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Just for Reference: My School's Reopening Plan. Posted July 14

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Just for Reference: My School's Reopening Plan. Posted July 14

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My school district released their re-opening plan today. The short version is a choice of fully remote or blended learning for students.

For in-person, students will attend school once per week on Tue, Wed, or Thu as part of a cohort. When not in school, they will take part in remote learning.

In recent times, I've been thinking about when I started band in fourth grade. Mr. Russell handed me a cornet and said, "Try this, it will be fun!"

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This webpage is dedicated to communicating information related to the re-opening of school. Please visit this website frequently as the plan may change per Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) requirements.

Parent and student choice are the main components of the re-opening plan with two options available:

1. Attend school remotely with no in-person classroom attendance.

2. Attend school in a hybrid learning format with one day of in-school instruction and four days online.  Students with specialized needs or students in need of additional support may have more than one in-person instructional day.

Remote learning for the upcoming school year will not look like it did during the COVID-19 shut down. When school buildings closed, we shifted to "crisis schooling" on just a few hours' notice. While we were fortunate to have a solid foundation for online instruction with students already having computers, wi-fi hotspots (if needed), and 22 blended learning course offerings, we were not fully prepared for what we faced.

JTHS has been planning for the fall re-opening since the 2019-2020 school year ended to ensure that we can provide a robust model for remote and blended instruction that is pedagogically sound. Students and parents were surveyed at the end of the school year so that we could gather information about what worked and did not work with our delivery of remote instruction during the school closure. JTHS is using our online summer school courses and academic camps to improve online instructional delivery, and teachers will participate in robust professional development at the beginning of August and throughout the school year.

Remote and blended learning for the 2020-2021 school year is structured so that teachers record attendance for each class period. Teachers will deliver instruction online and will assign engaging assignments and projects to be completed by groups (online) or individually. JTHS has purchased additional learning platforms and a new student management system that will allow parents to easily access grades, attendance data, assignments details, student schedules and more. We have been working hard to ensure quality instructional delivery for all students.

Both the remote and hybrid learning schedules provide academic and social/emotional support services at the end of each school day. Teachers and are available during Office Hours from 1:30 p.m. to 2:55 p.m.

Students attend school, online or in person, five days a week, unless there is a holiday. hybrid learning students are separated in to three cohorts (A, B, and C). Students in each cohort attend school on different days of the week to limit the number of students in the school building. Remote learning students attend school completely online.

All students, including freshmen, have a six period day. The reduction is class periods does not result in a loss of an elective class. The advisory and lunch periods have been eliminated. Freshman students will take physical education online and will be provided with technology to assess physical activity.

View Blended Learning Schedules At-a-Glance
View Blended Learning Cohort A Schedule
View Blended Learning Cohort B Schedule
View Blended Learning Cohort C Schedule
View Remote Learning Schedule

The school year calendar remains similar to the pre-COVID calendar with school ending on May 28. Student attendance days remain the same at 176 days.

View the 2020-2021 Hybrid School Year Calendar

JTHS follows Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) requirements. Key safety measures are below.

Require the appropriate use of PPE, including face masks for all students and staff.

Prohibit more than 50 individuals gathering in one space.

Conduct symptom screening and temperature checks as directed to ensure that individuals are entering the buildings free of symptoms.

Practice social distancing at six feet apart within the school building.

Students will not be assigned a locker for the 2020-2021 school year unless there is a specific need that is approved through building administration.

P.E. uniforms are not a requirement for the 2020-2021 school year.

Increase schoolwide cleaning and disinfecting.

Serve lunch and breakfast in a grab and go fashion. Student will not eat inside the school building.

JTHS provide transportation to students participating in hybrid learning.  Students and transportation staff will be required to wear masks and there will be a restriction of one student to a seat unless students reside in the same household.

It is very important that we have your email address on file so that you are receiving our communication. If you are not receiving emails, please contact info@jths.org. To sign up for text messages text Y to 67587.

JTHS has compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Answers will continue to be added to this document as questions arise.  As JTHS receives updated guidance from Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), answers may be revised.

View FAQ

JTHS will continue to provide updates and additional communication as it is available.

We want to thank our students and families for their understanding and patience as we return to school during a time that none of us could have ever imagined. These are trying times for everyone, but we are doing everything in our power to meet the needs of our families and community while keeping everyone healthy.

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2020 - 2021 School Re-Opening Plan - Joliet Twp

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This webpage is dedicated to communicating information related to the re-opening of school. Please visit this website frequently as the plan may change per Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) requirements. Parent and student choice are the main components of the re-opening plan with two options available: Attend school remotely with no in-person classroom attendance.

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Chairs, Mark Spede (CBDNA) and James Weaver (NFHS)

Dr. Mark J. Spede is Professor of Music, Director of Bands, Director of Tiger Band, and Conductor of the Symphonic Band at Clemson University. He is the recipient of the Clemson University 2009 Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching (College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities), and three Clemson University Board of Trustees Awards for Faculty Excellence (2008, 2009, and 2012). He has served the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) in a number of capacities; he is currently national president. Dr. Spede previously served on the faculties at the University of Texas and the University of Florida and has degrees from the University of Michigan, Ball State University, and the University of Texas.

Shelly L. Miller, Ph.D., is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and faculty in the Environmental Engineering Program at the University of Colorado Boulder, holding an M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Harvey Mudd College. Dr. Miller teaches about and investigates urban air quality and works diligently to understand the impact of air pollution on public health and the environment. She is also an expert on indoor environmental quality including airborne infectious disease transmission and control and air cleaning technologies. Dr. Miller is a member of the Academy of Fellows of the International Society for Indoor Air and Climate (ISIAQ). Dr. Miller has published over 70 peer reviewed articles on air quality, authored a Chapter on Indoor Air Quality in the Environmental Engineering Handbook, is an active scientist on twitter, and publishes open access as often as possible.

Dr. Srebric is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a founding Director of the Center for Sustainability in the Built Environment at the University of Maryland (City@UMD). The focus of Srebric's research is on measurements and multi-scale modeling of built infrastructure to provide reliable assessments of how these systems affect occupant respiratory health, building energy consumption, and associated CO ₂ emissions. She taught and developed new courses at University of Maryland, Penn State, and Harvard. She also presented more than thirty guest lectures at different universities including Stanford, Princeton, MIT, and Columbia. She was elected an international member of the Serbian National Academy of Engineering in 2013. Dr. Srebric became an Elected Fellow of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ) in 2018, and an Elected Fellow of the International Building Performance and Simulation Association (IBPSA) in 2019. Most recently, her research work was recognized with a 2019-2020 USM Board of Regents' Faculty Award for Excellence in Innovation.

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Chairs, Mark Spede (CBDNA) and James Weaver (NFHS) Dr. Mark J. Spede is Professor of Music, Director of Bands, Director of Tiger Band, and Conductor of the Symphonic Band at Clemson University. He is the recipient of the Clemson University 2009 Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching (College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities), and three Clemson University Board of Trustees Awards for Faculty Excellence (2008, 2009, and 2012).

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Optional: Programming Recommendations. Posted July 14.

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Optional: Programming Recommendations. Posted July 14.

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Shan suggested that separate threads are started to recommend pieces that might work in a limited voicing, instrumentation, or resource situation. Consider flex or adaptable pieces that you've had experience with, or even pieces that can be performed with some relatively easy substitutions.

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Resource: Rhythm Patterns for Scale Applications

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Resource: Rhythm Patterns for Scale Applications

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Only have time for scales or rhythm? This lets you do both. I believe this resource comes from Barbara Buehlman. This is a rhythm packet that will work with any eight pitch diatonic scale.

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Optional: Research Article: Influence of After School Programs on Disadvantaged Youth

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Optional: Research Article: Influence of After School Programs on Disadvantaged Youth

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It's a long one, and it tells us what we already assume, but it's also a good read to encourage teachers and administrators about the benefits of extra-curricular participation.

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Combined into a downloadable PDF format.

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Ensemble teachers: I've provided a link to a rehearsal schedule I used last school year. I handed this out the entire ensemble. Areas were left blank for note taking.

The very last page contains a formula that ended up working pretty well for us. You essentially multiply the difficulty by the time of the piece. Divide this number by 100, and you get the percentage of how much rehearsal time you can spend on a piece. I've never tried this before this past year, but it came out pretty accurately.

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The Creative Director: Alternative Rehearsal Techniques by Edward Lisk. I love this book and cannot recommend it enough. It truly changed the way I plan and run a rehearsal. We moved towards actually playing less music in rehearsal and doing more units on techniques and musical elements, and the group got better overall. This was a tough sell for me, as I was a person that said we needed as much time on the music as possible in class, but these techniques helped me to shift to a different approach.

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The Creative Director: Alternative Rehearsal Techniques

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(Meredith Music Resource). A new dimension in band performance! Improve rehearsal efficiency through a more effective learning environment with access to the students' fullest musical potential. Emphasis is placed upon auditory and visual imagery techniques. Thinking skills and internal pulse are...

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Discussion: Programming/Music Selection, due July 17

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Discussion: Programming/Music Selection, due July 17

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Programming appropriate music and content for our classrooms is one of the most appropriate yet most difficult parts of our content area. Do you have any tips or processes to share with the class?

I've shared a link to some writing I've done on the subject.

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Programming and Adapting for YOUR Ensemble

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How are your final projects going? If you need help or need me to look anything over, please feel free to email me at donstinson83@mac.com

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The First Days of Schools: Harry Wong and Rosemary T. Wong

If you're a new teacher or a music teacher like me that needs to continually study up on the whole classroom education thing, this is a great book. Some tried and true methods without being too authoritarian/eliminating the student voice. I own the previous version and refer to it each summer.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Good purchase but check the fine print.
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2019

Came in great condition with disc and all but there were penciled lines on several pages that I could not erase without damaging the book. To my knowledge this was not mentioned prior to purchase.

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

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Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2021

This book is overrated, outdated garbage. I bought it after many teachers in an online group recommended it. There are a few useful things in this book about procedures, but that's about it. The majority of the book is just "fluff"--words to take up space and give acronyms without saying much of anything. The authors (who live lavishly selling books, programs, etc. and haven't been actual classroom teachers for many decades) go on and on throughout the book about negative, "'I' teachers."
Basically, they state that selfish, failing teachers do the following:
--want "peace and quiet"
--enjoy weekends
--need to go home after contracted time is done to "feed the dog," "pick up the kids," "prepare dinner," etc.
They suggest teachers need to attend games, funerals, and other events outside of school hours and should not be individuals who do things like wear "trendy clothes." They also insinuate early in the book that class sizes do not matter. Good to know that in order to be a great teacher you should have no personal life, family, pets, or self-care time; those teachers are selfish and only care about the paycheck, according to the Wongs.
They also have photos of signs that are troubling about dress code. For example, one sign they include as a prime example of a morning routine lists the first priority on the list as "conform to dress code." Pretty sure that's not the #1 thing a teacher should be worried about.
Save yourself the money (and frustration) and read books from newer educators or get advice from people who are actual classroom teachers in 2021.

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2019

Want to have a great classroom and students ready to learn? Read--no, STUDY--this book. It served me well through my teaching career. I always had one of the best classrooms in my school and the best-behaved students. I was known as the teacher who could teach anyone, and I give Wong and Wong full credit...and my professor who required us to read and use this in our final education course. I don't know where I'd have been without it!

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2019

This book was given loaned to me when I started substitute teaching ( i am a retired engineer). the teacher that loaned it to me allowed me to observe her class - WOW. Even though it was elementary school, those kids came in each morning, sat down and either read a book or started some other study - there was no talking or unruly behavior. When it was time to take up money and fill out forms for lunch, the kids took care of it. They were responsible, disciplined and learned what they were supposed to. I even ended up helping one boy who spoke mostly Spanish - my HS and College Spanish came back pretty easily.
The next day I went to a different class to observe - what a difference, complete chaos the entire day. Same age kids, just a different teacher.

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2018

This book was a required text for a class I am currently taking. I am a junior in college and I'm pursuing an education degree. This book has so much great information in it that I have found so useful. It is also actually an entertaining read unlike so many books on the same topic. I ended up finishing the whole thing way before I needed to for class. I definitely plan on keeping this for when I graduate because it is something I will return to again and again.

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2019

I bought this book as a resource to use in preparation for my first year teaching Kindergarten. It's packed full of tips and tricks, resources, and ideas. It's truly been a great resource for me starting out, and I would recommend it to others to help stock their teacher toolbox. :)

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2019

I honestly can't believe this text isn't a part of every single teacher education program across the nation - it has revitalized not only my passion for teaching, but also my desire to be the best teacher I can be by organizing age appropriate routines within my classroom. Such a wealth of ideas, I'll definitely be rereading as I prep for the start of the school year over the next two weeks!

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2021

First Days Of School: How To Be An Effective... this book came in perfect condition. Exactly what I needed to complete my class.

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2019

As a first time teacher, this book has helped me plan and execute what I need in my classroom. I would recommend this to anyone considering teaching.

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Super helpful!

Reviewed in Canada on May 8, 2021

A fantastic guidebook for any first-year teacher. Pick and choose what you want to gain out of this book. It is absolutely great at laying out foundations such as classroom management. Highly recommended.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great startup guide or refresher for teachers

Reviewed in Canada on October 19, 2018

Very helpful insights and structures that help set up a framework for effective classroom teaching.

1.0 out of 5 stars Damaged - Chronic Amazon Problem

Reviewed in Canada on August 26, 2020

The book is great but Amazon's packaging has deteriorated badly - this is the fifth book from Amazon I have received damaged.

1.0 out of 5 stars Could not watch DVD

Reviewed in Australia on December 3, 2019

The book arrived, but I cannot seem to play the DVD. I would have liked to do this. I wonder if it is a zone issue. So sad.

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THE First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher, 5th Edition (Book & DVD)

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THE First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher, 5th Edition (Book & DVD) [Harry K. Wong;Rosemary T. Wong] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. THE First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher, 5th Edition (Book & DVD)

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This week will primarily revolve around programming and adapting, and continuing with some tips to adjust equipment and music requirements as necessary. We'll also get into some discussions on extra-curricular and summer programs.