December 1, 2023

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Teachers advocating for students and their needs in their classroom through email, conversations or discussions with their team.  I always want to hear these things.  I may not have the answer right away, but I always want to hear about it so that we can find a solution together.  I don't want any of us to feel alone in difficult situations!

• Shout out to Brad Modaff and his attention to detail, creative ideas, and hard work to get the technology parts and set design of the musical ready for the kids.  And all this in addition to keeping us going with our school day and the technology needs we all have!

• Shout out to Mrs. Rollins for seeming to know exactly when she needs to bring Watson in to the office for the young and old kids.  They both make us smile and help us calm right down!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, December 4
• Bus Duty: Schweitzer, BCaine, O'Toole, Braunschweig (4K/5K playground)
• Extra Duty sheets due to Jenny's mailbox
• Fundraiser night at Pizza Ranch in Beaver Dam from 4-8pm towards the German HS students traveling abroad next year.

• Tuesday, December 5
• No Social Media signs ups this week - BUT if you have one, feel free to send it in!
• Coach Maggie from Playworks will be in the building (10-2pm)
• SEL Data mtg for Grade 5K from 12:05-12:55pm
• Paraprofessional staff meeting in the IMC from 3:15-3:45

• Wednesday, December 6
• Academic Data mtg for 5th grade from 12:35-1:25
• Workout Wednesday

• Thursday, December 7

• Friday, December 8
• Let Trisha Caine know if you want to participate in the door decorating activity by the end of the day

Nitty-Gritty

• District Social Media Archiving
• This is a reminder to read Mr. Modaff's email from November 30th carefully.  It is very important that if you have a social media account that is related to any group, activity or grade in the district that it is archived appropriately to comply with Public Records Laws.  In order to do this, there are steps that must be taken.  Read his email carefully to see what to do and if you have questions, please let him or myself know.

• Hot Lunch Numbers
• To help Natalie in preparing for lunches, if you or any other adult in the class/building are planning to eat hot lunch, please send her an email indicating that so she can account for it during the meal preparation.  Thank you in advance!

• Staff Birthdays
• I realize that we are almost halfway through the year, but this week, someone suggested to me that I add birthdays to the staff announcements for the adults in our system.  Unless you tell me that you do not want your birthday mentioned in the staff announcements, I will start doing this next week.

• Winter Concert Rehearsal (recess changes too!)
• For your planning, please note the rehearsal schedule for your grade below.
• Dec. 11, 8:45-9:15am for grades 5K, 2, 4
• Dec. 11, 9:30-10am for grades 1, 3, 5
• Recess that day will be as follows:
• 9:00-9:15 - 4K, 1, 3, 5 (supervisors are: 4K - Mook, Ehlenbeck, 1,3, 5 - Schweitzer, Chambers)
• 9:15-9:30 - 5K, 2, 4 (supervisors are: Schweitzer, Zastrow, Wedel)
• NO 9:30 recess

TechKnow Tip

• Tis the season... You may be spending more time online shopping, and with that comes the increased potential for phishing scams!  HERE is an article from the United States Postal Inspection Services about "Fake USPS Emails". This "Delivery Failure Notification" can come from an email or text message. So what can you do to protect yourself?
• 1. Did you actually order something online and are awaiting delivery?
• 2. Check on your orders or packages directly from the purchase site, verification email, or with a verified tracking number. Tracking numbers can be put into websites such as usps.com, ups.com, fedex.com, or track.amazon.com. Remember, this is not an exhaustive list.
• If you do receive a message about a failed delivery that you believe to be valid, contact the post office directly. Try to have your tracking number handy.
• If you are sending packages to loved ones, share with them any tracking numbers and estimated time of arrival to help them stay safe too.

Friday Funny

I was going to have my Friday Funny be about poor Lexi and her difficulty with painting straight lines. The rectangle window on the set was 'Just a bit' crooked! Of course, after she works on this for a substantial amount of time, Brad says, "You know, we could just nail 2x4's that are painted instead!"  Lexi took it in stride as they then showed her a nifty tool called a level!  However, I am not going to use that since I have now been called up from the minor league to operate a spotlight during the show on Friday only.  This is what they say to me, "It's so easy.  It's easy to learn, You don't need lots of practice!!"  Well, I say "HA" to that!  

I have a significant height disadvantage for this process and then Brad says, don't touch the red button, you don't need it, so what do I do?  I accidentally move it while I'm trying to open the shutter.  Then I freak out because I probably wrecked something now, but can't figure out what just happened.  Plus, I couldn't hear the show and still listen to Brad and Ella in this earpiece thing. The sound of the fan of the light is in my ear and then they say, just follow the script on the iPad so you know when the spotlight is needed.  I publicly apologize to Lexi for teasing her about a rectangle, because the things that Brad and Ella think are so easy, are definitely NOT!  My plan for Saturday is the "game" below!