February 26, 2021

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• A group of 4K students were reading a short story on the pocket chart practicing 1:1 correspondence and reading visuals.  Their excitement was inspiring and infectious!

• 5K students were using wholes and parts to determine a missing part.  It's so awesome to see them so engaged.

• 4th grade students were using the questions to start their answers in complete sentences.  They were getting really good at it!

• 2nd graders are working in Scratch Jr. to code characters.  They catch on so fast!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, March 1
• Pajama Day (I am Not getting Up Today)

• Tuesday, March 2
• Silly Socks Day (Fox in Socks)

• Wednesday, March 3
• Tie Dye or favorite color day (My Many Colored Days)
• Workout Wednesday

• Thursday, March 4
• Vacation T-Shirt (Oh, the Places you Will Go)
• Recess Academy for grades 4K/5K (Times to be determined)

• Friday, March 5
• Hat Day (Cat in the Hat)
• Seals on Wheels starts

Nitty Gritty

• Guidance with Ganser next week
• Guidance with Ganser will be canceled the week of March 1 to provide consistency for a group of students this next week.  On Monday morning,  Mindy will send out an email to teachers with links and ideas of things that you can do during your GG time period this next week. 

• Last Call: Engagement Survey
• The window closes on Friday, 2/26 for the staff and student engagement survey.  The student engagement survey is for grades 3-5. (See email for the link/QR code for your students.)
• Dr. Thompson sent the link in an email for the staff engagement survey.  Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide feedback.  it is so very valuable to us. Click here for survey.

• Seals on Wheels
• Starting Friday, March 5, the next round of free dental services is coming to Dodgeland for the students that signed up during registration before school starts.  Because our office area is getting full, this service will be relocated to the distance learning lab near the former tech offices.
• They will continue into Mon-Wed, 3/1-3/3 until they are able to see every student 4K-12 that has signed up.

• Heads Up
• I want everyone to be aware that plans have been developed (that hopefully will never need to be used) to respond to a student's medical needs in our elementary wing.  If this would occur, the elementary would be on an administrative hold and a classroom of students may need to relocate temporarily to the bench in the commons area until they can be moved to a different classroom.  

Friday Funny

I love this!  It just makes me smile!

February 19, 2021

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• A 4K student tried to help a friend to calm down by singing a "Calm Down" song to him.  It didn't work, but it was so kind of him to try.

• Kindness week has had so many wonderful examples of how kind our students/staff can be with one another.  It would be wonderful if it spills to every week of the year!

• A 5K student let me listen in while he was reading in the hallway.  He was sounding out CVC words, used the pictures and read the star words automatically.  His pride in his reading was heartwarming!

• 1st graders were making numbers in more than one way on their marker boards.  When I stopped in, a student in the back row showed me her board and said, "I got this!"  :-)

• There were so many great conversations around the building this week about the CESA 6 Spring into Success summit.  There were some of you that incorporated your new learning into your rooms already.  I love to hear about this learning and how it is helping you in your classrooms.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, Feb 22
• Articles for newsletter due (4th gr, 3rd gr, counselor, anyone else?)
• School board meeting @ 7:30pm

• Tuesday, Feb 23
• Wednesday, Feb 24
• Staff meeting Cancelled
• Workout Wednesday

• Thursday, Feb 25
• Jenny out from 7:30-9am

• Friday, Feb 26
• Playworks visit - Coach Jena visits 
• Engagement survey closes

Nitty-Gritty

• Engagement Surveys
• Dr. Thompson sent out an email earlier this week with the link for the employee engagement survey.  Please complete this survey (should take about 10 min.) before Friday, Feb 26 to provide feedback for us on ways to continue to make Dodgeland a great place to be.  
• If you teach grades 3-5, I sent an email out this week with a link/QR code for students to provide feedback as well.  If you need these links again, please let me know.
• Finally, thank you for taking the time to do this.  Your feedback and information is not only helpful, it is much appreciated and valued.

• It's that Time of Year!
• It seems like every year there is a stretch of time where kids are cooped up inside a lot, they have spent a lot of time together and students struggle to remain regulated more often than a couple of months ago.  This year is unique in that there are limited opportunities for students to see/work/learn/play with students from other classrooms.  Because of this, other unique COVID situations and the time of year, students may seem more emotional or need more breaks or support.  Please continue to practice, teach and help students apply their SEL skills when they are struggling.  I will continue to support you and your students and will reinforce the same messages that you are sending to your students as well.  If you want to brainstorm or talk through any situations, please let me know.

• Where's Waldo?
• Or really, maybe it should be "Where's Jenny?" Many of you have expressed to me that you don't know how to find me anymore.  I am diligent about having the radio with me and Marie or Paula can always radio for me.  My phone is connected in the District Office conference room, and I will rarely be by it when it rings.  However, if you leave a voicemail it will come to my email and I can listen to it without being near the phone.  I have used a table in the records room more and more to have a spot to keep limited supplies handy.  Otherwise I am mostly in other classrooms throughout the building.  If you need to see me, the best way to make sure I am in the office and available is to put your name on my calendar.  Click Here for the link.

PD Spotlight

There were so many awesome sessions that I participated in last Monday.  I almost couldn't decide what to talk about this week.  However, the one session that really stood out was the session that I participated in with Sarah Ward regarding executive functioning skills.  It was full of practical ideas to incorporate but also her descriptions felt like she had been in our classrooms at Dodgeland too!  Her website is HERE that has more information.  One of the things that I took away from this was that 9-% of the time task planning takes place in a different space than where the task plan is executed.  How does this translate to students in the classroom?  They need to make a plan (and a visual of themselves doing it) in their heads in a space different from where they actually participate in the task.  I find myself using this a lot when I speak to students in the office.  When they struggle to verbalize what they plan to do next, I know that the transition back to class will not go well.  This provides me information to review provide more support before they return to your classrooms.  I know there were many people that participated in one or both of her sessions on Monday.  If you had other take aways, I'd love to hear them and be sure to share with your colleagues as well!

Friday Funny

I don't know why, but I feel like this is exactly the kind of mistake I would make.

February 12, 2021

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• There are some really fantastic nonfiction writing pieces in the 3rd grade hallway.  Way to go everyone!

• 5K made the 100th day of school full of lots of fun and engaging activities that had students excitedly describing them (in detail) to me this week!  

• Teachers reached out to colleagues and me looking for help and to problem-solve.  (See today's PD spotlight to learn more about how awesome this!)

• Students in art making their own designs and "screen printing" them to paper.  They looked so COOL!

• A 1st grader explained how to add 7 and 8 when he doesn't have enough fingers and used the strategy of making 10.  SO AWESOME to hear!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, Feb 15
• PD day  - Spring into Success Summit

• Tuesday, Feb 16
• Milwaukee Bucks attire day

• Wednesday, Feb 17
• Workout Wednesday

• Thursday, Feb 18
• Friday, Feb 19
• Summer School teaching form due

Nitty-Gritty

• Bridges Delivery
• Did you see Kari and Steve bringing that huge pallet to Mrs. O'Toole's room today?  So exciting!  Please let Sue or myself know if you want to help on a committee to organize materials.

• Monday's Spring into Success virtual summit
• Kay sent out an email on 2/10 regarding downloading and accessing zoom for Monday's virtual summit.  Click Here for her handout. You should have received an email today (2/11) with directions on how to access the summit.  Please let me know if you didn't get one.
• Reminder that you can participate in the summit from home.  If you need reliable internet, you can work in the building.  Please be aware though; there will be about 40 people in the building from different companies inspecting the areas of the building that will be renovated, so if you're here there may be distractions depending on where you are at.

• Diffusers
• I am aware of some of the research that has been done on the sense of smell and it's connection to memories, feelings of a calm environment, and emotional well-being.  In fact, I have a diffuser in my home and have used it often for some of those specific reasons.  However, at school it is impossible to contain the fragrance from a diffuser to a single classroom, and it has the potential to spread throughout many rooms of the building.  This can potentially cause significant issues with students and adults in our system. (allergies, sinus issues, asthma/breathing/lung issues, etc.). For this reason, please do not use a diffuser at school.  Thank you for your understanding and if you have any questions, please let me know.

PD Spotlight

This last week I listened to the latest episode from Ted Neitzke on his Smart Thinking podcast.  The topic was about asking for help.  He mentioned a brain study that was done regarding this and how the part of the brain that is triggered when you ask for help is the same sensory area of the brain that is activated when you feel pain.  So asking for help really is painful for some, which is why so many avoid it! On the flip side, offering to help and the person accepting your help activates a part of our brain that relates to pleasure and reward. There are ways to address this and that is what I am hoping we are building here as a team at Dodgeland. The more often we can ask and give help to others, the more we build healthy relationships with those around us and build a consistent climate of working together.  I know that I am not super good at this yet, but I will continue to reflect and work on this. How can this model help our students as well?  I am reminded of a quote that I heard last week while watching a rerun of Criminal Minds: 

Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. ~ James Baldwin

Hmmm, makes you think huh?  (If the Criminal Minds reference seems weird, they end almost every episode with some reflective or inspiring quote.  Ella is a mega fan of this show, and she got me hooked on it too!)

Friday Funny

This week my Friday Funny is a quick story from working with one of our 4K students.  I am learning so much about this age group since starting this job!

Today I was working with a student and I figured out something that I didn't understand or could do very well before. (I don't want to publicly share what it is, but if you ask me I will tell you.  It's just a TAD embarrassing!) Anyway, I told this student that I finally figured out how this works!  I looked at him and said, "I'm learning something new today. Can you see my brain growing?"

He looks at me really seriously and with wide eyes, says, "Yep!  It is growing!"  Then he gives me a smile and says, "Can I learn it too?"

February 5, 2021

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 5K students are so proud of their writing pieces and sharing it with their families!

• Staff helping out others throughout the week.  When we work together everyone feels good and our students benefit greatly!

• 3rd graders were using fraction bars to prove statements about fractions.  They noticed that the bigger the denominator the smaller the fraction bar was. Their math language was so strong!

• 1st graders were playing a fun game in intervention to practice reading high frequency words.  They were so engaged in their learning.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Saturday, Feb 6
• Wrestling Sectional held at Dodgeland 
• (Please do not plan to come in to the building on Saturday.  Due to the sectional meet and the COVID protocols, there are no spectators allowed and a limited number of people will be allowed entry into the building to maintain a safe environment for all.)

• Monday, Feb. 8
• Coloring Contest begins (see below)

• Tuesday, Feb 9
• Wednesday, Feb 10
• WorkOut Wednesday
• Elementary Staff meeting at 3pm @ BlueJeans 9203861003

• Thursday, Feb 11
• Friday, Feb 12

Nitty-Gritty

• Dismissal Next Week
• Next week the weather forecast is calling for very cold temperatures.  This is probably going to increase the number of parents coming to school to pick-up students.  In order to avoid the back up on Hwy 26 that we have had 2-3 times this week, we are going to dismiss bus riders at 2:25pm so that the buses can move to the MS/HS side earlier than normal to avoid back up on Hwy 26. Please help your students remember to take everything with them and to get to the bus quickly and carefully.  
• We will not give notice for parent pick-ups as earlier though because they do not need to arrive earlier.  That would not help us solve this issue.

• Coloring Contest
• Dodgeland High School's Skills USA president contacted me about a coloring contest that they are sponsoring the week of Feb 8.  The sheets will be handed out on Monday and are due on Friday, Feb 12.  This might be an option during any potential indoor recesses this week! :-)

• Read Across America
• This week we will celebrate Read Across America, although in a different way than in past years the week of March 1.  Cathy has a special menu planned for March 2 in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday.  If you would have any ideas for dress up days that week, please let me know.  

• Blended Learning Expectations
• At the elementary level, a letter has gone out in the mail and in the last newsletter regarding blended learning.  It seems like there may be some confusion for elementary parents. I will share another update with all families that explains that blended learning is for students quarantined, ill with communication for participating in blended learning or unique situations where students have been approved to be online.  Elementary teachers do not have to be logged on to BlueJeans for class unless they have students learning online because of one of these reasons.  The blended learning has been utilized for other reasons in the past semester and it has been problematic for student engagement and habits of school attendance that is not due to being ill or COVID symptoms.

• Bridges Math Training update
• The training dates for Bridges has been set for this summer.  
• 5K-2nd grade is Mon/Tues, June 7-8 from 8am-3pm, 
• 3rd-5th grade is Tues/Wed, June 8-9 from 8-3pm
• 4K teachers are Thursday, June 10 from 8-10am.
• There is a part of each day that is self study and parts that are live on Zoom.  A document will be shared with teachers this involves with specific details, but wanted you to have the dates for you to schedule now.

Friday Funny

Is anyone else a fan of the old cartoon, Dexter's Laboratory?  My oldest daughter, Lexi, LOVED this show when she was a kid and it was one of the few that I could sit through with her.  When I saw this meme, it made me giggle.  If you don't know this show, you should really check it out!  :-)