September 8, 2023

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 4K students are getting the hang off traveling through the hallway in line.  It's exciting to meet our new students start their school journey!

• 3K students were sharing about their favorite part of the day and more than a couple said they loved "EVERYTHING". It is awesome to see them enjoy their day at school too!

• Students in every grade are learning and responding well to redirection for lunch room routines.  From which tables are theirs, to standing in line, to learning those numbers to punch in. Thank you to all the teachers that have helped instill those routines this week!

• Nurse Leah has been working so hard getting everyone's medical plans updated, new forms signed, plus being helpful to all of us as the kids returned this week.  If you see her this week, please thank her for the MANY hours she has been spending getting everything organized.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 11
• Picture Day 
• Bus Duty This week:
• Big Playground: Bingen, Lisiecki, Stampfl
• 4K/5K Playground/Circle Drive: Donovan
• Blasting across the street begins
• Last day of the Story Walk for classes
• Fruits and Vegetable Snack starts

• Tuesday, September 12
• Social Media Posts due to Jessica: Zastrow, Chambers
• Paraprofessional staff meeting in IMC - 3:15-3:45pm
• 5th/6th grade Home Trojan Football game @ 6pm

• Wednesday, September 13
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny in a meeting from 8:30-10am
• Staff meeting in IMC from 3:10-3:55pm
• Fruit and Vegetable Snack provided

• Thursday, September 14

• Friday, September 15
• Purple Pride Friday!
• Jenny in a meeting from 10-11am

Nitty-Gritty

• Blasts Starting Monday
• We have been notified that starting Monday, there will be blasting on the land across from the school while they clear the area and prepare it for the housing development coming there.  There will be 3 horns prior to the blast and 1 horn when it is completed.  Please help your students to prevent any panicking/fright related to these noises.

• Copiers/Printer Reminders
• If there is an issue with a copy machine, please notify the Tech Dept at extension 1040 during school hours, or a help desk ticket after school hours.  This includes if it is out of staples, needs toner, or has a jam that can not be easily fixed.
• Please note the labels for each drawer of the copy machine so that it is consistent for all users.
• Construction paper should never be used in the copy machines.
• All TA's that are doing copying for teachers, should be using the machine in the office. If you need a printing fob for them, please contact Christina in the IMC to get one for your TA to use.

• Laminating Services
• Reminder that the High School's SkillsUSA group is able to complete most of your laminating needs for you.  Contact Anna Vitale with questions or to get things laminated. Click HERE to read their flyer.
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• District Assessment Windows Open
• i-Ready and FastBridge testing windows open starting on Monday, 9-11 for all students in grades 5K-5.  The intervention team will also be coming around to do individual probes with students.  In addition, Mrs. O'Toole will be helping to facilitate an automaticity screener for all students in grades 1-5.  This will provide us with information on students that would benefit math fact intervention.  This assessment itself is 4 min. long.
• In grades 2-5, if you'd like F&P assessments done, you will need to complete them in your classrooms yourself.  If you need a refresher on how to give this assessment, please contact a reading teacher or myself.  If you need a Benchmark kit, please see Brenda or Mitch to borrow one. Near the end of the month and in November, they will be assisting with assessing Grades 5K and 1 with the F& P Benchmark assessment.

• Picture Day for All
• On Monday, Sept 11, it will be picture day for all students and staff.  We use the pictures for staff badges as well as for the yearbook. The cameras and photographers will be ready before school for staff, or it is possible for classroom teachers to get their picture taken when they bring the class down as well.  The photographers will be set up on the stage.  We will start with our youngest students and work our way through the grades until everyone has gone.  Trisha P. will be contacting you when it is your class's turn to come to the stage.  Depending on the line, they may be waiting awhile for everyone to get through.  Perhaps bringing a book to read while waiting in line will be helpful??  Other ideas?

• Doors 26, 27, and 29 Reminders
• The doors have schedules for when they are locked and unlocked during the school day according to our recess schedule.  In order to activate the unlock mode when exiting for bus/parking lot duty or recess duty one time and it will remained unlock until school starts, recesses end, or 3:15 at the end of the day.  If no one swipes the fob at the beginning of these time periods, the doors will remain locked. If you have any questions, please let me know.

• Flocabulary
• We have a school wide subscription to Flocabulary to supplement your instruction, as well as provide additional lessons and practice for our students.  If you have not used it before, click HERE for some implementation videos for ideas of how to use this resource.  If you need help logging into the system or setting up classes, let me know or I know that Lindsey, Patrick and Trisha C have used it quite often in the past few years.

• MyView Padlet
• Click HERE to see the padlet full of resources and information for implementing MyView.  Keep track of questions as they come as the coach for MyView is coming to our building on Wednesday, Sept 27 to observe classrooms, and meet with teachers to answer questions and provide feedback.

• Mystery Science
• We have a Mystery Science membership school account.  If you do not have an account yet, please click HERE to sign up.  All staff at Dodgeland can sign up and use the lessons, videos, etc.

• Fruits/Vegetable Snack Reminders
• There will be a fruit and vegetable snack choice in your milk cooler on Monday for each class.  Offer to each student to choose one option for the day for snack.  Left over snack should be returned to the cooler and placed in the hallway.  Natalie and her staff must count the snacks each time to report on for the grant.  Remember this will happen each Monday and Wednesday of the school year.  If you have questions, please let me know.

Behavior Specialist Information

Support Response Plan (link)

When a student is in need of additional support (is having a meltdown in the hall, major classroom disruptions that are not redirectable or physical behavior)  please follow this plan.

Special Education Students

1. Call the case manager first on their classroom phone. If they don’t answer,

call the office and Trisha will page them.

1. Ms. Vertz for K-1st and some 2nd

2. Mrs. Arnes for most 2nd-3rd

3. Ms. Riege for 4th-5th 

1. Trisha - If the case manager is not available, call Mrs. Heun or Mrs. Chambers

2. If a student is in crisis and physical holds are required due to imminent danger

or the responding person needs help or a break, the person on the scene should call for

backup (NVCI trained staff). 

Regular Education Students

1. Call the office and Trisha will page Mrs. Chambers or Ms. Mosher 

2. If Mrs. Chambers or Ms. Mosher aren’t available, Trisha, call Mrs. Huelsman 

3. The first person responding will reach out to Ms. Ashley and/or Ms. Plewa for additional support.

4. If a student is in crisis and physical holds are required due to imminent danger

or the responding person needs help or a break, the person on the scene should call for

backup (NVCI trained staff).

Recess Information

Here are the indoor recess expectations and coverage information.

Please show this indoor recess video to your students prior to the first indoor recess. 

Here is the presentation with video links embedded in case anyone missed the recess presentation or you need to do any reteaching.

TechKnow Tip

Your advertisement here! 
We know you and your students have really enjoyed all the information provided through our new digital signage. This year’s digital signage is found in the halls, on classroom boards, and even as screensavers. The goal of our digital signage is to inform students and staff of all the amazing things happening here at Dodgeland. Here’s what we need from you: any and all information about clubs, organizations, sports, celebrations, and upcoming events you’d like to advertise. Information shared should include a PDF digital poster (Canva is a great tool), pictures, and specific information such as dates and times, can be shared to Sam Santana via email. Be sure to include what school areas you want it advertised in and the time period in which you’d like it visible. The more information you include, the better an advertisement we can provide. If you are creating your own or using Canva, please share as a PNG or JPG format and use dimensions 1024x576 px (landscape) or 835x1080 px (portrait)

PD Spotlight

As I was reflecting on this first week of school, it occurred to me that I am surrounded by the hardest working people on the planet.  The classrooms are inviting, there are conversations about students and their needs, and many proactive measures being implemented to start the school year strong.  The team that we get to work with are highly professional and skilled and it is evident by the way you interact with your students and the lessons you provide.  That being said, one of the things we talked about at the beginning of inservice was how do we show appreciation to others in the workplace.  While I asked you to share with me your preferred method, I thought you might like to know at a high level the summary of our team so that you can show appreciation to others as well.  See the chart below to see that half of us prefer words of affirmation, and another 15% of us like multiple methods.  I encourage you to share your appreciation for your colleagues throughout the school year.  Also, remember our goal this year of acknowledging every staff member (and student) that you meet as you move through the hall, or interact within the building by using the person's name and a greeting of some sort if verbal when possible, or nonverbal smile/wave/etc when you are unable to speak to one another.  This helps us all feel connected to our team and our mission.  While I love summer too, I'm so glad we are back together at school.  The building really is very BORING when you are not here! :-)

Friday Funny

This is my kind of joke and the delivery is SPOT ON!