October 29, 2018

HAPPY MONDAY TEAM TJ!  

WOW!  What a week we had, I don't know about you but I was EXHAUSTED! I went home and was in bed by 7:30 pm on Friday!  It was a wonderful week filled with fun and I know that we created some lasting memories for our kiddos and ourselves.

Please remind your families that there are no costumes on Halloween and that there is no school on Thursday and Friday.

We will be learning and leading together at our Professional Learning at Eich Middle School on Thursday.  Please see the schedule here; November 1 PD Schedule.  We will then be meeting here at TJ on Friday and our agenda will include more work on identifying reading strategy lessons for reading levels and the mini-lesson format, Apple TV integration, and instruction and some FUN!

OCTOBER IS ALMOST OVER!  We are almost to the finish line!  Thanksgiving Break is around the corner!

- Kirsten

A new PBIS booster that will be starting on today and run through November 16th.  As a school, we are going to be focusing on Safety.  

Specifically, we are looking for:

-Students who are being safe on the playground during recess activities (no -physical contact, being safe with their bodies, etc...)

-Walking through the quad when going to lunch and when entering campus

-Not going up the slide but using the ladder/stairs on the primary playground

-Walking and being aware of surroundings in the cafeteria

-Keeping their bodies and hands to themselves

-Using equipment appropriately

We are using turkeys and feathers to keep track of our tickets in the spirit of Thanksgiving time! Tickets will be in your boxes on Monday. As we've done with the boosters in the past, when your class earns 10 Safety tickets, your class will earn one turkey feather. When your class earns 10 turkey feathers (100) tickets, they will earn a dance party/extra recess with music on the last day before the break for the last 25 minutes.

Please make sure to use safety target talk when handing out the tickets and thank the student for the specific behavior they are being awarded for. Still, use Starbucks for every other RISE expectation, but when a student is specifically being safe, please use the tickets that will be in your box. 

Thank you so much! Have an awesome weekend and let us know if you have any questions!

The PBIS Team

Kirsten, Madeline, Diana, Kelly, Kimber, Rolly, and Sara

 Dance-A-Thon Update

The Emoji Dance-A-Thon was a huge success!! Congratulations to all of the TJ Stars for their hard work raising money for our school! We raised $18,766!!! AMAZING!!!

A Special Congratulations to our Top 10 TJ Stars that raised the most money! They are going on the LIMO LUNCH to Blaze Pizza!!

1. Carter O.

2. Anthony M.

3. Elle D.

4. Kaeden R.

5. Isla J.

6. Elisenda D.

7. Adalyn S.

8. Jesslyn S.

9. Kendra S.

10. Jackson B. and Sophia B. (Tie)

A Big Shout Out to Carter, as the top earner, he will be Principal for the Day!

We would also like to congratulate our 4 Raffle Winners! Awesome! 

Minion Basket #1: Kendra S.

Minion Basket #2: Kaeden D.

Kindle Fire #1: Zachary G.

Kindle Fire #2: Elle D.

And another Huge Congratulations to all of our winners that hit the prize level Award Parties! Great job!! For those that hit $25, you will be receiving your Emoji T-Shirts by the first Award Party!  The Award Parties will start after our Thanksgiving Break.  The Dates and Times are as follows:

$75 Level: Ice Cream Party - 11/15/18 @ 1:00pm, sponsored by Your TJ PTC

$50 Level: Movie and Popcorn Party – 11/15/18 @ 2:45pm-4:30pm

Top 10 Earners: Limo Lunch – 11/13/18 @ 11:00am at Blaze Pizza, sponsored by Blaze Pizza and Sac VIP Limo

For all the TJ Stars that won the parties, you will be notified via invitations in your Red Folders!  Your invitations will have all of the details of the FUN that is planned for you!! J If you have any questions, please contact your Dance-A-Thon Chair, Jen Magnani at jennifermagnani@comcast.net.

Thank you TJ Stars and thank you to all of the parents and guardians for your continued support and encouragement! 

As we prepare for Parent Teacher Conferences please take time to reflect on the need to share the data but to share it in a way that allows our parents to understand what you are saying.  It is important to share examples of writing samples and text levels so that there is a common understanding of expectations and achievements.

Making the Most of Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-teacher conferences offer great opportunities to deepen your working relationship with parents. As you highlight their child's strengths, discuss academic or social concerns, and share information about child development, parents come to see you as an ally and themselves as true partners in their child's education. A little thinking and planning will help you make the most of these great opportunities.

Tips for Success

Make an outline and gather materials. A plan for how you'll divide up the time will help you stay on track. Here's a general outline for a 30-minute conference:

• 5 minutes: Opening conversation
• 10 minutes: Report on academic progress and concerns
• 10 minutes: Report on social progress and concerns
• 5 minutes: Summing up

However, you may need to put your plan aside if a parent raises an urgent issue that you weren't expecting. Remember that you can always schedule another conference!

In addition to writing an outline, you'll want to make notes for topics you want to cover and have at hand student work, assessment results, information on child development, and anything else you want to share with parents.

Offer conversation starters. Put parents (and yourself) at ease with a question or two: "What did Sam like about school last year?" "What does Tina like to do at home?," or "What are some things you'd like her to accomplish this year?"

Invite parents to share their thoughts. As experts on their children, parents can share valuable insights. And they'll appreciate your respectful recognition of their role in helping their children.

Highlight the positives. Recognize a child's strengths before discussing her struggles. You'll give parents some perspective while encouraging them to work productively with you.

Address just one or two concerns. Listing too many problems can make parents (and their children) feel defeated. Mention that you'd like to help the student with several things, but for now you'd like to concentrate on just one or two.

Let parents know if you need thinking time. It's perfectly OK to tell parents you want to think through what they've said, observe their children for a bit, consult others, or read up on an issue they've raised.

Be Prepared for Surprises

Parents sometimes surprise us with negative or personal questions or comments: "My son's teacher bullied him all last year." "My daughter's lazy. She never tries at anything." "My husband doesn't care about Mark. He never comes to these conferences." "My wife's divorcing me. Things are falling apart."

What can you do in such an instance?

• Steer the conversation back to positives: "I'm sorry things didn't go well for Adam last year. But because our time is limited, I'd like to focus on what we can accomplish this year if we work together."
• Focus on the child: "You seem to be going through some tough stuff right now. I wonder if that's taking Jasmine's attention away from school. What do you think we might do to help her concentrate?"
• Listen with empathy: "That must be hard" or "You've been through a lot" can help parents feel heard without injecting your own opinion or advice.
• Offer to get help: "You seem to be wondering what to do next. Our school counselor may have some ideas for you."

Follow Up and Follow Through

After each parent-teacher conference, send a note thanking parents for sharing time with you. If you offered to find resources, gather information, and so forth, make sure you do so—and share the results with parents.

Each parent-teacher conference can be a powerful occasion for meaningful communication with families. Thinking ahead and following some simple guidelines will help ensure that conferences are positive and productive for everyone.

If your grade level has not turned in their TBL reporting standards please do so today.