April 22, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 5K students are starting to write fiction stories.  One 5K student told me that he was a character in his book, but he could write it about something that didn't really happen.  He just knew about it from watching videos on youtube at home.  I can't wait to read this story!

• Teachers encouraging students to continue to do their best on the Forward.  Many that are doing make-up testing are in a hurry to get the test done as fast as possible, which is not what we need them to do.  Thank you to everyone that is helping to make sure our students finish the tests by the close of the window.

• A 4th grade student was so excited to tell me about her part of the musical and which parts are her favorite.  She told me what to make sure I am watching for when I see it this weekend. Her excitement was contagious!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, April 25
• Bus Duty: Klink, Lucht, Zastrow
• Jenny in a meeting from 9:00-10:00am
• PALS testing Window opens
• GG Lessons: Integrity, playing fairly, & handling name-calling
• School Board meeting at 6:30pm

• Tuesday, April 26
• Social Media Posts due to Josh: Schuett, T Caine

• Wednesday, April 27
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny in meeting from 7:30-8:30am
• Academic 1st grade data meeting in Elem conf rm 12:05-12:55pm
• Staff meeting in IMC from 3:15-4:00pm

• Thursday, April 28
• SEL 4th grade data meeting in Elem conf rm 12:35-1:25pm

• Friday, April, 29
• Student of the Month Nominees due (I didn't get a chance to announce March, so we will do them together in May.)
• Dodgeland Summit survey due

Nitty-Gritty

• Dodgeland Summit
• Last week, Christina sent an email regarding the Dodgeland Summit coming up this summer. Summit is a conference style professional development event to help you get a jumpstart on your year.  The sessions you attend will prepare you for your amazing year ahead, as well as provide you with one checkmark toward your alternative compensation plan, all before our students even enter the building!  This year's summit will take place on Monday, August 15 from 7:45am-12:00pm.  Continental breakfast and snacks will be provided throughout the morning to fuel your learning brain
• Please complete the Dodgeland Summit Form to indicate your interest in attending, possible session topics, and even your participation by presenting a session by Friday, April 29th.

• PLTW survey (students and teachers)
• It is important that you complete (and ask your students to complete) the PLTW survey.  It is located on the home screen of myPLTW app. It is required as part of our award of PLTW grants.  Please complete by May 16th.

• End of the Year Assessments
• The Spring testing windows start on Monday, May 2nd.  Please plan to have your students finish these assessments by the end of May.  This includes i-Ready and FastBridge for both math and reading.  If you need assistance with proctoring a student, please let me know.

Friday Funny

Last week I was in Ms. Mook's Art classroom and they were doing a project about a dragon that eats tacos.  When I sat down at one of the tables, two 4K boys said, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a pet dragon at your house?"  To which, I am now all in on this conversation.  I responded, "I would need it to be a miniature one or it wouldn't fit in my house."  Then.  The conversation got away from me, as it so often does when I engage in a 4K hypothetical conversation.

One boy, L, says, "What would you do if a big dragon came to your house and breathed fire on it and the whole thing burned down?"  I said,  "I guess I would need to find a new place to live."  And that's when the argument started.  

"You can live at my house!" S says.

"No, you should come to my house," said L.

"But my house is really WARM!" S responds.

"Mrs. Huelsman, which one do you choose?" Says L, "You'd really like living at my house."

No matter what I said about how kind it is that they would take me in if a dragon breathed on my house, they wanted to WIN the principal at their house. (I'd like to remind them of this in 5 years, when they would most definitely not want to WIN!). Finally I said, "You know what, I think I would just live at school."  That seemed to appease them.  They probably think I almost live here anyway!  :-)