present in front of their colleagues in various large group settings.

[10:15] Fear of judgment and taking risks in front of peers is a barrier that we found to need to bust through.

[10:26] This has been a success this year as staff have risen to this occasion in our buildings to

[10:30] present to their colleagues in those settings.

[10:39] So as Jeff said during all of our staff gatherings or

[10:42] meetings we really focused on the norms that allow us to build trust so that

[10:46] includes listening to understand different perspectives and being willing to

[10:49] stretch our thinking. As building administrators we also tried to show vulnerability

[10:54] by trying some new instructional strategies in the classroom through some social

[10:58] emotional lessons and as often as we hope that these lessons succeed they sometimes

[11:03] do not. So we emphasized with staff when those lessons didn't succeed and really

[11:08] talked about how those opportunities allowed us to grow just as much as when the lessons were successful.

[11:15] During our staff gatherings, we also challenged our staff to think about times that they wished

[11:20] that they had done something differently. And then we had our staff kind of think about common

[11:25] themes that came up during that discussion. And this was not necessarily professionally,

[11:30] it could also be personally. When they were talking about common themes that arose during their

[11:34] discussion. It really aligned with Daniel Pink's work which indicated that regrets of inaction

[11:39] are far more common than regrets of action. So we pushed our step to think about how does

[11:44] that impact them in the classroom setting? Does our fear failure cause us to become stagnant

[11:50] in our instructional practices? And will we then regret that we didn't take action to continue

[11:55] to grow as educators? So we then presented the question to them, how do you want to be as

[12:00] an educator as opposed to what do you want to do as an educator. Our hope with that is

[12:05] that that would help us then emphasize how we want to be and lead us away from just

[12:10] a culture in which we are filling out checklist or engaging in simply compliance so that we

[12:16] can take more risks and continue to grow as educators.

[12:27] So as a staff we definitely made sure that we asked them what needed to be present to feel

[12:31] safe sharing and really what gets in the way and this is how we started the school year

[12:35] with our staff. We identified that there were common themes that they really needed to be felt

[12:39] like they were being listened to one another, being able to be open-minded and that feeling

[12:44] of non-judgmental. We also saw that there were the fears of failure as well as being judged,

[12:49] were identified as some of those barriers that kind of got in the way. With having that

[12:55] knowledge of our staff barriers, we really needed to develop an understanding of staff's

[12:59] release around trust and what that meant to them. So we started with this bottom image of

[13:04] of a comfy couch and a Shramp-Heeze artist,

[13:06] and really asked them if staff, or if I'm sorry,

[13:10] if trust was best represented by the comfy couch

[13:12] or by the Shramp-Heeze artist,

[13:14] and where they kind of felt like they aligned

[13:15] themselves along that continuum.

[13:17] At the beginning of the year,

[13:18] all but one or two of our staff members indicated

[13:20] that they really resonated with the comfy chair

[13:23] rather than the Shramp-Heeze artist

[13:26] as they felt that they could relax in the comfy chair

[13:28] without having to take risks

[13:29] in which they might find failure.

[13:31] More recently, we asked the same question to our staff again, and they placed themselves

[13:36] along that continuum from the computer to the trapeze artists, and more of staff indicated

[13:41] that willingness to take a risk knowing that failures will be seen as opportunities for

[13:45] growth.

[13:46] So, this school year has definitely presented us with many complexities as well as the need

[13:51] to be flexible, vulnerable, and being okay with that discomfort.

[13:55] Although we know we have curriculum maps and guides, pacing guides, there really is no

[13:59] clear path as to always meeting the varying learning needs and styles that we see on a day-to-day

[14:04] basis. So we really had to embrace the unknown and the discomfort to stretch little by little, day-by-day,

[14:10] and take the step into the unknown to propel us forward.

[14:16] As Melissa said, stepping into the unknown

[14:19] can kind of be uncomfortable for many. However, once you realize you have others to help you,

[14:24] that can bring a lot of comfort, which brings me to the idea of taught partnership. Now taught

[14:30] partnership is the process of sharing ideas and experiences with one another so

[14:36] you can learn from each other. It's not to be confused with just giving advice

[14:41] because both people engaging in a taught partnership learn from each other so

[14:47] they walk way through and lead through a process of discovery.

[14:56] So much like the

[14:57] this ray of Legos that you saw on it earlier.

[15:00] Like, we really thought that, or we know that thought partnering can be messy at times and really even uncomfortable. So we started to explore how we can turn to one another to really build that trust and navigate the unknown. And staff identified what conditions needed to be present for themselves to be able to thought partner. And so they felt like there need to be trust or needed to be a feeling of judgment free and that relational, relational dynamic so that it's also reciprocal and not like a transactional feeling. One that is authentic.

[15:29] and we're listening to it's present.

[15:31] So we needed to make sure that we were having

[15:33] those explicit opportunities to be a thought partner.

[15:36] And it's really allowed our team to discover the value

[15:38] that one another brings in every interaction,

[15:40] gaining that courage to openly share all perspectives

[15:43] even if unpopular and really deriving

[15:47] that new thought and action as a result of thought partnering.

[15:50] So as we've continued with the idea of thought partners,

[15:52] we've continued to come back to this question

[15:54] of how do we want to act and implement

[15:56] our instructional practices that will enhance

[15:58] or student curiosity, complexity, and joy to ensure that our conversations really are

[16:03] going deeper and having more meaningful.

[16:11] So as we talk about being a top partner, we realize the importance of having good questions

[16:17] and that questions are way more important than having the right answers.

[16:22] And so along with that, we realize that the reason having questions is because it requires

[16:30] is the mind to analyze and to lead you through a process of self-reflection and learning.

[16:45] And as we talk about leading through a path of discovery, we realize that this year our

[16:51] teachers needed to learn from one another. So what we did was we introduced them to learning

[16:57] walks. And a learning walk is a brief classroom visit, 8 to 10 minutes, where teachers have

[17:04] an opportunity to learn from one another.

[17:06] The focus is on learning, not on what the teachers do

[17:10] and bother what the students are doing

[17:12] and how the students are learning.

[17:14] So this year has been a great opportunity

[17:16] to introduce our teachers to learning walks.

[17:28] In addition to having learning walks,

[17:32] we also wanted to engage in that partnering

[17:33] with our staff as well.

[17:35] So we had an explicit opportunity

[17:37] where we met with great level teams

[17:38] to talk about what dialogic strategies

[17:40] they might want to try with their students in their classrooms.

[17:44] We challenged them to think about what would be the purpose or the intention of that strategy

[17:48] and then what evidence would they be looking for to know whether or not they met that intention.

[17:54] We also wanted them to think about how that strategy might impact the student experience

[17:58] in terms of curiosity, complexity, and joy.

[18:01] Afterwards, we met with the teams again,

[18:03] and we wanted them to reflect on regardless of the success of the lesson

[18:07] and really what they learned from that,

[18:09] so that they could take that with them moving forward

[18:11] in their instruction.

[18:12] So we do have a video,

[18:14] just kind of showing some of the thought partnering

[18:16] that our staff engaged in.

[18:42] Congratulations.

[18:43] It's accepting others for what they believe in

[18:45] and not necessarily always what I believe in.

[18:47] And I think it's challenging each other,

[18:49] but in a positive way.

[18:51] I mean, I don't always agree with,

[18:52] we don't always agree and that's okay.

[18:54] Yeah, but again, this level,

[18:56] it's like that very first seed,

[18:58] Do you know what I mean?

[18:59] Like it's just...

[19:00] This is very basic.

[19:01] And I'm a result.

[19:02] Right.

[19:03] To be able to listen to somebody, recognize their opinions or their feelings on something.

[19:08] And if you disagree like being humble and respectful enough, to at least look at that perspective.

[19:19] And I think on the explore part the next day, rather than asking them the question, have

[19:26] them a couple questions and more about survival with this but have them question the cover like

[19:31] What questions you about this cup and see I can connect a survival part and if they don't bring it

[19:35] We had the day before then you bring up the word and say okay think about survival. What questions

[19:40] You have about survival with these antifers and see what they can see and then hopefully they'll start a conversation

[19:45] Between students like if somebody asks a question maybe someone else a come with an idea like have them share what they know

[19:50] So it's more back and forth between them

[19:56] I think it's just always being conscious of like,

[19:58] I mean, I want my students to feel like

[19:59] their power classroom is a safe space

[20:02] for them to share their thinking and share their thoughts

[20:04] and share all of those things

[20:06] and that really comes to like, you know,

[20:08] the community that we have built

[20:09] and sometimes you even hear a student maybe make a reaction

[20:13] or make a giggle when someone answers something

[20:15] and those are all conversations that we have to have

[20:17] as a class of then that one opportunity

[20:20] and that reaction by that other student knocks

[20:22] that student down so many steps back.

[20:24] So there's just, I feel like there's so many layers that really go into all of this

[20:31] I feel

[20:35] like my focus is more on me and like how am I going to

[20:41] Rod them to

[20:44] Get deeper because we have I'm not that we have the conversation piece nailed

[20:48] Certainly they talk over each other in that sort of thing they're eight

[20:53] but

[20:53] But I feel like I am the one that needs to be more mindful of how am I asking the question.

[21:05] But I think a piece in a dialogue that I would like to hear is to hear them being able

[21:10] to restate what someone else has said or comment, and oh I agree with someone so or I disagree.

[21:16] It was so-and-so because I feel like the piece of dialogue that is often missing in my classroom

[21:20] is being listening to the others.

[21:25] I just want to go with that because even if I let them talk to a friend, they don't talk

[21:30] about what they're supposed to be talking about because they're with a friend, so they chat

[21:33] about other things.

[21:34] When I put them with someone who they're not necessarily friends with, they don't talk

[21:39] about that.

[21:41] So

[21:46] we feel that this video demonstrates our staff engaging in that partnering about the intention

[21:51] of dialogue, how to spark curiosity among students, how they can improve on their questioning

[21:57] strategies and perhaps most importantly being able to commit when they're struggling with something.

[22:03] These conversations are very different from conversations we had at the beginning of the

[22:07] year when staff were really unsure of why were we engaging in so many conversations about dialogue

[22:11] and the intention of dialogue and when they were very hesitant to admit when they were having

[22:16] difficulty with something.

[22:23] Long term or long term goal is when our kids talk and want them

[22:27] and exploring with each other.

[22:30] We want them expanding on their communication skills.

[22:33] We want them asking more questions of each other,

[22:36] more questions with their teachers.

[22:39] In order to do so, we felt we wanted

[22:41] to put our teachers through some experiences

[22:45] so that they can use those experiences

[22:47] and have that be funneled and reflective in their own teaching.

[22:52] As a vehicle, to think more deeply about instruction,

[22:56] and we also put our staff in engaging reflective dialogue

[23:01] as we were talking.

[23:07] We started our journey with challenge of learning this

[23:09] while we were with the baseline.

[23:11] One of the common and overarching observations

[23:14] in this report that we saw between our buildings

[23:17] was the evidence of teacher-driven destruction.

[23:20] When teachers asked a question to give the answer

[23:25] by changing how we respond to students,

[23:28] we can start to push students to explain them

[23:30] and extend their thinking.

[23:33] In shifting some of the learning responsibilities to students,

[23:37] we began discussing the steps of the school to talk.

[23:41] Instead of just moving on with instruction,

[23:43] we encourage questioning on a deeper code.

[23:56] You're with, sorry.

[23:57] And knowledge will of those barriers

[23:58] die on the shredding of such hard-to

[24:04] -spent official

[24:05] as a vehicle really deepening that's understood.

[24:09] As a staff, you've been able to really understand

[24:11] how students are thinking as well as the role

[24:13] as we play in facilitating our future.

[24:18] We started a homework pack and set a reflected event

[24:20] who was doing most of the lifting

[24:21] and focusing on the learning, the injury practice.

[24:29] While we're still in the early phases

[24:31] of introducing stories where we talk, our teachers

[24:35] are now being more purposeful in how they question.

[24:39] Now just asking questions,

[24:39] we're thinking of the questions

[24:41] that help deepen understanding.

[24:44] And our students are now using more questions

[24:48] in small group distortions,

[24:51] let me say first things to help one another to build upon answers.

[24:58] Ultimately, our students are now being asked,

[25:00] what are they learning first, what they were doing.

[25:04] And we are working with our teachers

[25:06] to help them become independent collaborators.

[25:09] So, when they're working in small groups,

[25:12] they're sharing ideas and thoughts

[25:13] rather than just sitting close to another partner

[25:16] sharing materials.

[25:24] So we also wanted our staff to really have a deep understanding of what

[25:27] exploratory talk is. So we had them really think about what is the intention of dialogue

[25:33] or exploratory talk and what evidence exists if it's occurring in their classroom. We presented

[25:38] during some of our staff gatherings a variety of information about exploratory talk which either

[25:43] solidified or challenged their beliefs about it. We also prompted our staff to engage in some

[25:48] exploratory talk about some sensitive topics, I will say.

[25:53] So for example, thinking about our implicit biases

[25:55] about our community.

[25:57] Afterwards, we had them kind of engage

[26:00] in how talk about how their understanding of dialogue

[26:03] and exploratory talk has changed or evolved.

[26:06] At the beginning of the year, staff

[26:07] use words such as conversation, communication,

[26:10] and sharing to describe exploratory talk and dialogue.

[26:14] But our most recent staff definitions of dialogue

[26:16] include common themes such as listening to understand, reflection, challenge, and above all growth.

[26:22] For example, one of our staff member indicated dialogue is challenging, comfortable, and thought

[26:27] provoking all rolled into one. The relationships we develop with others are based on how well we

[26:31] converse and listen to others. The more we challenge one another, the more we grow.

[26:40] In shifting some of the thought processes and practices, we understand that time is a key

[26:45] component of our journey. Both Freeman and Goodwin have been deliberate about making sure to slow down

[26:51] and reflect. Without carefully reflecting on experiences in collaborating with our peers,

[26:57] we understand that we would run the risk of fracturing the process just to achieve an outcome.

[27:04] We have come to identify what our paths look like and embrace that it may change along the way.

[27:10] There must be a progression from actually stepping out of our comfort zone to

[27:15] achieving self-growth, developing these steps is something we've experienced with staff

[27:21] and can directly attribute progress through being open-minded, being vulnerable with each other

[27:27] and stepping out of our comfort zones.

[27:36] So we know that we're on the path to moving towards having

[27:38] a culture of learning. Where learning mindset is encouraged, we thrive on innovation, risk-taking,

[27:44] and understand that mistakes are valuable. We're aware that our path is not linear,

[27:48] and there will be detours along the way to continue to answer and reflect in a

[27:52] day after how it's thinking is visible. So how do you want to be? How do we

[27:58] impact the curiosity complexity and joy of our students and how uncomfortable

[28:02] might? So as we continue to create our culture of learning we will engage in a

[28:06] continuous cycle to really seek, share and apply knowledge that allows for

[28:10] self-improvement, improvement of others and improvement of the whole. So what does

[28:14] progress look like. We know that evidence of progress looks very different to us. It is

[28:19] important to understand that much of our work will not produce quantitative data to show

[28:23] numbers improving or not. Rather, we're looking for that qualitative information, really such

[28:28] as our thoughts and how those thoughts are being produced. For we, as educators, we're engaging

[28:34] in deeper thinking with each other and asking more questions of each other, and in turn,

[28:39] bringing that level of thinking back into the learning process and environment for our students.

[28:47] Thus, we are striving to build a culture that embraces our vision.

[28:51] Digging in to go beyond the surface, staying curious a little longer, being flexible, embracing

[28:58] different perspectives, being open to all possibilities and ideas, and finding the joy of learning

[29:03] for all.

[29:05] Thank you.

[29:16] Board members, any comments or questions for the team?

[29:20] I just have a couple of comments if you don't mind.

[29:21] First of all, thank you for the presentation,

[29:24] and I'm glad that we teach in our kids how to think

[29:26] instead of what to think.

[29:28] I also have a concern with the discomfort part.

[29:32] There's some kids who are painfully shy.

[29:34] How is the staff dealing with helping them

[29:37] assist them succeed,

[29:39] being just not being comfortable,

[29:43] speaking out loud or sharing their experiences?

[29:47] I think that's actually a comment that came up

[29:50] quite a bit in some of those that partnering conversations we had with our staff so there's been

[29:55] a couple of different perspectives you know we have to give them explicit opportunities to

[30:00] Overcome their fear of sharing with others, but how do we do that in a way without creating high levels of anxiety for them. So some staff have talked about things like, you know, just having them share with one other person in the classroom, having them share with just the staff member, then moving it slowly to, you know, then having conversations with two or three peers. So how do we then kind of scaffold it for them, so it's not all of a sudden we're expecting them to share their thoughts and ideas in an overwhelming type of setting.

[30:29] So that is something that I think we don't necessarily have an answer for, but we have ideas for that we've been talking through with our staff.

[30:36] Thank you.

[30:40] I was happy to hear about your, the learning walks.

[30:45] There's something to be said for even observing another classroom for five to ten minutes to not only pick up on something that the teachers doing, but that the students are doing, because it also shows we can learn a lot from each other.

[30:58] That's great to hear.

[31:04] Actually, just one quick thing that kept me as Mr. Gonzalez was asking that question, have

[31:09] you utilized technology at all and possibly, you know, with the Chromebooks and the video

[31:14] capabilities they have, they might make a video that they could do something and then share

[31:19] it with the class that feels, I think, a lot less anxiety-driven if they got to stand

[31:24] in front of a class and say something.

[31:27] I think sharing thoughts can look different.

[31:31] It doesn't have to be stand in front of the class and share your thoughts.

[31:35] Even independently, taking time to think and then writing down your thoughts on paper,

[31:40] that's a mode of sharing, that's a connection that a teacher can make with that child.

[31:46] So yes, there's different vessels to capture that thinking and share with people.

[31:51] It doesn't have to necessarily be publicly in front of, you know, the poor believers.

[31:56] Yes.

[31:58] I

[32:01] like the analogy you have with the trampoline or the trampoline.

[32:09] Troopies people and the comfy, comfy sofa.

[32:16] And I'm wondering how, Mark, that was for the teacher side,

[32:21] how does it impact the students and because if you think about where students are,

[32:24] they're always in this comfy couch currently.

[32:27] and do they stay there, or do they make a move along with the teachers?

[32:34] We definitely, I would say the second time that we posed that question to our staff,

[32:38] we didn't ask them to move again on the continuum, but we did ask like,

[32:41] where do your students, where would they fall in that continuum,

[32:44] or where would they maybe need you to be thinking about?

[32:48] So I think we've started to see shifts in classrooms about how they present that information

[32:53] to their community, or how they're really promoting the risk taking,

[32:57] or making mistakes and being okay with even sharing

[33:00] when they're not maybe fully confident

[33:01] that they have the right answer

[33:03] or explaining their thinking.

[33:04] So I don't know that everyone has presented

[33:06] that image to their students,

[33:08] but we are really trying to promote perseverance

[33:11] and working through those tough situations

[33:13] and embracing challenges.

[33:18] Any other questions?

[33:21] I was just gonna say,

[33:22] I really like your analogy of like the regrets of inaction

[33:25] is more than like the regrets of actions

[33:27] that you're seeing.

[33:28] I think that just I love that we're challenging our teachers to do the same thing we're asking our students to do

[33:33] Like that whole culture of learning and creating that in a whole building, you know

[33:38] And I think because we've got amazing teachers that have done this forever and have done a long time like they've been teaching

[33:43] And they know exactly what they're doing and just challenging everyone to really step out and think and grow along with their students

[33:50] I think is awesome

[33:51] So I really love what you're doing. You know, I love the dialogue and getting students thinking and learning

[33:56] I think it's really great.

[33:58] So thank you for all you're doing.

[33:59] Guys are awesome.

[34:01] Yes.

[34:03] One other question.

[34:04] How has the dialogue translated to parents and families?

[34:14] I think, you know, this year has been challenging

[34:17] in terms of the community, just in terms

[34:19] of such different perspectives on everything

[34:21] that's been going on in our world today.

[34:24] So I think that's probably one of the next steps

[34:26] that we want to take with our communities.

[34:28] I don't want to speak for good one.

[34:29] We haven't explicitly talked about this.

[34:31] But I don't know that we have talked with our families about how to engage in dialogue with our students.

[34:38] And I think that that would be really helpful for them, just even conversations at home.

[34:42] You know, when you're working with your students on, you know, what did you learn today?

[34:45] It's not just a, you know, if you're assisting them with math homework, it's not just what's the right answer.

[34:50] But how do you know what strategy did you use to get there?

[34:53] So I do think it's a, that's an important next step that I just don't think we've gotten there this year.

[34:58] So do you have anything to change?

[34:59] So one of the processes that we've gone through with our teachers with exploratory talks

[35:06] specifically, we're talking about question threads that we can provide our teachers that

[35:13] in the one slide that we talked about, the importance of the E. Instead of just accepting

[35:17] an answer and moving forward with instruction, be prepared with questions that you could

[35:22] answer if you hear such and such a response. Or even A response, just be prepared, tell

[35:27] more. Tell me more about what you're thinking. And I think that process as we explore like

[35:33] you said, Ms. Stone, with our teachers and our students, we can extend that to our families

[35:37] to teach them how to effectively respond to students as they're helping with homework

[35:43] or reading before bedtime. So I think as Ms. Reem said, you know, that is, it's got to be

[35:50] the next step so that we're keeping that school family partnership alive.

[36:00] Thank you, Freeman Griementing or Goodminton, thank you appreciate it, nice job.

[36:04] Thank you.

[36:07] All right, now we move to our discussion portion 5.1 and that is our textbook adoptions and I would remind the board.

[36:15] I know that there was some questions after this Wendell's presentation at our last board meeting.

[36:23] There was some follow up questions and wanted to make sure all the board members had were armed with all that information

[36:29] and Liz has graciously tensed like in case there was any questions she could respond to in person.

[36:36] So if you have any questions, if you want to make your feel good, you can ask a question.

[36:47] I was looking at Mr. St. Jules, but he wasn't paying attention.

[36:56] No questions?

[36:58] So if you're okay, if there's no challenges to this, we'd like to move this forward to approval for our May 2nd board meeting.

[37:04] Thank you, and thank you, Liz.

[37:08] Thank you.

[37:10] So that I have, sir, turn it over to you.

[37:13] Great, well, without any public comments,

[37:16] we now turn it back to you for superintendent comments.

[37:19] I just have one thread of conversation I want to share,

[37:24] and that's really starting to get into that time-honored

[37:30] tradition in the spring time of that the grind of this multitude of events and you know

[37:39] since 20-some years ago when I started as a high school principal and then the last eight

[37:45] or nine I guess is a superintendent this was that time of year where you kind of find

[37:52] that last reserve of energy and gear up and get ready for this stretch until the end of the

[37:59] school year and my my comment is this is that I hope that we don't forget the

[38:10] the environment that we found ourselves in the last couple of years especially

[38:14] when we look back to that that Friday afternoon about 4.05 pm on March 13th of

[38:21] 2020 when all the things that we were asked to consider about are we canceling

[38:26] we post-poning, or we pushing it, we're all taken away from us.

[38:31] And the swiftness of that erasure of all things

[38:37] that we knew to be normal at that point in time,

[38:39] where we celebrated our staff, we celebrated our students,

[38:43] we celebrated our community was all gone in a blink of an eye.

[38:48] And so rather than lament or even kind of go,

[38:52] geez, how do I get through these every night

[38:55] events or even the overlapping events that happen, I absolutely want to make sure that

[39:02] we take the moment to truly enjoy these coming events where we're celebrating academic excellence,

[39:09] the performance of our peers, the performance of folks that are graduates of West Aurora

[39:17] School District are coming back to us in the form of the Hall of Honor, our educators of

[39:22] the year awards, there's so many different events that are coming up for us to be able

[39:27] to celebrate.

[39:29] And I want to turn a positive to that rather than the burden of that.

[39:33] And just a friendly reminder that a year ago, we didn't have this two years ago, we didn't

[39:38] have this.

[39:39] And now it's in front of us and I look forward to what tomorrow brings and just want to give

[39:44] that perspective.

[39:46] I'll get off my soapbox now.

[39:48] That's all that I have.

[39:49] Thank you.

[39:50] Thank you, sir.

[39:51] Since we don't have any student board members, I turn it over to our board member comments.

[40:00] In that vein, I am looking forward to the Hall of Honor celebrations this week and

[40:05] this weekend.

[40:07] One of the recipients, Stephen Goslin, is my godfather and I'm very excited for him and

[40:16] for him to have his day, he's a great graduate of West Aurora.

[40:21] In that vein, a person who, I frankly believe, could have at any point in time throughout

[40:28] his life been placed in that hall of honor, passed away yesterday, William Foote.

[40:36] He was a graduate of West Roar in 1950, tended Harvard, Harvard Law School, came back to

[40:43] Aurora, and frankly, was during his careers in attorneys was not only one of the best attorneys in Aurora,

[40:51] but probably one of the best attorneys in Illinois, we lost the good one, and I just wanted to acknowledge that.

[41:10] Well, welcome back, actually from our sort of second spring break here with the long weekend.

[41:17] again, but are there any other questions or comments?

[41:23] Hearing none, Mr. Secretary, please call.

[41:26] We have a, actually we have a need to adjourn from our open meeting, do we have a motion?

[41:32] And move to our adjourn from open meeting.

[41:36] It has been moved in a second, Mr. Secretary, please call the roll.

[41:39] Mrs. Stone.

[41:40] Aye.

[41:40] Mrs. Saberson.

[41:41] Aye.

[41:42] Mr. St. Jules.

[41:43] Yes.

[41:43] Mr. Lathan.

[41:44] Aye.

[41:44] Mrs. Dijkstra.

[41:46] Aye.

[41:46] Mr. Gonzales.

[41:47] Mr. Kerns.

[41:48] Aye.

[41:49] The west-roar school board meeting has adjourned.

[41:51] Our next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 2.

[41:54] Have a great night.

Board of Education

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