To give high school juniors a chance to start thinking about life after high school, they have the opportunity to get a firsthand experience of college life by visiting three college campuses in one whirlwind of a day! Although it’s required of all juniors to do, this campus visit day was started four years ago by Kristen Bauer, high school counselor, and Allyson Kitch, high school business/CAPS instructor, to give those kids who may have never been on a college campus or may not have even thought college was something for them the chance to literally see college life for themselves. There are three different opportunities for visits, with each day featuring a community college, a private college, and one of our big three state universities. This year’s visits include a day at Kirkwood College, Coe College, and the University of Iowa. Another visit goes further south, visiting Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC), Drake University, and Iowa State University. There’s also a day that’s closer to home, covering Hawkeye Community College, Wartburg College, and the University of Northern Iowa. As an added bonus, the kids get to eat for free in a dining hall on the state university campuses! The students experience a short walking tour of campus, get inside a dorm room, typically get some kinds of “swag” from the campus, and have a chance to hear from and ask questions of an admissions person at each stop. This question-and-answer session provides information on admissions requirements, tuition costs, housing options, class size, work opportunities, and much more! These juniors' futures are so bright...they have to wear shades!
(Thank you to Kirkwood Community College for the sunglasses.)
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Our “small pieces, big picture” relationship theme didn’t end on August 22nd! A large, 204-piece puzzle (see below) was designed showcasing various aspects of our school, from the beautiful buildings to the new science labs, from the performing arts to athletics, featuring our wonderful track and field. A piece of the puzzle with a tag reminding “It’s always the small pieces that make the big picture!”, was hand delivered to each member or group, the “pieces”, of our Jesup Community School staff picture - with over 130 pieces being distributed! Our Jesup J-hawk BIG PICTURE wouldn’t be complete without each of these members, or SMALL PIECES, of our staff!
,Katie Martin is having fun teaching writer's workshop in kindergarten! Writing is something that she really wanted to bring out more this year with her students and they are loving every minute of it. At the start of every lesson Mrs. Martin does a think aloud lesson that includes brainstorming ideas that she (pretending to be a student) knows about. So once an idea has been chosen, she talks aloud to her students and demonstrates drawing her story on her journal pages (like the kids') and labels pictures with words and even beginning letter sounds to show kids that it's okay to not know the spelling right away. In the next step, each student comes to the front to grab his or her writing journal and shares with Mrs. Martin what they are going to write about and goes directly to his or her own seat. Once at their seats, students start putting their story ideas to paper through drawing and labeling. This is where the stamina comes in. Gradually, Mrs. Martin has increased their writing time from 6 minutes to 10 minutes today. She expects students to draw, write, and add color during the entire time until the bell rings. When the bell rings and they are finished, they will get a chance to share the story with Mrs. Martin. If they are not done, they get to keep going until completed. The final part of the writing process is to meet with Mrs. Martin to share their story. If needed, she will add labeling to pictures as students tell her what is happening and will write the story as it is dictated from the students. This is a big deal! At this very moment in sharing Mrs. Martin gets to see first hand what the student has been able to do independently. Building stamina in writing is very important and is truly a building block for future writing. This semester I am teaching an astronomy class and your child is in the class. It is one of my absolute favorite topics to teach, mostly because students usually are very interested in it. By its very nature…studying the universe and its origin…it’s the type of class that generates many thoughtful questions and discussions.
On the very first day of class this fall when I was giving the students an overview, a student raised his hand with a question, and it went something like this: “Aren’t you Catholic? But you teach science. How can you do that…do both?” I explained that it worked for me…that I didn’t necessarily see the two conflicting with each other, but in this class they would be learning how science explains things. It’s not the first time the question has been posed to me...in fact, he was the third to ask about it in the last year or so. Since students are curious about how the seemingly opposite viewpoints can complement each other, I thought I would talk to someone who also has a background in both science and faith …to a greater degree than me! Father Jeff Dole is the priest at St. Athanasius Parish here in Jesup. He is also a graduate of Iowa State University with a degree in engineering and did some work in that capacity before becoming ordained. He shared the idea that neither faith nor science exclude the other. Each can be responsible for different aspects of our lives. To be honest, I am thrilled that my students are even questioning this…that they are thinking on these levels…and that someone with Father’s background was there to lead that discussion. What better way to meet new staff members and reacquaint yourself with old ones than a good, old-fashioned jigsaw puzzle session? That's just what our teachers did at their back-to-school PD kick-off! Teams were randomly formed and tasked with the challenge of being the first to complete a 48 piece puzzle within a ten minute window. The first team to share their picture at Twitter using #JhawkProud, #SmallPiecesBigPicture won a 20-minute NO DUTY coverage during first quarter!! Did we mention that one piece from each puzzle was switched with another team's puzzle?!?! This fun, interactive lesson not only showcased the importance of teamwork, but also encouraged our Relationships First theme by showing that it's always the small pieces that make the big picture! See a few of our teams in action below! Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Below are the team members who won a chance to RELAX while a coverage of their choice is taken for them:)
Learning from your colleagues is an great way to become better at what you do. This year some of the Specialists are helping to lead PD in their specific building while others are still working with staff on a district wide basis. During our October 3rd inservice the Elementary Specialists helped lead a discussion on common formative assessments in Literacy. The staff started off in a large group setting to learn and discuss the work they are doing and then broke into grade alike groups to continue their work on common formative assessments.
Looking for a new way to spice up your lit circles? Add a +One to that reservation and insert yourself into the literature circle conversations.
Mrs. OZ recently restructured her literature circles to include herself in kids' discussions. Being able to listen has allowed her to hear more, make knowledgeable desicions about their learning, and see what gaps are present. Have a peak at the two videos below or ask Mrs. OZ if you'd like to learn more about how she set this up! A big thanks to everyone who filled out the survey this past month! Each quarter we meet as a teacher leadership group to discuss the survey's feedback, celebrate successes, and further tailor the program to meet the needs of students and teachers at Jesup CSD. These surveys are extremely helpful to these conversations! Connectors have been working with teachers more intentionally this year in coaching cycles to support them in their efforts to increase student learning. However, one thing we learned from the survey was that teachers (at least 50%) are missing the visibility of us in their classrooms. For this reason, we’ve decided to bring back Connector Learning Walks. Connectors have decided to divide and conquer by focusing on one building a month. We’ll be dropping in for at least 10-15 minutes with the intent of increasing student achievement, reflection, and engagement. Each connector will leave you with a piece of reflective information for you to ponder further. While it’s just a quick piece of feedback based on various tools we're learning about, we’d be more than happy to follow-up, come in multiple times, or work with you in other ways. Below are links to each of the tools we'll be using! We also wanted to let you know that we are still available for you to connect with even though we’re in coaching cycles. Our coaching cycles look different from quarter to quarter (and sometimes week to week), so we are still here for support and to connect you to others in many ways. Tier I activities are ALWAYS available for you! Need a refresher of what Tier I activities are - here you go! As always, if you’re looking for support, have a suggestion/concern, or just want to say hi, connect with us! Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming challenges, specialist focus group updates, and other TLC activities this semester! Thanks for all that you do!
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AuthorsJesup Connector Teachers Archives
December 2019
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