March 5, 2021

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• A 2nd grade student stopped to help a 5K student who was struggling with a knot in her shoelace in the hall.  It was so sweet and kind!

• 4th graders are so engaged in their book clubs right now.  I wish I could sit in with them every day!

• Staff members willing to help out with students struggling to regulate emotions, even if it is not their student.  Thank you for the teamwork!

• Staff members welcoming students that have been absent for a number of days in a row with enthusiasm to let them know they were missed!

• 5th graders telling me the steps to calming down.  Stop, Name your feeling, calm down.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, March 8
• Black top only recess starts

• Tuesday, March 9
• Wednesday, March 10
• Workout Wednesday
• Elementary Staff meeting @ 3:00 @ 9203861003 

• Thursday, March 11
• Coach Jena from Playworks will be here from 8-12 working with 4K/5K students

• Friday, March 12
• Monday, March 15
• PD day

Nitty-Gritty

• Bridges Training Update
• I had an opportunity to talk with a member of the Math center at Cesa #6 this week named Kristine.  She has been working with me on helping me to prepare us for the Bridges implementation.  After sharing with her the PD training that is provided from The Math Learning Center - Bridges, we started talking about the self-study pieces of the training.  Kristine is also a trainer for the Bridges curriculum.  I couldn't resist having another expert, who would be in person, close by during the school year and extremely knowledgeable to help us with our training and learning as well.  What does this mean for the training?  It is the same days, but instead of self study for some parts, there will be a real live person to walk us through it and answer questions.  Below is the schedule again, but added in are the times with Kristine from Cesa 6.
• 5K-2nd grade: 
• Monday, June 7, 8:30-11am (Self-study, Sue/Jenny will be at school)
• Monday, June 7, 12:30-3:00pm (Zoom Session)
• Tuesday, June 8, 8:30-11am (Zoom Session)
• Tuesday, June 8, 12:30-3:00pm (Session with Kristine)
• 3rd-5th grade: 
• Tuesday, June 8, 8:30-11am (Session with Kristine)
• Tuesday, June 8, 12:30-3:00pm (Zoom Session)
• Wednesday, June 9, 8:30-11am (Zoom Session)
• Tuesday, June 9, 12:30-3:00pm (Session with Kristine)
• 4K grade:
• Thursday, June 10, 8am-10pm (Zoom session with Hartford teachers)
• Finally, there are other schools implementing Bridges this next school year.  I did tell Bridges that we enjoy collaborating and would welcome others to join us during the training as well.  There are a couple of teachers that will be joining the Zoom sessions on June 7-8 from Illinois that I know about.  Just keeping you in the loop.

• Important BlueJeans Update
• In order to maintain a safe virtual environment, including prohibiting random people from logging into BlueJeans, there are some changes that will be put into place on all elementary staff's BlueJeans accounts.  These changes will also affect parent and IEP meetings, in addition to students' blended learning environments.
• Moderators will have a default setting where only the moderator can screen share.  If you need to change this, there is a drop down menu next to the screen share button, uncheck the button.  It is safer to leave the default setting on for most lessons though.
• All participants to a meeting will need a passcode in order to log in to the meeting.  Click HERE for an updated video from Christina to describe this added security for the BlueJeans meetings.  Click HERE for a pdf of directions.
• Watch for an email from Brad/Josh next week with a confidential document that lists the passcodes for meeting ID's.  You will want to share this number with students that are logging in to BlueJeans for instruction.

• Recess Information
• This past week, we have enjoyed some really great weather for recess.  However, many of our students think that they no longer need to wear coats, boots, etc.  The snow is melting fast and it is getting muddy, wet and kind of messy!  Students should continue to wear boots outside until the snow is completely melted.
• To help students know how to dress for recess, a general rule of thumb is:  
• If the temperature is below 40 degrees, winter coats should be worn and a hat/gloves will keep them warm if under 32 degrees.
• If the outside temperature is above 40 Degrees, students need a jacket, but it does not need to be a winter coat.  
• If the temperature is above 50, students can go outside with a hoodie/sweatshirt, light jacket, etc.
• Starting the week of March 8, recess will be blacktop only until there is no melting snow and mud left.

• Dismissal Updates
• The buses will move by 2:35 to the MS/HS side each day.  There are some students that are not getting outside early enough to catch the bus before it moves, and have to walk all the way to the other side.  Today I found two fifth graders standing in the commons looking at their cell phone and they barely made it to the buses before they left.  Please have your bus students ready to walk out the door at 2:30, but also that they should go straight there as quickly as they can.
• Parent Pick-up/Walking students can be dismissed around 2:37pm. Please don't send them earlier than that, as I don't want them to be in the way of the beginning of the parent pick up line procedures.
• Lastly, please show this short video to students about expectations during dismissal in front of the building.

• Talent Show
• Last spring, we were able to hold our annual talent show virtually.  This year, we still can not hold the talent show in person, but a couple of people have asked about it. Is there anyone that would be willing to work on a team to put together another virtual talent show.  Perhaps this year we can record students performing their talent at school, or continue to take submissions, or a combination.  However, we will need support in order to make this happen.  Please click HERE to take a survey regarding your interest.

• Forward Testing
• Soon Forward testing planning will begin.  However, there are some changes in the testing that affects the suggested test times.  Click HERE to see a pdf of the changes that were made to these test times.  As soon as more details are finalized, they will be shared.

PD Spotlight

Lately I have spent a lot of time with children that have been struggling to calm down or control their emotions.  I came across this short video that describes for students why they lose control of their emotions.  I find it so fascinating how our brains work, but even more, I find this video gives me the language to help kids understand why this happens and what to do about it.  There is nothing that was totally new to me in the video, but the repetition was such a good reminder of what I know to help me with the kids that I get to see weekly.  They need our help to figure out how to take control of their emotions.  It is a constant battle for all people, not just kids, and they need to know that learning these strategies will help them for a very long time. 

Friday Funny

This week my daughter had to do an assignment where she shared a funny story about herself.  Ella and I had a nice stroll through memory lane trying to come up with a good story for this assignment.  Then, we came across this picture (I have her permission to share), and this picture made us both laugh.  Isn't that the brightest smile ever?!  She has no idea why her dad and I thought it was so hilarious, she just knew she was a pageant queen.  Now that she's 17, she understands the irony of our choice in sash for her Halloween costume!  :-)