May 1, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Students submitting pictures of themselves taking their "Flat" teacher with them.  Students loved to share their days with their teachers.

• Teachers using the chat box as a formative assessment technique and to pace the lesson when they can't see all of the students during the lesson.

• Staff members checking in and supporting parents of their students with encouraging words and affirmations.

• Students helping each other learn new math vocabulary words by using their own words and relating to real life things in their homes.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 4
• National Teacher Appreciation Week starts
• We all appreciate you each and every day, but this week we can't wait to show you all how very much you are appreciated.  Enjoy your week!
• Fort Day - Construct your best fort creation with blankets, legos, drawings, etc
• Self-Care Academy @ 3pm (click here to sign up 24 hours before)
• Tuesday, May 5
• Virtual Talent Show meeting at 11:00 on https://bluejeans.com/782539236
• Dance Party - Organize a dance party for you and your family.
• Self-Care Academy @ 8am (click here to sign up 24 hours before)
• Wednesday, May 6
• Virtual Staff Meeting @ 11:00am
• Coach Jena will be joining us at the beginning of the meeting.
• D.E.A.R. Time - Drop Everything and Read Day! Share a photo of you and family reading together.
• Thursday, May 7
• Dress-Up or Face Painting Day - Get out some dress clothes, costumes, parents' clothes or play clothing and dress up.
• Friday, May 8
• Game Day - Get out the game boards, deck of cards, puzzles, etc and play!  Create some laughs as a family.

Nitty-Gritty

• Virtual Dodgeland Family Spirit Week
• This week we will have another spirit week to encourage families to spend time together having fun.  Each day will be posted on Class Dojo and on FaceBook.  Encourage kids to share how they are participating each day either in person or with a photo.

• Talent Show
• Our talent show is being planned for our students.  Please consider joining the staff entry for the talent show.  Sue has a great idea and it will be fun to participate!  The meeting is on BlueJeans on Tuesday at 11:00am.

• May Virtual Activities
• I started a calendar of activities for students to connect with each other in fun activities.  Click here to see the Calendar.  If you would like to add an activity to the calendar please let me know before Monday, May 4.  I will then share the document with our families.  These are purely optional, but one way to help our students stay connected.  

• Momentum for May
• Students across the building/grades are struggling to maintain momentum for virtual learning.  Some students' sleeping schedules are way off, some are finding it difficult to focus on lessons, and so much more.  This is one of the reasons we are adding in spirit weeks, virtual recesses, and why Jena is going to join us for the staff meeting to support your work and provide ideas to continue to provide play in their lessons.  I know this is hard, and I know that it is not our preference, but I am so impressed by your incredible work the last 6 weeks.  Please take care of yourself, and reach out if you need help with a student or personally.

PD Spotlight

There is a theme for this week's blog, and it is about how to end our year strong.  It is not even close to the year that I thought we would have. We have one more month to help our kids learn and progress and grow.  Together we can still have a memorable year filled with fun, laughter and learning. This will only work if we take good care of ourselves.  Stress affects so many areas of our lives, our mood, relationships, reasoning, etc.  This article was helpful for me to reflect on my home schedule.  I hope it helps you as well.

Friday Funny

In my case, it will be super curly and gray!  :-)

April 24, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Teachers and specialists reminding students often about what times BlueJean meetings/classes are to help them keep a schedule and predictable routine, including teaching them to set alarms and reminders for themselves.  What a great life skill!

• A parent shared with me that when it was announced that school would be closed for the rest of the year, the child said it wasn't that bad because he still got to see his teacher and class everyday. This speaks to our dedication to our students emotional well-being along with their achievement.

• Kindergartners are doing really well using BlueJeans and using the iPad camera to angle it in a way that you can see them and not their toys, pets, ceiling, etc.  

• Staff helping each other out with all of the tasks to prepare for the end of the school year in the building, even when we really just want to see our students again in the building.  Your strength and compassion with each other is inspiring.  Thank you for all you do at Dodgeland.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Friday, April 24 (today)
• 2pm - Virtual keynote speaker, Adam Welcome, on BlueJeans. (772807416)

• Monday, April 27
• School Board Meeting @ 6:30

• Tuesday, April 28

• Wednesday, April 29
• NO Virtual STAFF Meeting 
• Self-Care Academy @ Noon (See below for more information)

• Thursday, April 30

• Friday, May 1
• The last day for staff to prepare your rooms for summer cleaning.  If you need more time or help, please let me know.

Nitty-Gritty

• Virtual Learning
• Now that we know that virtual learning is going to be taking place for the remainder of the school year, I wanted to evaluate on how things are going for our students, families and for all of you.  Click here to see the results from the survey, as well as a summary of some general guidelines for virtual learning for the remainder of the year.  Our families/parents are overwhelmed, as are some of you.  However, most everyone I speak to is overwhelmed because they want to do the best things for their kids. I am hoping this will help everyone feel a little bit less overwhelmed. This will be shared with families in a separate communication.

• Bridges Math Curriculum Update
• After a lot of research and conversations and thinking, I have decided that it is NOT a good time to start a new math curriculum for our elementary students.  However, this does not take away from the fact that the trend of our math data is not where any of us want it to be.  Coupled that with the loss of instruction from the pandemic, we will have a very important year ahead of us.  It does mean that I will be exploring other ways to address the math achievement of our students. At some point in the future, it is my intention to revisit this decision regarding Bridges.  I do still believe it is a strong curriculum that our students would benefit from.  Just not in 2020-21.

• Future Virtual Dress-Up Days
• We will have 2 more weeks of Dress-up days for students.  One is the week of May 4 and the other will be the week of May 18.

May 4 Week: 

May 18 Week:

• Milk Calendars
• Cathy Lamb needs the completed milk calendars for the months/days that we were in school.  Please complete them as soon as possible and share them with her or complete them in the google drive sheets she created for this.  It is important for us to receive reimbursement for the milk that students already received.  If you have any questions or need the document shared with you again, please let Cathy or myself know.

• Self-Care Academies
• Kalise and Pam will be guiding 3 virtual self-care academies starting next week.  See their email on April 23.
• If you’re interested in joining us, please click here to sign up, at least 24 hours in advance, for one of the following sessions:
• Wednesday, April 29 at 12:00pm
• Monday, May 5 @ 3:00pm
• Tuesday, May 6 @ 8:00am

• Budget/POPS/Activity Account dollars
• If you have receipts for things that you purchased for students during the virtual learning or before the school closure using POPS/Activity account funds, please submit them as soon as possible.  Marie will be in the building next week to take care of these.
• If you have receipts for things from your general budget, please submit them ASAP.  Unfortunately, we are unable to purchase things from our budget because school is closed and it is the end of April.  Auditors will flag it as forward spending at this point.

• End of the Year Questions
• A comprehensive document that provides explanation/clarification for many pressing important questions will be coming soon.  Many of you emailed me questions about these things:
• My Learning Plan - EP process
• Alt. Comp document
• Budget planning for next year
• Personal Day
• Etc.
• Please let me know if you need help or have any questions as you prepare your room for summer cleaning.  The maintenance staff will begin waxing classrooms on May 4.
• Don't forget to hand in any technology to the tech dept before you leave. See Brad's email for more specifics.

• TpT School Access
• I had contacted the rep for the TpT school access site.  She increased the number of licenses available.  Each of the 10 groups now have a total of 20 licenses (up from 12).

PD Spotlight

As I write this, it is the day before what should be a celebratory day in our family.  However, it will be more a day of memories.  This adds stress to my life every year, but this year it seems even more stressful.  I know I am finding myself to be more moody and irritable.  I found the video on the compassion resilience toolkit to be just what I needed to hear.  There are some things that I can do to manage stress and to feel better.  In addition, the video reminded me of the science of gratitude.  In case any of you need to hear this too, click here.  Take care and Be safe everyone.

Friday Funny

I used to watch this show all the time with Matt.  If you've never seen it, it is a pawn shop in Las Vegas that people bring in all kinds of stuff to find out the value of it and sell or pawn for money.  At this point, these items are VERY valuable!  :-)

April 17, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Professional conversations multiple times this week with various staff members about target based grading, math curriculum, student needs, and instruction.  Our school gets stronger and stronger when we work together to discuss professional topics openly.

• Teachers encouraging their students to greet each other when they join BlueJeans.

• Staff members giving extra 1:1 assistance when they are struggling with work.

• Staff going above and beyond contacting parents and working with students to continue learning.

• JUST FOR YOU!  Our students miss you all too.  Many of them submitted pictures or videos to share how much they miss you.  Please enjoy this video.  https://youtu.be/x7IL614G66c

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, April 20, 2020 (Start of another Virtual Spirit week)
• Making Creations Monday - Share a photo of a creation you've made.
• Target Based Grading Dept Meetings continue

• Tuesday, April 21, 2020
• Tourist Tuesday - Share a place you would like to take a virtual field trip to

• Wednesday, April 22, 2020
• NO STAFF meeting - Use this time to collaborate with your teams to work on success criteria for your prioritized learning Targets. 
• Wellness Wednesday - Share a photo of a healthy snack that you enjoy.

• Thursday, April 23, 2020
• Thankful Thursday - Share something you are thankful for.

• Friday, April 24, 2020
• Fun Day Friday - Share a picture of something fun that you like to do.
• 2pm - Live virtual keynote with Adam Welcome.

Nitty-Gritty

• Virtual Keynote - Friday, April 24
• Your virtual teaching duties are relieved early for you to join in a bluejeans session for a live virtual keynote from Adam Welcome.  If you don't know who this is, you are in for a treat. Adam is co-author of Kids Deserve It (and other books). He is a highly sought after speaker for education conferences and I guarantee you'll end your week feeling pumped up!  Please thank Jessica for setting this up.  She will be sharing a BlueJeans link next week.  I am really looking forward to ending my week with this keynote!

• Virtual Spirit Week (We all may need a fun pick me up next week.)
• The week is not necessarily about dressing up for the day, but instead ways to share other fun thoughts and likes with our school community.  There will be a visual shared with you on Friday afternoon if you'd like to post to your own classroom pages.  I will be sharing on Dojo and FaceBook as well.  Click here to view a table with all of the days in one place.

• Schoology
• If you are using Schoology, can you please add me to your Schoology classes?  Some parents contact me with questions about Schoology, but I can not see the same things that they are seeing from their child's iPad.  Thank you in advance.

• Chat Feature on BlueJeans
• After Brad tested this out with BlueJeans, he has reported that system does not have the option to shut down only the direct message feature of the chat box.  Please let Brad and myself know if you would like the chat box turned off for your class.

• BlueJeans Reminder
• Now that the setting has been changed that BlueJeans session needs a moderator in order for it to start, it is important to be logged on right before the official start times.  There have been students and parents reporting that they are logging on, but nobody is there for them.  Please remind students of this setting so that if they are early, they know to wait.  Please communicate if you will not be on BlueJeans for students.

• Alternative Classes Ideas for Students
• I love the ideas shared on Wednesday for other ways to help our students connect with each other.  (Cooking with the Zastrow's was a pretty fun watch too!)   Please let me know if you'd like to work on a team putting ideas together for a calendar for the month of May.  RaChelle leads students with fun Movement activities (many of them from Sue Kuhn) that all are welcome to join at 1pm. BlueJeans #768744832

PD Spotlight

Today's PD Spotlight is something I learned today from the wonderful ladies at the Greater Watertown Health Foundation.  They shared that the Compassion Resilience toolkit website had a number of videos directly related to staying resilient during COVID-19.  I was devastated by the news today, and while I want all of you and our students to be healthy and safe, I selfishly wanted to go back to school and have "normal" school.  As I tell my daughter, we can only control our reactions to bad news, I really just wanted to scream and go back to bed.  I watched the stages of Fatigue video and recognized many of those stages in myself in the last few weeks.  The tips they shared gave me strategies to realize this is temporary and that I will be okay.  If any of you need someone to talk to, cry with, scream with, please let me know.  I am always here for you.  Take care and be safe.

Friday Funny

April 3, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• I continue to get "bucket filling" messages from families about all the things you are doing to make their days.  This is a picture that came through my Dojo messages from the Soldner Family.  I can never thank you all enough for how you have stepped in to take care of our students.

• I watched a teacher encourage her students to try a science experiment in their home, with parent permission of course.  Providing them additional opportunities helps pass all this time that they have.

• Teachers creating and publishing videos and directions to help students know what to do during the day.  You are helping them to learn time management skills, independence, and patience throughout this situation.

• So many teachers are reaching out to me to work together to connect with students that are not connecting with the school.  Your professionalism and compassion is very much appreciated!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday-Friday, April 6-10
• Spring Break - Have a relaxing, safe break!

• Monday, April 13
• Virtual Learning Resumes for all grades
• Target Based Grading meetings start (see below for more information)

• Wednesday, April 15
• Staff meeting on BlueJeans at 11am

Nitty-Gritty

• Tech Tip from Christina


• Common Sense Media, the platform we use for our digital citizenship curriculum, has launched a new resource for families and educators. The program Wide Open Schools, provides some great resources for educators PreK-12 such as emotional well-being, science, reading, math, art and music lessons. Some of these resources we already use as a district, but you may find others a fun alternative as we continue our digital learning after Spring Break.  Have fun exploring!!




• Staff Resource Page
• Click here to see a Resource page for staff members to help answer common questions for students or parents during the school closure. The document shows password patterns, information about getting tech support, and other how-to options.

• Down Dog App
• Did you catch Mrs. Johnson's email about the app called Down Dog where you have access to a free membership until July 1.  It provides options to help with the increase in sitting that comes with our virtual teaching. Click in Self Service on your iPad to install the app.  The directions are here.

• Teachers Pay Teachers School Access
• Tomorrow I have a meeting scheduled to discuss TpT School Access and what it could mean for our school.  It currently is free for schools affected by the closures due to Covid-19.  After I learn about it, I will send out more details for you in case you are interested in using this.  If you have used it in the past, (I have downloaded things from TpT before, but I do not know exactly what the school access means yet) feel free to let me know what you think of it.

• Target Based Work
• Schedule a time for your grade level or department to meet with me about our Target Based grading work.  Please collaborate with each other to find a time that works for your team. The goal of the meeting is to check on what we have accomplished already, ask/answer questions your team has and discuss the next steps for your team/department.  The documents do not have to be totally completed for this meeting with me.  

PD Spotlight

Today was the first day of the Power of Positivity Summit.  What I liked best about the summit is that it had 4 links that come through my email and each one is between 7-15 minutes long, yet it packs a punch and left me really thinking.  The first one that I watched was from Jon Gordon.  His was very applicable to what is happening in our country right now about challenging situations and adapting to change.  He describes his book called The Shark and the Goldfish where the goldfish has to figure out how to survive in the ocean like a shark.  It also made me think of the hundreds of teachers including those at Dodgeland that have embraced this situation and are working to make it work for our students.  It is not the way we typically educate students, but we are making a difference.  We are connecting with students and families and we can see learning continue to take place.  Below are the two quotes from his presentation that resonated most with me and made me think.  What does this make you think about?

1. The people and organizations who thrive are those who embrace change during challenging times. 
2. Discomfort leads to growth. Embrace the challenges and get better from them. 

~Jon Gordon~

Friday Funny