Mark Alberti, School Resource Officer |
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Denise Duewell, Coordinator of Professional Development and Induction |
Support Your Local New Teacher & Each Other
We are in this together! That is the message mentors and administrators want all teachers to know, especially our new teachers, many of whom are feeling a bit overwhelmed at the rollercoaster ride that is Fall 2020. We are all learning as we go, and it is important to remember that if we take a position of support for one another, we will experience more success. Thank you to the TUSD mentors for supplying many of these ideas to consider:
- This is that difficult time of year, “The Slump.” We know new teachers face this pretty consistently, and we recognize that this year we are all new teachers. With that in mind, we must take care of ourselves and each other because as trite as it might sound, we are stronger together supporting one another.
- Check in on your teammates. Many are overwhelmed. Do you have a first, second, or third year teacher on your team? Reach out. No one should have to figure this out on their own. There is as much to learn from new teachers as there is to share with new teachers. Help give them a voice.
- Take account of the growth you have made. It is different than in years past, but it is there. Our induction teachers have to collect evidence and discuss the growth they have made, and many started their ILP teaching in distance learning and are now having to complete their first inquiry cycle while switching from all distance learning to a combination. It is scary, but it is an opportunity to constantly ask themselves, “How is what I am doing impacting students?” and How am I growing as an educator because of this?” Maybe this is an opportunity for all of us to ask ourselves these questions.
Moving Forward:
- Focus on the most enduring of the essential standards. You cannot do it all, and that is okay.
- Don’t reinvent the wheel.
- Share the planning load.
- Go deeper with what is most important.
- Homework cannot make up for missed time with you, so ask yourself these questions: is it appropriate to give hours of homework? How is it enhancing students’ knowledge? Is it supporting their emotional well-being? Is it supporting my emotional well-being?
- Utilize the resources you have available, including your instructional coaches - science, math, writing, early literacy, and technology.
- This is a moment in time, albeit a long one, but it will pass.
- Good things are occurring:
- Teachers and parents are working together like never before!
- Some secondary schools are trying a “buddy system” where teachers sign up to contact those students who are failing two or more classes. They call the students, talk with them, provide guidance, find resources, and otherwise just let the students know there is someone else out there concerned about them. It is new, but it is having a positive impact!
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Ed Web (to access archives, you must join EdWeb, but it is FREE) Attend to Your Well-Being: How Educators Can Avoid Mental, Physical and Emotional Exhaustion Wednesday, November 18, 2020 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm EST Presented by Dr. Tina H. Boogren and Dr. Timothy D. Kanold
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Dave Stuart, Jr. Webinar: Ten (or so) Things that are Helping Right Now
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Resources from JustAsk Publications: JustAsk
- Resources from Grace Dearborn and Conscious Teaching:
- 8 Ideas for Building Community
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Strategies Library Our Newsletter Archive is a veritable treasure box overflowing with phenomenal take-away strategies for both online and in-person teaching. In it you will find ideas for getting attention, teaching key procedures, improving group work, creating sane remote school schedules, and much much more!
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Video Tutorials Take a look at our YouTube Channel to view our series of 2-4 minute video tutorials on tips, tricks, and tools for classroom management and brain-compatible teaching. Find ideas for virtual and physical classrooms. Be sure to click "subscribe" to be notified when we post new videos.
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Yohan Partan, Pitman & TJHS Choir Director |
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Tech in TUSD: Ed Tech Bytes |
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Marshall Beyer, Coordinator of Educational Technology |
We know technology can sometimes cause some stress. Below is the TUSD Tech Contact Chart to help you know who to contact when an issue arises.
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Sitara Ali, Ed Tech Coach |
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Google Meet Updates
Google Meet has finally released some updates for our free Google for Education partnership.
What?
Google Meet is an online conferencing system that teachers have access to from Google Classroom. Google Meet allows teachers a few video conferencing tools to enhance the online experience.
How?
During your meeting, click the three vertical dots in the bottom right corner to have access to background blur! This will blur everything except you in a meeting, allowing for students to not feel self-conscious about their backgrounds or homes, and also eliminate distractions. Teachers can also use the integrated whiteboard, Jamboard, during their Google Meet session. Google meet shares the link automatically with your students so you don’t have to! There are many more options as well, like Quick Access, which allows you to have a wait room in Google Meet for outside guests and speakers! Did I mention you can even turn on off chat now?
What Now?
To experience Google Meet and all of its glory, along with being able to hear your students without them muffling or static, enable Google Meet in your Google Classroom today! Open up your settings and turn on your personal Google Classroom Meet link (which limits participants to those in your Google Classroom) and start using it today!
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Jenifer Gehl, Turlock High School |
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Linda Southwick, Wakefield Elementary School |
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At the Old Haunted House by Helen Ketteman
“At the old haunted house
In a room with no sun
Lived a warty green witch
And her wee witchy one.”
There are all kinds of creatures in the house: a big Ma monster and her wee monsters two, a scrawny black cat and her wee kittens three, a green Pa goblin and his wee goblins four, and more! Count along as the creatures prepare for the Halloween Fright. The text, written in the pattern of the popular poem “Over in the Meadow,” makes reading aloud fun, while the cinematic illustrations set the scene for an unforgettable romp through the old haunted house. Trick or treat!
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Took: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn
“Only Erica (and maybe her precious dolly Little Erica) can hear the beckoning voice through the wind – Air-ric-cah, Air-ric-cah – leading her to the sweet little cabin up on Brewster Hill. The economic downturn, which led to a move for Mom, Dad, older brother Daniel, and Erica from Fairfield, Connecticut, to the backwoods of West Virginia, is the modern backdrop to a classic ghost story. Through Daniel, Hahn soundly chronicles their relocation from an upper-middle-class lifestyle to a ramshackle farmhouse in Woodville, a town lost to time and abject poverty, complete with haunted woods, a 200-year-old conjuring witch who takes little girls to be her servant every 50 years, and a Frankensteinesque razorback hog. Erica is "took" and Daniel feels both responsible and driven to champion her release. Stalwart young readers who brave Daniel's telling are rewarded with a resolution that blends the mystical with the hopeful and creates community where once only fear and sorrow thrived.” Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
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Selene Del Real, Medeiros Elementary School |
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How long have you worked in TUSD? I have worked at TUSD for eight years.
What is your job title? Administrative Secretary I
Where did you work prior to TUSD? Spring Leaf Financial
Any info you would like to share about your job? Average day? I love my job! It can be challenging at times but oh so fun. My average day varies from day to day.
Things you are most proud of? I’m so proud of my family. I have been married for ten years to my husband Sergio and we have been blessed with three beautiful children. I am most proud of my children: Alexander is six years old and attends Osborn, Alondra is four years old and goes to Sacred Heart Preschool and the baby is Ayla she’s a year and half. All three of them have different personalities and keep me on my toes!
Challenges? Lately, one of the biggest challenges for me has been being a “working mommy”. Mommy guilt is real.
What are you reading? We have been reading on repeat Dragones y Tacos. It’s a bedtime short story my kids enjoy.
Any favorite shows you’re watching on TV? My kids own the TV at my house… but when they go to bed and I’m not too tired I sneak in a few episodes of Schitt’s Creek. My favorite character is David.
Fave movies? My all-time favorite movie is The Notebook. I love romantic dramatic movies!
Anything surprising we may not know about you? Recently, my husband and our family traveled to Cancun, Mexico. While we were there Hurricane Delta hit. It will always be an unforgettable experience. Thank God we survived and made it home safely.
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Share Your Awesome!
Marie Russell
Chief Communication Coordinator
mrussell@turlock.k12.ca.us
209.648.0968
@tusd_mrussell
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We would love to have ALL staff help share our TUSD story to the world, but if that is not really your thing, just email Marie Russell for an opt-out form. |
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