March 19, 2021

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• A 3rd grader was using such great math talk to explain two different ways to solve a story problem.  The vocabulary was so specific too!

• 4K students are really getting more and more interested in writing.  Their joy is infectious!

• Story problems are being solved all over the building!  It is so impressive to see and hear the math talk happening as students are solving them.

• 5K students are writing a persuasive letter to convince their teacher to share her snack with them. I wonder if they were successful??

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, March 22
• Future is Bright; Wear Neon day for the start of College/Career Awareness Week
• School Board meeting @6:30 in Elementary gym

• Tuesday, March 23
• Wednesday, March 24
• Brief staff meeting @3pm on BlueJeans https://bluejeans.com/9203861003/6177
• Workout Wednesday

• Thursday, March 25
• College Gear Day 
• Newsletter articles and pictures due (EC/4K and 5K, others?)

• Friday, March 26
• Coach Jena visiting recess from 11:30-3:00

Nitty-Gritty

• District Office Entrance Update
• Starting on Monday, April 5, the district office entrance will be closed.  Students and staff will need to enter through the 4K/5K hallway or through the main elementary entrance.  Parents will be notified through the newsletter and Dojo.  Once the entrance is completed, the entrance will be reopened.

• Spring Cleaning
• As the year is coming to a close, many of us are going through our cabinets and classrooms.  Many of you are thinking about how you want to store your Bridges math curriculum supplies and others are looking towards the future with other construction/renovations taking place.  This might mean that you have furniture, supplies, teaching materials, etc. that you no longer need/want.  
• Any furniture that you are looking to repurpose or find a new home for, should be shared with Kimi.  At some point, there will be a google doc for repurposed items that are available for staff and a doc of items to be donated to Haiti.
• However, please do not put materials in the staff lounge at this point.  It gets in the way of social distancing during lunch and limits space for teachers to do their work. If you have materials that you no longer need, please see me and I can let you know if it is a donation item.  

• ViewSonic Boards
• Brad and Josh have started to hang the ViewSonic Boards and will do as many as they can during Spring Break.  The boards will be at the same height as the whiteboards that are in your rooms already.

• Parking
• On Monday, March 22, construction trailers and heavy equipment will arrive onsite.  This means that parking on the far west side lot will no longer be possible.  The elementary and MS/HS lots will be able to accommodate more cars.

• Summer School
• Summer School registration will open on Thursday, March 25 at 4pm.  There are some remedial courses for reading and writing.  If you have students that you would recommend a math or reading course this summer, please communicate this with parents.  Scholars on the Move is a 2-hr course that focuses on reading and math for students entering grades 1-2. Other courses for students entering grades 3-6 have separate reading and math courses. Click HERE for a form to send home with your students with the recommendations.

PD Spotlight

I read this article this week and it made me think of the SEL skills that we talk about each month with our students and reflect on in our own daily lives.  I am sharing it with you because I liked that it not only described some important SEL skills for all people to develop, but also ways that parents (or in our case, teachers) can help students practice using the skills.  Click here for the link online or the pdf HERE.  In addition to practical help, it also made me feel awesome being part of a school system that already emphasizes many of the skills on this list in our school system.  I do believe that over time our students will develop strong SEL skills that they can take with them for the rest of their lives. Thank you for your consistent support of this important teaching and life skill.

Friday Funny

This is from my cousin and right down to the bitmoji.  So funny.