January 29, 2021

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 1st graders all engaged in reading when I stopped by this week.  It's so awesome to watch students enjoying their books.

• A visitor shared about how patient and empathetic our staff was working with a student that is struggling by maintaining high expectations, even though it would be much easier to just lower the expectations.

• 4K students showed me a fantastic creation they built in the block area.  I just love seeing and hearing their pride in their work!

• 2nd graders shared ideas with one another about how to write their introduction for their informational writing piece.

• So many students are showing tremendous growth on their i-Ready assessments.  Way to go everyone!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, February 1
• "Souper" Bowl begins
• The EL PLTW room is closed; The Tech team will begin moving into the room

• Tuesday, February 2
• Wednesday, February 3
• Workout Wednesday

• Thursday, February 4
• Jenny is at a virtual Conference 8am-12pm

• Friday, February 5
• National Wear Red Day
• Jenny is at a virtual Conference 8am-12pm

Nitty-Gritty

• End of the Day Reminders
• The number of cars that are waiting to get into the school circle drive is increasing every week. It is very important that the buses are able to move to the MS/HS side as soon as they can because cars are backing up to Hwy 26.  This is causing traffic issues and has the potential for causing an accident.  Please help make sure that your bus students are getting out to the bus as quickly as they can.  They should be ready to leave the building at 2:30, so that everyone is outside by 2:35pm and the buses can move.  This will allow our elementary parents to get into the circle drive sooner and avoid cars backed up on the highway.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

• "Souper" Bowl Begins
• Our annual "Souper" Bowl will begin next week.  The flyer is here.  Thank you to Sue O'Toole for organizing this for us.  If you can, please share with your families.

• February P/T Conferences
• Just a reminder, Parent Teacher conferences are canceled this month. However, it is important that you keep families informed on how your students are doing in school.  Please share their progress in writing (digitally or paper) by March 1.  This also may be their most recent i-Ready scores.  Please email when you have sent this to families.

• April Hygiene Lessons for Primary grades
• Later this semester, there will be student nurses from Maranatha at Dodgeland working with Lynnae.  They will be doing hygiene lessons with some of our grades at the elementary on April 15 and April 22.  Lynnae will be in contact with teachers as the dates get closer.

• Summer School Reminder
• Summer school is planned for June 14-July 22, Monday-Thursday from 8-11:55.  If you would like to teach this summer, please fill out this google form.  If you are unsure or have any questions, please let me know.

• Fridays
• It has come to my attention that there might be some misunderstandings about the time staff can leave on Friday afternoons.  Earlier this year (9-11-20) I had sent an email about this, but it has been awhile and thought I would give everyone a friendly reminder.  The time remains at 3pm for staff to leave.  (Although, if you have a goose pass or you use flex time, this may be different for some of you on specific days.)

PD Spotlight

This week's PD Spotlight is a little different than previous weeks.  In the past week or so, I have had many conversations with others, (including this teenage girl that looks and acts like me!) that have reminded of the Brene Brown videos that I have watched over the past few months.  (You can even find her on netflix now!). But as much as I try to model vulnerability and respectful discourse in my professional life, my personal life allowed me to see it in person.  I watched my daughter tell me something that I know was hard for her to say to me, she worried about hurting my feelings, but it was her truth and I needed to hear it.  I have never been more proud of her in my life.  While I have some reflecting to do and most definitely some changes to make, I have to say, she has taught me a lot about vulnerability and courage this week.  Here is a 5 min. video that just made me think and thought I would share it with you.

Friday Funny

This is me every. single. day.