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Category: Information Items

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Professional Development on Nov. 4 | Afternoon PD options for teachers from the Gifted & Talented program in the Teaching & Learning department.

Join us on Zoom for a session specific to secondary or elementary teachers.

Secondary

  • Differentiation in Secondary School: Strategies to Engage All Learners
    Planning a lesson/unit is much like planning a road trip from one city to another. This session will provide teachers with strategies for the creation of differentiated tasks - tasks that are designed with different routes to the same destination!
  • Facilitator: Frankie Walton
  • Target Audience: Middle & High School Teachers
  • Time: 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.
  • Zoom Link
  • Meeting ID: 865 5200 4517
  • Passcode: 277148
  • Contact: Frankie Walton @ 801-567-8319

Elementary

  • ByrdseedTV: Lessons That Get Kids' Brains Sweating!
    Looking for lessons full of rigor and engagement that take very little time to prepare? Join us for an interactive, hour-long workshop to explore a resource available to all teachers in Jordan District.
  • Facilitators: Rebecca Smith and Taryn Cox
  • Target Audience: Teachers in Grades 3-6
  • Time: 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.
  • Zoom Link
  • Meeting ID: 881 6057 5638
  • Passcode: 794090
  • Contact: Rebecca Smith @ 801-567-8368

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New York Life FlyersNew York Life offers programs for all Jordan School District benefit eligible employees. These services include employee assistance, wellness support, financial, legal & estate support.  If you have any questions, please contact Insurance Services. Check out the flyers below for more information. 

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Do the Write Thing Challenge InstructionsThe Office of the Governor and the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) together invite seventh and eighth grade students and teachers to participate in Utah’s 23rd Annual Do the Write Thing Challenge where students examine the impact of youth violence on their lives and communicate in writing what they think should be done to prevent this type of violence.

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Laptop with lock screenFor our fourth and final week of Cybersecurity Awareness we are discussing something that is easy, takes only a few seconds to perform, and makes a massive impact in the realm of cybersecurity. We are talking about locking computers before you walk away.

Locking your machine when you are away, even if you aren't leaving the classroom or general area, is a must. Your machine and account have access to sensitive student and district data, and, according to FERPA law, we must be diligent in protecting student data. Leaving a computer unlocked and unattended can violate FERPA law. Not only that, but it could violate other laws as well, such as the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). The district’s content filter is designed and set up to have more restrictions for students than for staff. If a student were to access a computer logged in as a staff member, they would have access to all the same things that staff member could access. This includes personal and professional files, file shares, web apps or sites that the staff member has set to “remember” or “auto login,” and internet-based content they normally wouldn't be able to access under their own student login.

Time for a thought experiment! Think about the last time you left your computer unlocked (We’ve all done it). Think about the kind of data and information that was left on your screen. Was it an email to a parent, colleague, or administration about a student or sensitive data? Was it a presentation that you had finished? Was it Skyward? What kind of data could be stolen, and how much damage could be done if a passerby decided they wanted to take a picture of your screen? How much damage could they do if they decided to sit down and comb through the apps that were left open and unattended? Let’s all recommit to locking our computers when we are stepping away, no matter how close or far away we will be.

  • How To:
    • If you are on a Windows PC, you can lock your computer as easy as holding down the ⊞ Windows key and pressing L.
    • If you are on an Apple computer, press and hold ^ Control, ⌘ Command & Q keys. If this keyboard shortcut does not work, your computer is out of date and needs an update.
    • If you are on a Chromebook, press and hold the 🔍 search key, which is the magnifying glass where the Caps Lock key would be, and press L.

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As outlined previously in JEM, all employees are required to complete the Crucial Policy Review by Nov. 1, 2022.  Don’t delay in completing this important training.  Please see below for instructions.  Employees may access this policy review via their Employee Access in Skyward. If you need assistance in accessing Skyward, please call the help desk at 801-567-USER (8737).

Jordan School District Employees are responsible for knowing and adhering to all District policies and procedures. The annual crucial policy review is available to District employees in Skyward through "Online Forms."   As a condition of continued employment, all employees, with the exception of minor students, are required to complete the crucial policy review by November 1, 2022.

Please see the tutorial below if you need additional assistance in accessing or completing the policy review.

Crucial Policy Review
To complete the required Policy Review, login to your Employee Access account. If you need help with your login ID or password, contact the Help Desk at 801-567-8737.

If you have not completed your Policy Review, you will see the screen below. Click the Policy Review link.
Policy Review Window
The Policy Review can also be accessed by selecting Employee Information/Online Forms.
Online Forms Menu

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Oct. 2022 Literacy Matters CoverThe Literacy Matters newsletter contains helpful information for teachers and administrators.  This newsletter includes:

  • RGR Spanish Resources
  • Teacher Night Out Dates
  • District PD Day Info
  • 2022-23 Acadience Goals for K03
  • Kindergarten Letter Names & Sounds

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Computer Update PromptOur third Cybersecurity Awareness tip concerns computer updates. Computer updates are incredibly important. Cyber attackers are always pushing and pulling at the limits of what computers and applications can do, and what vulnerabilities might exist. The longer a version of software is available to the public, the more likely it is to have been “hacked” and used for nefarious purposes. Attackers will use the vulnerabilities in programs or computers to achieve their goals.

We have all seen those pop-up messages, “This program has an update” or “Your computer needs an update.” Many times these updates include security “patches” or fixes. Many of us have schedules that do not permit us to run updates immediately upon notification, but we should update as soon as possible thereafter. Computers and programs that are left unpatched are like wide open front doors that allow attackers access to our computers and the data stored thereon. The longer a program or computer is left unpatched, the more likely  that open door will be used by an attacker. If you need help running an update, or if you have questions, please feel free to contact your local IT technician and they will help you with your updating needs.

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In our second week of Cybersecurity Awareness, we are going to cover the use of strong passwords and passphrases. Creating a strong password is based upon two key concepts:

  • Length
  • Complexity

The more characters a password has, the harder it is to guess, crack, or break into. We can see in the chart’s column on the left, as the number of characters increases, so does the time it takes for a computer to guess the password. Given enough time, any computer could crack our passwords. However, our goal is to make passwords complex enough that computers, and the hackers behind them, cannot reasonably decipher them.

At Jordan, we focus particularly on password length to help us all stay secure. Using Passphrases is the key to secure passwords with length requirements. Passphrases help users to create and remember long passwords with excellent password strength without writing the password down, something that should never be done. An example of a passphrase would be Applebannanapineapple.

We also recommend password manager programs. Some good options are 1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden, or Dashlane. These are programs and browser extensions that work independently from your Google or browser account. These programs will create randomly generated passwords and manage what sites and accounts each password belongs to.

It may be tempting to reuse the same passwords used previously. We should avoid doubling back on previously used passwords or using passwords for other applications and sign-ons. If an attacker learns one of your passwords for your various logins, and you have used that password before, they will try that password across multiple applications and logins. If you use the same password on other applications, it will give the attacker access to as many applications that use that login. Under no circumstances should you share any passwords with students or staff members.

Number
of Characters		 Lowercase
Letters
Only		 At least one
uppercase
letter		 At least one
uppercase
letter + number		 At least one
uppercase letter + number + symbol
1 Instantly Instantly – –
2 Instantly Instantly Instantly –
3 Instantly Instantly Instantly Instantly
4 Instantly Instantly Instantly Instantly
5 Instantly Instantly Instantly Instantly
6 Instantly Instantly Instantly Instantly
7 Instantly Instantly 1 minute 6 minutes
8 Instantly 22 minutes 1 hours 8 hours
9 2 minutes 19 hours 3 days 3 weeks
10 1 hours 1 month 7 months 5 years
11 1 day 5 years 41 years 400 years
12 3 weeks 300 years 2,000 years 34,000 years

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JEAC Open House FlyerThe Jordan Ethnic Advisory Committee (JEAC) is hosting an employee open house on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at JATC South from 3:30 - 5 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. Come share your ideas, solutions and celebrations. Your voice is important.

Can't make the meeting? Your suggestions are always welcome. Please contact jeac@jordandistrict.org.

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Oct. 2022 Be Well NewsletterCheck out the Oct. 2022 Be Well newsletter from EMI. Stories include:

  • The Power of Friendship - Friendships make living more fulfilling. They play an enormous role in our lives. We turn to our friends for emotional support and companionship as well as sources of joy and fun.
  • Don’t Forget Fish - It’s easy to choose meat or poultry for weeknight meals, but why not add fish to your rotation?
  • De-Clutter - Do you have times when your mind is juggling too many thoughts, making it hard to focus and process? Researchers estimate humans have about 60,000 thoughts each day. And many of those thoughts involve thinking the same things repeatedly.
  • Keep Children Drug Free - Keeping kids away from drugs is crucial for mental and physical health. It plays an important role in how well children do in school, too. But even the most caring parents can struggle with how to prevent youngsters from using drugs.

To receive the monthly Be Well Newsletter via email and check out back issues, please visit the EMI Hope Health Newsletter page.

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Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. Because this is a team effort, we want to increase everyone’s awareness around this topic. In each weekly JEM throughout the month of October we will feature brief articles discussing methods we can all implement to improve security for ourselves and for our students. This week we are focusing on recognizing and reporting phishing. Jordan School District is pleased to present the following video that covers what to look out for with phishing, as well as a few other Cybersecurity tips.

A few things to keep in mind while looking out for phishing emails:

  • Is the email urgent? For example, is someone stuck in a meeting and cannot be contacted via phone or in-person?
  • Is the email asking for personal information or other unusual requests?
  • Is the email riddled with poor grammar or spelling?
  • Is the email vague, generic or ambiguous?
  • Did the email come from an invalid, unverifiable, or otherwise suspicious email address?

If any of these statements are true, then you may have a phishing email on your hands. What do we do with it?

You have some great tools available to help prevent this. Check them out below.
E-mail header sample

  1. If the email came from an address outside of Jordan School District, the email will have an orange bubble. Suspicious emails will also have a large yellow or red banner depending on how suspicious Google thinks the email is.
  2. If the email is something you never want to see again, you can click the ‘Stop Sign’ next to the trash can to report the email as spam. Gmail will take care of it from there. You could also forward the email to security@jordandistrict.org to have the email scanned and verify if it is malicious or not

No one will fault you for being cautious with emails, Think Before You Click! and reach out to Information Systems for help if you have any doubts about the legitimacy of an email.

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Jordan Journey Podcast PlayerIn our inaugural Jordan Journey podcast, join the Digital Teaching and Learning team as we discuss the role of educators as change agents. We're talking with two instructional coaches from Jordan School District’s fully virtual elementary school, Rocky Peak. Change Agents Kasey Chambers and Ami Anderson share how they inspire educators and leaders to use technology to create equitable and ongoing access to high-quality learning.

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Blomquist Hale Workshop FlyersBlomquist Hale has two events scheduled for the month of October! See attached for workshop/group flyers and details outlined below.

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Supercast Album ArtWe invite you to join us each week for a new episode of Superintendent Anthony Godfrey’s “Supercast” podcast.

You can find all of the episodes at supercast.jordandistrict.org or listen to the most recent episode featuring Salt Lake Community College President Deneece Huftalin. Find out how the college is making higher education affordable in ways you may not have imagined and how JSD students can benefit from a brand new SLCC campus in Herriman.

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Men of Promise FlyerThe Men of Promise Conference will be held Oct. 6 at the Zions Technology Center, 159 W. Center Street in Midvale for students in grades 9-12. If you are looking for an opportunity in growing leadership within our young males, particularly, the young males of color, the Black Success Center (through the Black Chamber of Commerce) is focused on programming to develop and connect this part of our future.

The Men of Promise (MOP) conference inspires students by speaking to their hearts and providing them with professional experiences designed to shift their life trajectories. The conference’s approach encourages students to change their path by shifting their habits and disciplines, thus helping them to help themselves…to achieve goals. Another aspect of the conference was to connect students with role models to help them develop their VISION, DISCIPLINE, and CHARACTER.

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2022-23 PE PLC FlyerAll teachers who facilitate elementary physical education are invited to the first 2022-23 PLC that will be held Oct. 14  in the Terra Linda Elementary Gym at 1:30 p.m.

  • Topics include:
    • Activity & Lesson sharing
    • Classroom Management tips
    • Skill Based Games
    • Warm Up Games
    • Classroom Brain Break Ideas
  • Zoom Participation Available
  • Sign up via Google Form for updates

*Compensation & participation is a site-based decision

Upcoming PLCs will be held on the following dates:

  • Nov .11
  • Dec. 9
  • Jan. 13
  • March 10
  • April 14
  • May 12

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Literacy Matters Issue 2The Literacy Matters newsletter contains helpful information for teachers and administrators.  This newsletter includes:  

  • A Q & A from Literacy Launch
  • A Planet Kindergarten feature
  • LETRS information for Starting and Continuing Teachers
  • Information on Teacher Night Out
  • Kindergarten Updates
  • Growth Measure Assessment
  • Lexia
  • RGR
  • Walk to Read Canvas Course

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For September 2022, substitute teachers with NO CANCELLATIONS and who qualify as outlined below, will be paid on October 10, 2022.  The September tiered substitute teacher bonus incentives are as follows:

  • 16 days worked = $275
  • 14 days worked = $175
  • 11 days worked = $100
  • 8 days worked = $50

Benefit eligible substitute teachers working full time at various schools throughout the Jordan School District, DO NOT QUALIFY for the monthly substitute teacher bonus incentives, since they are required to work every school (contract) day.

Thank you again for your service to Jordan School District.

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All NEW teachers received an invitation to the New Teacher Induction (NTI) CANVAS course via your district email. This course will provide you with important information regarding your employment. The expectation was that you complete this course prior to the start of school for students. If you have not completed this required training, please complete it as soon as possible. Please feel free to contact the HR Department if you have questions or concerns.

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Please take note of the following clarification on the difference between "Grade Transmittal Days" and "Professional Development Days."

Grade Transmittal Days are scheduled three times per year (Oct. 21, Jan. 17, March 27) as required in District Policy D207 - Calendar Development. These days occur each year in the Jordan School District. Payment for these days is built into the base teacher salary. Students do not attend. In-person work by teachers is not required; however, schools are open and teachers may use time on this day for finalizing and submitting grades.

Professional Development Days are three days throughout the year (Sept. 16, Nov. 4, April 21) where the Board of Education and District Administration have converted a student instructional day to a professional development day, as allowed by Utah Code 53F-2-102(d). These days are authorized on a year-to-year basis. These days are included in the 187 days of the standard teacher contract. Students do not attend. Principals may use up to three hours of each day for required professional development activities. The remainder of the contract day is to be used by teachers for planning and preparation.

The level and teacher calendars have been updated to clarify this change: