Parent Newsletter

Thank you for a great start to the 4th Nine Weeks. Check out this week's newsletter to learn more about what's happening this week at Jefferson.

- A look at the week ahead

- Device Sign Ups for 2019 - 2020

- Parent School Climate Survey

- TN Ready Testing Dates and Info

- 21st Century Skills

- Grit and Growth

- Counselors Corner

Thanks for all that you do to support Jefferson Middle School,

Phil Cox, Principal

Chris Layton, Vice Principal

Jenifer Laurendine, Dean of Students

Monday-8

B day

Yearbook Collections-Homeroom

Environmental Club 2:45-4:00

Chess Club 2:45-3:45-Library

Track & Field Meet 4:30 at Coulter Grove Intermediate School, Maryville

Tuesday-9

A day

Yearbook Collections-Homeroom

Library Club 2:45-3:30

Science Bowl 2:45-4:00-Room 317 (Little)

Homework help for 5th/6th graders 2:45-3:30-Room 319 (Martin)

Homework help for 7th/8th graders 2:45-3:30-Room 301 (Hondorf) Track Practice 2:45-4:30

Wednesday-10

B day

Yearbook Collections-Homeroom

Track Practice 12:45-2:30

Thursday-11

A day

Math Club Practice 2:45-4:00-Room 203 (Tracey)

Homework help for 5th/6th graders 2:45-3:30-Room 319 (Martin)

Track Meet 4:30 at Oak Ridge High School

Friday-12

B day

Youth for Christ 7:00-JPAC

Track Practice 2:45-4:30

Saturday-13

JMS Band Competition-Music in the Parks 7 AM-10 PM - Dollywood

User Agreements for 2019 - 2020 school year are now on Skyward

It's hard to believe, but it's that time of year again to start the 2019 - 2020 Technology User Agreement forms for the Access OR program. Each year parents are required to fill out the forms online through the Skyward portal. Below you will see a step by step video that helps guide you through the online process.

Rising 9th grade students (Current 8th grade students) Stylus sign up for ORHS

We are very excited to welcome the Class of 2023 to Oak Ridge High School next year!! As your family prepares for this transition, the high school invites everyone to fill out their online computer distribution form via the parent Skyward account. Moving to the high school, you will find an additional item regarding the stylus on your Technology User Agreement. We felt the importance of sharing how heavily this instrument is used at ORHS, particularly in the math and sciences. There will be an opportunity to check the permission box for your rising freshman to obtain a stylus when the computer is issued prior to the beginning of school. Our friends coming from Jefferson Middle School are largely accustomed to classroom sets being provided. Should you have any questions regarding this process, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Harvey charvey@ortn.edu Mrs. Witick nwitick@ortn.edu or Mrs. Thompson sathompson@ortn.edu

We look forward to welcoming our RISING FRESHMAN TO ORHS - EQUIPPED AND READY TO LEARN!

Dear Parent(s),

We are working to improve conditions for learning in our schools. Students will learn more effectively in a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment. We would very much appreciate your help by completing the short survey attached. Your perceptions about your child’s school will help us identify what we are doing well, and what we need to do better.

If you have more than one child in this school, you may pick which one you want to think about when answering the questions. This survey is anonymous. No one will know which answers come from you, and it will not be possible to connect your answers to your child in any way.

The parent survey link for Jefferson Middle School can be found https://oakridgejeffersonmiddleparentsurvey.questionpro.com/. The survey will close on Monday, April 8, 2019 at 4:00pm. If you have questions about completing this survey, please contact Kimberly Daubenspeck at (615) 532-0469 or Kimberly.Daubenspeck@tn.gov.

En Espanol

Aviso para los padres/ Instrucciones para llenar la encuesta de los padres

Estimados padres,

La percepción que usted tiene de las experiencias de su niño en la escuela es de gran importancia para nosotros. Nos gustaría pedirle que llene una encuesta donde nos diga lo que estamos haciendo bien y lo que usted cree que podríamos hacer mejor. Si usted tiene a más de un niño en esta escuela, elija en cuál estará pensando cuando responda a las preguntas. Esta encuesta es anónima. Nadie sabrá cuáles fueron sus respuestas y será imposible conectar sus respuestas con su niño. Si desea llenar la encuesta,

https://oakridgejeffersonmiddleparentsurvey.questionpro.com/

Si tiene alguna pregunta sobre cómo llenar la encuesta, póngase en contacto Kimberly Daubenspeck at Kimberly.Daubenspeck@tn.gov or (615) 532-0469.

PTO Elections: PTO elections will be held at the May meeting. We have openings for President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. The PTO organizes events throughout the school year including an annual fundraiser drive, teacher luncheons and end of the year luncheon for 8th graders. We could not do all of this without parent support and involvement. If you are interested in running for one of these positions or for more information as to what they entail, please contact Sandy Pelletier sandy@issi.net.

Fundraiser Spotlight: Are you curious about how your fundraiser dollars are being used? Each week, the PTO section of this newsletter will feature a different department or classroom from JMS that was helped with money from our annual direct drive fundraiser! This week the spotlight is on the JMS Library. PTO purchased subscriptions to both the Oak Ridger and News Sentinel papers. Students can visit the library to catch up on local news and current events. Thank you JMS families!

If you have questions about how you can get involved with PTO at JMS, please contact Sandy Pelletier sandy@issi.net

Next Week, April 15th will begin the TN Ready testing window for students at Jefferson Middle School. Our school will have multiple days of testing and also days for make up testing over the next three weeks beginning on April 15th. You can see the schedule below. Along with the schedule we would like to spend some time this week and in the following weeks providing students and parents with some tips to help students prepare:

State TNReady Testing is Coming Up

Now that we are in April, state testing is right around the corner. Here are the days we are testing and what tests we are taking on those days:

Monday, April 15th – ELA subtest 1

Tuesday, April 23rd – ELA subtests 2 and 3

Wednesday, April 24th – ELA subtest 4

Monday, April 29th – Math subtests 1, 2, and 3

Tuesday, April 30th – Social Studies subtests 1 and 2 (6th – 8th grade only)

Wednesday, May 1st – Science Subtest 1 (Online)

During testing season, make sure that your student(s) are getting enough sleep, eating breakfast, and getting to school on time. Tests start promptly at 7:50 and students will not be allowed to enter a classroom after the test has started. On Wednesday, May 1st make sure that your student(s) have their laptop with them and that it is fully charged. Science is the one subject that will be online for all grades 5 – 8. Other tests that are online are the EOC tests in Algebra and Geometry. If you have any questions about testing, contact Andy Magee at 425 – 9252.

Helpful Tips:

- Please make efforts for students to arrive to school before 7:40 am

- Please make efforts to avoid missing school on these dates

- Please make efforts for students to get a good night's rest and also eat a good breakfast

- Teachers will be working over the next few weeks to review and help students prepare. So when you ask, "do you have any homework?" The answer may very well be to review from the year.

- In our focus on Grit and Growth this nine weeks, please help us work to encourage students to give their best efforts. We release testing can be stressful, but it is an opportunity to see student growth and achievement. We want to encourage our students to give their best efforts.

- Thank you for all of your support and efforts to help our students each and every day!

We hear this term time and time again, "21st century"! In education, it is referenced for strategies of instruction, classroom furniture, resources etc. However, for our students learning about the 21st Century is so much more. We want to help kids focus on the skills they will need to be successful in the 21st century. Over the course of the year, we have worked to focus on many things in our classes that are centered around content. Our students work to develop content knowledge and skills within a wide variety of classes. In addition to these skills, we are working to help our students with "21st century skills" as we have learned about from industry leaders, career pathways, the world of academia etc.

The knowledge of content is still very important for students to work to attain. However, with the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning like Siri, Cortana, Alexa etc. the ability to simply gain information for recall has never been easier and has never been more accessible to so many. The skills that will separate our students in their future can be found throughout our newsletters, school wide TVs, Tweets and messaging. We want our students to develop and attain content knowledge so that they can work to apply that knowledge and 21st century skills.

We refer to the following as we discuss skills and traits for our students and their futures:

The 4 C's

Communication - For our students the ability to communicate with others effectively will have a major impact in their future. Employers want effective and positive communicators to help solve problems and be innovative. Our students have a different form of communication as they are much more inclined as digital natives to text, post, tweet, snap etc. as compared to speaking on the phone, writing a personal letter etc. However, it is vital for students to learn how to communicate ideas, proposals, solutions etc. with others in a face to face setting. Our students will have an expectation of being able to communicate and present whether it be in a meeting with colleagues or even a Skype session.

Creativity - Having a creative mind will be a major asset for our students and their futures. As technology has brought many changes to the workplace, so have innovative ideas about how we approach many daily tasks. Who could have envisioned Amazon? NetFlix? Redbox? Skype? Social Media? While many of those topics have their negatives and their positives, there is no doubt those platforms are just a few examples of how technology has changed our society. It was creativity and imagination that helped inspire these platforms and ideas. For example, both Netflix and Redbox were ideas that came from former Blockbuster employees. When they presented their ideas to Blockbuster they were basically mocked for the ideas. I think history tells us that creativity and innovation were a difference maker in that story.

Critical Thinking - Our kids live in a complex time filled with information, misinformation, innovation, and what seems to be a constantly shifting expectation for human knowledge and growth. It is vital for our students to analyze, innovate, fail (First Attempt In Learning), and think critically. The days of simple tasks that can be repeated again and again are soon to be replaced by automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning. That is why it is critical our students work to learn how to analyze, innovate, design, and think critical especially about solving problems. For example, have you ever been on a website and a "chat" option is offered? Often that is an Artificial Intelligent bot, translation a computer is talking to you and understands how to respond to human questions and conversation.

Collaboration - Our students future will not be spent in silos working solo. Many industries and professions report that one of the most valued skills that they see a lack of skill is the skill of working with others. The jobs of the future will require our students be able to collaborate and work in a positive manner with others in order to solve problems. As a part of this collaboration our students will have to learn to work with colleagues, peers, partners and for their future careers maybe even people from around the world.

Soft Skills - It has been said, "hard skills help you get an interview and potentially a job, but often soft skills can be the difference in how long you keep the job". We work to help our students develop, learn and understand soft skills. These intangible skills can be found in many different ways including the following:

• Communication.
• Enthusiasm and attitude.
• Teamwork.
• Networking.
• Problem solving and critical thinking.
• Professionalism.

Grit - As the TedTalk below by Angela Duckworth points out, in her research she found that the key factor for most successful people is Grit. The dedication to working towards accomplishing a goal over a long sustained period of time. In her studies of the national spelling bee, West Point candidates etc. she found that it wasn't always the most "intelligent" or "most skilled" that had the most success, but often the person with the most resilience, perseverance and Grit. Watch the video below to learn more about her study of Grit.

Growth Mindset - As adults many of us can remember school and identify areas we felt we were strong and areas we did not feel as confident. For many of us, we had a "fixed mindset" as we made our way through education because access to information and knowledge either came from school, life experiences, conversations with adults or an encyclopedia Britannica. In many ways, that "intelligence" and absorption of information helped to define people who could be successful and those that were not as successful. A great example can be found in studying math. It is not uncommon in adulthood when speaking about education to hear someone say, "I'm just not a math person!". According to Carol Dweck, this type of comment and mindset stems from having a fixed mindset. The belief that either you can understand something or you can't. Dr. Dweck's studies have shown that promoting a growth mindset can help students and adults continue to grow and learn throughout their lifetime. The concept of growth mindset is that our brains can be stimulated to grow and attain more and more information and skills. Check out the video below about Dr. Dweck's studies.

At this time of year, we often see students begin to have stressful moments, days and weeks. There are many factors that lead to this stress including the pressure of tests, schoolwork, social relationships and other things outside of school. This nine weeks, we have taken on the challenge of promoting "Grit, Perseverance, and Growth Mindset". At first, we aimed this campaign to help push all students to achieve their best as we end the school year, but as the campaign has grown, we truly believe we need to continue to promote these attributes.

When you research careers of the 21st century and skills needed to possess those careers, you often find two trends. One trend is the push for STEM based careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and also CTE (Career Technical Education). The other trend often found in research relates to the skills that current graduates are lacking as they prepare to go into the workforce. Below are some tips to help our students better promote the skills they will need to be successful in their future, but identifying the best strategies for their present.

# 1 - Don't accept Zeroes!

We have students who for a variety of reasons, accept to submit nothing in terms of classwork, homework and in some cases quizzes and tests. Keep this in mind, your teach gives information throughout the week and homework, classwork, tests, and quizzes are used so that the teacher can assess how much you understood. When a student does not produce or attempt to produce, it makes the teachers ability to assess and evaluate the skills a student may be missing. Complete all of your assigned work, it may not be perfect, but it allows you to begin the growth process and learn from your mistakes.

Real World Application:

In the real world, one day students will be adults and have jobs. As we can relate now as adults, your job will have expectations and deadlines etc. Many employers of the 21st century have cited similarities in employees. We want our students to develop this level of consistent work ethic and be responsible for their own learning through the efforts that they give each and every day.

As we work to support and promote "Grit, Perseverance, and Growth Mindset" another topic we look to promote for our students is "The Power of Yet!"

# 2 - The Power of Yet!

Sometimes students feel they can't learn a certain topic or subject. We will hear students say, "I'm not good at ...." We want to promote and use our resources including this newsletter and our school televisions etc. to help students understand this concept. We want students to change their mindset to "I'm not good at math, yet!"

Application to the Real World

We want to help our students become lifelong learners. We want to help create this habit by helping our students believe in the "Power of Yet!". Our goal is for our students to work and to continue to grow their skills.

We hope that everyone has had a great weekend from the Counseling Office! This week we will continue with the rest of the activities that can be done to build “Grit” as well as continue our “50 days of Grit”.

4. Teach About Grit Through Literature

A student can be helped to build grit by reading books, poems, or short stories that are relevant to the subject.

5. Ask, What’s the Most Difficult Part?”

When a student feels discouraged or wants to give up, try to ask them, “What’s the most difficult part?” Once the student identifies what is most difficult, this will allow the two of you to talk about a plan on how to chunk the challenge. Don’t give the answers to the student on how to solve the challenge. Allow them to do the brain storming on their own.

6. Follow the “It Is Going To Be Challenging Rule”

There are three parts to this rule:

1. Each person in the family has a part to be involved in a challenging activity. This activity has to involve practice, where you will get some level of feedback and lets you know how you can get better, and that you should not give up.

2. Everyone has to finish what they started.

3. Everyone gets to choose their own challenge.

These parts allows passion and perseverance to develop and the student will experience success or improvement with a challenging activity that interests them.

7. Try The “Grit Pie” Exercise

Amy Lyon, a fifth grade teacher from New Hampshire that created an entire grit curriculum based on a book The Optimistic Child by Martin Seligman. Martin Seligman was the co-founder of Positive Psychology. Lyon used this “grit pie” to teach optimism and help them be more aware of their thoughts.

This pie represents an obstacle that a student may be facing. Each piece of the pie represents a cause of a problem. Each student identifies each part of the pie as to if the thought is permanent (“I will never be as good at English as him”) or is the problem temporary (My best friend is mad at something I said”) and whether they blame themselves (“I should have not talked back to my mom and got grounded”) or others (The teacher was absent and we had a quiz on the material taught while she was gone”).

Hopefully the majority of the pieces of pie will be categorized as “temporary” and will take accountability for the cause of the problem.

8. Share Your Passions

Lastly you can inspire your child to find hobbies and interests they are passionate about and are excited to share their passions with others they can influence.

As a parent or a teacher share your passions with the students and be supportive for what your child is passionate about. Provide whatever resources you can to help your child explore and develop these interests.