February 7, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 1st graders responding to the statement, "I didn't fail, I found 1000 ways that don't work."  The insight these students had in was incredible.  They were thinking very deeply and discussing SEL skills at the same time!
• MANY staff members filling in to allow the math committee to go to a school to observe a math program at their elementary school.  This was only possible because we are a team!
• Staff members communicating with parents frequently to help students to be successful at school.  When we have open communication between home and school, our students really benefit.
• Staff members vigilant at recess, before/after school, and in the hallways to address unkind and inappropriate words and actions.  It is not okay when students feel picked on and uncomfortable at school.  Thank you for everyone's help with this.
• Students are so proud of their work in PLTW!  In so many grades, students are building, creating, engaged and learning.  It is so exciting to witness.  Great job everyone!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Friday, February 7
• Students of the Month announced (I missed it earlier this week.)
• At 2:30, please send the attendance raffle winners to the office to get their prizes. The videos are here.
• Monday, February10
• Wear Milwaukee Bucks Attire
• Tuesday, February 11
• Wednesday, February 12
• Donate $1 to bring a tech device to use at lunch recess.
• 4th grade Data meeting at lunch in the D.O. conference room
• Thursday, February 13
• Parent/Teacher Conferences - 4:00-7:30pm
• EC/4K Art Show - 4:30-6:00pm
• Jenny will provide some appetizers that night for everyone.  
• Friday, February 14
• Valentine's Day
• Donate $1 to wear PJ's to school

Nitty-Gritty

• Reminder:  
• If you or your class has not completed the National School Counseling Week Trivia, please do so before the end of the day.  The link is here. 

• Safety Updates:
• The Safety planning team met last week and there are a few updates/reminders to share.
• Please make sure that your Go Kits, class lists, binder, sub plans are all update with the most up-to-date information.
• Specials teachers, please make sure to go over safety procedures for your class.  Some students get confused when a drill occurs outside of their homeroom classroom.
• Please remember to wear your District ID badge every day.  If you do not have one, please see Kimi in the district office.
• Likewise, if you see visitors in the hallway during school hours, they should have a pass/sticker on.  If they don't, please ask if they need help or if you can assist them getting to a location.
• *NEW*  Finally, during emergency drill events, students need to be quiet.  If they are in the habit of staying quiet with no talking during drills, they will be ready to hear directions in the case of a real emergency.  At our next drill, please help to enforce this as it is new to us all.

• PD day is Monday, Feb 17
• Just a friendly reminder that we will be moving to the next step for the Target Based Grading system.  Below is the list from last month that needs to be completed before then.
• A completed learning framework with domains, priority standards, and learning targets for each domain.
• Reread chapter 2 (pgs. 13-29) to prepare for our work
• Review the report card draft and the citizenship examples that were handed out last month

• Parent Teacher Conferences
• If you would like me to attend a conference for one of your students, please let me know soon.  As a thank you, I will have some appetizers in the staff room after school for all staff members. 

• FaceBook Updates
• You may have noticed that all of the Dodgeland pages have been merged to one district page so that our families can find all of our information in one spot.  If you have a classroom page, please let me know so that I can follow it too.  I may share some posts to the district page so that even more people can see what awesome things our students/classrooms are doing.  The Staff Feature has started and will be out every Friday. (If you have pictures to share, please email them to me.)  
• Another weekly feature we are starting is a student spotlight feature.  If you have an idea for a student to highlight/nominate, please see me!  The first student was a former student from DES.

PD Spotlight

If your days are like mine, it seems like the to-do list gets longer and the finished tasks never seems to move.  However, sometimes I feel like I am in the middle of something and can't remember what I was about to do, or type or look up, etc.  I came across this 1-min video explaining something called a micro-break.  I am going to see if this will help me maintain focus and feel more accomplished.  Let me know if you try it too.  I would love to know how it works for you. 

Friday Funny

I think this is funny.  It might show my age a bit though.  This symbol was on a lot of stuff when I was growing up on our family farm.  I learned early to stay away from this "emoji."  :-)