April 23, 2021

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Teachers and staff rallying around a student to support their academic growth and problem solve together.  Such great teamwork!

• Coach Jena had another successful visit at Dodgeland!  She may have gotten to see all 4 seasons in one day!  The kids were attentive and all in on the new games she brought and she was impressed by the good things happening at recess here.  I can not wait until we get to add more recess back into their day.

• Some of our virtual students were in the building this week for Forward testing.  It was so great to see them and hear how they miss seeing everyone at school.

• 4K students cheering on their classmates during a game.  This positive self talk is infectious!

• Talent Show Committee recording our students and their talents.  It is so nice to be able to provide this annual tradition, although granted in a different way, for our students and community.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, April 26
• Jenny is gone from 12:30-3:30pm
• School Board meeting @ 6:30pm

• Tuesday, April 27
• Jenny Forward Testing from 9-11am
• Newsletter articles due (5K & 1st grade signed up)

• Wednesday, April 28
• Workout Wednesday
• Elementary Staff Meeting #1

• Thursday, April 29
• Friday, April 30

Nitty-Gritty

• Face Masks
• There are a number of boxes of face masks that have been sent to the school.  I realize that they are not all small ones for some of our kids, but we have seen an increase in students needing them.  If you need a box/package for your classroom, let me know and I will put some in your mailbox or bring to your classroom.

• Make-up Testing
• I have been working on getting all of our Forward Testing completed with our blended/virtual and absent students before the deadline.  The list is definitely dwindling.  I share this with you because if I am MIA, this is probably the reason. Please let Marie know if you need something right away.

• Alternative Compensation Checkmarks
• This year we are not using My Learning Plan/Frontline for the Effectiveness Project.  That also includes the Alt. Comp form as well.  For this year only, please submit your professional development checkmark details on this Google Form.  This submission should be done before June 15.  It will simply ask you to provide the type, date and a description/reflection of the activity.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

• Canva for Education Email
• Quick Plug:  Did you see Christina's email about Canva for Education?  It was sent on Monday, April 19.  Mrs. Johnson is the one who shared about this tool and I use it for a TON of stuff.  In Kay's email, there is a short article describing it.  If you haven't checked it out yet, you may want to do that soon.

• Class list creation
• Many of you have completed the class creator surveys.  If you have not, please do this by May 3rd.  We will be working on class lists as a group in the middle/end of May.  I just want to make sure that we have the information ready for when we get to that point.

• Delivery Trucks
• For everyone's information, delivery trucks will be using the ring road nearest our playground area more often due to the construction in the back of the building.  Since the fence is up, our students will be safe, but wanted you all to be aware of it since we are not used to seeing traffic on that part of the road during the school day. 

• Staff meeting sign ups
• For the next few weeks, I am asking each staff member to sign up for 1 staff meeting.  I'd like to do these in person, but in order to still follow our social distancing and COVID precautions, I will be doing these meetings in small group.  The purpose of the meeting is to get feedback from you all.  Thank you in advance for your time.

PD Spotlight

I subscribe to the Smart Classroom Management blog by Michael Linsin.  Last week, I read a post titled, "9 Ways to be a Smarter, Mentally Sharper Teacher."  When I read the title, I was thinking this is exactly what I need.  There are days where I am so frustrated that I have forgotten something important or let someone down because I missed something that I should have caught.  My thought was, this might have the answers or least ideas to ponder.  And it did.  But not exactly in the way that I thought.  It is really more about Self Care and ways to keep your brain strong too.  I don't know if I agree with everything that he states in his conclusion about pursuing excellence, but I do know that we have one of the most enjoyable careers on the planet, but not every moment is enjoyable.  I thought the ideas here were worthy of my time to read and reflect so that I can continue to enjoy what I do each and every day.  Perhaps there is something here that speaks to you too.

Friday Funny