Friday, October 27, 2023

October 27, 2023

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

  • 3rd graders writing equations for multiplication and word problems and explaining how they knew this would work to solve the problem.  I love the math thinking I get to hear!
  • Staff have shared how much they were able to accomplish on Monday's PD day including the ability to collaborate with each other.  When we plan and work together, we all thrive including our students!
  • 4th grade team had a focused conversation and came up with some ideas of how to address the large number of students that were showing a phonics deficit.  Starting from where they are and providing them instruction in this area will be important for their future success and it was impressive listening to them problem solve together with a number of ideas to address this!
  • 3rd grade teachers provided very specific observations of students' behavior and skills in their classes.  Getting to know our students personalities and also their strengths helps us to move them forward in their educational journey.
  • Shout out to Becky Scholze for providing a fun October activity with the Pumpkin Bones song and activity.  It got them talking and definitely interested! I have answered that question only about 100 times this month!  :-)
  • Shout out to Sam for recreating this flow chart from our handbook in a legible, accurate and so much better way than the one we had.  Click HERE to see the pdf of it.  I'll have paper copies in the office too if you want one.  Watch for an email with the screen recording of how to add log entries to PowerSchool.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

  • Monday, October 30
    • Monopoly Madness event begins
    • Bus Duty: Klink, Lucht, Wedel, Schuett (4K/5K playground)
    • EP Meeting (Optional) Work time @ 3:15 in IMC
    • School Board Meeting @ 6:30pm (Annual Meeting as well)
  • Tuesday, October 31
    • Social Media Posts due to Jessica - Huso, Donovan, Schuett
    • SEL Data meeting (4th gr) in Elem Conf room 12:35-1:25pm
    • Lunch Detention Supervisors
      • 12:00 - Stampfl
      • 12:30- Donovan
      • 1:00 - Bingen
  • Wednesday, November 1
    • New Playworks coach (Maggie) will be observing recess from 9-1pm
    • Junior Coach training/meeting with Coach Maggie from 10-11am
    • Workout Wednesday
    • Academic Data meeting (2nd gr) in Elem. conf room 12:05-12:55pm
    • New Support Staff Duties start:
      • Breakfast: Lexi and Vicky
      • 4K/5K playground/Circle Drive: Karissa
      • PM Parent Pick up: Ann & Sandi
  • Thursday, November 2
    • Vision Screening from 8-12:30, sign up sheet HERE
    • Lunch Detention Supervisors
      • 12:00 - Juech
      • 12:30 - Huelsman
      • 1:00 - Huelsman
  • Friday, November 3
    • Jenny at CESA - returning to the building at 12:00pm
    • Last day of Monopoly Madness 


Nitty-Gritty

  • New Team Member
    • Please help me welcome a new part-time paraprofessional to our team.  She will be working with Shanalyn's team and will be in 5K and 1st grade primarily.  Her name is Bailey Foote.  She has her own business as a photographer as well as working as a respite home health worker for children with significant needs.  We are so excited for her join us.  Her first day is Friday, October 27.
  • Staff Meeting Summary
    • Here is the link to the slides from Wednesday's staff meeting.  We talked about the lunch detention procedures.  We made a few adjustments to help with this process.  The main thing to remember is that all majors should be documented in PowerSchool by the staff member that observed the behavior/incident.  Between Teresa and I we will assign the lunch detentions and communicated with the detention supervisors.  Trisha will have the binder with the information for you to reflect with our student.  A QR code will be on the binder to easily get to the powerpoint slides for walking students through the reflection sheets.  It is in the shared drive or click here to bookmark if you want.
  • Apple TV & Air Play issue
    • Just a reminder of Brad's email regarding the known issue of the Apple TV freezing with the last image from the laptop.  Please remember to disconnect from Apple TV from the Screen Mirroring section before closing laptop or walking away from the room.  Apple is working on a fix for this, but in the meantime, if you have any issues with this enter a Helpdesk Ticket or call ext. 1040.  Do not try to fix it yourself.
  • Line Spots and Lining Up
    • As we talked about in the staff meeting on Wednesday, our students are really struggling to quickly and quietly get lined up for transitions.  One of the reason that we are asking for line spots is to proactively address some combinations in line that may not be great for these unstructured times.  It is okay to have line leader/caboose "jobs" that rotate through students.  The lines do not have to be alphabetical, just done in a way that this becomes their routine.  If it is not working, it would be better to change the line spot to prevent further issues.  Second, if you can please practice and reteach how to quickly line up in their line spots and what they should be doing while they wait.  If you need help, support or have questions, please let me know.  
    • Also, let's work together and not allow students to convince us that we don't need to line up in line spots.  They may say, we don't have to in this class, or at this time, etc.  We are always requiring it, in every location and every time they line up.  Let's be consistent and not be convinced with possible inaccurate information that could be the equivalent of "if mom says no, let's ask dad."  :-)
  • Monopoly Madness
    • Starting Monday, we will be playing Monopoly Madness as a school.  The game will be last 5 days.  Game play is simple: Collect as many game pieces as you can to try to win prizes. Each homeroom class will receive a game board to display on your wall, and your class will play together as a team to collect matching game spaces and win the prizes. If your class wins a prize you will win a corresponding teacher/staff prize.  And if you are a staff member but not a homeroom teacher, don't worry, I will assign you to a class to play along with and win prizes as well!  The prizes include teacher lunch, Goose passes, gift card grab bag, extra prep period pass, Coupon for a duty coverage, and more!
    • Teachers/staff will receive a handful of game pieces each morning for you to award to students for following behavior expectations, being a bucket filler, working hard on school work or any other reason you see fit to reward a student.  
    • Instant Winners will be announced by a short video each day.  If students got a game piece with that number on it, they will win a small prize from the Instant Win Prize Area in the elementary office with Mrs. Pieper.
    • The goal will be to collect as many game pieces as they can to try to cover spaces on the Monopoly Board of the same color.  (Think like the Monopoly game that McDonald's did in the past...)
    • Why are we doing this?  This is about the time where we start to head into the part of the year where we are solidly into routines and may need some reminders, plus it's a good way for us to have a little fun together to build and strengthen our sense of community.  This helps us to achieve our ultimate goal - LEARNING!
  • TA's and Attendance
    • If you have a TA assigned to you for this semester (or next), it is important that attendance is taken for them as well.  However, I recognize that it is not always convenient or feasible to stop what you are doing to take attendance for your TA.  So, in order to get the attendance information correct, but make it less cumbersome, I need you to call the High School office (ext. 1031 or ext 1030) if your TA does not show up to your room at their given time or at least by the end of the day.

TechKnow Tip


Everyone receives those emails that you don't want. You mark them as SPAM or report the emails as Phishing. SPAM emails and phishing emails are both types of unwanted and potentially harmful messages that often end up in your email inbox. However, they serve different purposes and create distinct threats.


What's the Difference: 


SPAM emails are unsolicited and typically aim to promote products, services, or content to a large
number of recipients. They can be annoying and clutter your inbox, but their primary purpose
is usually advertising.

Phishing emails are a form of cyberattack that impersonates entities to trick recipients into
revealing sensitive information, such as login credentials, credit card details, or personal data.

They are deceptive and often disguise themselves as trustworthy sources.



What's the Purpose:


The main purpose of SPAM is to market or advertise products, services, or websites.

They may contain links to commercial websites or offers for various products.

The primary purpose of phishing emails is to deceive and defraud recipients.
They attempt to steal personal information, financial data, or login credentials.

Earlier this week the Tech Department shared further details about SPAM and Phishing emails. It's essential to be vigilant and practice good email etiquette to protect yourself and the district from the risks associated with both types of emails. If you think an email looks suspicious, report it to the PAB (Phish Alert Button) or simply delete the email.


Behavior Specialist Information

Field Trips

It is possible for Teresa to attend field trips as an additional support. If you have students that struggle to follow expectations, please meet with Teresa and/or Jenny ideally two weeks prior to the trip so we can come up with a support plan.


Recess Information

Veteran’s Day Recess

4k - same

5k-2 8:50-9:05

3-5 9:05-9:20

Snack after the assembly or whenever you can fit it in.


Recess Reminders:


PLEASE be on time to your recess duty and stay outside until all of the students have been dismissed. This is a change from last year, when certified staff could go in as soon as the whistle blew. The change is because any of our paras that are outside in the morning are there supporting specific students and are not the "general" supervisors like they were in the past. If you need a bathroom break please ask a colleague for help or call the office for coverage either before or after recess so that we have the adults we need outside during recess.

PLEASE also enforce our playground equipment expectations. 
The behaviors causing the most injuries are: 
  • students running/chasing on the turf/equipment - running/chasing should only be in the tag zones
  • more than one rider and one pusher on the spinning equipment (aside from the volta/merry go round)
  • students climbing up slides and/or more than one student going down the slides at a time.
PLEASE also help reinforce our universal expectations to help with transitions. 
  • Students should ALWAYS be their line spot. Line spots do not have to be alphabetical order; they should be set up so that students are set up for success. Any time students are transitioning they should be in their line spot. 
  • When students line up after recess or lunch, they should be using that time to regulate for learning. Feel free to guide them through breathing exercises, shake downs, to this, or any other calming activity to get them ready for learning. 
  • All times that students are in the hall during learning time, voices should be a level 0 (silent).


Friday Funny

Last weekend, the Huelsman family met to spend a few hours together in West Bend.  We tried a new to us restaurant, did an escape room (successfully I might add) and did some axe throwing as well!  Why is it in the Friday Funny section?  Because it feels like perhaps they took one look at our group and thought, "I don't know if we should mix them in with our regular people!"  The place was packed when we walked in and we waited for a host to help us and seat us.  There were a bunch of TV's showing the Badger game and some very invested fans.  So where do they seat us?  They take us to a side room that is narrow and long and has absolutely ZERO people.  We couldn't see anyone and when they started seating others, they took them to a different room from us.  We blamed it on Mason, since the rest of us are just so sweet and are never annoying!  :-)




Friday, October 20, 2023

October 20, 2023

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

  • Paula and Jessica Shout-Out!  Thank you so much for stepping in for me and the elementary team this week.  I truly appreciate you!
  • Monday night there were a number of parents coming through to speak with you about how their child is doing in school.  In 2 nights, we have met with 90% of the students in the elementary.  That is a lot of teamwork!
  • Staff working together to come up with routines and solutions for how to help a student when they get frustrated during the school day.  When we work together, our students benefit the most.
  • 4th graders doing an SEL lesson where they could apply how we all have different ways of seeing the same thing, and celebrating our differences.  It was so interesting to see the many creative drawings they came up with!


What's Happening at Dodgeland?

  • Monday, October 23
    • No School for Students (Dodgeland Den is open though)
    • PD Agenda HERE
    • Bus Duty this week: Bingen, Lisiecki, Stampfl, Donovan (4K/5K playground)
  • Tuesday, October 24
    • Social Media posts due to Jessica: Turcotte, BCaine, Lucht
    • SEL Data meeting (5th gr) 12:35-1:25pm in Elem. conf. room
    • Nurse Leah out all day for a conference
  • Wednesday, October 25
    • 4K field trip to Busy Barns all day
    • Workout Wednesday
    • Nurse Leah out all day for a conference
    • Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
    • Academic 3rd Grade data mtg 12:05-12:55pm
    • Jenny in virtual training from 1-3pm
    • Staff meeting 3:10-3:55pm in IMC
  • Thursday, October 26
    • Jenny will be at a dr appt in the morning
    • Academic 4th Gr data mtg 12:35-1:25pm
  • Friday, October 27
    • 1st grade field trip to the zoo
    • 1pm Site Assessment for 3K/4K staff and Mental Health Consultant


Nitty-Gritty

  • PD Day on Monday, 10/23
    • A number of you have asked for time to collaborate with one another and plan lessons and so there is time built in to Monday's schedule for you to do these things that will help you accomplish your goals and to reconnect with your teams. If you need to see me, please let me know.  HERE is the schedule for the day.  This could also be a good time to make sure that you have completed the KnowB4 online training modules, complete the Gallup Survey that comes out at 1pm on Monday, and finish up the SAEBRS assessment if you haven't yet.  Don't forget to take some time for your own wellbeing as well between 1:30-2pm.
  • EP Documents
    • If you haven't had a chance to complete the EP documents for Rapid Cycle Feedback or the SLO/PPG and/or survey, please consider doing this soon.  I am doing my best to read through them in a timely manner.  If you have any questions about anything in them, please let me know.  Another optional work session is coming up on October 30 as well.
  • Citizenship Skills
    • If you haven't added scores for your homeroom for citizenship skills, please do so by the end of October.  It is okay if you didn't have any in the gradebook for September, but there should be an "assignment" for October.  If you need assistance with this, please see a colleague or let me know.
  • Phish Alert Button
    • Last week, Brad emailed us information regarding the Phish Alert button in our email.  As we continue to learn ways to be safe online, this tool is another way we can help our system.  Please consider using this if you receive an email that is asking you to take action that has the potential to cause damage to our system.


TechKnow Tip

Happy Digital Citizenship Week! We do so many great things here at Dodgeland that every week could be considered Digital Citizenship Week. Not only do we teach our students grades K-12 the Common Sense Media digital citizenship lessons every year, you all have meaningful conversations with our students about their digital lives. We know that the best way for students to learn about themselves as digital citizens is for adults to demonstrate what a digital citizen is through examples and discussions, as well as reinforcing ideas throughout the year in your content specific lessons. Remember that any of the Common Sense Media lessons can be retaught through the lens of your content specific lesson. Looking for some more resources to use throughout the year? BrainPOP digital citizenship has a variety of short videos that are always accompanied by a quiz and activities. Google’s “Be Internet Awesome” includes interactive lessons accompanied by online games which give students an opportunity to apply their knowledge. Finally, Discovery Education has a great teacher portal which breaks down different topics within digital citizenship and suggests resources to support each topic.


Friday Funny

I came across this online and thought, "This can't be real."  But, then I entered the rabbit hole of the internet and have learned  a lot about these creatures.  I don't know which is more funny, their "smiles" or the fact that I have wasted sooooo much time on learning about these marsupials! Feel like learning more too?  :-)




Thursday, October 12, 2023

October 13, 2023

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

  • Teachers putting together information for parents to guide wonderful conversations with them to work as a team so that our students benefit.  Thank you all!
  • Shout out to Courtney for bringing a great idea of how to display our elementary artists' work in the building for us all to enjoy!  Watch for it in the near future!
  • Shout out to Chris V for using her skills and teamwork to assist with a 4K student during rest time!  Thank you so much!
  • Lately, I have needed to ask some of you to cover a lot of classes or parts of the days for colleagues.  I know this is not convenient, but I truly am appreciative for your help and support so that kids have a great day.  Shout out to Sue, Brenda, Mitch, and Teresa that I feel like I am always asking to help.  Also thank you to Patrick who picks up a lot of extra recesses, lunches, etc (and even a Dodgeland Den duty!).  Thank you to all that I may have missed here.  Please know that it is noticed and appreciated.


What's Happening at Dodgeland?

  • Monday, October 16
    • Bus Duty: Schweitzer, CaineB, O'Toole, Braunschweig (4K/5K playground)
    • Parent Teacher Conferences - 4-7:30pm
    • Last day for the Book Fair 
    • Jenny providing supper for all staff for P/T night
    • No Fruit/Veggie snack today (Moved to Wed and Friday this week)
  • Tuesday, October 17
    • Social Media posts due to Jessica: Lisiecki, Chambers
    • Jenny, Teresa, Amber and Bethany T are gone to a conference
  • Wednesday, October 18
    • Workout Wednesday
    • Unity Day - Wear Orange for uniting against bullying 
    • Jenny, Teresa, Amber and Bethany T are gone to a conference
    • Petting Zoo (Sign up sheet is HERE)
    • 4th Grade Academic Data meeting moved to Thursday, 10/26

    • Thursday, October 19
      • SEL Data Meeting 5K 12:05-12:55pm
    • Friday, October 20
      • SAEBRS assessment is due for grades 5K-5th grade.  Students in Grades 2-5 should also complete My SAEBRS as well.


    Nitty-Gritty

    • SAEBRS and My SAEBRS
      • Please complete the SAEBRS assessment for your homerooms before next week Friday.  This will be done again in Winter and Spring, but this will give us baseline for the beginning of the year.  For students, they will self evaluate themselves as well. Both students and staff should go to FastBridge under Clever.  If you need assistance with this, please let me know.
    • Parent Teacher Conference Night
      • On Monday night, I will provide supper for all of the staff that are working that evening.  All you need to provide is something to drink, everything else will be ready for you after school and throughout the evening.  I know that there is a LOT of work put into these evenings and this is just a small way for me to show my appreciation to you for all that you do for our students and school.  Thank you so much!
    • XPD Registration
      • Did you sign up for the XPD's you plan to attend this school year?  If not, please turn this in ASAP.  Kimi is tabulating these registration pages so that everything is ready for staff to learn new things this year.  There are a LOT of awesome options this school year.
    • KnowB4 Training
      • Did you complete your cybersecurity training yet?  This training takes about 15-20 minutes to complete and is very important for us to continue to learn how to stay safe online that helps us in our professional and personal lives!  Please plan to complete this by Oct 31.
    • Digital Signage
      • If there is an event, or other notices that we need to make sure our students and/or staff know, please get the information or the digital sign document to Sam Santana in the tech department.  He can help make sure that they are on the signs around the building and can even help with creating the signage as well.  This can include recess expectations, reminders of things coming up, etc.  Please see Sam if you have any questions about options for the digital signage and he will be able to help your event/idea come to life!


    Behavior Specialist Information

    Oasis Procedures

    If a student needs an Oasis break, please call the office to see if anyone can come and get them. The Oasis should be locked at all times it is not in use. All of the staff keys open the Oasis. Thanks in advance for helping us keep the Oasis secure. Some of our little loves have been helping themselves to a break.


    Recess Information

    5k-2nd grade (please share with your students)

    Soccer is closed during the morning recess. At the lunch recess, soccer is only open for

    Hot Shot Soccer (one student is the goalie, students line up behind a cone and one at a time

    and take one shot at the goal. If the student makes it, they are the new goalie, if not they get

    back in line to try again) with a junior coach. This change is because students are getting out of

    control and hurting each other.


    TechKnow Tip

    Outstanding news! The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has just made more than 48 million images, videos, and texts available for students as open-source materials. The DPLA provides online exhibits as well as curated sets of primary sources that come with teaching guides. When we use primary sources, we help students relate in a personal way to events of the past and promote a deeper understanding of history as a series of human events. When we use reliable sites such as DPLA or Badger Link, we are teaching our students where to go for quality research, ultimately setting them up for future successes when on their own. Check out the amazing Digital Public Library of America HERE!


    PD Spotlight

    When this article showed up in my email inbox, my first thought after reading the title was "Yeah, right!"  And then I started reading the article and there were parts that spoke right to me!  So then I was hooked and I had to read to see if it had something that would help me.  In fact, I wanted to be able to rely on a strategy, especially on one of those days where I was feeling so exhausted.  Of course, it seems like it might be easier said than done.  However, I share this with you here, because I think it is something that we all need to know these things.  Click HERE to read the article yourself.


    Friday Funny

    And yet, there are so many of you that don't bat an eye at sitting at a tiny chair to do just about anything!








    Friday, October 6, 2023

    October 6, 2023

     Hear Ye, Hear Ye

    • Shout out to Trisha Pieper who went through every single one of the fundraiser slips for us.  I can not thank you enough!
    • Our first SEL and Academic data meetings went well this week!  Thank you for your professional participation in these important meetings.
    • Shout out to Bethany Turcotte, Reilly DuPruis, Brenda Caine, Mitch Wedel, Sue O'Toole and Patrick Schwoerer for helping cover for staff in a number of places around the school.  I truly appreciate your teamwork! 
    • 5th grade students working together to create a jump rope routine in PE.  I love watching our natural leaders come out, but even more importantly is listening to them create together and letting everyone's voice be heard.  It was awesome to see some growth for this group today!


    What's Happening at Dodgeland?

    • Monday, October 9
      • Bus Duty: CaineT, Riege, Juech, Vertz (3K/4K/5K playground)
    • Tuesday, October 10
      • SEL Data meeting for 1st grade in Elementary Conf. room 12:05-12:55pm
      • Social Media Posts due to Jessica: Braunschweig, O'Toole, Mook
    • Wednesday, October 11
      • Seals on Wheels starts in the elementary conference room
      • Jenny in a meeting 8:30-10am
      • Book Fair Starts in the IMC
      • P/T Conference from 4-7:30
      • Pasta Showdown in Commons from 4-7pm, cost $4 for teachers
    • Thursday, October 12
      • 4th Grade Walking field trip from 11am-12:30pm
      • John Schlender will be in the district for those working with him for EP
    • Friday, October 13
      • Picture Retake Day
      • Reading corps meeting which will affect tutoring sessions 9:30-12:30pm
      • XPD registration is due to Kimi


    Nitty-Gritty

    • Watson Wednesdays
      • This year, Christina and her dog Watson, a registered therapy team, will be working in the school district to help support people's social and emotional health, cognitive health and general wellbeing.  You can find more information about how this might support your students/you or schedule time with Watson and Mrs. Rollins using the Staff Resource Page.  Click HERE to get to that page in the IMC Resources tab on the page.  I know that there have been many times where Watson was just what I needed for just a few minutes for a quick brain break!  I encourage you to use this resource if it fits with you or your students' needs.
    • Cracked Screens on iPads
      • We had our first (and hopefully last) cracked iPad screen from a desk lid.  Please remind students of where to store their iPads to avoid this type of situation.  If the iPad is destroyed, there is a cost for replacement, especially if it is from negligence or carelessness.  
    • EmpowerU Family Engagement Option
      • I am sharing with you a resource that we have access to for a limited number of families called EmpowerU Healthy emotions, Happy Families.  It is an online program with 11 lessons that can be done in 15 min. time periods as well as a journal with fun at-home activities and audio calming tools to use as well.  Click HERE to see a summary of the program. Do not introduce to families as that is something that I will do to make sure we have enough, but if you have a family that might benefit from it, please see me. Families that are searching for ideas to help their children with regulation, emotions, stress management and friendship skills, might be candidates for this type of thing.  It is free for parents as we have purchased the subscriptions and parents have access to the course throughout the school year after enrollment.

    Behavior Specialist Information

    Bucket Filling Clarification

    Classes or individual students can earn poms for their class bucket. Specials teachers and paraeducators primarily give the students/class the poms when they notice bucket filling behaviors.


    The main focus right now are:

    • Level 0 voices and walking in the hall.

    • Kind words/actions

    • All of the lockers closed and clean floors outside of the entire class

    • All students focused and engaged in learning.

    • Other bucket filling behaviors can also be included as adults see fit.


    The reason we didn’t give classroom teachers poms is because we know that most of you already have a classroom management/reward system and we didn’t want to override anything within your own classroom; however we will get classroom teachers some poms too so that you can recognize other classrooms for bucket filling.


    Conferences

    Please let Teresa know if there are any conferences you would like her to attend with you and/or if you need any resources for conferences.


    Recess Information

    Bus Duty Procedures

    When you have bus duty, please grab the towels from between the 4k or 4th/5th grade doors and wipe down the swings, slide, and merry go round.


    Please remind the students:

    • In the morning, students are allowed to play on the playground, in the tag zone, or chat with their friends by the class cones.

    • After school 5k-3rd MUST play on the playground, 4th and 5th MUST play basketball, 4 square, or gaga ball, 4k is walking/playing with the Junior Coach/teacher. As soon as staff see the buses come around the corner, blow the whistle and ALL students MUST line up in class lines to be dismissed to buses. Please remind 4th/5th grade they MUST put the balls away prior to lining up for the bus. 


    5k Recess Expectations

    The 5k transition to the large playground has been going well. Thank you for all your help to make that transition go smoothly. 5k students are allowed to be on any of the playground equipment that they can access by themselves. For example, if they are tall enough to go on the monkey bars they can use them, however if they can’t reach them on their own, they should not be lifted up to be able to go on them.


    Now that the junior coach program is running, 5k students may join the junior coaches to play core games. We are also working on updated videos for each of the core games that can be used for reteaching game expectations for any student. Once they are ready, I will share them.


    TechKnow Tip

    As you prepare for Parent/Teacher conferences, keeping a student’s information confidential is required. Teachers should not show a live PowerSchool Gradebook with parents. It is recommended that parents log into their Parent access account to view their students’ progress and grades. If they do not have access to PowerSchool, another option is using PowerTeacher Grade book Reports. PowerSchool Reports can assist you with conversations with your students’ Parent/Guardians. To run an Individual Student Report, take a look at these directions.


    PD Spotlight

    Sue O'Toole shared this article with me and I thought it was VERY helpful.  First it was an easy read, and second, it had some practical pieces of advice.  The article is called "Tips for Calling Parents." It describes 8 specific tips that we can use when we call parents.  We know that parents are an important part of a child's educational journey, so having a strong parent/teacher relationship is only going to benefit our students.  Please read through this article and see if any of these tips would be helpful for your own practice.  I am going to make sure to remember to do number 4 each time. 


    Friday Funny

    Sometimes being vertically challenged is VERY hard and fairly embarrassing for my daughter.  Last night, Ella took me out for supper, (her treat!!) and we were seated in a booth on the far side of the restaurant.  As soon as I sat down, I realized I am going to have a problem.  I could not TOUCH the floor, and it was unbelievably far from my feet.  I couldn't even stretch!  So, I asked the server if we could move to a table where I knew I would be able to touch the floor.  She kindly found us a place, but Ella told me that I am so embarrassing and all I could say, was "At least I won't fall out of the seat when I leave!"  Now that would have been embarrassing!  :-)


    Those pesky too high seats!  :-)