Tanana Middle School Newsletter
October 19-October 23, 2020
Upcoming Events:
Monday, October 19, 2020
1:00 Team Teen prescription Opioid Prevention (TTOP) Meeting with Mr. Vehmeier
3:15: Students interested in joining Student Council should Zoom in with Mrs. McFarland
*More details about this club are on the Virtual Tanana Announcements Page"
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
6:00 pm - BOE meeting
For Devices - Public Zoom Webinar Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84640699222
The Parent Teacher Conference Portal in PowerSchool officially opens to schedule a conference!
Tanana Middle School Team Shop
How to sign up for a Conference starting on October 21, 2020
PowerPTC, our system for families to sign up for virtual Parent-Teacher Conferences, will open for scheduling on Wednesday, October 21st and will be available until 3:00 PM the day prior to each day of conferences. Virtual student-led conferences are being held by HOUSE (Orange, Red, and Yellow) and are scheduled with all of your student’s core teachers (English, social studies, science) present at one time in the same virtual meeting; these appointments will be scheduled by selecting your child’s SCIENCE teacher. Appointments for a MATH virtual conference need to be scheduled separately by selecting an appointment with your child’s math teacher (Gilman or Garcia). Your chid’s elective teacher will be joining your child’s team conference, however, there may be times when your individual appointment may conflict with another child’s time within the building. If you would like to specifically request your child’s elective teacher be present at your child’s team conference, please email your child’s elective teacher, directly, to articulate your request for their presence at your child’s HOUSE conference. Finally, when scheduling your appointments, your child will need to join the conversation since these meetings will be student-led and your child has been preparing for this meeting during advisory for the past few weeks. Since many of you are already aware of the assignments your child has completed since they are learning from home, during conferences we will be focusing on your child’s advancement on the essential skills for life long success (Research, Self-Improvement, Emotional Intelligence, Career Skills, and Leadership) rather than reviewing their ability to complete assignments.
Directions for registration can be found below.
Our virtual conference schedule is as follows:
Thursday, October 29th: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Friday, October 30th: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Scheduling Your Virtual Conferences:
Log into your Parent PowerSchool account. Please note you cannot access PowerPTC through student PowerSchool accounts. You must login as a parent. Please call the office at 452-8145 if you need help accessing PowerSchool.
Click on the link for applications in the top right corner. This link looks like a small box with an arrow pointing out of the box.
Click on the link for “PowerPTC”. You may need to activate your account at this point if you have not used PowerPTC for our district before.
Click on “Conference Schedule”.
Select the date you would like to schedule your conference on and a starting time for your conference appointments. Please note Tanana is hosting conferences by team and you will be registering for a team conference under your child’s Science teacher. For this reason, the only viewable option for your student’s conference appointments will be their Science teacher, but your child’s English and Social Studies teachers will also be in attendance. Math conferences will be conducted separately and your child’s Math teacher will also be a viewable option for a conference appointment.
Click “Build Your Schedule Now!”
If you would like to attach a question or comment to your appointment, click the word bubble icon to do so.
Click “Print Schedule” to create a hard copy of your scheduled conference.
If you are scheduling for more than one student, you can switch the active student you are scheduling by clicking on the “Select a Student” link in the menu on the left.
For a short video with a visual of how to sign up with PowerPTC, please use the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN-O3X_0_WM
Scheduled conference times are 15 minutes. Your promptness for scheduled appointments is greatly appreciated. For families with students at multiple schools, please note PowerPTC will coordinate schedules and avoid appointment conflicts for each of your children.
Please contact us at Tanana if you have any questions about this process: (907) 452-8145. We hope to see you at conferences!
Student Clubs are Now Forming!
Join the TMS Student Council
Would you like to help make decisions at Tanana?
Would you like to be part of creating fabulous assemblies and fun challenges at Tanana?
Would you like to be part of making Tanana a great place to be, both virtually and when we get back in the building?
Then student council is for you.
Join Ms. McFarland on Monday, October 19th at 3:15 for the first meeting.
You can find her zoom room on the Virtual Tanana bit/ly and on the Announcements page.
Interested in eSports?
In Advisory News. . .
At Tanana, all students attend a daily Advisory period that focuses on Student Success Planning and social-emotional learning. This time is built into every student’s schedule to allow them to connect in small groups and build valuable relationships with trusted adults. We are continuing our read of the novel Ghost and the students are working in these small groups to connect and discuss the sensitive issues in the novel in a safe environment.
Teachers and students are using Advisory time to explore the Portrait of a Tanana Graduate and prepare for conferences. The Portrait tells students the skills that we want them to develop during their time here at Tanana. As we move toward the end of the first quarter and prepare for conferences, it’s important for students to reflect about themselves as learners.
Advisory teachers are working with students to think about how they have improved their research skills and what good questions they’ve asked. They are considering how they've stayed motivated and focused on their goals. As students continue their education here at Tanana, daily Advisory meetings will keep these skills in the front of their minds and looking for opportunities to practice them!
Students have been working on building a portfolio to showcase their work based on the skills from the portrait of a graduate. Conferences are coming up and we want students to be ready to discuss their learning with their families and teachers. We are excited to talk with you about your child's learning!
In Music Department News
In Orange House . . .
In Red House News . . .
In Yellow House News . . .
Family Resources
Tanana Middle School
Email: carla.marquand@k12northstar.org
Website: k12northstar.org/Tanana
Location: 600 Trainor Gate Road, Fairbanks, AK, USA
Phone: (907)452-8145
Facebook: facebook.com/TananaMiddle
Twitter: @TananaMiddle