Parent Newsletter
March 26 - 30
No School Friday March 30 - Good Friday Holiday
Welcome Back!
- A look at the week ahead
- 48 days of Grit, Growth and Perseverance
- Starting the 4th Nine Weeks Strong
- Understanding more about 21st Century Skills
- JMS administration visits schools in Denver, CO
- Counselors Corner
Hope you have a great week!
Phil Cox, Principal
Chris Layton, Vice Principal
A look at the week ahead
March 26-30
Monday 26 – B Day
Tuesday 27 – A Day
PTO meeting-Eagles’ Nest
Wednesday 28 – B Day
TNReady Stand Alone Field Test/Online Practice Test Grades 5-8, 1st period, JPAC
7th grade Intro to Williamsburg Trip—7th period, JPAC
Thursday 29 – A Day
Track—Maryville Jr. High 4:45
Friday 30 – B Day
Good Friday-NO SCHOOL
Building Updates and School Safety
Spring Book Fair
Spring Book Fair is Coming
Monday April 2th- Friday, April 6th
Volunteers Needed!
If you are interested in helping out with our Spring Book Fair, please use the following link to sign up: http://signup.com/go/gdPfnEw
We can adjust the length of the volunteer time slots if flexibility is needed.
Contact Becky Hughes: beckyhughes34@comcast.net
Thank you for your help and support of JMS!
Example of Picture used for TVs
48 Days of Grit, Growth and Perseverance
We have spent a lot of time over the school year discussing Grit, Growth and Perseverance. In the final nine weeks, we will look to continue this theme over the last 48 days of school. We will utilize the newsletters and school TV's along with announcements to help highlight students who are showing grit, growth and perseverance. For many students, there are great challenges in the 4th nine weeks to finish strong and work to improve their skills to finish the school year.
Example of Video used for TVs
Start with a Great 4th Nine Weeks
2. Give your best effort and complete ALL assignments! While completion does not always result in an A or a perfect score, it definitely beats the negatives of receiving a Zero! When students simply do not submit an assignment, it is very difficult to help themselves and their grades.
3. Your effort is the most important factor in your success. To simply not try, not submit, not turn in, or give zero effort is not a reflection of what you can do, but rather a reflection of what you are willing to do.
4. Get Organized! So many hurdles and excuses have been eliminated in terms of your ability to get organized. You are digital natives, provided with a wonderful tool and resource in the laptop issued to you by the Oak Ridge Schools complete with a learning management system in Canvas. Our teachers work hard to update Canvas with weekly announcements, weekly grade updates, resources to help you learn etc. To simply ignore in class instruction, Canvas tools, and your teacher is not wise.
5. Find solutions rather than excuses! Yes, there may be a few reasons why completing your assignments can be challenging. There may even be some reasons that are truly concerning and you may need to reach out for help. However, in many cases, students simply choose to "not complete" something in hopes that either it won't count that much or they can do it later (if they have a teacher willing to take late work).
6. Just like life, late work has consequences. Sometimes it may be a reduction in point and in some cases your teacher may not take it at all. As an adult one day, you will find that being late on your work or paying your bills etc. also has consequences. Get focused, use the tools at your disposal and work to give your best effort and complete your work.
Example of Picture used for TVs
Planning for Success
Step 1: Check Canvas Calendar Weekly
Have your student log in to their Canvas account and pull up the calendar. Spend time looking over important homework, quiz and test dates.
Step 2: Submit EVERY assignment assigned
Every point counts! For so many students who struggle, often the key is missing assignments. When you have a zero for an assignment you should have completed, you put yourself behind for the entire nine weeks. Grab every possible point you can! A 60 out of 100 is better than a 0 out of 100. Turn in ALL ASSIGNMENTS!
Step 3: Focus on positive goals
Create positive goals for your academics, spending time with your friends, family and staying away from negative drama and influences. Make these goals daily, weekly and throughout the nine weeks.
Step 4: Focus on YOUR effort
Too often students look to find excuse for Why? How? or Who?
Why?
Students look to explain "why they can't understand something before they even attempt to learn it"
How?
Students look to explain How it's not their fault they did not complete the assignment or study for the test, but instead they look to pass the blame elsewhere
Who?
Students often place the blame for not understanding on a teacher, parent, or the subject in general.
Focus instead on How You are going to achieve. Focus instead on WHY you want to succeed not only in school, but life in general. We know ALL students want to be successful and we believe ALL students can be successful, but sometimes the biggest challenge to success comes in the form of Work.
Step 5: Focus on You! You control your success more than anyone else
Work first by setting up goals for yourself. If you have struggled this year, share your goals with your teacher (after class, a short email, conversation in the hallway etc.) but by sharing your goal with your parents and teachers, YOU are creating accountability for your goal.
JMS adds 4 New TV's in hallways
All throughout this newsletter you can see some examples of videos and pictures we will show through our TV's to help inspire, encourage, and inform students. The goal for the TVs is to help support students and staff with information, ideas, encouragement, and inspiration. For example, our campaign of 48 Days of Grit, Growth Mindset, and Perseverance will feature many pictures, videos, and stories of people working to overcome challenges and have success. Check out some examples of pictures, videos and stories we will feature on the TVs.
Understanding More about 21st Century Skills: Soft Skills
We will highlight Soft Skills for students through our newsletter as well as our new TV's each week. We want to work to help students not only bolster their hard skills and content knowledge, but also learn soft skills that they can apply to their future success. Each week we will highlight a different soft skill that includes the following topics to highlight to help students learn more about these skills:
- Acting as a Team Player
- Flexibility / Adaptability
- Ability to Accept and Learn from Mistakes
- Good Communication Skills
- Positive Attitude
- Problem Solving Skills
- Self Confidence
- Strong Work Ethic
- Time Management Skills
- Working Well Under Pressure
Focus on a Soft Skill Each Week
Example of Picture used for TVs
Applying Soft Skills, Empathy and Kindness to Social Media
We will continue to highlight empathy, kindness and avoiding drama especially digital drams through our newsletter and TVs. We will work to help students understand their impact online and in person can make a major impact on their lives, their classmates, and community in general. We want to focus on the positive aspects of communication, interaction, collaboration and working together in our community to help and support one another. The graphic below was shared with students in the third nine weeks "Success Assembly" as an effort to help promote appropriate interaction both online and in person with one another. We want our students to see these opportunities to avoid drama both in person and digitally, as opportunities to learn, grow and mature as they prepare for college and career readiness.
Example of Picture used for TVs
JMS Administration visits schools in Denver, CO
The goals for the trip were to see PBLs and STEM in practice, speak to school administration, teachers and students. Thanks to the hospitality of the administration and staff, we were able to gain a lot of information on the visit. This was a great visit for the JMS administrative team to learn more about these new teaching strategies and collaborate with some amazing administrators, teachers and students.
Don't Let Missing Assignments Define Your Grade
JMS at Spelling Bee
Nia Maheshwari won the JMS Spelling Bee in January, and although she recently moved and is attending Farragut now, she went on to represent JMS at the Regional Spelling Bee which was this last Saturday. She finished as the runner up and did an excellent job. We are very proud of Nia and wish her the best. Thanks for representing JMS in such a great way!
Example of Video used for TVs: ESPN SPORTS SCIENCE
Video used for TVs: TedTalks
Counselors Corner
Greetings from the Counseling Office! We hope that you all had a great spring break and are ready to get this last term going. We are going to make a slight change from our them of kindness to talking about good citizenship. What does citizenship mean, and what does it mean to be a good citizen? According to Chad Lagana, a sixth grader from Santa Clarita Valley, California, being a good citizen means, “being a good person, having a good attitude, and just being nice”. Rachel Bates believes being a good citizen means, “you should be nice to your classmates, community and family. You should help around the house, the classroom, and the community by helping clean up the classroom, helping your parents, and helping the community.” Finally, Angelica Otero says that good citizenship is, “being responsible and making good decisions at school, being nice and helping out neighbors in the community and helping mom and dad do things at home. When I am being a good citizen I feel good.”
According to these three 6th grade students in California, being a good citizens means helping out in the school, family, and community, and working to help make the world around you a better place with your efforts. Good citizenship could also include hanging out with a friend when they are feeling good or they are unhappy, picking up trash in your subdivision or down your street, or babysitting your little brother or sister in order to help mom and dad out. Like Angelica said about, it feels good to make a difference and be a good citizen. This month, think about how you make a positive difference in the lives of the people around you. What are some things that you do to be a good citizen?
For more ideas about how to be a good citizen, please follow this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bwfo9aD5A8
Have a great week!
Stand Alone Field Test This Wednesday
Jefferson Middle School students and staff will be participating in the stand-alone field on Wednesday, March 28th beginning at 8:00am. As a practice for our online testing coming in April, all students will be sitting for a brief practice test in their homerooms. The 5th and 7th grade students will be taking an ELA test developed by Jefferson staff, and the 6th and 8th grade students will be taking an ELA practice test developed by the state. They will have 85 minutes to complete this practice test. This is a great opportunity for students to see and use the new online testing platform, and for staff to have experience working with your student with the platform. Please make sure that your student, or students, charge their devices the night before the test to ensure full strength on their battery. Also, please make sure that you have your student, or students, have breakfast and are at school on time. This will be important in their success of the practice test.
Again, Jefferson Middle School will be conducting a stand-alone field test for ELA grades 5 – 8 on Wednesday, March 28th beginning at 8:00am. We look forward to a successful morning for all involved!