November 25, 2022

Modified/Shortened Dodgeland Download this week...  Thanks for being understanding!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, November 28
• Bus Duty: Donovan, Lucht, Palen
• School board Meeting @ 6:30pm

• Tuesday, November 29
• Badger Wear Day
• Flu Vaccine clinic in the El. Conf Rm (permission slips went out last week) 8-12pm
• 1st Grade SEL data meeting @ 12:05-12:55pm

• Wednesday, November 30
• Workout Wednesday
• 4th gr. Academic data meeting @12:35-1:25pm
• Staff Meeting 3:10-3:55pm

• Thursday, December 1
• Jenny gone to a Dr. appt until noon
• 2nd Grade SEL data meeting @ 12:05-12:55pm

• Friday, December 2

Nitty-Gritty

• Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
• Have you submitted your photos for the scavenger hunt yet?  The more photos you submit, the more chances you have of winning a gift card to spend on anything you'd like!  Click HERE for the categories. You can submit more than one entry in each category.  Here's how to submit your entry:
• Take a photo of your entry.
• Upload it to the appropriate google folder HERE.
• Label the picture with your last name. (If you submit more than one, number them please.)
• All photos will be used to create a bulletin board in the lounge for you to enjoy as well.
• Drawing will take place during the staff meeting on Wednesday, November 30.  :-)

• Winter Recess Expectations
• Because we live in WI and the weather can't decide what it wants to do, we have this ongoing issue about whether boots and/or snow pants are required for recess.  Because the only thing that is consistent is that the weather will be inconsistent, we will follow these guidelines.  Boots and snow pants will be required to be on the grass areas and the playground equipment.  The turf holds water pretty well and this will help us prevent kids from getting wet and cold at recess.  For grades 1-5, if they do not have these things, they will be on the blacktop only.  For grades 4K/5K, the supervisors discretion will be used to determine whether students can be on the turf without boots/snow pants.  However, if the turf is very wet, students will need to be on the sidewalk area.
• Finally, we have had a number of donations of boots, snow pants, hats, gloves, etc.  If you have a student or family that is in need, please let me know.  We can get them things to use at school and at home if necessary.

• Returning from Thanksgiving Break
• There is a good chance that many of our families visited with relatives over the break.  It would be to our advantage to make sure that we beef up our hand washing routines and our sanitizing routines when we come back.  (Not that we ever really got lax with them, I just want to put a gentle reminder out there again.)

• Welcome Mr. Prod
• Ryan Prod will be joining our staff for the next 12 weeks while Sabrina is at home enjoying her new little one.  Please help me welcome him to our team.  I know you will all make him feel a part of our team and help him with anything that he needs.

• MyView Online Tutorials
• Our Savvas rep sent me this link for online tutorials for a number of on demand training videos.  Feel free to check them out if there is something that you want more support or examples on.

• Wolflink Virtual Learning Programs
• The International Wolf Center in Ely, MN offers a number of FREE programs on their website for all ages.  Click HERE to read about the options and see if they fit with your curriculum and lesson plans for your classes.

Friday Funny on a Tuesday!

This meme reminds me of a story that my grandmother always told about my dad.  He came home late from work the day before the holiday.  My grandma had made 3-4 different pies and had them in a pie rack, covered and stacked in the kitchen ready to take to the family dinner.  My dad came home late that night and chose a pie from the middle of the rack, cut himself a piece and then put it back in the rack without her knowing anything about it.  When she got to the family party, she was LIVID when she went to serve the pie and found that there was a piece missing from a pie.  However, the whole family (and her) knew exactly who had done it.  This is definitely a Larry Schultz move!  Now it makes for a fun story for all of us!

  

November 18, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• You all did a fantastic job during the Lockdown drill this week.  The officer I was with commented on how impressed he was with our students and staff here.  He does these type of drills 12-15 times a year and ours was a very smooth drill!

• Staff coming together for individual students that are going through difficult situations to come up with a plan to work together to help them thrive.  I love listening to the expertise of our colleagues when they problem solve together.

• A special education teacher sharing complicated information to parents going through the evaluation process for the first time.  The teacher was clear and made sure the parents were a part of the process and truly understood the information being shared with them so they could make a decision for their child.  It was truly impressive.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, November 21
• Bus Duty: Crane, Mosher, Murphy

• Tuesday, November 22
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• Social Media Posts due to Josh: Juech, Johnson
• Free Lunch from Grand Canyon University in the D.O conference room
• 2nd Grade SEL Data Meeting 12:05-12:55pm (get your free lunch first though!)

• Wed-Friday - NO SCHOOL!
• Enjoy your break with your family and friends!

Nitty-Gritty

• Rise and HD Word Interventions
• Due to the modifications made to meet students' phonics needs, our Rise/HD Word intervention groups (including those that are using HD Word in WIN) are going to remain constant until at least February 1st.  This way the students have the opportunity to dive deeper into the more advanced phonics skills that are affecting reading progress. If you have students that you are concerned about, that are currently not being seen, please make sure to talk with the interventionists or bring them up at the next grade level data meeting.

• Literacy Coach Visit
• I had to change the literacy coach visit schedule since I was one sub short and also had 2 other partial day sub shortages.  Thank you for being flexible.  I truly appreciate it.

• Next Week's Library Schedule
• Here is the temporary library book checkout for Monday the 21st and Tuesday the 22nd. Thank you again for your flexibility! ~Christina~

• Snow Reminders
• We had MANY instances of students throwing, kicking or unsafely playing with the snow and ice chunks at recess today.  Can you please give a firm reminder that snow stays on the ground before recess on Friday?  Snow is for building with only.  There were too many injuries and luckily there wasn't anything more serious than the bruises and cuts.  Some of those cuts were much too close to major things that would have caused serious problems.

Tech Know Tip

Discovery Education is an educational streaming service that provides downloadable and copyright compliant videos for the classroom. Along with digital content, they have a Spotlight on Strategies (SOS), a plethora of strategies that can be used in tandem with any video content. The goal is to help students actively engage with the video being shown, and this resource has 130 strategies to choose from to assist with that.

Friday Funny

This week I am giving sharing a 5 minute clip of another one of my favorite comedians to watch.  He is a very smart and clever man, but he uses self-deprecating humor in his stand-up routines that I do enjoy.  

I hope this makes you laugh today as well.  :-)

November 11, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• So many of you pivoted quickly when our assembly was canceled at the last minute.  I can not express to you how much I appreciate your ability to go with the flow when it was out of our control!

• Michelle keeping me in line and sane!  (This could be in the blog each and every week!)

• Small groups of students working on reading and math that are so engaged in their instruction they barely notice anyone walking by their table!

• Teachers collaborating to create plans to help students find success throughout the school day and how to allocate resources.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, November 14
• Bus Duty: CaineT, Huso, Huelsman
• Jenny in meeting from 9:15-10:15am
• No Nurse Lynnae for the day

• Tuesday, November 15
• Social Media posts due: Miller, Mosher, Murphy, Braunschweig
• SEL Grade Level Meeting 3rd grade, 12:05-12:55pm

• Wednesday, November 16
• Workout Wednesday
• 5th grade Academic grade level mtg, 12:35-1:25pm

• Thursday, November 17
• Do we dare add in a Packers 
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-9:30am
• Jenny has to leave for dr appt by 3:30pm

• Friday, November 18
• MyView Literacy Coach visit - 8-1pm
• rotating subs will be in the building

Nitty-Gritty

• Dodgeland Apparel
• Looking for some new Dodgeland apparel? Well, you're in luck! The Dodgeland Athletic Booster Club Clothing Sale is open until Wednesday, November 16. Check out the awesome new styles and designs at this link: https://bit.ly/3DI5nOl

• Rescheduled NED assembly
• The NED assembly has been rescheduled for Thursday, December 15.  It will be at the same time, 2-2:45pm.  Please mark your calendars.  Please hold onto the yo-yo forms until then.  

• MyView Literacy Coach Visit
• Allison will be in the building on Friday (11/18) to meet with teams.  I know that she would like to see your classrooms too, but I am struggling to get a schedule where she can see your rooms and also have time to meet with you individually.  For this visit, I created this schedule so that each team has time to ask specific questions with her.

• Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
• Starting on November 15, we will be participating in a gratitude scavenger hunt.  Watch for an email on Tuesday that will describe the "hunt" and how to participate.  The items you find, the more chances you have of winning a gift card at the end of the month.  Plus, we know the research on gratitude and how it helps with stress management and mindset.  Win-Win!  Plus, I love a good scavenger hunt!

Tech Know Tip

Cult of Pedagogy is a great website by Jennifer Gonzalez for all things instruction, classroom management, and technology. She has outstanding blogs, podcasts, and videos about the art and science of teaching. I particularly love her article “What to Do on Lame Duck School Days” where she shares 30 alternatives to movie watching on “lame duck days” such as the days before a holiday break. She has the activities broken down into low, medium, and high-prep to help find a good fit for you and your classroom.

PD Spotlight

The past few weeks I have noticed an increase in unkind behavior and words from more and more students across our building.  These situations seem to be increasing and affecting our students, their families and our classrooms.  I know that it is going to take time, repetition and consistency in order to help our students create habits of being kind to one another.  One way to teach and create a common experience centered on kindness is to use literature.  I came across a site called teaching expertise and it has a number of awesome resources on it.  But it also gives examples of titles to use to help start a conversation about this topic (and others).  There is a great post about books to teach about honesty on this site as well!  Click HERE to see some ideas if you are looking for ways to engage your classroom in a discussion about this as well.

Friday Funny

Oh, so true.  :-)

November 4, 2022

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Mentors and Mentees making plans to observe each other to build their craft.  Please reach out if you want to participate in this activity too!

• A teacher explaining his classroom procedures and instructional practices in a way that helped them to understand the situation better and also come to a plan for moving forward.

• Special education teams working together to come up with ideas and plans to help with students struggling with behavior in multiple settings in the building.

• Staff members sharing all the positive skills and improvements their student has made in the last IEP year.  It brought tears to her eyes!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, November 7
• Bus Duty: Braunschweig, Klink, Zastrow
• Fundraiser Pick up from 3-6pm in the Commons area.

• Tuesday, November 8
• Social Media Posts due to Josh: Palen, Schuett, Jenkins
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• 4th gr SEL data meeting in El conf rm, 12:35-1:25pm

• Wednesday, November 9
• Workout Wednesday
• Staff Meeting 3:10-3:55pm in IMC
• 5K Academic data meeting at 12:05-12:55pm in El conf rm
• Jon Schlender is in the building for those that work with him.

• Thursday, November 10
• Purple Pride Friday on a Thursday!
• NED Assembly from 2-2:45pm in Elem. Gym

• Friday, November 11
• Jenny out until 9:30am
• Before/After School Yo-Yo sale in Commons
• Veteran's Assembly @ 9:30 in HS gym

Nitty-Gritty

• Elementary Parking Lot info
• Many parents need to walk their students into the building in the morning.  In order to make this process smoother, I am asking you to leave the 8 spaces that are around the crosswalk to Door 29 empty for parents. Please see the graphic below to show where these spaces are.

• Lockdown Drill 
• Our first district lockdown drill for this year will be the week of November 14.  This one is announced to staff ONLY.  Please do not share with students that you know the week it is occurring.  However, please remind students of the expectations for a drill like this next week so that they have heard the information before the drill comes up.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

• Recess Information/Updates
• PowerPlayers Returns: Starting Monday, we will be bringing back PowerPlayers for grades 1-5!  Please watch for an email from Mrs. Chambers with a short video explaining the program and check your mailboxes for tickets. Please remember, PowerPlayer tickets should only be given for the target recess skill which will be kindness.

• There have been several students playing "chase/tag/running" games ON the playground.  PLEASE remind students that the only place they should be running is in the tag zone or grass.  We never run on the turf/playground (at 1st-5th grade recess). Again, kids are not in control of their bodies when they are running by the playground and kids are getting shoved into the poles and getting injured.

• Heelys:  Students have started to wear Heelys to recess.  The rule is NO wheels at recess (or in school.) Students are not in control of their bodies and are running into each other.

• NED Assembly
• There will be forms to send home that describes the assembly and includes information about yo-yo's that students can purchase.  The profits made from the sale goes to pay for the next school's performance.  (This assembly is free for the schools they perform in.  They only make money off of yo-yo's that are purchased.). In addition, you will see some posters in the hallway to let kids know about this assembly as well.

• Veteran's Day Assembly
• The Veteran's Day assembly will start promptly at 9:30am.  Please make sure to dress professionally that day as we will have many visitors from our community in attendance that day.  (We can move purple Friday to Thursday next week!). In addition, if you are a specials teacher and normally have a class at that time, you should plan to sit with the group that you have at that time.

• Graham Fletcher Videos
• Did you see Sue's email about the videos from Graham Fletcher.  She has reminded us how important our work is for laying the foundation for math.  The link is HERE for the videos.  A reminder that Sue would be more than willing to debrief about them as well.

• Looking Ahead
• The Dodge County Health Dept will be holding a flu vaccine clinic at Dodgeland for students on November 29.  They will start at 9am and hope to finish all students K-12 before noon.  Students must have a signed consent form returned by 11/22/22 in order to participate.

TechKnow Tip

Have you opted in for text notifications from Dodgeland yet? 

To enhance communication to parents and staff, Dodgeland uses the BrightArrow telephone, email, and text communication system which enables school personnel to notify all households and parents by telephone, email, text, or app alerts within minutes of an emergency or unplanned event. It is also used to communicate general announcements and reminders.

 

To opt-in to text alerts, you may text “YES” to the short code 87569 at any time. You must have your phone number on file with the school to receive text messages. This is an opt-in mechanism, not a subscribe mechanism. Once you opt-in, BrightArrow will send you a confirmation that your phone number is opted-in. Once a phone number is opted-in, all text messages will come from the short code 87569.

 

If you are unsure of the number you have on file, stop by Kimi in the district office. You can always go through the opt-in directions a second time, just in case.

PD Spotlight

Behavior and classroom management continues to be a top priority for many of us throughout each day/week/month. Over the summer I was researching other ideas to help with this piece for myself as well. I cam across the Needs Focused Teaching site. It is from the UK, but the information hits home for me and I appreciate his work. Click HERE to read a blog post that has ideas that you may or may not have tried already. Please make an appointment to see me if you want to problem solve together about a student or situation. You are not alone. Ever. Please reach out to get help for your own sake as well as your students.

Friday Funny

Some of you may not understand this meme. But for those that do, your childhood was probably AWESOME! LOL