May 29, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Thank you so much for everything Dodgeland Staff.  If I were to write about all the awesome things that you accomplished this week, it would take about 3 days to read.  Way to go everyone!  Enjoy your last day with your students and I will "see" you next week!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, June 1
• Grade Level Meetings with Jenny (Click here for schedule.)
• iPad pick up begins in Reeseville
• Material delivery begins

• Tuesday, June 2
• Please plan a time with your group to reflect on the virtual learning process.

• Wednesday, June 3
• Possible staff meeting at 11:00

• Thursday, June 4
• Group meetings for 4K, 5K, 1st, 2nd and Specials (check schedule)

• Friday, June 5
• Group Meetings for 3rd, 4th, and 5th (check schedule)
• Last Day for staff - Enjoy your summer and BE SAFE!

Nitty-Gritty

• TpT School Access
• The site has the licenses open until June 30.  There are about 200 licenses left for us to use.  If you have anything you'd like to use, please access them now.  It is first come first serve for all licenses that are left for us to use.

• Virtual Talent Show
• A huge shout-out to Sue and Christina for the hard work of putting this together.  In addition, all of you made the "staff meeting" very entertaining.  The Talent Show is Ready and will be shared on Friday on Dojo and FaceBook.

• Next Week
• I will be around every day at school next week.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

PD Spotlight

As we reflect on the year and work together to plan for next year, I have been reading a lot of research and guidelines for the future.  In some cases, it is overwhelming to think about.  However, when I think about what is most important, it is our students' social and emotional needs.  I may have shared this before, but CASEL has a number of resources for schools related to COVID-19.  Please use them to help your teams as you plan next week.

Friday Funny

I don't know what this says about me, but I do think this is really funny!!!

May 22, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• A 4K student explained to me that in her school at home, her mom is the principal and her dad is the teacher, but she would really rather go to school at Dodgeland!

• Teachers celebrating when they hear from students that they have had limited contact with since the school closure.

• Staff members continuing to focus on relationship building and how they can provide closure to students at the end of the year.

• Staff coming together to provide a Talent Show for our students this year.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 25
• Memorial Day - No School

• Tuesday, May 26
• Virtual Recess for 4K-2 with MR. LANGE and COACH JENA!!!! at 11:15am on https://bluejeans.com/411624574

• Wednesday, May 27
• Virtual Staff Meeting at 11am on https://bluejeans.com/901415692

• Thursday, May 28
• Virtual Recess for 3-5th grade with MR. LANGE and COACH JENA at 3:00pm on https://bluejeans.com/411624574

• Friday, May 29
• Last Day of Virtual Learning

Nitty-Gritty

• Budget Process
• By June 1, staff will receive their budget requests back so that you know what purchase requisitions will need to be completed and turned in.  I will be looking over all of the items that you have submitted over the weekend.  If you have not submitted it, please do so as soon as possible. 

• Week of June 1
• During this final week of the 2019-20 school year, there will be a number of things that need to be done and planned.  I will be meeting with each grade level team that week to discuss: class lists finalization, review the target based work, reflection on virtual learning and planning for the fall.
• There will also be time built in to the week to complete: paperwork (i.e. report cards, IEP's, etc), purchase orders, and Effective Project forms.
• During this time, you may choose to join meetings from home on BlueJeans, or you may choose to come in to the buildings for them.  However, we still must maintain social distancing and groups smaller than 10.  If you are experiencing any symptoms or have a fever, please do not leave your home.
• A full schedule will be shared with you early next week, but for now you should know that grade level meetings will take place on Monday, June 1.  Each team will have about 30-45 min. to meet with me.  Also, our very last full staff meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 3 at 11am.

• Report Cards
• If you have any questions about completing report cards for this 4th quarter, please let me know.  Many of our students will receive P or DNP for all categories across the board.  However, in some cases, students have participated in reading, but not math or vice versa.  You may find that you are giving different scores depending on the subject. Please still provide an overall comment at the bottom of the report card that communicates with parents their overall performance from this grade that may or may not include the virtual learning experience.

• End of the Year Celebration
• Thank you so much for your creative ideas of how we could end the school year for our kids.  Due to the many regulations that we must follow, anything we do will need to be done virtually.  Here are some ideas that we could do:
• Virtual School picnic - (RaChelle's idea) We log in to a single BlueJeans site and eat lunch together outside or on a blanket in the house if it's raining while a slide show of pictures is shown on screen share.
• Dance Party - (Teresa's idea) We end the day with a dance party on one site while we celebrate the end of the school year.
• Handwritten notes/Postcards sent to each student to mail on June 4-5.
• Please click here to provide me feedback of the idea(s) that you think we should do.

PD Spotlight

It is possible that I am feeling out of sorts with the end of the school year fast approaching because it doesn't have the normal excitement and expectations of completion that most school years include.  It is why I have spent so much time thinking about how to close this school year in a way that is meaningful.  I came across this article that provides ideas for how to do this.  Many of them are meant to be ideas for students.  However, they could easily be used for us as adults as well.  How can we reflect on things that have gone well?  How do we go back and remember all the experiences that occurred before March 13?  I found this to be thought provoking for myself, even if it is meant as a practical piece for educators.  Hope you find it helpful as well.  CASEL has many wonderful resources relating to SEL and COVID-19.  It will be important that we have a plan for welcoming our students back into the building that will address these needs.  In order to do this, we have to stop and think about all that we have been through as a society, a community and as a school.

Friday Funny

I saw this earlier this week and could totally relate to the music teacher's original song. It made me laugh out loud.  Hope it brings you laughter today too!

May 15, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• First graders having lunch together and having a dance party!  What a great way to stay connected!

• Staff members celebrating connecting with kids that they have been missing for awhile!

• Teachers advocating and looking for resources for parents that are struggling with their children.

• A class participating in Read to Self on BlueJeans.  What a great way to add in dedicated time for students to spend reading during the day! 

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 18
• Start of Color Week! Wear Red today
• Talent Show Recording @ 11:00 on elem. staff mtg BlueJeans link 901415692
• School Board Meeting @ 6:30pm

• Tuesday, May 19
• Wear Orange or Yellow today
• Kahoot with Ms. Hudson at 11:15am at 510888687

• Wednesday, May 20
• Wear Green today
• 11am Virtual Staff Meeting at 901415692
• Virtual Talent Show Debut on FaceBook at 6pm?  (if it is ready)

• Thursday, May 21
• Wear Blue today

• Friday, May 22
• Wear Purple Today

Nitty-Gritty

• Color Week 
• Each day students and staff encouraged to wear a certain color.  Thank you to the 1st grade team for sharing!

• Budget
• The Google Form for submitting budget is here. Originally it was due today, May 15.  If you need a little more time, please let me know.  To clarify, this form is to help us know what you need for next school year.  It doesn't have to be super specific with item numbers, page numbers, etc, but it should have a description for the items that you are adding to the budget.  (like Happy Birthday pencils, visual timer, etc) The goal is to use this at the school level to budget for next school year.  Later, you will also use this to fill out the purchase orders.  If you have questions, please let me know.

• Citizenship Rubric
• If you have not had a chance to take the survey regarding the citizenship rubric, please let me know.  I will take the feedback and combine it so that you all can see it.  We will finalize this rubric on Wednesday.

PD Spotlight

This week I have been reading a lot about virtual fatigue.  I'll link some of them here if you want to read them too, but the one that I found the most helpful was this one.  I know that it is about Zoom, but really it's the format not the specific application. Zoom could be replaced with Google Hangouts or BlueJeans and the article would still fit.  In fact, I identified with the very first paragraph instantly.  After reading it, I can totally understand why all of us are getting tired, but especially our students.  We have to focus on so many things, the delays affect how we perceive the conversation and the person we are speaking to.  Plus the added dimension of our work interactions have collided with our home.  At the end of the article, it has a few hints to help us.  Can any of these ideas help our families and students?  Hmmm, I wonder.
Other articles if you are interested:
Zoom is "taxing" our brains.  Why?
Learning during COVID-19

Friday Funny

At first when I saw this, I thought it was a screen shot from the "My Talking Pet" app.  But upon closer inspection, I realized it is a bone.  It makes me giggle!

May 8, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• This week I enjoyed showing you all how much I appreciate your hard work.  Hopefully you enjoyed The Game of Games as well.  There were so many submissions this week.  Some of them are on this doc for your enjoyment.  

• Book clubs have been going on virtually with 5th graders.  They were able to continue their discussions and their books.

• Parents sending messages all week to show appreciation to their children's teachers.  They are missing their school community too.

• First graders using play-do to complete math with ten frames.  What a creative way to provide math manipulatives for students to do their math work!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 11
• Student Pick-up from 8-4pm

• Tuesday, May 12
• Student pick-up from 11-6pm
• Virtual Recess for Grades 3-5 at 11:15 at https://bluejeans.com/411624574
• Talent Show Run through 3pm on https://bluejeans.com/901415692

• Wednesday, May 13
• Student pick-up from 8-4.
• Virtual staff meeting at 11am at https://bluejeans.com/901415692

• Thursday, May 14
• Self-Care Academy at 11am.  Sign up here.
• Student pick-up from 11-6pm.

• Friday, May 15
• Pupil Services meeting @ 8:30 at https://bluejeans.com/901415692

Nitty-Gritty

• Self-Care Academy
• Just a quick reminder of the Self-Care Academies online. 
• With such great interest in our first round of Self-Care Academy sessions, we're extending our offering to three differently themed Academy options.  For those who wanted to attend the first but were unable, we've added options.  Details are attached and you may use this form to sign up for Self-Care Academy sessions.

• And the WINNER IS...
• The race was extremely close.  In fact the top 6 points earners were only separated by 3 points.  There was a 3-way tie for first place.  At first I tried to figure out who had the most bonus points, or who entered theirs first, etc.  And then I realized, they were all so great, why can't I change it.  So I did.  I present to you the 3 Grand Prize WINNERS that tied for 1st. (Grand Prize will be mailed to you!)
• Kevin Klueger
• Susan O'Toole
• Stephanie Schuett
• Congratulations to you all!  It was super fun and thank you to everyone for participating. (Jahra, Rachael and Patrick - You were sooooo close!)

• Target Based Grading
• Our next step in this process is finalizing the citizenship rubric.  At Wednesday's staff meeting, we will discuss any changes that should be made to this document.  Click here to see the draft that was summarized from the first group discussions we had back in February.

• Volunteers for Material Pick-up
• We could still use 1-2 more people each day next week to help out with getting supplies to families as they arrive at the curb.  There will be a list of who is coming each time period.  They would love to see your happy smiling faces too!  Let me know if you want to join us!

PD Spotlight

This week the PD Spotlight is based off of an article that was shared with me about how students feel about virtual learning during this pandemic.  In fact, Mindy had the same suggestion and I plan to send a survey out to our 3-5th grade students so we get their feedback too.  (Thanks Mindy for the great idea!)

I love the graphs because I like data.  But even more, I find the responses that kids gave that they want their teachers to know fascinating.  It could easily be any of our students/families sharing the same ideas.  The other part that made me think was the reflective questions at the end of the article.  This process is new for all of us.  We are working very hard, but how can we make sure that we are feeling success too.  How do we continue to engage our students through this, and even more importantly, how do we make sure to cultivate strong relationships with them as well?

Friday Funny

That was probably me this week at the staff meeting.  Or maybe all staff meetings actually.