March 25, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Many of our students were struggling behaviorally this week, but so many of you continued to support them and allowed them to start fresh each day.  

• Teachers providing opportunities for students to prepare for the Forward Testing to help relieve anxiety when the test comes up next month.

• Students' talking about what they want to be when a grown up and different careers they were learning about in GG as well.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• March 28-April 1 - Spring Break
• Rest, Relax, Enjoy :-)

• April 1-April 3
• Building will be closed to all from 1pm on April 1through 3pm on April 3.  Please plan accordingly.  (Although I hope you are enjoying your spring break so much that this won't affect you at all!)

Nitty-Gritty

• Technology Spring Cleaning (Reminder message from the Tech Department)
• Trash those old digital files before saving to the cloud!  Check out the staff resource page for more saving tips or stop by the tech department for a quick one-on-one session.
• Turn off your classroom display by holding down the power button on the board or the remote control. You can give your board a quick clean by spraying a microfiber towel with the pink rejuvenal spray and wiping it down.
• Encourage students to clean their iPad by cleaning yours too! Spray a microfiber towel with the pink rejuvenal spray to clean the screen and the case too.  DO NOT take the iPad out of the case to clean and DO NOT spray directly on the iPad.

• Recess Updates
• To prepare for recess after break, Teresa has created this video for us and our students to help emphasize the expectations for recess, including what to wear for recess.  Please plan to show this short 2 min. recess to kids when we return from Spring Break.

• Forward Testing
• Our 3rd-5th grade students will be taking the Forward exam on iPads from April 11-April 14.  Two of the days will be spent on ELA and the other two will be on Math.  While not all of us are teaching grades that are taking the test, we all need to work together to encourage our students, be flexible with our schedules, and help keep hallways quiet/peaceful during the morning hours of the assessment.
• Our 4th graders must also take Science and Social Studies sessions and will be completing these during the week of April 18th.
• In order to provide small group settings for students that need a smaller setting, it will be an all hands on deck situation. This means that many staff members will be helping to proctor groups and may not be able to do their regular schedule.  

• Rise Intervention
• Friday, March 25 is the last day of this round of Rise.  The interventionists will be testing students next week and meeting with their WIN groups.  The final Rise round will start on Monday, April 18 and will end on May 13th. 

• Summer School
• If you have any parents that have reached out to you regarding the summer school registration process, please refer them to me.  There are far less classes and openings this summer due to the construction and condensed schedule.  This is not typical of Dodgeland Summer School sessions and next year it will have more options.  If you have sent any recommendations home with students, please make sure I have a copy of this list so that I can double check it with the registration portal.

• End of the School Year Packing
• In order to store items for the movement of classes safely, the elementary gym/multipurpose room will be used to place items for teachers who need to totally vacate their rooms for the construction.  Please note in your planning that there will be NO PE classes on Friday, May 27th.  
• This is in addition to the cancellation of art during the week of May 23rd.  The last day of art this school year will be Friday, May 20th.

• Literacy Curriculum Update
• The committee met again this week and discussed the options that have come to our group.  I am aware that there are lots of reviews from teachers, administrators, parents, and publishing companies.  It makes the work so much harder to weed through all of the information to determine what is fact, opinion, or just hype.  I have no interest in just choosing whatever is new and flashiest out there.  I do care deeply about the professional development and training that is available, as well as making sure that there is a focus on foundation skills that is systematic. (Of course, I want there to be time for read to self, as well as instruction in comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and writing.)  At the end of the day, I work with very talented teachers and want you to have the resources to teach and reach our students and their needs, but even more importantly, I want you to feel comfortable and supported during the implementation. 
• I also want to reiterate that there is no plan to implement a new literacy curriculum until the 2023-2024 school year.  However, there are a few teachers who are interested in being part of piloting group for next school year.  If you are interested in this, please make sure to let me know this as soon as possible.  If you join this group, you will be part of the leadership team that will support us during the full-implementation process in 2023. 

• Spring Break
• My plan for the week is work very sparingly in the building and spend time with my extended family.  I will check email sporadically, but if you need me next week, please feel free to call or text me any time.  I sincerely hope you all have a great week.  You all deserve a really great week!

Friday Funny

A 5th grade student came up to me this week to tell me a joke that I thought was clever.  What do you think of it??

"I just lost my typing job.  I missed too many shifts!"  (Get it?  HeeHee)

March 18, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Teachers discussed, explained and decided on priority standards and learning targets today and accomplished so much to prepare for the curriculum work in June.  1st, 3rd and 5th grades - your turn is coming up on May 10!

• Staff members rallying around students that are struggling with emotions and regulation.  They are really lucky to have such caring adults in their corner each and every day!

• A group of 5K students that were so proud of their day they came to tell Michelle and I all about it!

• A fifth grader helping a 5K student to sound out a word for him to write for his "story."  He was so patient!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, March 21
• National Agriculture Week:  Staff Breakfast (see below)
• Bus Duty for the week: Schweitzer, Lauth, Klis
• April events due to Michelle for calendar
• Here's to your bright future!  Wear Neon/Bright Colors
• Jenny in a meeting from 9-10am
• School Board Meeting @ 6:30pm

• Tuesday, March 22
• 5th Gr. Field trip leaving at 8:30am
• Social Media Posts due (Stampfl, Jenkins, Lucht)
• 3K/4K Next Screening planning Mtg @ 1:10-2pm in Elem. conf. room
• Dress for Success: Wear What you want to be when you grow up

• Wednesday, March 23
• Workout Wednesday/Wear any College Gear
• 5th Grade Level Academic Meeting in Elem. Conference room 12:35-1:25pm
• Staff Meeting 3:05-3:45pm in the IMC

• Thursday, March 24
• Achievement Day: Wear Medals/Something you are proud of or Fancy Clothes
• 3rd Grade Field trip leaving at 9am
• 2nd Grade Level SEL Meeting in Elem. Conference room 12:05-12:55pm
• Literacy Curriculum Committee Meeting @ 3:15-3:45pm

• Friday, March 25
• Purple Pride Day
• Please fill in March Students of the Month HERE

Nitty-Gritty

• Mark your Calendars!
• The next 4K-12 staff meeting (for all staff) will be on May 4 in the IMC Learning Commons.  The tech department will have some very important information to share with you regarding the device refresh and updated software.  Please plan to attend and stay for the entire meeting.  It is scheduled to end at 4pm.

• Discovery Ed Resource
• Have you seen the Choice Board resource that is on Discovery Education?  Click HERE to see examples of choice boards.  The tool puts a menu of learning activities together on topics of interest for students to explore.  They can be assigned to students or can be used as a whole group activity as well.

• Literacy Curriculum Committee
• For those that are available and interested (whether you were present at the first meeting or not), please join me to get updated on the next step of discussing curriculum going forward.  I did share the samples I had with each grade level.  If you are interested in seeing it, please ask your colleagues to look through it before Thursday.

• Forward Testing Coming Up
• The testing window for the Forward Exam closes on Friday, April 29.  Our school calendar necessitates that we plan to proctor the test during the second and third week of April so that we still have a week left to do any make up testing.  Given the importance of giving our students the time and environment to do their best, we may need to rearrange specials schedules including recesses duties.  In addition, it will be very important that the entire school is supporting our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.  This will mean that the hallways will need to be very quiet with limited foot traffic.  In addition, it will mean an all hands on deck approach to help provide the best environment for students to do their best.  Thank you in advance for your flexibility for these days.  Watch for an email with more details in the next week.

• National Agriculture Week (3/21-3/25)
• The FFA is celebrating national agriculture week by making breakfast for us.  The food will be ready and served starting at 7:10am on Monday, March 21 in room 312.  In addition, there may be members in the elementary wing on Friday March 25th visiting classrooms of teachers that had responded to Mr. VanEgtern email/google form.

Friday Funny

I believe I have spoken to many of you that found this week (that ends with a full moon, no less) exactly like this meme.  :-). 

March 11, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• I got to sit through a number of IEP meetings in the last week and teachers are doing a great job of starting with strengths when talking with parents.  In addition, they help parents feel like they are a part of a team for their child and their education.  
• Special education teachers supporting one another to help the students of the entire school and the system as a whole.  I love working with such collaborative teams!
• Kindergartners are writing persuasive writing pieces.  I love listening to students explain their thinking and trying to convince their teacher to do something.  
• Data meetings have yielded some high quality conversations to acknowledge the strengths that our students are showing and talking about what we can do next for to address needs.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, March 14
• Bus Duty: Huso, Huelsman, B.Caine
• GG Lesson for week: Start of College and Career Ready (Jobs/How to change the world)
• Newsletter articles due (5th grade and 1st grade)
• Jenny in meeting from 9-10am
• EP training meeting: Document Log in IMC at 3:15pm

• Tuesday, March 15
• Social Media Posts due to Josh (Donovan, Schwoerer, Murphy, Bingen)
• Special Education meeting in Elementary Conference room @ 3:05pm
• Jenny in webinar from 1-3pm

• Wednesday, March 16
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny in meeting from 9:45-11:00am
• 5K Grade Level Data meeting 11:35-12:25pm in Elem. conference room
• Recess Team meeting (Room 120) at 3:05pm

• Thursday, March 17
• Wear Green Day
• Bridges Math Coach visit (See below for more details)

• Friday, March 18

Nitty-Gritty

• Bridges Math Coach Visit
• On Thursday, March 17, we will have rotating subs to cover 5K, 2nd and 4th grade classrooms for 2 hours of time to work with Kris preparing for our curriculum work in June. We will do some ground work on Thursday that will hopefully give us a head start on the goal of completion of priority standards, learning target creation and success criteria for each domain for our math curriculum work. Please bring your assessment binder and any "kid-friendly" standards resources if you have them.  Achieve the Core resources and blank curriculum docs will be ready for each team to use.  Special Education teachers please see me about how you want to participate for the day.
• 8-10am - 2nd grade
• 10-12pm - 4th grade
• 12:30-2:30pm - Kindergarten

• College and Career Readiness Week is coming up
• Next week, the College and Career committee will be sending out an important email describing the planning that they are doing for the week before spring break.  This is a week to help foster conversations with our students to think about their futures and participate in a number of activities.  Thank you to the committee for their hard work!

• Looking Ahead
• The last Seals on Wheels visit is being planned for the week of April 18th.  This visit takes a little longer than the previous visits, so they will be setting up in the Elementary office and going to classrooms, or calling classrooms to get the students that have signed up for this service.

• Americorps Week
• Next week, March 14-18, is Americorps Week!  Please help me thank and celebrate our two Reading Corps tutors at Dodgeland.  Charlotte Schwark and Alexis Uttech work with a number of our students each day.  I so grateful for their hard work and the relationships they are building with our students.  

• Preparing for the Tech Refresh
• Please refer to Christina's email on Wednesday, March 9 regarding directions on how to save your documents/files correctly so that everything transfers seamlessly this summer.  The Dodgeland staff resource link is HERE to read and watch videos.  Watch for an email from me soon with the date/time that you will be meeting with the tech department to check on your saving process to prepare for the end of the year.  If you need support prior to your meeting, please reach out to someone on the Tech Dept team.  They are always ready to help and support you!

• Forward Testing
• Next month, our 3rd-5th graders will be taking the Forward test.  It is very important that our students do their best work and take it seriously.  I am just starting the planning for the testing, but as we prepare as a school to support our students, I wanted to share the 2022 Estimated Forward Testing times.  You may notice that the test times are a bit longer than last year.  Please keep this in mind as you plan for next month.

PD Spotlight

I have talked with many educators this year about how different the year seems to be from what we thought it would be like at the beginning of the year.  I think it's because we thought it would be a more "normal" year, but it really is not.  Almost daily, I can see how the pandemic has affected our students' learning, social skills and emotions.  The pressure that you all feel to help them learn and close gaps probably feels overwhelming some days.  Many of the "tips" that are out there talk about being consistent and following through with what you say.  However, the title of this article caught my eye.  When I read it, it gave me some hope because there were many things on the list that felt more doable to me and it energized me for going forward.  I hope this article does that for you too.

Friday Funny

I feel like this would be a VERY good support group for myself.  I apologize to all of you that have been affected by me this week (and every week this year really).  Anyone else feel this lately?

March 4, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Students enjoyed celebrating Read Across America this week with the dress up days!  Thank you to the committee for their work to organize it!

• 5K students are practicing writing their numbers each day.  This daily practice seems to be helping their number formation and stamina.  I even got to celebrate one 5K student writing to 70!!

• Staff members making appointments to meet with me or sending me emails to share concerns or to ask questions.  I do my very best to be available to you and attentive to your feedback, questions or concerns.

• In the past week, I have received a number of messages, emails or in-person conversations that expressed their appreciation for their child's teacher.  They spoke highly of the work of the teacher and also of their child.  I hope they are telling you the same thing they are telling me!  I know how hard you are working and hope knowing that others notice it fills your bucket!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, March 7
• Bus Duty: Juech, Mook, Lisiecki
• GG lessons for the week: Solving Problems
• Jenny in meeting from 9-10am.

• Tuesday, March 8
• Juniors (Grade 11) eating with 4K/5K students due to ACT
• Social Media posts due to Josh: Miller, Crane, O'Toole, Vertz

• Wednesday, March 9
• Workout Wednesday
• Grade 1 Data Meeting in elem. conf. room, 12:05-12:55pm
• All staff meeting (certified and non-certified staff) in the IMC at 3:15pm.

• Thursday, March 10
• SEL Grade Level meeting (Grade 3) in elem. conf. room, 12:05-12:55pm

• Friday, March 11
• February Citizenship Skills due in grade book

Nitty-Gritty

• New Staff Member
• On Monday, March 7, our new School Social Worker, Ms. Ashley Neis, will start full-time at Dodgeland.  Her office will be located in the Student Development Center on the MS/HS side of the building near Stephanie Nielson.  She will be working with all three levels.  Please help make her feel welcome as she gets to know all of us and our system.

• March 9 Staff meeting Reminder
• The all district staff meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 9 (3:15-3:45pm) in the IMC.  Please make sure that you sign in when you arrive so that we know everyone was able to get the information.  It is important that all staff get these important updates.

• Summer School Recommendations
• Summer School booklets will be coming out the week of March 14.  Please consider which students in your classroom would benefit from an extra few weeks of math and/or reading instruction.  Click HERE for the form. You will need to print the number that you need for your class.  I did include a couple of classes that work more on SEL skills if you feel this would be something to draw your parents' attention to as well. (Please send me an email with the recommendations that you are giving so I can cross-reference the enrollment data.)

• PLTW room. (Rm 102)
• Kari and Steve have been working really hard to get the PLTW lab put back together for us to use again.  As you start to plan for your PLTW modules, if you need to use the lab, please sign it out on the google calendar so that everyone knows when it is available.  Let me know if you need access to the calendar or help signing it out.  Please thank them for their hard work.

PD Spotlight

This week has been unusual in the sense that there were times where all I could think was, "Well, that was strange?!"  A lot of those moments in one day can feel overwhelming.  It reminds me of some research I had read regarding the different types of stress.  The tolerable versus toxic stress is related to whether there is a relationship with someone during those times of stress.  As I think back on my career, I can think of a number of people who have been my trusted confidants when I needed them.  In addition, I tend to use humor and look for joy when I am feeling exceptionally stressed.  I hope each of you know who your confidant is and use them when you are feeling overwhelmed and stress.  Please know that if you need me, I am always available to you as well.

Friday Funny

This week's Friday Funny is a story that Lexi shared with me last week.  Each day, Lexi drives home a couple of students after school.  Last Friday, the siblings were talking in the back seat.  One student was naming all the things that she liked and Lexi was sharing things that she liked.  All of sudden, the sibling said to them both, "Do you know what I really like?" Then he follows it with, "Peace and Quiet!"  HeeHee.  Well played kid, well played!