Tusculum View Tiger Talk
News for the week of September 12, 2022
Tusculum View Mission Statement
Tusculum View has a heart for ALL kids by providing engaging opportunities to achieve excellence.
Good Afternoon Tiger Families,
Dr. Luttrell
Fall picture proofs went home with students this week. Please have your orders sent back to school by September 23 if you plan do not plan to order online.
Internaional Dot Day in TV Art Classes. Please wear your dots on Thursday, September 15th!
Important Information
- If you would like for your child to eat breakfast please arrive by 7:45 in order to allow time for them to eat as class begins at 8 am.
- DO NOT pass cars in the car line unless instructed to do so by a staff member or SRO.
- When dropping students off at side parking lot in the mornings, please DO NOT turn LEFT out of the parking lot. Right turns only during drop off and dismissal.
- IF you are front circle pick up, please use the line on Lafayette St only. If you are side parking lot, please only use the line on Luther St.
- Please utilize Front circle for morning drop off as soon as the PreK sign is gone - usually around 7:40. This helps keep our lines moving.
- When you make the choice to be front circle or side parking lot during afternoon pickup, you must keep that same pick up location all year.
- Please DO NOT get out of your car in car line to help your student get out of or in to the car. If you need to do this, please pull over in to a parking space.
- Please pay school fees ASAP. Fees -$15; over the counter - $5;
- Computer protection plan for grades K-5 - $30. The protection plan is very beneficial if your student incurs damage to their device. It is very costly to repair them without the protection plan.
Morning Drop Off
Thank you for your cooperativeness in the morning drop off line! Our line moved much quicker this week. I am convinced that our Tiger Family can accomplish many great things because of the way we work together!
Please continue to come in through Lafayette if you get here after 7:50 and use the front circle. I try to be outside and direct traffic to keep it moving, but can't always be out there. If your child arrives after 7:59, they will be counted tardy and need to come in through the front office. Students will not be allowed to enter the cafeteria after 8:00 am.
Flu Vaccination Clinic
Dear Parent:
The Greene County Health Department and the Greeneville City School System have partnered to provide seasonal influenza (flu) vaccinations at your child’s school. If your child is uninsured, there is no cost to you for the flu vaccine. If your child is covered by insurance, including TennCare and private insurance, the County Health Department will file a claim with the insurance plan and receive reimbursement directly from the insurance plan. There is no out of pocket cost to you for the flu vaccines provided during this school flu vaccination clinic.
Health Department nurses will vaccinate children and school staff using the injectable (shot) flu vaccine. Clinics will begin as soon as the vaccine arrives at the health department. If there are no complications here are the dates the Health Department is planning to be at your schools:
· Tusculum View Elementary September 29, 2022
If you would like for your child to receive flu vaccine, please click on the following LINK Flu Immunization Consent 2022 (English) Flu Immunization Consent 2022 (Spanish) and complete the consent form. Be sure to sign the form electronically as this will be your permission for your student to receive the vaccine. You must fill out a separate consent form for each student you would like to receive the vaccine. If at a later date you change your mind and do not wish for your child to receive flu vaccine at the school, please notify the Greene County Health Department at 423-798-1749 prior to the clinic date. This service to the students and staff is being offered to decrease the impact of seasonal flu in our communities and to decrease school absenteeism.
If you have any questions, please call the Greene County Health Department at 423-798-1749.
Carmelia Alexander, RN
Nursing Supervisor, Greene County Health Department
Jeannie Woolsey, RN
Coordinated School Health Supervisor, Greeneville City Schools
Tiger Family of the Week - Creative (Yellow)
This week our Tiger Family showcase is our Yellow Family - Creative.
Creativity is the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.
Creativity is the most difficult thinking skill to acquire, and also the most sought-after. We value it in our music, entertainment, technology, and other aspects of our existence. We appreciate and yearn for it because it enriches our understanding and can make life easier.
Creativity always starts with imagination, and history shows that many things we imagine are later actually created. Gene Roddenberry imagined the Star Trek flip communicators in 1966, and Motorola produced them in 1996. In the mid 1800s, Augusta Ada King envisioned a language for computing machines that didn’t even exist; today she is honored as the founder of modern programing languages.
Creativity is innovation.
Creativity is thinking outside the box.
Creativity is improvisation.
Creativity is passion.
There’s a common misconception that the best way to encourage children’s creativity is simply to get out of the way and let them be creative. Although it’s certainly true that children are naturally curious and inquisitive, they need support to develop their creative capacities and reach their full creative potential. Supporting children’s development is always a balancing act: how much structure, how much freedom; when to step in, when to step back; when to show, when to tell, when to ask, when to listen.
In putting together this list, I am combining tips for parents and teachers, because I think the core issues for cultivating creativity are the same, whether you’re in the home or in the classroom. The key challenge is not how to “teach” creativity to children, but rather how to create a fertile environment in which their creativity will take root, grow, and flourish.
The list is organized around the five components of what I call the Creative Learning Spiral, a process that encourages children to imagine what they want to do, create projects through playing with tools and materials, share ideas and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences.
For each of these five components, I’ve suggested two tips. However, these tips are just a very small subset of all of the things you might ask and do to cultivate children’s creativity. View them as a representative sample, and come up with more of your own.
IMAGINE
1. Show examples to spark ideas
A blank page, a blank canvas, and a blank screen can be intimidating. A collection of examples can help spark the imagination. When we run Scratch workshops, we always start by showing sample projects — to give a sense of what’s possible (inspirational projects) and to provide ideas on how to get started (starter projects). We show a diverse range of projects, in hopes of connecting with the interests and passions of workshop participants.
Of course, there’s a risk that children will simply mimic or copy the examples that they see. That’s OK as a start, but only as a start. Encourage them to change or modify the examples. Suggest that they insert their own voice or add their own personal touch. What might they do differently? How can they add their own style, connect to their own interests? How can they make it their own?
2. Encourage messing around
Most people assume that imagination takes place in the head, but the hands are just as important. To help children generate ideas for projects, we often encourage them to start messing around with materials. As children play with LEGO bricks or tinker with craft materials, new ideas emerge. What started as an aimless activity becomes the beginning of an extended project.
We’ll sometimes organize mini hands-on activities to get children started. For example, we’ll ask children to put a few LEGO bricks together, then pass the structure to a friend to add a few more, then continue back and forth. After a few iterations, children often have new ideas for things they want to build.
CREATE
3. Provide a wide variety of materials
Children are deeply influenced by the toys, tools and materials in the world around them. To engage children in creative activities, make sure they have access to a broad diversity of materials for drawing, building and crafting. New technologies, like robotics kits and 3-D printers, can expand the range of what children create, but don’t overlook traditional materials. A Computer Clubhouse coordinator was embarrassed to admit to me that her members were making their own dolls with “nylons, newspapers, and bird seed,” without any advanced technology, but I thought their projects were great.
Different materials are good for different things. LEGO bricks and popsicle sticks are good for making skeletons, felt and fabric are good for making skins, and Scratch is good for making things that move and interact. Pens and markers are good for drawing, and glue guns and duct tape are good for holding things together. The greater the diversity of materials, the greater the opportunity for creative projects.
4. Embrace all types of making
Different children are interested in different types of making. Some enjoy making houses and castles with LEGO bricks. Some enjoy making games and animations with Scratch. Others enjoy making jewelry or soapbox race cars or desserts—or miniature golf courses.
Writing a poem or a short story is a type of making, too. Children can learn about the creative design process through all of these activities. Help children find the type of making that resonates for them. Even better: Encourage children to engage in multiple types of making. That way, they’ll get an even deeper understanding of the creative design process.
PLAY
5. Emphasize process, not product
Many of the best learning experiences happen when people are actively engaged in making things, but that doesn’t mean we should put all our attention on the things that are made. Even more important is the process through which things are made.
As children work on projects, highlight the process, not just the final product. Ask children about their strategies and their sources of inspiration. Encourage experimentation by honoring failed experiments as much as successful ones. Allocate times for children to share the intermediate stages of their projects and discuss what they plan to do next and why.
6. Extend time for projects
It takes time for children to work on creative projects, especially if they’re constantly tinkering, experimenting and exploring new ideas (as we hope they will). Trying to squeeze projects into the constraints of a standard 50-minute school period — or even a few 50-minute periods over the course of a week — undermines the whole idea of working on projects. It discourages risk taking and experimentation, and it puts a priority on efficiently getting to the “right” answer within the allotted time. For an incremental change, schedule double periods for projects. For a more dramatic change, set aside particular days or weeks (or months) when students work on nothing but projects in school.
SHARE
7. Play the role of matchmaker
Many children want to share ideas and collaborate on projects, but they’re not sure how. You can play the role of matchmaker, helping children find others to work with. In the Scratch online community, we have organized month-long Collab Camps to help Scratchers find others to work with — and also to learn strategies for collaborating effectively.
8. Get involved as a collaborator
Parents and mentors sometimes get too involved in children’s creative projects, telling children what to do or grabbing the keyboard to show them how to fix a problem; other parents and mentors don’t get involved at all. There is a sweet spot in between, where adults and children form true collaborations on projects. When both sides are committed to working together, everyone has a lot to gain.
A great example is Ricarose Roque’s Family Creative Learning initiative, in which parents and children work together on projects at local community centers over five sessions. By the end of the experience, parents and children have new respect for one another’s abilities, and relationships are strengthened.
REFLECT
9. Ask (authentic) questions
It’s great for children to immerse themselves in projects, but it’s also important for them to step back to reflect on what’s happening. You can encourage children to reflect by asking them questions about their projects. I often start by asking: “How did you come up with the idea for this project?” It’s an authentic question: I really want to know! The question prompts them to reflect on what motivated and inspired them.
Another of my favorite questions: “What’s been most surprising to you?” This question pushes them away from just describing the project and toward reflecting on their experience. If something goes wrong with a project, I’ll often ask: “What did you want it to do?” In describing what they were trying to do, they often recognize where they went wrong, without any further input from me.
10. Share your own reflections
Most parents and teachers are reluctant to talk with children about their own thinking processes. Perhaps they don’t want to expose that they’re sometimes confused or unsure in their thinking. But talking with children about your own thinking process is the best gift you could give them.
It’s important for children to know that thinking is hard work for everyone—for adults as well as children. And it’s useful for children to hear your strategies for working on projects and thinking through problems. By hearing your reflections, children will be more open to reflecting on their own thinking, and they’ll have a better model of how to do it. Imagine the children in your life as creative thinking apprentices; you’re helping them learn to become creative thinkers by demonstrating and discussing how you do it.
This article was originally published on the MIT Press Reader site. Written by Mitch Resnick.
Bus transportation
If you have questions about bus pick up or drop off times or need to add bus transportation, please reach out to Kristen Rollins at 423.787.8003. If you are changing your mode of transportation that you selected during registration, even if for just one day, you will need to submit this in writing to Mrs. Mary before it can be changed.
We cannot accept a phone call to change to/from riding the bus, walking, or pick up. Thank you for your help in this matter. Safety of our students and getting them home to you is our top priority!
Car Tags
To ensure the safety of students, all car rider vehicle’s picking up students MUST have a car tag issued from our office. Only a parent or guardian can obtain these from the office, but will need to distribute them to whoever will be picking up your student(s). All persons with a car tag MUST be on the approved pick up list. If a car tag is not present in the vehicle, the driver must park and come in the office to check out the student with their driver’s license and be on the APPROVED PICK UP LIST. If you have not gotten your car tag, please come to the office and pick them up prior to the 28th. You receive the following at no cost - 2 for car riders, 1 for bus riders, and 1 for walkers. Extras are $2 each. Only a parent or guardian can add or remove individuals from the approved pick up list and must do this in person at the office.
Please remember that we will not be able to allow vehicles to begin lining up in our parking lots or the side roads until 2:55 pm for afternoon student pickup.
Attendance
If your child misses a day a school, per policy you must submit written documentation to the school office within two days of the child returning to school. You are allowed three parent notes per semester.
- Several ways to submit your written documentation
- Send written parent note, doctor, dentist, or therapy note with your child to school. Your child will give the written note to their teacher and it will be sent down to the school office.
- Email your excuse to Mrs. Mary at freshourm@gcschools.net
- Fill out the Online Absentee Reporting. This is found on Tusculum View Website at the top click Report Absence. Remember to give the reason why your child was absent from school.
If you have had a change in address, phone numbers, or emergency contacts, please contact the school at 423.639.2751 ASAP to get your information updated.
GET YOUR TIGER SWAG!
Visit our school store to get Tiger apparel to show your school spirit and Tiger Pride! You may purchase and pay on our site. Merchandise will be sent home with your student when it arrives.
Tusculum View Elementary
Email: luttrelll@gcschools.net
Website: https://tusculumview.gcschools.net/
Location: 1725 Lafayette Street, Greeneville, TN, USA
Phone: (423) 639-2751
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TusculumView/
Twitter: @drlanaluttrell