September 30, 2023

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Rise reading intervention began this week.  I got to see teachers introducing brand new curriculum to students and they were very engaged!

• Thank you to so many of you that are stepping in to help out while I was gone this week.  I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate your teamwork!

• 4K students using their fine motor skills to paint some fall pictures with a Q-tip.  I love how focused and proud of their work they were.

• Adults communicating with each other timely and clearly to stay on the same page to make sure students are sure to follow the expectations.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, October 3
• Bus Duty: Crane, Mosher, Murphy
• October Duties: 
• Breakfast: Fobes, Moser
• AM Circle Drive: Amis (near the 4K/5K sidewalk and bike rack)
• PM Circle Drive: Hahn, Turcotte
• Fundraiser packets due
• Electricians will be working in the building this week

• Tuesday, October 4
• Social Media Posts due to Josh: Klink, O'Toole, Schwoerer
• 2nd Grade SEL data meeting in EL Conf. Room from 12:05-12:55pm
• Pyramid Model Training 3:30-6:30pm in EL PLTW room
• Paraprofessional meeting in EL conference room at 3:05-3:45pm (topic is recess this month)

• Wednesday, October 5
• Workout Wednesday
• 5th gr. academic data meeting in EL conf room 12:35-1:25pm
• Emergency Plans should be uploaded/done in your folder in the Substitute Teacher Plans shared drive on Google

• Thursday, October 6
• Virtual Hour with Allison from MyView for Q/A session between 12-1pm
• No Nurse today
• Jenny leaving for a working retreat for the foundation at 3:15pm

• Friday, October 7
• No Nurse today
• September Citizenship grades due in the grade book
• Jenny will gone all day for the foundation retreat

Nitty-Gritty

• Bus Duty - 4K/5K side
• For bus duty for the 4K/5K students, please send students into the building at 7:45am to go to their lockers to get ready for the day.  I have limited number of adults that can come to the playground in the morning to pick up students from outside.  Instead, teachers will be in the hallway to supervise students at their locker and in the classroom.  Now that we have been in school for a month, our 4K/5K students know where their lockers are and will be able to follow a line of students into the building.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

• Playground Visitor
• Jerry Kjornes came across some interesting information I need to share with you all.  He was notified of animal droppings on one of the playgrounds and after checking cameras found out a fox had visited the playground and left his mark.  He would like to remind us that we should not be bringing food or drink to the playground to limit the chance that animals will be drawn to smells to the playground. We can't say for certain what drew this fox to the playground but do want to be mindful that there are animals near our school.

• Social Media Submission Calendar - Community communication
• There are about 8-10 of us that haven't signed up for 4 weeks this year to submit social media posts.  Click HERE to add your name to the calendar.  This year we will use the social media posts rather than submitting articles for a school-wide newsletter.  If you have something you'd like in the newsletter, please let Michelle or myself know.

• Oasis Assistance
• If anyone is available to help organize the Oasis, we will be meeting next week to create distinct areas for the three main areas that we use for the room: Movement, Recharge, and Mood.  If you are interested in helping with this project, please contact Ben or myself.

• Parent Teacher Conferences
• Conferences are coming up in a couple of weeks.  If you have a conference that you would like me to be a part of, please let me know.  I would like to support your students and your work in whatever ways you need.  Just let me know.

• Electrical Work at Dodgeland
• There will be electricians working in the building next week working on the exit signs. They will need to work during the instructional day and will mostly be in doorways.  If you have any concerns or questions, please let Jerry or myself know.

• School Picture Issues
• If you have any students who did not get a picture envelope, or did not receive the pictures they ordered, please let Kimi know in the District office.  We have a small number of students 3K-12 that did not get the pictures that they ordered.  

• Virtual Q/A Session with Allison
• For those that are piloting the new literacy curriculum, Allison will be available online to answer questions between 12-1pm.  If you have questions that you want to ask, please enter them on this Q/A document that I will share with Allison so that she can be prepared ahead of time.  However, if something comes up, feel free to join the virtual drop in session HERE. She will be back in the district on Tuesday, October 25 to come to classrooms and answer questions in person as well.  I will be in the El Conference room at noon on 10/6 if you want to join me there, or you can join from your classroom as well.

Friday Funny

Last weekend, we threw a surprise party for my mom's 70th birthday.  My sisters, who are the planners of the family, put me in charge of wings.  However, they wanted boneless wings, but they don't like sauce so they wanted that on the side.  So because I am who I am, I decided that boneless wings are basically chicken nuggets.  So I made a bunch of chicken nuggets (from frozen mind you) and put them in a crockpot for the party and then brought a bunch of dips for them.  It would have been perfect if my brother would have turned it on when he took the crockpot outside. He did plug it in though, so there's that! So not only did I make the weirdest boneless wings ever, they were cold when we ate too! My niece Sydney is showing off her aunt's culinary skills!  My mom was so proud!

September 23, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Teachers working together to provide support for stressful situations.  These situations are easier for all when we know we have someone else to walk alongside during them.

• As we continue to work on completing district assessments, it's exciting to see some growth and imagine what is ahead for them in school this year.  I can't wait to see their growth!

• Third Graders working through hard work and not giving up.  I love hearing about how proud they are of their work!

• Special Education department working together to help students all across the building. This is an inspiring team!

• Finally - Did you hear that Stephanie Schuett was named the Dodge County Teacher of the Month?  Please help me congratulate her for this honor!  We are so lucky to have you here at Dodgeland Stephanie.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 26
• Reading Corps tutoring begins this week
• Bus Duty: Huso, Huelsman, CaineT(4K/5K playground)
• Movie Character Day
• School Board Meeting @ 6:30pm

• Tuesday, September 27
• Social Media Posts due to Josh: Schuett, Chambers
• Jenny is in a meeting from 8:30-10am
• Pajama Day

• Wednesday, September 28
• Hawaiian Day
• John Schlender will be in the district to meet with staff he will be observing this year. Watch for email with more details if this pertains to you.
• Staff meeting 3:10-3:55pm

• Thursday, September 29
• Western Day
• Paula is out for the day

• Friday, September 30
• Purple Pride Day
• Homecoming Pep assembly @ 1:30pm
• Paula is out for the day
• Elementary Family Watch Party for the Homecoming Parade starting @ 4pm on grass near access road behind playgrounds

Nitty-Gritty

• MyView and Schoology
• Brad worked extremely hard this week to get this in place for us to use the online portions with Schoology. Christina also sat through some long meetings to learn how this works so that she can support us on the usage and implementation of this part as well. Please watch for some information in the next couple of days on how to use Schoology for those using MyView this school year from Christina or myself.

• Did you check out Trisha Caine's email that described some helpful information to help with implementing and planning instruction with MyView?  She shared a site to find mentor text ideas and also reminded us of our subscription to Flocabulary that may help in your planning as well.  I am certain that Trisha would be glad to answer any questions you may have about these resources.  Thank you Trisha!

• EP and Observations
• Now that you have completed the Rapid Cycle Feedback form (due 9/23), we can begin scheduling our first conversations. If you are in your first 3 years of observation in the district, I will be completing your observations this year.  (Remember that we had one year where we suspended all evaluations, so that year was repeated for the purpose of EP only.) Watch for an email to sign up for a time to meet with me about your focus area for this school year.  If you are a continuing teacher that is not in your summative year, it is not required you meet with me, but if you would like to I would be more than willing to meet with you regarding your focus area for the year as well.

• On Wednesday, September 21, Jessica sent an email with resources and details regarding the EP guidelines.  The slides are HERE and the handout is HERE from Monday's meeting that describe the SLO/PPG and survey process.

• Duties - Recess and Lunch and Bus, Oh My!
• It is extremely important that everyone knows what days, times and location their daily or weekly duties are.  Students are still learning routines and expectations.  When we are short supervisors in any of these areas, it makes it much harder for those that are present to remind or reteach students when it is needed.  Students that are not retaught in the moment may create new habits.  Plus, it is very important that there are enough adults there to help with emergencies and keep students safe.  Click HERE to access the chart in our shared drive.

• Intervention and WIN
• Next week, Rise and interventions will begin.  Please watch for an email from the academic interventionists on students that are involved with the interventions.  We will use our Staff meeting time to talk about WIN so that we can begin to put this in place the first week of October.

• Cesa 6 Looking for Volunteers
• The Herb Kohl Educational Foundation is looking for volunteers to evaluate applications for the 2023 awards.  Anyone can be a reader!  You just need a computer and the internet.  Scoring takes approximately 20-30 min. per application.  There is a brief online training is required before beginning.  Click HERE to register to be a reader.  

TechKnow Tip

• There is an amazing new feature on all devices for staff and students! This new feature allows for text recognition on photos. You are able to select text, copy and paste, or translate right from an image. Check this out for more information!

PD Spotlight

I truly believe that active listening is a skill that must be developed.  As a child, (and let's be real, even as an adult still) I was much more of an introvert.  Almost every report card said, "Jenny should speak up more," or "Jenny is too quiet."  My mom and dad never seemed overly concerned about this.  I had a younger sister who had plenty to say and I was more than happy to let her be the spokesperson!  However, what this eventually allowed me to do was to become more observant and hear multiple sides of an issue or situation.  I learned that quietly taking in what others were saying allowed me to learn at higher levels.  While, I may not be a super quiet person now, I still enjoy a conversation with others where they are sharing with me.  So when I came across Daniel Pink's newest Pinkcast video, I wasn't sure what he was getting at.  The title made me think that sharing this with you would send a message that I didn't want.  However, once I watched this 2-minute video, I realized that it fit with my own philosophy and that the title was purely an attention getter for people to click on it.  How do you feel about his three little words strategy?

Friday Funny

I do love watching the clips that Dude Dad puts out, but I think I like them even more when his wife is recorded reacting to them.  This one is about the 5 types of parents at Drop-off.  I don't know if we have any of these at Dodgeland or not!  lol

September 16, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• There were SO SO many patient students this past week for picture day.  For some, this was a long wait, and they handled this very well.  

• Teachers asking great questions about the literacy pilot.  Your professionalism and hard work is noticed and appreciated!

• Adults problem solving together to help students who are dysregulated or struggling with strong emotions.

• A team of people that celebrate with one another over exciting events in each other's personal lives.  Congratulations Ashley!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 19
• Fundraiser starts for the Elementary School - Send packets home today.
• Here is the video for students/parents.
• Effectiveness Project meeting: 3:15-4:15pm (topic is PPG, SLO, Surveys)

• Tuesday, September 20
• Bus evacuation drills before school, students may be later to breakfast/class

• Wednesday, September 21
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny in online meeting from 9:30-10:30 to discuss MyView integration to Schoology

• Thursday, September 22
• Vision Screening in the AM (Click here to sign up for a time.)

• Friday, September 23
• Rapid Cycle Feedback Planning form due

Nitty-Gritty

• IXL Welcome Kit
• Over the summer, there were some changes to the IXL platform.  You may have received an email with information, but in case you didn't, click HERE to read about how to get started and also how other schools utilize IXL in their buildings.  Let me know if you want to talk through any ideas.  (Remember:  IXL is logged in for students through Clever.)

• District Assessments
• Pals will be set up by Tuesday, September 20th for grades 1-2 teachers to begin testing.  4K/5K can begin PALS testing on October 18th.
• Please plan to assess your students with i-Ready and FastBridge (2nd gr) if you haven't already.  This data will be used for WIN groups and for baseline data.  For grades 5K-1, FastBridge testing will be done by interventionists, etc on a 1:1 basis.
• Fountas & Pinnell - Interventionists will be in contact with teachers about which students they will be assessing.  Any others that you need assessments done on can be done individually in your classroom. If you need a refresher on how to give the assessment, please see an interventionist or myself.

• Bus Duty Information
• Please watch this short video from Teresa Chambers explaining the bus procedures in the morning.  One person from each team should be stationed in the 4K/5K playground, the other two will be on the blacktop/big playground.  If one staff member can stand near the arch to remind students to go to breakfast before playing.
• Students going to breakfast will not be dismissed from the commons to the playground after 7:42am as this creates confusion with students lining up for the morning.  Any student that is in the commons finished eating at 7:42, should remain in the commons until 7:45am and then be dismissed to their classroom.

• Recess Re-Boot
• If you haven't signed up for a time for Theresa to come to your classroom to share important information with students (and us), please sign up HERE.  This will help us to continue to provide clear expectations for students' and using our playground equipment appropriately.

**NEW** TechKnow Tip

This is a new section to the Dodgeland Download.  It comes directly from the tech department each week.  Don't you just LOVE a good pun!

• We have a great new tech tool available to all staff members: Novel Effect! Want to try it? If you need any assistance, see Christina!

Friday Funny

This is exactly how I've felt all week.

September 9, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Staff pitching in and helping out all over the building with recesses, bus duties, hallway directions, and a million other ways.  I am so very honored to work with such a wonderful group of people.

• Staff providing feedback and ideas of how to solve situations that have risen this week.  I have been so impressed with the hard work and out of the box thinking to make things better for all of us.

• Staff and students reviewing expectations in many parts of their day to help them make them into habits.

• Kindergarten students are LOVING school based on their own conversations! Did you know it is more fun than Disney World?!  :-)

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, Sept 12
• Picture Day - We will start in the morning with our youngest grades.  Photographers will be using the stage.
• Mailbox Buddies pizza party at 12:30 in the PLTW room (See Sue O/Christina/Mitch for more details on participants)
• EP (Effectiveness Project) meeting in the IMC - 3:15-4:15pm
• Last day that the Story Walk will be Set up for classes to visit.  
• Bus Duty: Bingen, Juech, Vertz

• Tuesday, Sept 13
• Jenny will be in a meeting from 8:30-10am
• Social Media Posts due: Palen, Juech, Zastrow
• Paraprofessional staff meeting 3:05-3:45pm - bring a device please in Elem. Conf. Room
• 6pm - 5th/6th grade Trojan Jr home football game

• Wednesday, Sept 14
• Workout Wednesday
• Staff Meeting - IMC 3:15-3:55pm (bring a device)

• Thursday, Sept 15
• Friday, Sept 16

Nitty-Gritty

• Friday Book Give Away
• Starting at 1pm, Christina is going to set out books for students to take home and KEEP that are from the discarded book room books or from the Reeseville Public Library.  Please let your students know about this and/or take them past the tables to pick out books.  There will be books in all three gathering areas.

• Dodgeland Pilot Padlet
• Click HERE to go to the padlet of resources for those that are piloting the MyView pilot this school year.  Please use Allison for any questions you have throughout the school year and we have a virtual check in scheduled for October 6th for anyone that wants to connect with her about questions you have or to pick her brain about concerns you are having.

• Social Media Posts
• Have you signed up for 4 weeks to submit posts to Josh Kjornes for our district FaceBook page?  Please do this before the end of the week.  HERE is the sign up sheet.

• District Assessments
• The intervention team will be coming around next week to assess students in reading and math in 1:1 sessions.  This data will help determine WIN groups, RISE intervention and also instructional needs for intervention.  i-Ready and FastBridge and PALS should be ready soon for you to complete in your classrooms as well.

• Morning Duty Changes
• This week Bethany/Mandy have been supervising the 4K/5K playground before school.  However, starting next week, we are going to have to make some changes.  We are going to need at least 2 people on the blacktop/big playground, 1 person on the small playground, and hallway supervision for students transitioning.  This means that I am going to have to rework the Bus Duty chart going forward.  I will share this out when I finish it.

• Breakfast:  Students that finish breakfast are exiting the school while teachers are attempting to line kids up to get ready to come in.  Students that finish eating after 7:40am, should stay in the commons until 7:45 and be dismissed directly to the classroom to avoid the transition process happening outside.

• Next, if you are in the hallway, and students are entering the building just before 7:45, please send them to their lockers.  They too hinder the smooth flow of transition by exiting the building while lines are trying to enter or line up to come in the building.

• For morning duty, circle drive PM means that you will need to stand along the curb of the drop off line to assist students and provide supervision.  Any 3K student that gets dropped off should be walked into the building by a parent or a staff member on duty.

• Finally, I am going to apologize for my error in the procedures for entering the building.  I had originally stated that they should enter #2. and then opened the door and ushered them into door #1.  Grrr.  I will be fixing this going forward.  One because we have limited staff to be through the many hallways for supervision, so we need to use Door #2.  I had asked some students to help me with this to make a video regarding this, but I need some more footage from them to help them.  When that is finished, I will share out to show students on Monday.

• Dismissal Changes
• Shout-out to Mrs. Johnson for getting us the coolest signs ever for our after school pick up lines!  In addition, we are going to ask parents to pick up students between the first bike rack and the end of the circle drive towards the MS wing.  This will prevent students from going all the way to the end of the sidewalk and potentially getting hurt or unsupervised at the other end of the campus where buses drive through.

PD Spotlight

I had read lately the effects of a strong parent-teacher connection and relationship is on students in the classroom.  Dr. Susan Sheridan shares that when there is a strong partnership between parens and teachers, children's work habits, attitudes about school and grades improve.  They also tend to have better social skills and fewer behavioral problems.  With that in mind, I came across this article from a Montessori Teacher.  Granted, we do not use this approach in our school, but, the strategies they explain could be used by anyone.  I found them to be helpful.  I know that I have talked to a number of parents this week.  While I don't always get to be the bearer of good news, I still do my best to create partnerships to help our students in school.  Click HERE for some ideas or to confirm what you already have used successful.

Friday Funny

I'm just saying, I would love to see these in real life though!

September 2, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• The retreat this morning was just what I needed this week.  I heard so many of your stories and how you have made a difference to so many in your careers.  I can't wait to watch you all with our students this school year!

• Teachers asking great questions and really diving in to the MyView literacy curriculum.  I am impressed with your work ethic and critical thinking with the implementation.

• Open House was so great!  To the staff that put extra time in preparing for their kids and families, to the staff that pitched in where ever they could that night.  Thank you for all that you do!

• So many hard working adults in the building that are moving classrooms, unpacking boxes, setting up new rooms, and showing resiliency and flexibility all along the way.
  
  

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 5
• Labor Day - No School

• Tuesday, September 6
• First Day of School!!!
• What will you do for Number Corner and Bridges today?
• Bus Duty for the week: Chambers, Schweitzer, Johnson
• Breakfast duty for Sept: Riege, Vicky
• Circle Drive AM: Vredeveld
• Circle Drive PM: Lexi and Andrea W.

• Wednesday, September 7
• Workout Wednesday (It's back.  Every Wed of the year!)

• Thursday, September 8
• Friday, September 9

Nitty-Gritty

• Ipad Orientation
• Remember that iPads should only be given to students once Christina has met with your class regarding iPad usage and expectations.  This will help us to make sure that everyone has had the instruction on appropriate behavior using their iPad.

• Routines/Procedures
• Click HERE to see the slideshow from Tuesday's staff meeting.  Some highlights of things to remember are below:
• 5K-5th grade students eating breakfast will go to the commons area starting at 7:35am, and students in 3K and 4K will go directly to their classrooms when arriving.
• If it is raining or too cold, all students will be directed to the commons for breakfast or directly to their classrooms.
• Please do not begin packing up students early.  School ends at 3pm.  Bus students will be lining up on the playground (sitting behind their bus cone in line) until the bus comes from the MS/HS side of the building.  This will not be until at least 3:10pm.
• If you have a classroom that faces the playground and can see when buses arrive, one suggestion was for teachers to hold them in your classrooms until you see them.  I will leave this up to you.
• If you have bus duty, please go to the playground until we know if we need more help by the circle drive going forward.
• Students waiting for a ride, should sit on the new concrete sidewalk by grades to await for their ride.  Areas will be marked for them.
• Recess Routines - Please watch for updates from Teresa regarding recess videos for students.
• Lunchroom routines - Students will be sitting at seats designated for their homeroom. 
•  In grades 1-3, students should sit boy-girl-boy-girl.  We will attempt to keep Free Friday seating if we can handle it.  
• Students in 4-5 will implement guest pass system when we have routines solid.
• All students should use the bathroom in the commons for grades 4-5.  No one should be stopping in the bathrooms outside the gym on the way back to class.
• Gathering Areas
• The area outside the 5K classrooms should only be utilized by students with a supervisor, including the bench.  Watch for a video from me to teach students appropriate usage of the new furniture.

• Digital Citizenship
• Please look through the digital citizenship lessons to teach this school year and how you might refer back to your grade's skills/lessons throughout the year in your projects.  The more they apply the lessons the more it becomes a part of how they use technology appropriately in all parts of their lives.

• Donation Materials
• On Friday afternoon, we will be packing up any materials that need to be donated and taking them to Goodwill.  If you have materials that no one has claimed from your emails, please bring to the lounge on Friday and place in a box to be taken out.

• School Safety
• Please make sure that you have read Brad's email thoroughly regarding our safety measures at Dodgeland.  There are important things that we all need to be aware of to keep us safe.  These measures are put in place to provide a safe learning environment for us all.  If you have any questions, or didn't see the email, please contact me or Brad.

• Library Lessons
• Library lessons will start the week of September 19th for all classes.  Please mark this on your calendars.  This will allow Christina to have everything ready for all of your students, as well as assist with staff members that need her for tech integration at the beginning of the school year.

• Math Books/Supplies for Bridges
• I sincerely apologize that the books are not going to be here before the first day of school. They are scheduled to arrive on September 7th.  As soon as they arrive and are checked in, I will get them to classrooms ASAP!  If this affects your ability to start on Day 1, I totally get it!

• Purple Purpose Room
• The Dodgeland NHS has started a room that holds supplies for students including clothing, shoes, school supplies, hygiene items, etc.  If you have a student in need, please remember this space/program.  They are taking pride in creating a safe, organized and well-stocked area for our students.  The room is located in the HS in the concession stand hallway, third door on the left.

• First Day
• Please wear comfortable clothes and shoes and Dodgeland apparel on the first day of school next week.  It will be a fun day, but also very busy with lots of walking and standing!  For other details, please watch your email for the checklist of items to go over with students throughout the week.

PD Spotlight

Andraya shared this with me this week and I liked it so much, I thought I would share it with all of you.  The point of this short quiz is to see how you problem solve and work on a team.  I have to say, mine was pretty spot on!  It also could be helpful to know what strengths the others on your team have to help with a high functioning team dynamic.  Click HERE to take the quiz yourself.

Friday Funny

You should never, ever, EVER be afraid of voicing an idea at DES.  I always want to hear it.  But I did think this meme was awfully funny!  (If you don't know what this refers to, you can ask Lexi about it. lol)