November 24, 2023

I hope all of you are getting LOTS of time to rest and play this weekend.  Personally, I just had two of the most relaxing and laughter filled days in months!  Thus, the blog is coming out later than normal! Thanks for being understanding...

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, November 27
• Bus Duty: TCaine, Riege, Juech, Vertz (4K/5K playground)
• Tech Week for Musical - Students in the multipurpose room, music wing, etc for extra time each day this week
• School Board meeting: 6:30pm

• Tuesday, November 28
• Social Media Posts due: Schwoerer, Braunschweig
• SEL Data mtg 1st Gr from 12:05-12:55pm
• Lunch Detention supervisors
• 12:00 - Miller
• 12:30 - Braunschweig
• 1:00 - Schwoerer

• Wednesday, November 29
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny in meeting from 8-9am
• Academic Data mtg 5K from 12:05-12:55pm
• Staff Meeting 3:10-3:55pm in IMC

• Thursday, November 30
• Lunch Detention supervisors
• 12:00-Schuett
• 12:30 - Donovan
• Extra duty Sheets go through 11/30 and due to me by 12/4

• Friday, December 1
• New Support Staff duties start:
• Breakfast 7:35-7:55am - JessicaB, Rose
• AM Circle Drive: Brittany
• PM Parent Pick up: Reilly, BethanyT
• Laptop and iPad device updates should be done by today!
• Elementary Assembly: Elf Musical preview
• Please have your students packed up before you come to the gym to watch. Please start arriving by 2:05 as it will start promptly at 2:10 pm and will end around 2:55pm.
• Musical performances this weekend
• Friday at 7pm, Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 2pm

Nitty-Gritty

• Extra Duty Sheets
• All extra duty sheets for the first semester will include times through November 30.  Please turn in completed sheets to my mailbox by Monday, Dec 5.  These will be paid out on the Dec 15 pay check.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

• Holiday Planning
• As we are now in officially in the holiday season, I want to remind you of a few things as we are planning for this month.  This time of year can be very stressful for some of our families which in turn can cause stress for our students.  Some students come from families that do not celebrate Christmas, but other holidays.  Some students are anxious about whether Santa is coming to their house whether from behavior or from financial hardships from the family.  In addition, the more things go out of our regular routine, the more stressful it can be for some of our students as well.  As you are planning, please make sure to keep the focus on learning and consistent expectations for kindness, respect and behavior.  In addition, as you are planning celebrations, please use the word Holiday in the title rather than Christmas so that it is inclusive of all holidays that are celebrated at this time of year.  In addition, our December calendar will have dress up days for the week before break, but they will be as inclusive as we can but still developmentally appropriate for our students.  If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.  Click HERE to see this year's dress up days.

• Device Updates
• Brad sent out an email a couple of weeks ago with instructions on how to update your devices.  Your MacBooks should be updated to 14.1.1 and the iPads should be at 17.1.1.  Make sure to have this done by December 1, otherwise it may happen at a time that is very inconvenient for your teaching day.  If you need help, the how to videos are below.
• Updating your Laptop - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG2DXkPA93g
• Updating your iPad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps5ZwBdTp_E

• Activity Account
• I have been working on getting the activity account up to date so that you all have the information you need regarding the balance of the money that is available for your grade.  In addition, Laura has notified me that the district will pay $425 towards transportation for each grade 4K-5th.  This may or may not be the total for one trip per grade depending on the number of buses the grade uses and where you are going.  Also, the profit from the fundraiser has been added in to each grades balance sheet.  It worked out to be about $17/student.  If you need the link for your grades balance sheet, please let Trisha or myself know and we can send you the link.

TechKnow Tip

The holidays are coming up and with new technology coming out every year, what do we do with our old

ones? It is illegal to throw away certain electronics in Wisconsin, so what do we do? Do we sell them

online, or donate them to charity? Well, there's another option: E-recycling.E-recycling is the process of safely disposing of electronic waste and recovering valuable materials that

can be reused or recycled. E-recycling is not only good for the environment, but also for your wallet

and your community.

 

How do you e-recycle in Wisconsin? Well, it's easy and convenient. Wisconsin has a statewide e-waste

recycling program called E-Cycle Wisconsin, which was established in 2010. E-Cycle Wisconsin collects

fees from electronics manufacturers and uses them to reimburse registered collectors and recyclers who

accept eligible devices from households and schools. Eligible devices include TVs, computers, monitors,

keyboards, mice, printers, fax machines, DVD players, VCRs, DVRs, and cell phones. You can find a list

of registered collectors and recyclers near you on the E-Cycle Wisconsin websiteor by calling 1-800-RECYCLE. You can also check with your local municipality or waste hauler for

other e-recycling options in your area. Take a look at this helpful Infographic for more information!

PD Spotlight

I was reading a summary of a professional book a couple of weeks ago and thought about how different this is from when I was going to college and even more so from when I was a student in elementary school.  I also recognize quite a few things on this list from classrooms I have been in.  So I am sharing this one page pdf summary of the book, "Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics" by Peter Liljedahl of 14 strategies to help do this in our classrooms.  I hope that it reinforces techniques you already do and adds ideas to your tool belt as well.

Friday Funny (with a couple of Bonus ones)

So this week, I have three Friday Funnies for you.  All of them are from this past week in the Huelsman family vault of experiences.

1. Last Wednesday, I had a dr appt at 8am.  I arrived on time and the parking lot was pretty empty and I parked pretty close to the door.  The appt was about 90 min. long and when I left I had a LOT to think about. (I'm fine, but I might get to hear better very soon!) When I walk out the door, my first thought was, "Where did I park?"  I didn't see a single maroon SUV anywhere.  Then I notice that in the spot I thought I parked was a minivan with no hub caps and a sizable dent in the back and I realized that my dang kids have got to be behind this.  I immediately call Ella who answers the phone by cackling loudly and every time I ask where my car is, she responds with "What?  What do you mean?  You lost your car?"  (BTW, yes, they took it to see how long it would take for me to notice.  I did much better with this test than the missing items from my office test!)

2. I LOVE my hometown.  If you don't know, I am originally from Markesan and while I grew up on a farm right off Hwy 73 halfway between Markesan and Randolph, my parents moved into the "city" a few years ago and so that is where we spend most holidays.  At this time of the year, the town builds their own roundabout in the center of town, and I think it is just about the best small town thing I've ever seen right down to the spray painted tree in the middle of the sign!

3. Finally, I must tip my hat to the person or persons that are placing the ducks around the school.  I haven't given up, but I do need to publicly acknowledge that you are good.  Very good.  I haven't been able to find you yet, but I will.  When I got to my car after last Friday's admin meeting and saw a beautiful heart on the ground outside my car made of tiny ducks, I will admit to laughing hysterically at your bold actions.  Don't think I've let my guard down!  :-)