JCISD LEARNING SERVICES UPDATE
Volume 3, Issue 7
For more information, please click the image above or visit our Day of Discovery website.
The Power of Independent Reading and Reading Workshop (Grades 5-12)
Reading habits do not emerge by accident but through careful and purposeful modeling and instruction. We support children's social and learning needs as we balance their individual lives as readers with vibrant book clubs. These needs are intertwined and interdependent and have more to do with reading success than school-centered standards do. We will consider classroom conditions grounded in the key principles for motivation: relevance, engagement, and success. We can help readers construct identities of power and opportunity, challenge themselves as readers, and act with agency in our classrooms through meaningful talk and writing in book clubs.
Please note this is a full-day session during the county-wide Day of Discovery, however, separate registration on Wisdomwhere is required.
When: Monday, March 8, 2021
Time: 8:30am - 2:45pm
Audience: 5-12 Elementary Certified Teachers and Administrators
Cost: FREE
Format: Virtual via Zoom
Jackson County Educators Virtual Career Fair - April 28th!
GSRP At-Home Learning Backpacks
- Magnetic/dry erase board with ABC and Number magnets and dry erase markers
- 5 books (including fiction, non-fiction, and rhyming books)
- Construction paper, scissors, crayons, pipe cleaners for hand-eye coordination and creativity
- Unifix cubes for sorting, subitizing, patterning, and counting
- Playdough for creative play and finger strengthening
- Emotion cards to help children recognize and express a variety of emotions
- Golf pencils, a journal with unlined paper, erasers, and a pencil sharpener to support writing (smaller pencils are easier for children to grip, no lines until they can form both upper and lower case letters)
- Yoga cards for physical development and wellness
Spotlight on Gavino from Columbia GSRP he loves his backpack!!
Bright by Text
Bright by Text messages are offered in both English and Spanish and are specific to a child's age. Sign up is simple, just text GREATSTART to 274448!!
Local Schools are "Stepping Up" for Staff Wellness
School leaders understand that teachers and staff need to be at their best so they are able to meet the needs of our youth...both academically and socially. So, nine area schools have created a cohort to focus on Staff Wellness through the Building Healthy Communities: Step Up for School Wellness Program. The schools are Hanover-Horton Elementary and Middle School, Arnold Elementary (Michigan Center), Michigan Center High School, Springport Elementary and Middle School, Warner Elementary (Western Schools), Jackson Area Career Center, and Williams Elementary in Jonesville.
"Step Up" provides students, teachers, and administrators with the training, curriculum, equipment, funds, communication tools, and external coaches needed to create a healthy school environment that supports a culture of wellness. This year the cohort is focusing on energizing building-level Wellness Teams and infusing this work into central planning for a healthy culture that benefits everyone! Wellness Teams use a tool called HSAT (Healthy Schools Action Tool) to assess current practices related to wellness and coordinate with JCISD Whole Child Team for additional support. The HSAT has revealed a need to embrace Staff Wellness for the remainder of the school year.
You may hear or see new opportunities to offer healthy activities at a school near you; please consider reaching out if you would like to be involved and "Step Up to School Wellness." You can email Eric Swihart, Whole Child & Regional Health Coordinator, at eric.swihart@jcisd.org.
Bright Spot: Springport School District
Removing Communication Barriers Between Teams
Building an Intervention System
Do you ever feel like you are just putting out fires all day long? Do you ever feel like you have too many students that need support and not enough adults? East Jackson Elementary’s Intervention team has been working hard over the last year to build a proactive and systematic approach to support their struggling students. They are truly working smarter together as a team. They began meeting every month to look at behavior data specifically looking for problem areas around the school. Problem areas were identified as more than 10 students struggling in a particular area. Together they were hoping to see if there was anything that could be done as a team to be proactive instead of reactive. They would then put a plan in place to help be proactive in that area, from teaching behavior expectations to adjusting supervision.
The team realized that they have several interventions that they try but really no way of tracking the success. They felt as though they were working really hard but had nothing to show for it. The team began writing down all of their interventions using the Intervention Grid process as their guide (see the graphic below this article for an example). They quickly recognized that they have a lot of interventions going on and that some students and families were getting multiple contacts and interventions in a given day while others were not getting the needed supports. The Intervention Grids helped the team to clarify the specifics around each intervention so that they can easily monitor the implementation and success. Another bonus to the Intervention Grids is that everyone knows their role within each intervention. If the district happens to have staff turn over then that new person will easily slide right into the intervention system. The system is not perfect yet, but given all of the factors that they have faced throughout this past year, they are truly setting themselves and their students up for success.
If your team is interested in building an intervention system, please email our JCISD School Improvement and Curriculum Consultant, Jessica Bucklin, at jessica.bucklin@jcisd.org.
Example of an Intervention Grid (below)
Committee SCECHs
ADDITIONAL LINKS & NEWSLETTERS
Reading Recovery Newsletter: February 2021
Other Helpful Links
LEARNING SERVICES TEAM CONTACT INFORMATION
Director of Instruction and Learning Services
- Tovah Sheldon, tovah.sheldon@jcisd.org, (517) 990-3612
- Dan Luciani, dan.luciani@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5238
Data and Assessment
- Jennifer Fox, Jennifer.fox@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5212
- Deb Spencer (Support), deb.spencer@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5175
Early Childhood (Birth to Grade 3) / Great Start Collaborative / GSRP Preschool
- Jean Allison, jean.allison@jcisd.org, (517) 990-6710
- Wendy Bell, wendy.bell@jcisd.org, (517) 990-8046
- Christina Blackwell, christina.blackwell@jcisd.org, (517) 990-8015
- Catherine Brubaker, catherine.brubaker@jcisd.org
- Kelly Friedland, kelly.friedland@jcisd.org, (517) 990-3625
- Kelly Sheppard, kelly.sheppard@jcisd.org (517) 768-5281
- Deb Spencer (Support), deb.spencer@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5175
Literacy
- Maeghan McCormick, maeghan.mccormick@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5191
- Sandy White, sandra.white@jcisd.org, (517) 990-6718
- Darcy Heselschwerdt, darcy.heselschwerdt@jcisd.org
- Amanda McCabe, amanda.mccabe@jcisd.org, (517) 990-8049
- Tammy Minder (Support), tammy.minder@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5158
Mathematics / Science
- Heather Holshoe, heather.holshoe@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5151
- William Montgomery, william.montgomery@jcisd.org, (517) 990-6717
- Angela Maddox (Support & SCECHs), angela.maddox@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5251
School Improvement
- Jessica Bucklin, jessica.bucklin@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5759
- Jennifer Fox, jennifer.fox@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5212
- Dan Luciani, dan.luciani@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5238
- Deb Spencer (Support), deb.spencer@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5175
Whole Child / School Health / Project AWARE / Attendance and Homeless Programs
- Janelle Buchler, janelle.buchler@jcisd.org, (517) 787-5903
- Eric Swihart, eric.swihart@jcisd.org, (517) 990-3623
- Rebecca Hurst, rebecca.hurst@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5189
- Caitlin Williams, caitlin.williams@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5264
- Kelsea Jabkiewicz, kelsea.jabkiewicz@jcisd.org, (517) 936-2836
- Angela Maddox (Support), angela.maddox@jcisd.org, (517) 768-5251