TUSD Weekly Update
'Tis the Season
Dutcher Middle School
TJHS & Pitman High School
Turlock High School
411 on New CDC Guidelines
Marie Russell, Chief Communication Coordinator
As you may be aware, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently changed the guidelines for quarantine from an exposure to COVID-19 from 14 to 10 days. Public Health informed us last week that schools will continue to follow the 14-day quarantine guidelines.

How can you avoid a quarantine? Be mindful of time and proximity. The CDC defines a close contact as being within 6 feet of someone with the virus for a cumulative total of 15 minutes (or more) over a 24-hour period. Wearing a mask won’t preclude someone from being a close contact but it will significantly decrease the risk of infection. Stay safe.
On Writing
Mary Asgill, District Writing Coach
Tech in TUSD: Ed Tech Bytes
Sitara Ali, Ed Tech Coach
ASSISTments: An Online Math Application for Digital Problem Sets
Finding and creating online content for math takes time, along with making sure we are able to provide students with timely feedback and intervention to help support their learning and growth. For math grades 1st through Pre-Calculus, this is where ASSISTments can come in!

ASSISTMENTS is a free service that aligns with Eureka Math modules and problems sets! ASSISTments also links directly with Google Classroom! As a teacher, you can create a free account, link your Google Classroom and post exit tickets, problem sets, and assessments right to Google Classroom.

The platform allows you to pick and choose questions and problems to include, and the best part is that it grades itself on most questions.
Students receive only one question at a time as they progress through the assigned work. ASSISTments is very interactive, providing students with feedback as progress through the problem sets. If they get it right, they are told they are correct. If they get it wrong they are told that they are incorrect and have an unlimited number of tries to get it correct. The teacher can also see on their end to see if the student got the problem correct on the first try or not. Students do have an option to click the button that says “Show Answer” and the teacher can see this within the teacher side. This “Show Answer” button is very nice to have to those students who are stuck on a specific question and are not sure how to proceed. This cuts out the frustration level with Math, but still allows the teacher to provide any help and intervention on their part, since the teacherdashboard through ASSISTments provides all of this information to the teacher.

To access this for your classroom, visit https://new.assistments.org/ and sign-up for an account!
Helping Children Cope
Student Support Clinicians
The 'US' in TUSD
Racquel Barker, Student Support Clinician
How long have you worked in TUSD? I have been with the district for over 8 years.

What is your job title? For the first 7 years I was a Mental Health Clinician working in Special Education, this academic year I am a Student Support Clinician with the C.A.R.E. program
Where did you work prior to TUSD? Prior to the district, I was one of the Administrators with Excell Center currently known as Aspiranet Residential

Any info you would like to share about your job? Average day? Interesting question, I’m not sure what an average day looks like in a new role during a pandemic. As a Student Support Clinician, I assess students for support and provide individual clinical services. An average day for me is getting the opportunity to build relationships with the staff from eCademy and Roselawn as well as adjusting to teletherapy with students who are really struggling with personal issues in challenging circumstances.

Things you are most proud of? I am most proud of my two children; I have a 28-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter who attends Pitman. I am blessed to be their mother and I love watching them grow and take on their own personal identity; nothing beats that.
Challenges? The biggest challenge right now is trying to build a therapeutic relationship through a computer. I am very old school and miss the face-to-face interactions. Without the assistance of my 14-year daughter I wouldn’t have been able to navigate Zoom; she was my guinea pig as I practiced sending invites, sharing my screen, and engaging. 

Favorite memory/story? One of my favorite stories with the district is being part of an assessment team at Turlock Jr. High. We qualified a student for special education under Emotional Disturbance. With the support and services of the ED program (clinician, teachers, para, administration, etc.) this student who was failing without any hopes of meeting promotion requirements, turned things around and walked across the stage. To see her and her family afterward filled with smiles, cheers and gratitude reminded me that what we do does impact students and their families. One of my favorite personal memories is vacationing in Cabo San Lucas with family and hiking up the mountain.

What are you reading? I am in the middle of Cross the Line which I believe is the 24th book of the Alex Cross series from James Patterson. Although a little gruesome at times, I truly enjoy the detective work of Alex Cross.

Any favorite shows you’re watching on TV? My TV is either on sports, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel or a movie. I would have to say if I just want to watch a quick show (without having to think), I tend to resort to Friends; trivia anyone?

Fave movies? I have several favorite movies, but I would have to say anything with Denzel Washington is worth watching (often more than once).

Anything surprising we may not know about you? As a clinician, I interact with people on a regular basis. Whether it is individual sessions, consulting, collaborating, providing training or advocating, I interact with others. What most people don’t know is that I am naturally introverted/shy, yet I chose a profession that often puts me outside my comfort zone; go figure.
Save the Date: TK/K Registration
Seen on Social Media
That feeling when you see Brown Elementary School 4th grade teacher Chelsea Alton not let ANY barrier stop her from reaching students. Thank you to our amazing TUSD teachers for everything you do to break down every obstacle to learning during this challenging time.
COVID-19 Resources
Useful Websites
Share Your Awesome!

Marie Russell
Chief Communication Coordinator
mrussell@turlock.k12.ca.us
209.648.0968
@tusd_mrussell
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.