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.