Faculty - Mrs. Sweilem

Mrs. Sandy Sweilem

Phone: (847) 255-0050 ext. 326
Email: ssweilem@olwschool.org

My name is Sandy Sweilem and this will be my second year teaching at Our Lady of the Wayside school. I was employed as an Assistant Principal, taught middle school, first grade, kindergarten, and preschool. I speak a second language, Arabic, fluently and was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois . I received my teaching degree from Northeastern IL University.

In my spare time, I love to spend it with my husband of 10 years and our young children ages 9, 8 and 6. I love to read and write! I have been writing my entire life. I wrote for my elementary, high school, and college paper with my own columns, and several pieces of articles and poetry. I enjoy picking up a good book, relaxing and going to adventures far, far away. Finally, I also love to exercise and play with my children.

Teaching Philosophy

In my classroom, an atmosphere of safety, trust and respect are cultivated as we work to build a sense of community and teamwork. I value and teach cooperation and collaboration both in my classroom and as I work with my colleagues. I believe that great things can happen when we work together. I sincerely believe that every student’s education should provide them with a solid foundation in academics and socio-emotional intrapersonal skills.

I believe that instruction needs to be tailored to suit a child’s learning style for optimized learning outcomes. Confidence and positive self-esteem helps students to fully develop their potential. Students need to be encouraged to explore and question, be giving the tools to carry out their own investigations, and feel successful at their attempts. I embrace each student as they are, but help them see their own potential as they continue to develop and grow. Every student is unique and is celebrated for who they are!

Classroom Management

The learning environment in the classroom is most effective when the students are respectful of each other. Our classroom is going to be a safe place where no one hurts themselves or others. The following three classroom expectations were discussed with the students:

Everyone has the right to learn
We respect and appreciate individual differences
Everyone will improve or show progress

Parent’s Notes

* To view your child’s grades you should:

http://www.classbuilder.com/Sweilemreading

Type: your email address
Type: your password ID

* Library visits will be:
6th Grade = Every Friday at the beginning of class, returning to the classroom for D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read)

7th Grade = Every 2 nd and 4 th Friday’s from 12:37-12:57 , then returning to the classroom for D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read)

Novels being taught:

6th Grade =

“Lily’s Crossing” by Patricia Reilly Giff
“Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry” by Mildred Taylor
“Surviving the Applewhites” by Stephanie Tolan

7th Grade =

“Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Samuel Clemens
“Diary of Anne Frank” by Anne Frank
“The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton

‘09-’10 Reading Open House Packet for 6 th grade, (reading counts information, vocab rules, etc.) click here.