Willow Parent Bulletin #10

November 6, 2020

Zoom security update

We are excited to announce an additional Zoom security feature for our virtual classrooms. Students will now be authenticating into their Zoom Classes using their Clever username/password. Since Willow students already sign into Clever to access their teacher’s Zoom link, the majority of students will not notice a difference when joining. The attached letter will help explain the new login process. If your student is using a non-district device, please be sure that all adults in the household are signed out of their Zoom Accounts prior to your student logging into Clever.

Homewood School District 153 is continuously looking for ways to make our virtual classrooms more secure. We are excited to implement an advanced Zoom Security feature. Students will now be able to authenticate into their Zoom class using their Clever credentials. This additional security allows only students and staff of Homewood School District 153 to participate in Zoom classes.

This may require a slight change on how students will join their classes. Students will need to verify they are an HSD153 student by logging into Clever.

Login to Clever prior to clicking on the Zoom class link

- Open the Clever App on the student device (if joining from a desktop or laptop, open a web browser and go to https://clever.com/in/hsd153

- Click “Login using Active Directory” or "Scan Clever Badge”

- Enter student email address and network password (if needed)

- Go into Clever Teacher Page or open the Seesaw app and click on class Zoom link

*** Students will now be placed into the Class Waiting Room with their first and last name as the display name.

We understand that making any type of change during the middle of the school year can cause an inconvenience, but we are excited for the additional security this feature brings to our virtual classrooms. The change will take place on Monday November 9th. If you have any questions or experience login issues the morning of November 9th, please do not hesitate to contact tech support by completing a Parent Tech Request.

Have a great day,

Technology Department Homewood School District 153

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Announcements

This week's announcements come to you from one of our Reading Specialists, Ms. KoKesh.

https://www.loom.com/share/9a438314eff64d7198e3145835d58460?sharedAppSource=personal_library

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Dragon Breath

On Friday, November 6 students will enjoy a special mindfulness lesson with a dragon breath craft. Materials for this craft were included the items you received on your October pick-up day. In addition to the supplies provided, your child will need a glue stick or tape, liquid glue, a sharp pencil, and a scissors.

Step-by-step instructions for this craft and the dragon breath will be modeled during our mindfulness video. Please consider joining your child for this fun activity.

Dragon Breath is good for releasing extra energy or strong emotions like worry, frustration, anger, or excitement. This breath focuses on a strong exhale which can help to calm the central nervous system.

To practice Dragon Breath, sit or stand in a comfortable position. Take a deep breath in while bending elbows and raising hands to shoulder level. Open hands, eyes, and mouth wide as you push your breath out from the back of your throat- making a long, strong “Huh” sound.

Here is a link to a video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djJNgTTPQyc

We would love to see photos or videos of you practicing dragon breath with your new dragon breath buddy.

denise.mastela@hsd153.org

ann.snow@hsd153.org

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Food Drive

We are still rounding out our food baskets and in need of a little more:

corn bread/bread mix

cranberries

rice

macaroni and cheese

soup

canned pumpkin

canned sweet potatoes

cereal

Your donations can be dropped off at the Willow School Office between 8-3 on Monday through Friday.

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Book Review- "Mango, Abuela and Me"

The highlight this week from the books purchased with our Scholastic grant is Mango, Abuela, and Me, by Meg Medina. It is a lovely story about the relationship that develops between Mia and her far away Abuela who comes to live with Mia and her family. Using a combination of English and Spanish words and phrases, the story details their journey of learning new languages, traditions and how important their family bond is. This book is available thru the Homewood Public Library and on YouTube.

Meet Peter Reynolds....virtually

Scholastic Books is offering a virtual visit with author Peter Reynolds. His book, Be You, was read during our virtual Open House. You can watch by liking the Scholastic Facebook page on the day of the event.

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Resident Cash Assistance Program from Cook County deadline is today

Cook County is launching a series of Community Recovery Initiatives to support people and business impacted by COVID. The latest in a series of programs is our Cook County COVID-19 Recovery Resident Cash Assistance Program. It offers one-time cash assistance of $600 to income-eligible suburban Cook County residents who have been financially impacted by COVID-19. The application period opened earlier this week and will remain open until Friday, November 6. The program website with FAQs can be accessed at https://www.cookcountyil.gov/service/covid-19-recovery-resident-cash-assistance-program

The eligibility requirements are:

Resident of suburban Cook County
Have a COVID-19 related financial hardship
Household income at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Guideline prior to March 1, 2020. See the income thresholds here.

PTA Cook's Night Out Fundraiser

HOMEWOOD PTA COOK’S NIGHT OUT!

Homewood PTA is hosting a Cook’s Night Out at Freddy’s, in Homewood, on Tuesday, November 17th!

Please consider ordering dinner, dessert or snacks from Freddy’s, between 5 and 9pm, that evening, to help support us. Orders can be made in the restaurant or through the drive-thru. Just be sure to show the flier, or mention the fundraiser before ordering, so credit can be given through the register.

Homewood PTA appreciates all of your support!

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Social Emotional Learning this week- Understanding Stereotypes

People (students) are natural “sorters”—they tend to group people and things into simple categories in order to make sense of a complex world. The human body sends 11 million bits per second to the brain for processing, yet the conscious mind seems to be able to process only 50-60 bits per second. Stereotypes are the mental shortcuts that we create.

These are assumptions we make about social groups that inform our language, explicit attitudes, and actions in subtle ways.

Social categorization is the grouping of people by an identifiable and meaningful characteristic that is shared, such as gender or race. This week's lesson focused on:

-Fostering increased understanding of variability within social groups.

-Fostering increased understanding of similarities across different social groups.

-Promoting flexible thinking and decreasing stereotypical thinking.