February 25, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Staff supporting each other through some stressful student situations.  The relationships we have with each other is what allows stress to be tolerable rather than toxic.

• Staff providing me feedback on concerns or questions they have about important issues going on at school.  I always want to hear feedback about what is happening at our school.

• Problem solving complex issues by collaborating and offering expertise to the group to move forward.

• A 5K student was excited to tell me when George Washington's birthday was.  

• I am starting to see students in the office that are using calm down strategies and spending less and less time returning to their "upstairs brain."  There is still room for growth, but there is progress!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, February 28
• Read Across America Starts - Hat Day
• Bus Duty: Stanton, Hughes, Wedel
• GG Lesson for the week:Handling Put downs (4-5), Making friends (2-3), Handling waiting/worry (4K-1)
• School Board Meeting 6:30pm

• Tuesday, March 1
• Social Media Posts due to Josh: Mook, Ganser, Johnson
• Country Western Day
• Pyramid Leadership Meeting 1-2pm in elem. conf. room
• Student of the Month nominees due

• Wednesday, March 2
• Grade Level data meeting: 2nd grade 12:05-12:55pm
• Sports Jersey Day
• Author visit from 8-3pm (watch email for schedule)
• Jenny in meeting from 9:45-10:55am
• Literacy Night 6-7pm

• Thursday, March 3
• SEL Grade Level Meeting: 4th grade 12:35pm-1:25pm
• Pajama Day
• Students of the Month Announced

• Friday, March 4
• Vocabulary Parade day or book character day for 4K/5K
• Parade starts at 8:15am

Nitty-Gritty

• Student of the Month
• Please fill out your nominee for student of the month for February by Tuesday morning.  HERE is the link. Students will be announced on Thursday, 3/3/22 around 8:15am.

• Security Reminders
• Visitors and families should now be entering the school through door #1.  (There is not a doorbell on door #29 any longer.). At times, people have forgotten. To maintain a secure and safe school, everyone should be entering through door #1.  There have been times when well meaning students/staff have let others in through alternative doors. Please do not let visitors/families into other doors in the wing and talk with your students about this as well.  

• Questions about Construction Plans
• If you think of any further questions regarding packing up classrooms, moving or construction, please enter them HERE. I will answer your questions as fast as I can.

• Read Across America Week
• This year, we are celebrating the diversity of America by reading books from all over our great country! Each day celebrates a region by highlighting books that take place in that region or are written by an author who lives in that region. You will find great books from each region HERE. A red border around the book indicates there is a read aloud video via YouTube or EPIC. A blue border around the book indicates you can check it out in the Sora app. 
• Each grade level will attend a presentation with our guest author, Marla McKenna on Wednesday that will last approximately 45 min for grades 1-5 and 25/30 min. for 4K/5K. The schedule will be shared as soon as I hear back from the author.
• The Vocabulary Parade will take place on Friday, March 4 in the hallways of the elementary wing at 8:15am.

• Literacy meeting Summary
• On Thursday, a group of teachers met with me to look at samples of MyView materials and share positives, questions and concerns about it as well as setting up next steps for moving forward.  The goal is to implement a new literacy curriculum during the 2023-24 school year.  However, we will spend time in the coming months analyzing different options.  There may be a possibility of piloting one next year for those that are interested/willing.  If you have questions regarding anything related to this, please see me or a member from the committee. (Juech, Zastrow, O'Toole, Rollins, Donovan, Braunschweig, CaineT, Klink, Schwoerer). There is always room for more if you want to join.

• Dodgeland Store
• Have you checked out the new Dodgeland Store!  You will find a variety of items - from thermal mugs to jackets - in the store.  The store is open now and ready to accept your orders.  A portion of each sale will be given back to the District.

Friday Funny

My daughter introduced Wordle to me and I am hooked.  Now we compete against one another in the house.  When I came across this meme, it made me laugh. 

February 18, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Teachers and parents connecting all week to work together to help their child to thrive and succeed at school.  Thank you for all the hard work you put into these communications this week.

• A student that avoids math most days wanted to play a workplace game against me this week.  This was totally unprompted!

• So many random acts of kindness were observed all week.  It makes me smile to see others making someone else's day!

• The 5th graders have been working hard on their Iditarod books.  I love hearing students teaching others all their new learning about the Iditarod, as well as their pride in their finished products.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, February 21
• Bus Duty: Schwoerer, Piekarski, Johnson
• Jenny in a meeting from 9-10am
• Rescheduled 3rd gr. academic data meeting in Elem conference room (12:05-12:55pm)
• GG Lesson for the week: Accountability and Responsibility

• Tuesday, February 22
• 3rd Graders: Field Trip in the morning
• Social Media posts due to Josh: Juech, Schweitzer, Lucht, Schuett
• Jenny - Attending a webinar from 3:30-4:30pm

• Wednesday, February 23
• Workout Wednesday
• Bridges Math Coach visit all day - Watch for email early next week
• Staff Meeting 3:05-3:45pm

• Thursday, February 24
• 5th gr. SEL data meeting in Elem. conference rm (12:35-1:25pm)
• Literacy Curriculum initial meeting 3:10pm in Elem. conference room

• Friday, February 25

Nitty-Gritty

• Sectional Wrestling Tournament
• Please be aware that the sectionals wrestling tournament takes place at Dodgeland on Saturday, 2/19.  The school and parking lot will be very full for the majority of the day, so keep this in mind if you plan to work in the building this weekend.

• Mark Your Calendars
• There is an all staff meeting on March 9 at 3:15pm in the IMC for all staff (4K-12 - certified and paraprofessional staff) regarding technology.  No IEP meetings should be scheduled that evening either so that all can attend to hear the important information.

• Literacy Curriculum Meeting
• For anyone that would like to join me to explore possible literacy curriculums for our future, please meet with me in the elementary conference room on Thursday, 2/24, at 3:10pm.  We will be discussing options, comparing them to our current programming, and finally creating a list of must-haves for our school curriculum and our students' needs.

• Victory Nutrition
• Earlier this year, the owner at Victory Nutrition brought tea samples to us to try.  They have now added delivery day/hours to their business.  Every Mon/Wed between 9-11am, they can deliver directly to Dodgeland.  I share this with you as an awareness.  There are a few people around the building that have tried a number of things from their menu.  Click here to see their menu for yourself.

• PLTW - Planning ahead
• The PLTW room is in the process of being straightened up so that it can be used for students for PLTW.  In the near future, you can begin signing out the lab to use with your students again.  Please make sure to plan for what modules you will be doing and in what months you plan to incorporate them.  If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. O'Toole or myself.

• Read Across America coming up
• Read Across America is coming up soon!  The committee is working hard on plans for the week including dress up days. Brenda sent out an email on Monday, 2/14, giving a heads up for dress up days. To plan ahead, each grade will be meeting with our guest author on Wednesday, March 2.  Watch for an email with your grade's time.

Friday Funny

I was talking to my friend on the phone today and she said something that just struck me as very funny.  She said, "You know what ruins a Friday?  When you wake up and realize it is Thursday, and not Friday!"

February 11, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 31 students signed up to audition for the Elementary Musical!  How exciting that there are so many students interested in this extra curricular activity!

• Students are practicing dribbling a basketball in PE.  I love how they are concentrating so intensely!

• 3rd graders were glazing their clay bowls in art and were patient when they were waiting for others to finish with the color they needed for their own project.  I love when I can hear students speaking kindly and respectfully to one another.

• 5K students were working on sequencing a story by identifying what happened in a story they had previously read in the correct order.

What's Happening At Dodgeland?

• Monday, February 14
• Happy Valentine's Day!
• Bus Duty: Klink, Lucht, Zastrow
• GG Lessons: Kindness/Bucket Filling (see below)
• Newsletter articles due (2nd Grade, School Counselor)
• Read Across America Committee meeting 12:05 in elem. conference room
• Mentors/Mentees Meeting, 3:15 in IMC (Year 1-2-3 teachers/mentors)

• Tuesday, February 15
• Social Media Posts due to Josh: Donovan, Ganser, Zastrow

• Wednesday, February 16
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny in a meeting from 9:45-10:55am.
• 3rd gr. level data meeting 12:05-12:55 in the elem. conference room
• Bring your shirt to Trisha if you'd like to participate in Twos-Day

• Thursday, February 17
• 5K SEL meeting 11:35-12:25pm in the elem. conference room

• Friday, February 18

Nitty-Gritty

• Random Acts of Kindness Week
• Thursday, 2/17 is Random Act of Kindness Day.  During Guidance, Mindy will be talking about kindness/bucket filling all week.  Please help encourage students to show kindness to others all week/school year long. Recognize students that are showing kindness in words and actions to help show students which actions should be repeated.

• Updates on Procedures for Recess/Lunch
• Recess Duty and Bathroom Break
• Teachers, please always report to recess on time.  At the end of recess, the support staff will blow the whistle and line up students.  Once students are starting to line up, teachers can go in (unless there is an unforeseen circumstance and more help is needed) to use the bathroom.  The support staff will let the students in and will have the "duty" teachers' class come in last so the "duty" teacher has time to use the bathroom at the end of recess.
• Recess Transitions
• 1st-3rd grade Teachers/Staff:
• In an attempt to have a smoother transition process, 1st-3rd graders will walk to the lunchroom using the maintenance/music hallway as soon as they are ready after recess.  We will no longer be lining up in the hallway after recess and walking down as a group. Junior coaches will be helping in the halls with this new procedure.  At the end of lunch, students will be dismissed directly from their table to walk back to class (or to their special if in 2nd grade) leaving through the doors by the district office.  --1st Grade teachers, please still come and pick up your kids.  They will line up closer to the IMC once you are in the Commons to avoid students rubbing on/picking at the new "We are Dodgeland" mural.
• 4th-5th grade Teachers/Staff:
• To avoid congestion by the district office, 4th and 5th graders should go to lunch using the maintenance/music hallway.  They will be dismissed by table to walk back to class leaving through the district office doorway.
• 1st-5th grade Teachers/Staff:
• Students with power player tickets should still drop off their tickets on the way to lunch.  They can drop off tickets and then walk down the maintenance/music hallway.
• Cones/poles have been set up in the hallway to help students remember to walk on the correct side of the hall in congested areas.  Please help reinforce this concept to allow students and staff to move through the hallway more smoothly.

• Reminder of Sanitizing
• During the last two weeks, we have seen an uptick in cases of pink eye and stomach flu.  Please continue to be diligent about good hand washing and wiping down surfaces in your classrooms.  If you need more cloths or Rejuvenal, please let us know.  These practices can help to limit the spread of these types of viruses.

• Forms 
• In order to streamline processes, you will find most of the forms that you need in the District office on the counter near Kimi.  The only forms that are still in the Elementary Office is Purchase Requisitions, Volunteer Handbooks, and Activity account forms.  If you are looking for any other forms, please see Kimi for help.  This would include field trip forms, timesheets, extra duty forms, and more.

• Virtual Teachers Conferences
• On Monday, 2/7, Brad sent out an email regarding using Google Meet for virtual meetings.  BlueJeans is currently only available for the special education teachers for their IEP meetings.  If you have any virtual meetings next week, please use Google Meet.  Directions are located HERE. In order for it to function properly, you must use the Chrome browser and your district google account.  Families will need to use their personal technology, as the students do not have access to Google Meet on the school devices.  Please contact the Tech Dept if you have any further questions.

• Door #29
• The doorbell has been removed from Door #29 now that the elementary office has been functional for a few weeks.  It is on an automatic timer to be unlocked from 7:35-8 and 3-3:30 each day.  Y-Care parents have been using Door #2 into the Commons.  If you happen to see any visitors at Door #29, please direct them to doors #1 or #2.  The sign outside the building states this change as well.

• Heads up about Sunday, February 13
• Sunday is the youth wrestling tournament at Dodgeland and the building and parking lots will be very full.  Just wanted you to know that in case you were planning to come in to the building on Sunday that parking will be an issue.

• Bathroom Writing
• There has been an uptick in incidents of writing on the bathroom stall walls.  Please reiterate how disrespectful this behavior is not only to our custodians who do not have time to continue to clean this up or repaint, but also to others that use those spaces.  If you can help with increased supervision of the bathrooms, I would appreciate it.  The bathrooms outside the gym (boys and girls) have been defaced the most often at this time.

PD Spotlight

I have been thinking a lot about social emotional skills of students for a number of years.  I believe that students that have strong SEL skills are better able to concentrate on their academics and connect better with their peers.  However, I also believe that COVID has affected students' skills in this area as well.  I came across this blog post that describes 5 activities for elementary students.  You will notice that 2 of the 5 are from familiar places, EveryDay Speech and Playworks!  I thought that the activities would be good for SEL WIN groups whether in small groups or even classroom wide activities.  Check them out to see if they would help your class!

Friday Funny

I did share this with a few staff members, but I was actually speechless at first when this happened.  However, it also tells us that students are listening during library and applying this new knowledge!

"I was meeting with a student about how important it is to keep his hands/feet to himself, that others are asking him to stop and the respectful thing is to stay out of their bubble and not to touch others.  He then told me that he couldn't help it because he was born in 'The Year of the Snake!'  For a few seconds, I wasn't sure how to respond!  :-)

February 4, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• A 5th grader was so proud of himself today.  He kept telling me that he is really started to get this math work! Thank goodness his teacher makes him show his work, huh?  :-)

• Staff members have stepped in to help their colleagues in a number of ways this week.  I appreciate all of you so much.

• Kindergartners were working on reading fluently and with a smooth voice.  They sounded so amazing!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, February 7
• Bus Duty: TCaine, Vertz, Murphy
• GG Lessons: National School Counseling Week
• Jenny leaving at 2pm for a dr. appt

• Tuesday, February 8
• Social Media Posts due to Josh: Lisiecki, Braunschweig, Schwoerer, Ganser
• Jenny in Webinar about FastBridge 12-1pm

• Wednesday, February 9
• Workout Wednesday
• Playworks Coach visit - 11-4pm
• 4th gr. level data meeting 12:35-1:25pm in the elem. conference room
• Staff Meeting 3:05-3:45pm - All staff should plan to attend, including paraprofessionals

• Thursday, February 10
• 1st Grade SEL meeting 12:05-12:55 in the elem. conference room

• Friday, February 11
• SAEBRS and MySaebrs completed by today.

Nitty-Gritty

• SAEBRS/MySAEBRS
• Please have each student in grades 2-5 complete the Winter mysaebrs survey in Clever by Friday, February 11.  For homeroom teachers in grades 5K-5, please complete the winter SAEBRS survey for each student by Friday as well.  If you need to review the directions, click HERE for access to the how-to video from last fall.

• National School Counseling Week
• Next week is our week to show our appreciation for all the ways that our school counselor supports our students and us.  Mindy gets to support all of us and is our resident SEL expert, as well as our internal coach for the Pyramid Model for our 4K program.  Thank you Mindy for all you do!

• CTSO Week
• CTSO stands for Career and Technical Student Organizations.  February 7-11 is the week that our High School students highlight the extra curricular organizations that they are part of and growing and learning in.  As such, they will be sponsoring a coloring contest for elementary students.  The pages will be in your mailbox next week.  A basket to collect the completed pictures will be located in the elementary office near Michelle.  This is totally optional for students.  There will be a winner from each grade.

• Literacy Curriculum
• Last month, I shared with you information regarding a curriculum called MyView.  It has come to my attention that there is another, yet similar curriculum, called Into Reading from a different publishing company.  HERE is a link to read information regarding this program. I know that I have a number of people that are interested in piloting a reading curriculum.  At the end of February, I will be sending out an invitation for anyone that would like to discuss the curriculums, possible piloting options, and planning for the future.  Please watch for this in the coming weeks.

• Field Trips
• Please know that you can begin to plan field trips for your classes in the coming months if you would like.  Please choose trips that fit with what you are teaching/learning in the classroom.  Because we live in this era of COVID, also, research any precautions or requirements that are in place due to the pandemic as well.  There is a field trip form in the office to submit for any field trips that you are considering.  If you have any questions, please let me know. 

• Sub Plans
• Many of you complete sub plans using Google, especially when it is an unexpected sick day.  If you are not able to leave printed sub plans on your desk before you leave, please make sure to share it with Michelle in the office as well.  She is often the person that is handing a key to substitute teachers, and often they ask her about plans.  If she has this in email she can help the subs at the same time.  Thank you in advance for everyone that has helped out so much lately covering classes.  Please don't forget to write them down on your green extra duty sheet as these incidents occur.

• Personal Days
• Now that we are in February, I just want to remind you to plan ahead so that you know when you will be taking your personal day this year.  Below is the details from the Employee Handbook:
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PD Spotlight

Last week, I shared an article related to how to spread positivity while in the workplace.  I have to say that I do try, but I still had moments this week where I just felt annoyed.  (I do need to preface, that most of this has nothing to do with school, but rather home stressors.  However, I carried that baggage to school and I really hope that I didn't affect you or our students with those feelings.)

So I decided to do a little more research about how to help myself with these feelings.  I truly love my job, I feel fortunate to work in a place with so many wonderful people and students, and I do have a pretty awesome family too.  This doesn't mean that I don't get grumpy and I always feel guilty when I take my feelings out on others that have nothing to do with it.  Plus, most of the time I am not annoyed at a person, but rather a situation or frustration of not getting something done.  This article had some simple, yet practical ways to handle these feelings.  I found it helpful.  I thought I would share in case anyone else can benefit from these suggestions as well.  Please know that I am always here to listen, I want to hear your feedback always, and I want to help you feel better when you are getting frustrated or annoyed.  If you need a listening ear, please let me know.

Friday Funny

I wonder if I have a connection with any of you regarding my special skills.  Although, #3 is really just the time for how long to microwave it!  lol