A Note from Supervisor MartyAnn Guiney... |
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Hello students, families, and friends,
Resilience is a hot topic word in education right now. By definition, it means the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties or the ability of an object to spring back into shape. During these challenging times, we have all had many occasions to practice beneficial life skills such as patience and flexibility. We have also had multiple opportunities to build our personal resilience as well.
I have been encouraged by the resilience that I have seen over the past several months in our students and in our staff. Many have jumped back into learning (either in-person or remotely) with enthusiasm, taking on the many changes in expectations. It has not been easy for anyone; but for some, the many changes and unknowns, coupled with the added stressors, have been difficult to manage. Dr. Katherine King describes strategies that can help you maximize your resilience during this pandemic in her article Seven Skills of Resilience. This article includes many strategies that we all could use during this time.
Other social emotional supports for families, caregivers, and students can be found within our Remote Learning Toolkit, specifically on the page for Parent Resources Under Special Education Tab or Social Emotional Resources. This fall, TCAPS hosted multiple parent workshops focused on supporting the social emotional health of children called "Light the Path to a Happy Kid." Several specialists in the area of childhood emotional health presented on topics that ranged from supporting positive behaviors, to nutrition that affects the brain, to childhood anxiety and mindfulness for children and adults. You can view recordings of these workshops at Light the Path to a Happy Kid. I hope that you can find some resources within this newsletter that will support you in the coming months. As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns. We are in this journey together!
Sincerely,
MartyAnn Guiney
Supervisor of TBAISD MOCI, SXI, and Homebound Programs
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Welcome New Traverse Heights Staff Members! |
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Lisa Poortenga and Patti Rizzio joined the Traverse Heights staff family this school year and we wanted to share these introductions so you can put a face and personality with the voice you may hear on the telephone!
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Lisa Poortenga (Lead Secretary) -
I am the secretary for the program and I’m so excited to be here! I have always worked in a school setting, or with students, beginning my career as a preschool teacher in the Grand Rapids area. My husband Jon and I have three daughters. Kailey and Madison attend TC Central and our youngest Rachel is at East Middle School. They keep us busy with sports and activities, but we enjoy exploring new hiking trails, playing board games (Yahtzee is our current favorite), camping, and going to the beach. I often joke that I’m “solar-powered” so summer is my favorite time of the year! In winter we snowshoe and downhill ski, and I’m hoping to try cross-country skiing this winter. I look forward to getting to know each of your families as I serve you throughout the coming years.
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Patti Rizzio (Support Secretary) -
I am very happy to be an employee of TBAISD Traverse Heights! I am learning a lot and enjoying my work. We moved to Traverse City from Marquette last December to be closer to children and grandchildren. I
enjoy the outdoors hiking, skiing, snowshoeing and summers at our cottage in Big Bay, Michigan.
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Calendars - Parent Supports - Resources |
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Classroom News & Activities |
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Students in Mrs. Strait’s class got into the fall spirit in November. They walked to the pumpkin patch and had a great time looking for the perfect pumpkins. They celebrated the month with science experiments, crafts, and a lot of autumn fun. The class loved reading “Go Away Big Green Monster” and writing about their very own monsters. |
For health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, TBAISD requires its students and staff to wear face coverings unless they are medically exempt. At the time of these pictures, students in grades K-5 were able to remove masks when in the classroom with their class cohort.
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Wait Time and Self-Talk
Occupational Therapist Katie Foor shares helpful information about wait time and self-talk:
Two major strategies we use with students who are significantly impacted by various impairments are wait time and self-talk.
“Wait time” can be understood as “the time to process before initiating a response." It is important to be mindful of the time it may take a student to process a direction or communication exchange, organize their body, and produce a movement or response. Keep requests simple and concrete, then quietly and expectantly wait for the student to respond in their own time.
“Self-talk” is a useful method to break down and give directions using first person language with our students. An example for the task of standing from a chair to complete a transfer: “My feet are on the floor," “I lean forward," “I stand up, up, up." Examples for assisting a student with regulation or behavior might include, “I have a safe body," or “I use my talker." Using self-talk is effective because it simplifies language processing for understanding, it is respectful to the student, and it encourages independence.
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Supporting Literacy at Home |
This year, our teams are working on supporting students in any environment. Mrs. Davis’ preschool SXI room has a mixture of in-person and remote learners. Each month students may access materials on the Google Classroom as well as materials sent home in their at-home learning kits.
The students' kits include a story, a planning guide for shared reading, and a variety of lessons related to the story including art and sensory activities. Shared in the Google Classroom each week is a reading video, letter of the day lessons, and core word of the day activities.
TBAISD Assistive Technology and AAC consultants, Megan Zell and Jill Dillon, are providing training sessions for parents on emergent literacy. There are five sessions all together, and four are left. If you are interested in learning more about emergent literacy, please contact your child’s teacher to get the Zoom session links!
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Supporting Remote Learners
Remote learning is challenging for both students and their parents. We know that logging into the school devices has been especially challenging due to difficulties with the filtering systems. Thank you for being patient and working with us to overcome these obstacles. Remember, you can always reach out to your child's teacher or to Lisa Poortenga at 933-3561 if you need help with accessing technology. Click on the red buttons here to take a look at resources to help you support your child with remote learning.
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Students Learn About Science, Math, and Language Arts Through Fall Activities
Students in TBAISD Traverse Heights SXI programs participated in a variety of fall-themed activities set up in the gym in October. The activities were connected to literacy (reading fall books), math (counting pumpkins), and science (learning about gravity and force). Even some of our remote learners participated in the fun!
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The staff at TBAISD wish you and your family a safe and joyful holiday season! |
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Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District
Traverse Heights
933 Rose Street | Traverse City, MI 49686 | 231.933.3561
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