April 26, 2024

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Shout out to Brenda Caine, Blasia, and others that worked so hard at getting all of the make-up testing done for Forward Testing.  I truly appreciate it!

• The staff act for the Talent Show was another great entry!  Way to go!  If you haven't seen it yet, it is on YouTube now.  Click HERE to see it and all of our students!

• Courtney added awards to the Art Show this year and it was so awesome to see the excited looks on students' faces.  The Art Show was well attended, but also I loved looking through the projects!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, April 29
• Bus Duty: Bingen, Ruplinger, Stampfl, Donovan (3K/4K playground)
• Happy Birthday Taylor!
• Jenny in a meeting from 8-9am
• Instrument Petting Zoo from 4:30-7pm in Band Room

• Tuesday, April 30
• Social Media Posts due: Klink, Mook
• Home HS Softball games and Track Meet = full parking lots :-)

• Wednesday, May 1
• Workout Wednesday
• 4th Gr Field Trip (9:30-12:30)
• New Support Staff Duties
• Breakfast AM - Lexi & Vicky
• Circle Drive/Playground AM - Eneida
• Circle Drive PM - Ann & Sandi
• Academic Data Mtg 2nd gr (12:05-12:55pm)

• Thursday, May 2
• Academic Data Mtg 1st gr (12:05-12:55pm)
• Concert Rehearsal on stage for grades 3-4-5 from 1:30-3pm
• MS Track Meet = Full parking lot

• Friday, May 3
• 4th Gr Field trip - All day
• Concert Rehearsal on stage for grades 3-4-5 from 8-8:30am

Nitty-Gritty

• SEL Data Request
• As I mentioned in the staff meeting, I am looking for some information regarding classroom teachers and other certified staff experience with teaching SEL outside of guidance lessons in your classroom.  If you do not teach it outside of that, please tell me that.  There is no expectation that you do have additional lessons, but I want to gather this information to have a good idea of what is occurring across grade levels and the building.  Click HERE to complete this very short survey.

• May is starting on Wednesday
• Please remember to take care of yourself.  The end of the school year is coming quickly and there are so many busy days in the coming weeks.  It is important that you are well.  If you need help or support, please let me know if I can do anything to assist in any way.

• Staff Meeting slides
• If you missed the meeting, or if you want to look at any of the pieces from the slides, click HERE.  Many of the pieces are reminders of upcoming things for the end of the year.  

LIBRARY UPDATE:

The week of May 6th will be the last week of library classes and book checkout. Christina will continue to collect books weekly, as well as provide you with small activities to do in the classroom at your convenience. All library books will be due Wednesday, May 22nd. 

On Thursday, May 23rd, we have special visitors from the community libraries who will be promoting their summer reading program. Flyers will be given to your students to take home after the presentation. Below is the schedule for that morning. Thank you for your flexibility as we tried to accommodate our school schedule as well as the schedule of the librarians coming to us even before the library opens!

Library Summer Program (20-25 minutes long)

4K @ 8:15

2 & 3 @ 8:45

4 & 5 @ 9:30

5K & 1 @ 10:00

Recess

4K @ 9:00

5K-1-2 @ 9:15

3-4-5 @ 10:00

TechKnow Tip

Looking to connect your students outside their known world and celebrate the amazing planet we live on? Try any of these 12 Websites for Virtual Field Trips. One highlight on the list is “The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks” where you go on an interactive tour (including videos, audio recording, activities, and 360* views) with a park ranger at one of our beautiful U.S. National Parks. Another favorite from the list is Explore.org Live Nature Cams which has an endless variety of staffed nature cameras including a kitten rescue sanctuary in California, an osprey nest in Montana, a puppy nursery in Maryland, or inside a honeybee hive in Germany. Many of these relaxing livecams have soothing music accompaniments, making them great to use at the start of the day, during work time, or a way to calm down in preparation of quality learning.

Recess Information

As the weather gets warmer and we are using our outdoor spaces for learning and/or rewards, please remember:

1. No additional classes or students should be on the playground during scheduled recess times.

1. 9-9:45 are the morning recess times

2. 12:00-1:00 are the lunch recess times (11:30 4k)

2. Students should be following our recess expectations including using the playground equipment as taught.

3. Let the office know if you will be outside of your classroom so Trisha can find your class in cases of an emergency or unexpected parent pick-up.

Behavior Specialist Information

Thanks to Nurse Leah and a grant, we were able to purchase Sensory Paths for our hallways (and they are AWESOME). We are planning to have them installed this summer. I am looking for one person from K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 and at least one special education teacher to help decide where they should be placed and determine expectations for how/when they will be used. Please let me know if you are interested in helping me with sensory paths decisions.

Friday Funny

This is another great comedian, but I love the story he tells about himself and his siblings when they were younger.  I think I can think of a few of our students that might try this too!