11/15/19
TGIF…Twin Groves it’s Friday!
Counseling Corner
Ms. Baker and Ms. McDevitt, School Social Workers
Ms. Koulentes, School Counselor
Ms. Leverentz, School Psychologist
“Psychology should be just as concerned with building strength as with repairing damage.”
-Martin Seligman
November begins, holidays loom, and we feel another year starting to come to a close. As adults, we naturally start to reflect on this past year and plan for what we will change and who we want to be in the year to come. You may have noticed that your pre-teen/teen is starting to show a level of self-awareness that allows them to do the same. Parenting in adolescence can be a time full of worry about problems that arise, but it is also an opportunity to support your child in developing strategies to bolster their overall happiness. True happiness is not simply the opposite of depression and anxiety. Instead, think of happiness as a general sense of overall life satisfaction. Happiness, or what scientists refer to as “subjective well-being”, is one of the most powerful protective factors in combating mental health challenges at all ages.
Martin Seligman, one of the lead researchers in the field of positive psychology, explains happiness with a formula:
H=S+C+V
Let S= 0.5 set range (genetics)
Let C= 0.1 circumstances of your life
Let V= 0.4 voluntary variables (factors under your control)
The resulting H= 1.0 is your enduring level of happiness.
The science shows that 50% of our happiness is inherited- genetics influence a set range for our capacity for positive and negative emotions.
Surprisingly, only 10% of our happiness is influence by the circumstances in our lives. To a parent of a teenager, this statistic may seem insanely low; we see day to day circumstances impact our students dramatically, right? However, research is consistently clear: In less than 3 months, even the most major negative life events lose their lasting impact on happiness levels. And on the flipside, we quickly learn to take good things for granted, our expectations rise, and these things no longer make us happy- we need even more, better, to boost happiness again.
So what’s left? 40% of our happiness is actually under our control. This means that we can help our teens bolster their overall life satisfaction and happiness!
1 Month to Happier:
Knowing your strengths: Immediate boost, but no sustained impact on overall happiness.
Using your strengths daily: Second biggest possible effect size to increase overall happiness, long term, with strong effect experienced even at 1 month of consistent use
Savoring your strengths and reflecting on 3 good things: Biggest effect size to increase overall happiness, long term, increasing gradually to full effect experienced at 6 months.
The most recent research on happiness indicates that the biggest impact can be gained in a practice that takes less than 3 minutes a day. Taking time to reflect on 3 good things from your day, or that you feel grateful for each day, has a stronger influence on overall life satisfaction and happiness than literally any other intervention designed to boost subjective well-being. Many people use a quick bullet journal to list their “3 good things” each day. To take this happiness-boost potential to the next level, research suggests we stretch out the savoring experience by sharing out our “3 good things” with someone else.
Work this quick 3-minute question into your daily conversations and get ready to see the benefits over time- in both your teens’ and your own sense of happiness. In the car, at the dinner table, or right before bed, share out your own “3 good things” and then ask your teen:
“Hey- what were three things that were really good about your day?”
or
“What were you really grateful for today?”
Current Patriot Consortium Spanish Placement Process
Dear Families -
In the month of December, 8th grade students will participate in the AAPPL (The ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages) assessment to assess their communicative competency with the Spanish language. The purpose of this assessment is three-fold:
1. D96 will collect valuable data that will inform our instruction to continue to enhance our Spanish curriculum and instruction.
2. Stevenson High School will use this proficiency data to make initial recommendations for Spanish coursework when your student is in high school.
3. Students will have the opportunity to have experience with an assessment that can lead them to earning the Seal of Biliteracy on their High School diploma when they are in high school.
Tell me more about the assessment
Your child’s Spanish Teacher will share the specific assessment schedule. The tasks included in this assessment are similar to tasks we use during our regular instruction and assessment cycle in Spanish classes. The students are asked to engage in interpretive listening and reading tasks. This includes listening or reading authentic Spanish pieces and answering questions, in English, about those pieces based on language the students already know or context given. Additionally, the students will respond to writing prompt in Spanish utilizing learned language skills. The final piece of the assessment is an interpersonal speaking opportunity in which your child will perform for the classroom teacher and will be scored based on a rubric co-constructed with all Spanish teachers across the consortium (D96, D102, D103, and D125) for consistency of expectations.
When will the test be administered?
Writing- December 3rd AAPPL
Listening- December 4th and 5th AAPPL
Reading- December 6th and 9th AAPPL
What do students need?
Headphones! Please make sure your students have headphones.
How will this information be used to make course recommendations?
Your student’s level of proficiency (interpretive listening and reading as well as writing) as indicated by this assessment combined with an analysis of their interpersonal speaking skills and teacher input will be used to make an initial course recommendation that is optimal for your student. You will receive this information in the mail late January/early February prior to needing to select courses at Stevenson. You can find the specific course sequence in this course book. In general, recommendations will be made for the following courses based on this assessment:
-Spanish 2
-Spanish 2-3 Accelerated
-Spanish 3-4 Accelerated
As this is a recommendation, your family will have the opportunity to provide input as you make the final selection for a course should your child choose to continue studying the Spanish language.
What is the Seal of Biliteracy?
The Seal of Biliteracy is intended to recognize students for multilingual skills and is indicated on a student’s high school diploma. Additionally, Illinois universities are obligated to offer college credit to students that have earned the Seal of Biliteracy through meeting the requirements.
For more information about this opportunity, use this link and click on the Seal of Biliteracy Tab.
What if my child would like to participate in a benchmark or placement assessment for a language other than Spanish?
Students who have prior coursework or experience in Chinese, French, German, Hebrew or Latin, and are interested in potential placement in one of these language programs beyond the introductory level, may also sign up for the corresponding language benchmark exam.
The dates these are held are:
Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Friday, July 10, 2020
Friday, July 24, 2020
You can register for testing through the World Languages Division by contacting Sylvia Lima at [email protected]. Use this link to access the information you may need.
Fall Family Educator Conferences
Please click HERE to access the Conference Sign Ups.
Social Emotion Learning- Part II
As was shared in the video "What does Social Emotional Learning Mean in District 96?", this year students are receiving instruction on the social emotional targets throughout the school year. What does instruction look like for students?
Instruction can look different across settings and the target being addressed. For some targets such as Using expected behavior across all settings teachers may include an explicit discussion within the classroom where students help to identify what expected behavior looks like, sounds like and how it aligns with the specific activity. Following the discussion, students are provided opportunities to engage in the practice of these skills.
Once explicit instruction has occurred, teachers may embed the targets more implicitly, incorporating them into daily learning activities. For example, for the target Utilize perspective-taking to analyze how one's behavior may affect others, in literacy or social studies teachers may ask students to take the characters' perspectives and apply to their own perspective of a situation. Overall, instruction is occurring across settings both explicitly and implicitly with ongoing feedback provided to students.
Student Report Card Access November 22nd
Your student’s report card will be available for you to access online NEXT FRIDAY, November 22, AFTER 3pm. If you need assistance, please CLICK HERE for instructions to view your student’s report card, to switch between your children’s report cards, and more. Report cards will be available for online access after 3pm on November 22.
The Patriot Consortium Mathematics Placement Process
Over the last few years Stevenson High School and the feeder middle schools have created a scope and sequence and aligned the curriculum to the Common Core Standards for Mathematics. Their work defines four strands of mathematical proficiency to highlight attributes of a proficient mathematical thinker. Their criteria will serve to create a portrait of each student for use in recommending a Stevenson placement that matches a student's content knowledge as well as level of mathematics proficiency at this time. READ MORE regarding the Patriot Consortium Mathematics Placement Process
Poster Contest
Stevenson invites students in Pre-K through Grade 8 to submit poster designs for Consortium Orchestra, Band, and Choir posters. Entries are due by Friday, November 29.
READ POSTER DESIGN CONTEST DETAILS
Rubix Cubes
Many students are bringing Rubix Cubes to school. Please note that students should not be playing with Rubix Cubes during class. The Rubix Cubes should also be locked in students lockers during the day.
Daily Announcements
The Daily Announcements will be posted each weekday morning. Please see Twin Groves website for up to date school announcements. The announcements let you know what exciting activities and clubs are going on at Twin Groves. Please click HERE to read and access the Daily Announcements.
PTO
Fall Conferences are coming soon! We need your help for our staff hospitality dinner!
We are in need of many donations to help make the Staff Hospitality dinner on Tuesday, November 26th a success!
Please head over to twingrovesmspto.membershiptoolkit.com and look at Volunteer Opportunities to sign up!
Upcoming Events:
11/20- Special Lunch
11/25- Book Fair 5PM-7PM
11/26- Book Fair 2PM- 6:30PM
12/11- Dessert Day
12/18- Special Lunch
Please click HERE to access the Membership Toolkit. All items for sale from the PTO will be available on this website.