May 27, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Students were so excited to share about their field trips.  Thank you for all the extra work you put in to provide those experiences for our students.

• Students helping each other when something unexpected upsets a classmate.  I love when students are encouraging each other!

• Teachers putting in extra time to plan celebrations and community activities to enjoy each other and still learn during our last precious hours together.  Thank you for making these days count!

• Teachers being flexible with their plans when weather, student absences, etc affect the original planning.  You have modeled how to problem solve and handle disappointment many times this year, but especially this week!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 30
• Memorial Day - No School - Our bands are performing in parades in our communities and it is a great way to honor our veterans if you are looking for a place to honor them.

• Tuesday, May 31
• Packing Day (7:30-3pm) - This is the last day that we will be allowed in the elementary wing outside of the office. 

• Wednesday, June 1
• Target Based Standard Work - Please meet in the commons at 7:30am

• Thursday, June 2
• Last day of PD
• 5th/6th grade meeting @7:30am in MS classroom 218
• MyView training for teachers participating in pilot from 9-11am in the IMC

• Friday, June 3
• First day of Summer Vacation - Enjoy!

Nitty-Gritty

• Parking lot starting May 31
• On Tuesday, May 31, we all need to park in the MS/HS parking lot and enter the main doors there.  The elementary parking lot and entrance/circle drive will be under construction beginning that morning.  When it is safe to park in the parking lot again, you will be notified through email.

• Packing Day
• May 31st is the last day we will be able to enter the elementary wing (besides the elementary office) for quite a few weeks.  Please make sure when you leave that afternoon that you have collected the things you need for the rest of the week and also for the summer.
• This includes your tech items (including chargers, keyboards, etc) so that they can be turned in for the device refresh as well.
• Finally, if you are a summer school teacher, we will want to put your items for teaching in the MS wing before the end of the day as well so that it is available for you starting on June 6.
• If you have any questions that day, please let me know.

• IXL newsletter
• If you have not seen this monthly newsletter, click HERE.  The newsletter explains some new settings and also some ideas for summer school if you are teaching as well.  We will be renewing our IXL subscriptions for next year as well so the analytic section may be helpful for planning as well.

• PD Day Information (More specific details will be emailed to you on Tues. morning)
• On June 1 and June 2, we will be working on completing our priority standards for our target based standards work and success criteria as well.  If we have additional time, we will begin to identify the assessments that go with each target as well.
• The next step is to modify the excel sheet for Brad to upload for PowerSchool for the grade books. 
• Finally, we will be meeting across grade levels to share our priority standards/learning targets to make sure there is alignment as well.

PD Spotlight

This week a parent of one of our students shared a video about autism with me.  It is just a short 5 min. animated video that I had never seen before, but I loved how it shared this complex subject matter respectfully and in a celebratory manner.  We have many students with these gifts in our building and I truly like how this video highlights what people with autism may feel, how they communicate and what their brains may be doing.  Please click HERE when you have time to watch this 5 min. video.  I'd love to know what you think about it as well.

Friday Funny

Any one else have this feeling? 

May 20, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• A teacher going above and beyond to help a student with SEL skills in the classroom.

• 5K students so excited to perform for their own graduation!

• Staff celebrating student progress in improved behavior with positive language and communicating with families as well.

• The talent show this week was amazing.  A HUGE shout out to the committee who organized a great show, entertained us all night, and helped our students shine on stage!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 23
• Bus Duty: Huso, BCaine, O'Toole
• iPad turn in: Schuett, Juech, Lucht, Huso
• Michelle gone for the day (Brenda Patton will be subbing)
• Jenny in meeting from 9-11am
• 2nd grade field trip to MKE museum
• School board meeting @ 6:30pm
• Grades due by end of the day
• Student of the Month nominations due by 3:30pm

• Tuesday, May 24
• Social Media posts due to Josh: Jenkins, Schuett, Koenings, Stanton
• 2nd grade field trip to Horicon marsh
• Keyboards and hotspots are due to the library today.

• Wednesday, May 25
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny gone all day
• 3rd grade field trip to zoo
• Staff "meeting" (Please pick up an end of the year surprise from me in the office after school!)

• Thursday, May 26
• 5th grade field trip to UW Madison
• 1st grade field trip to zoo
• Jenny in meeting from 10:30-11:30am
• Last day of school for 4K/5K
• PE classes held outside (weather permitting)
• Send Report cards home with students

• Friday, May 27
• Last day of school
• Seniors Graduation walk through the elementary @ 9:30am (Recess will begin following)
• Last day activities (see below)
• No PE classes today
• Lunch schedule change, all grades will eat 30 min. earlier than normal

Nitty-Gritty

• Central Supply Room
• The room is open to all staff using your key fob.  Please pick up any consumable supplies that you submitted at any time before the end of the day May 31 to store in your room.  If your key fob does not open the door, please let Brad or Josh know.

• Student of the Month
• Please fill out your nominee for the month of May by Monday at 3:30pm.  I will announce them on Thursday morning before students leave for their field trips.  Click HERE for the google doc.

• Specials next week
• There are no Art or Library specials the week of May 23.  There will be PE classes through Thursday, 5/26.  However, Thursday's PE class will take place outside so that the gym can be prepped to store classroom materials/furniture/etc during the construction work this summer. Music will continue normally through the week.

• Budget Update
• By the end of the day Monday, you will receive information from me regarding budget amounts and a copy of the requests you gave me.  Please fill out PO's for the things you need ordered this summer and turn in to me before you leave for the summer.  Any activity account receipts you have should also be turned in to me to be reimbursed before summer as well. I will take care of PO's for Planbook, academic tech pieces like IXL, etc., curriculum items, and assessment items.

• Building Tour
• Please mark your calendars for August 28 from 1-3pm to join our community as we open it up for all to see our renovations and new constructions.  The tour and celebration begins with a short ceremony and then time for families and community members to tour the buildings and new spaces.  If you are able to attend, it would be a great opportunity to thank our community for their support. 

• Last Day of School Information
• Recess/Lunch changes:  In order for the kitchen staff to have more time to get the kitchen ready for summer, we are moving our recess/lunch periods up by 30 minutes.  Grades 1-3 will have recess at 11:30, lunch at noon.  Grades 4-5 will have recess at noon, lunch at 12:30.
• Activity Time for Students: A committee of staff met today to work on a plan for the last day of school for students. There will be two blocks of time where we will run 3 stations of activities.  Watch for emails on more specifics.  However, to plan for that day, please note your grade's time intervals. We will be looking for staff to help man each station for all or part of each interval. Please consider signing up to help in one of the rooms.
• Grades 1-3: Rotation Stations will take place from 1pm-2:35pm
• Grades 4-5: Rotation Stations will take place from 10-11:30am

• Class List Information
• This week, teams have met to talk through next year's class lists.  I am sharing the document that is a summary of each grade's list.  This is HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL at this point.  This should not be discussed with students or parents. There may be changes that I need to make over the summer based on incoming students, or students that withdraw, etc.  I will make any necessary changes on this document and within class creator if possible.  Click HERE to see these lists. 

• PLTW Survey
• If you have not completed the PLTW survey yet, please do so as soon as possible.  Your students should also be completing this survey.  The survey is on the home screen of myPLTW page for both teachers and students.

• Supply Lists
• Before you leave for summer break, please make sure that as a team you have reviewed your grade's school supply lists.  Lynn needs to know about any changes so that it can be published and disseminated to local stores and families.  Click HERE to see the previous year's list.

• New Literacy Curriculum training
• If you are implementing the new curriculum next year, the initial training will be taking place on June 2nd.  I will get you the exact times as more information comes to me, but I wanted you to have this in your mind as you are closing out the school year.

• District Assessments
• Please make sure that your classes/students have completed their end of the year testing before the end of the year.  If you need help or support with the testing, please let me or an interventionist know.

• Family Message about Tech turn-in
• Feel free to copy and paste the message below to communicate reminders to your families through Dojo or other means.  It provides a consistent way to make sure families are aware of what is expected regarding these obligations.

• Student iPads will be collected on (enter your turn in date here). To help you prepare, students will be asked to return their iPad inside the hard, gray case with back stand, school issued Apple charging block and cable, and the soft sided, black Max case. If there are any missing or damaged items, students will be charged fines for repairs/replacements. Please do not purchase third party parts and cases, as they will not be accepted and fines will still be issued.

• • iPad - $325

  • Protective case - $36

  • Apple charging block - $10

  • Apple charging cord - $10 

  • MaxCase Carrying Case - $13

Friday Funny

This is many of your life this week and for most of us, next week as well.  The funniest jokes are the ones that have a bit of truth to them!  Who relates?  :-)

May 13, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• I got to witness a team of adults that seamlessly stepped in to help one another with students to support their colleagues during a very stressful situation.  It was so awesome to see the collaboration!

• The target based work this week was filled with great conversations, deep thinking, and lots of completed work.  Great work everyone!

• Students are excited about the results of their end of the year assessments.  It feels wonderful to see their pride!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 16
• Bus Duty: Juech, Mook, Lisiecki
• Jenny in meeting from 9-10am
• 5K grade level meeting at 11:35am re: class lists
• 4th grade level meeting at 12:35 am re: class lists
• Talent Show dress rehearsal: 3:10-5pm
• Beginning of the last week of Elementary Art for the year

• Tuesday, May 17
• Social Media Posts due to Josh: Lisiecki, Ganser
• Public Library Visit (This is your only/last library time this year.)
• 8:15-8:45am - grade 2 & 4K Schuett
• 8:45-9:15am - grade 5K & 1
• 9:15-9:45am - grade 4&5
• 9:45-10:15 - grade 3 and 4K Koenings
• 1st grade level meeting at 12:05 re: class lists 
• Pyramid Model Leadership meeting @ 1pm
• Including class lists discussion
• Talent Show preview @ 2:30
• Talent Show for community @ 6:00pm

• Wednesday, May 18
• Work Out Wednesday
• 4th Gr field trip to MHOEE
• Red Cross Blood Drive (8:30-1:30)- Contact Mr. Mate if you'd like to donate
• Jenny in meeting from 9:45-11am
• 2nd grade level meeting at 12:05 re: class lists
• Academic Interventionist meeting in D.O. conference room @ 3:15-3:45pm

• Thursday, May 19
• 5th gr. field trip to MHOEE
• 3rd gr. level meeting @ 12:05 re: class lists

• Friday, May 20
• 4K field trip to Madison zoo
• 5th grade level meeting @ 12:35 re: class lists
• Reminder:  Grades will be due on Monday, May 23 at 8am.

Nitty-Gritty

• Class List Meetings
• Next week we are going work on creating class lists for next year by grade level.  Each grade is at a different time/day.  For specials teachers, interventionists, special ed teachers, please join if you are able or provide ideas to each grade level prior to the meetings to help with the process.  If your grade's day and time doesn't work, please let me know and we will try to find another time.  See the calendar above for your grade's time.

• KnowBe4 Security Training
• During the past week, you may have received an email from KnowBe4.  There is a link in the email to an assigned training that must be completed by August 26.  It is estimated to take approximately 30 min.  Please mark this email and address safely so that you can complete this task before the start of next year.

• End of year iPad turn in
• Reminder that students will need to turn in ipads at the time you signed up for, including all accessories.  Parents will be reminded on Dojo and Bright Arrow next week, but please include information to your families as well, especially for grades 4-5.  Please consider keeping iPads at school when the turn in day gets closer to avoid missing items on turn in day.

• Talent Show Preview
• In order to spark interest and give students a preview of the talent show that starts at 6pm, there will be a short preview starting around 2:30 in the multi-purpose room.  Please make sure your students are packed up before you bring your class to the gym.

• Summit update - 
• Mark your calendars: the annual Dodgeland Summit that will be held this summer on August 15.  The theme this year is: Rethinking technology through engagement at any age.  The summit will begin with a keynote address by Mr. Keith Mountin.  Watch your emails for more information regarding the other sessions that will be held that day.

• Staff Mailboxes
• At the end of the year, the mailboxes will be moved over to the elementary office workroom.  Please make sure to clean out your mailbox at the end of the year.  One of the stands in the staff lounge, will remain, but will be repurposed.

• Final Report Cards
• Report Cards will be sent home on Thursday, May 26.  In order to meet this goal, final grades will be due on Monday morning.  Report cards will be in draft form on Tuesday.  This will give us a couple of days to be sure everything is accurate and printed in final form before Thursday.  Let me know if you have any questions about this process.  

• PE for the end of the year
• Looking ahead:  Michael Schweitzer will be helping out with a field trip on Thursday, May 26.  There will be PE that day, but it may be a slightly different schedule for the grades still at school that day.  Remember there are no PE classes on Friday, May 27 so that the gym can be used to store items from classrooms starting that day. 

• Last day of school for grades 1-5 - May 27
• Is there any interest in putting together a creative plan for the last day of school for grades 1-5?  We can not have the annual end of the year picnic due to the increased construction traffic and workers on campus, but perhaps we can have something for the kids to celebrate the end of the year?  Please write any ideas or comments you have HERE for us to consider.  If you are willing to work on something, please indicate that as well.

Friday Funny

After the many conversations about word problems that our students are solving in math this year, I came across this meme.  It made me laugh.  I hope it makes you smile too!

May 6, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• The 5th grade band sounded so great in their first concert!  I know there were more than a few nervous students on Monday!

• There were a number of visitors that walked out of the school on Monday night telling me what a great concert it was.  It was nice to watch our students shine!

• I was so impressed by our students' artistic and creative skills as well.  The projects were diverse and so fun to look through.  

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 9
• Bus Duty: Stanton, Hughes, Wedel
• GG Lessons: Growth Mindset
• Jenny in meetings from 8-8:45 & 9-10am
• Jessica will be in the IMC after school for anyone that needs support with documentation logs, etc. for EP
• Boy Scout visitors to each classroom 2:15pm (see below)

• Tuesday, May 10
• Social Media posts due to Josh: O'Toole, Vertz
• Last Math coach visit for Bridges: Target based work for grades 1, 3, 4/5
• Interventionist Meeting in the District Office Conference room @ 3:05-3:30pm

• Wednesday, May 11
• Rescheduled 5K academic grade level meeting 11:35am-12:25pm in elem. conf. room
• Elementary Staff mtg in the IMC at 3:05pm
• Workout Wednesday

• Thursday, May 12
• Class Creator Surveys finished by Noon.

• Friday, May 13
• Last day of Rise Intervention for this year

Nitty-Gritty

• Class Creator
• You should have received an email from Class Creator inviting you to complete surveys about your students this year.  This will assist us with creating class lists for next school year.  Please complete these surveys by Thursday, May 12 by noon.

• Boy Scout Visitors
• Two Boy Scout leaders will be coming to each classroom starting at 2:15pm on Monday, May 9 to share a flyer and a quick blurb to your class.  They will be in and out quickly.  It should take less than 5 min. in each room.  They will be starting at the 4K level and moving on from there.

• 7th Grade PLTW class
• The 7th grade automation and robotics class is nearly done with their "pull toys" and would like to showcase them to elementary students. (They used VEX kits using gears, etc to build them.) Students are available from 1:36-2:19 and from 2:22-3:05 to show them what they have built.  They will be ready to share with students the week of May 16.  If you would be interested in your class participating in this showcase, please contact Ms. Vitale as soon as you can to set up this visit.  How cool would it be for our students to see the next level's PLTW projects!

• Library Lessons and End of the Year planning
• The week of May 9th will be the last week of library classes and book checkout. The week of May 16th, library will be consolidated into one day, Tuesday, May 17th to accommodate our guest visitors, the librarians from our community public libraries. Books will continue to get picked up throughout the week of May 16th and 23rd. Feel free to keep any books that students are using for projects - last day for book pickup will be Wednesday, May 25th. Late notices will be sent home that night to families.
• On Tuesday, May 17th, we have special visitors from our community libraries who will be promoting their summer reading program. Flyers will be given to you for students to take home after the presentation. Below is the schedule for that morning. Thank you for your flexibility as we tried to accommodate our school schedule as well as the schedule of community librarians that are coming to us before the library opens.
• 8:15-8:45am - grade 2 & 4KSchuett
• 8:45-9:15am - grade 5K & 1
• 9:15-9:45am - grade 4&5
• 9:45-10:15 - grade 3 and 4KKoenings

• i-Ready Technical Questions
• There have been a few questions in the past week regarding the progress bar during the test.  Click HERE to see what Curriculum Associates has to say about how that part of the assessment works. (page 2) In addition, the document also answers other frequently asked questions.  I hope this helps.

• Jokes, Riddles, Puns or Funny Stories anyone???
• The Talent Show is looking for some jokes to use and tell during the talent show on Tuesday, May 17th.  They could be jokes that students know and share as well.  Please email or drop them off with RaChelle Lisiecki as soon as possible.

• End of the Year Tech Process
• We will be collecting elementary iPads between Thursday, May 19th-Tuesday, May 24th. Please sign up for a 30 minute slot HERE.
• To prepare for iPad turn in, you may want to encourage some "spring cleaning" with student iPads. This may include deleting any unwanted photos, making sureiCloud storage is properly turned on and backed up, and backing up any documents via Google that are important for the students.  You can find step-by-step directions on the google presentation for grades 4-5.  Also all stickers, tape, and paper labels need to be removed from the iPad case.
• Keyboards and hotspots should be returned to the library by Tuesday, May 24th.
• Please use your discretion on keeping student devices here at school as your class's turn in date draws near. Students will be asked to return their iPad inside the Brenthaven case, school issued Apple charging block and cable, and the soft sided Max case. Please watch your email for a statement that can be used through your normal means as well. (Dojo, etc)
• 

PD Spotlight

This week, Christina Rollins shared a parable that she heard in a virtual conference where Elena Aguilar was speaking.  (It was also in the book she had read previously.). The story is called "Maybe," Said the Farmer.  Below is a copy of the parable.  What spoke to me about this, is the fact that when things change, it is much easier for me to see all the negative and uncomfortable parts of the change.  But this story reminds me to think about the possibility that it has an unexpected positive outcome.  I think I am going to try to develop a "maybe" attitude.  See the parable below.

Friday Funny

This speaks to me and scares my children a lot.  Especially after my spectacular fail at announcing student of the month on Thursday this week!  :-)