February 3, 2023

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• World Read Aloud Day was so awesome!  There were so many readers in classrooms on Wednesday!  I even got to listen to a 2nd grader reading one of my favorite stories to her class!

• 1st graders making 100 with a given number.  It was impressive listening to them easily telling their teacher how many more she needs to make 100!

• 5K students measuring with their feet (mostly accurate! ;-)) to find out if the rabbit or the squirrel had a longer trip!

• 5th graders enjoying their PLTW unit by "spreading" germs or at least locating the "germs" they spread for the unit.  I love listening to excited voices learning!

• 4K students using math skills to sing a new song in their music class!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, Feb 6
• Bus Duty: Chambers, Schweitzer, Johnson
• Start of the "Souper" Bowl Challenge
• National School Counselor Week
• Jenny in a meeting from 7:15am-8:30am
• Neon/Bright Color Day: School counselors are a bright light for those in need.
• Seals on Wheels will be here all week  (Putting on Sealants for those that signed up.)

• Tuesday, Feb 7
• Social Media Posts due to Josh: Juech, Mosher, CaineT
• Last day to order Autism Awareness T-shirt
• SEL Data Meeting - 2nd Gr, 12:05pm-12:55pm
• Paraeducator Staff Mtg in Elementary Conf Room - 3:15pm-3:45pm
• Crazy Hat Day: School counselors wear many different hats to help all students be successful.

• Wednesday, Feb 8
• PJ/Comfy Day: School counselors help you feel warm and fuzzy.
• Happy 100th Day of School!
• Academic Data Meeting - 5th gr, 12:35pm-1:25pm
• Staff meeting - 3:10pm-3:55pm

• Thursday, Feb 9
• 101st Day of school celebration in 4K
• Be a Friend Day: School counselors help you make and keep friends. Wear yellow to brighten someone's day.

• Friday, Feb 10
• Last Day for Kids Heart Challenge Fundraiser
• The Dodgeland Difference: School counselors make a world of a different to students' academic, social/emotional, and career development. Wear Dodgeland Gear.

Nitty-Gritty

• "Souper" Bowl Challenge
• Thank you to Sue for organizing this again this year!  Sue's message said that she will come around to classrooms each morning to collect the cans for the drive.  Please label the cans for the team they are going towards, Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles.  Sue will let us all know the score throughout the week!  I don't know who will win the Super Bowl, but I do know that the big winner of the "Souper" Bowl will be The Gathering Source!  Thanks again Sue!

• Saying Goodbye
• Lynnae's last day with us will be Wednesday, Feb 8. She has taken a position that is closer to her home. Please help me wish her well in her future endeavors. Interviews for a school nurse will be very soon.  In the interim, there will be a plan for addressing the many things that are done through the nurse's office.  If you have any questions, please let me know.   Best Wishes Lynnae!

• Data Meetings Resume
• This week the grade level meetings will resume for second semester.  The meetings will be slightly restructured to make sure that we have enough time to discuss the universal strategies and the data trends we are seeing.

• College Teacher Prep students
• Next week, you may see some visitors in the building observing in classrooms.  There are 2 people that are working on observation hours for their college courses.  One will be with Ms. Juech in 3rd grade named Alexa Moser.  The other is a parent of three Dodgeland students, Courtney Barlow.  Courtney will be here most Fridays putting in her observation hours and needs to observe a variety of grade levels and subjects. Please make them feel at home as they work towards their own degree.

• Effectiveness Project / Observations
• As part of the Rapid Cycle Feedback process, I will be writing notes into the feedback form in Frontline.  When I do this, it will send an email to you to notify that I completed a section.  Following this, each observation has a section for you to write your reflection above my notes in the Rapid Cycle Feedback Form.  For some of you, I will include the link to my calendar for you to set up a post observation conference as well.  If you do not get the link, but would like to see me, please set up a meeting on my calendar.  My goal is to meet with each staff member after every other observation.  If you have any questions, please let me know.  For those that are working with John Schlender, we will meet for your summative at the end of the year, but I am always open to conversations as well!

• Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Conferences are coming up on Wednesday, Feb 15 from 4-7:30pm.  If there are any conferences that you would like me to sit in on, please let me know so that I can have them on my calendar and don't miss any of them. 

• PD Day Agenda
• Our next professional development day is on Monday, Feb 20.  The Dodgeland Den is open for students that need childcare for the day.  The agenda for the day will be out soon.  Please watch for it in the coming days.

• Autism Awareness T-shirt
• Lisa Knueppel sent out an email last Friday describing the T-shirts that are being sold to staff, students and families for Autism Awareness Month which is April.  Below is a picture of the design.  If you would like to purchase a shirt to wear to school on March 31, please tell Lisa or Jessica Johnson the size and make checks payable to Dodgeland by Tuesday, Feb 7.

• 

TechKnow Tip

Last week Friday, all district devices needed to be updated to the latest software.  The tech department sent out numerous reminders, as well as instructions to do this.  If you have not taken care of this important task yet, the grace period ends this weekend.  Next week, the update will have to be pushed out from the system and it may come at a time that you are in the middle of working on something or at an inconvenient teaching time.  In order to avoid this situation, please make sure that it is taken care of before Monday morning.  Both items will take anywhere from 15-45 minutes to complete. 

PD Spotlight

This week's PD Spotlight is from Daniel Pink and his latest Pinkcast video.  It is less than two minutes long, but I have already used this one word with a student this week.  In fact, as I said the word should, this video came to my mind.  I immediately changed the phrase and it was amazing how different the conversation became.  I truly found it helpful.  Now I wonder where else I can use this tip and in what situations.  Hmmm.

Friday Funny

This week my Friday Funny comes from Ella and Lexi from Dodgeland Den.  Last week, their were 2 4K students in the Den that were playing "Miss Michelle."  They made a little laptop computer out of paper for themselves and then put pencils and pens out like they were sitting at a desk. They even had a sign in sheet for students! Then they told one of the HS student workers that he was making red choices and said, "We are sending you to Miss Michelle in the office!"  SO Darn CUTE!!!