November 15, 2024

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 5th graders wrote an introduction paragraph for the essay they are working on.  Their teacher broke the process down into manageable steps, modeled it for them, and then gave specific details that allowed them to write their own. They were doing a really great job of coming up with a hook, details and a thesis statement.

• Shout to Taylor who I got to watch teach a literacy lesson in both English and Spanish.  Her students were all engaged and waited patiently if she needed to give feedback to others regardless of the language she was using. 

• A few times this week, some of our students that struggle to stay regulated got frustrated and/or angry, and they had trusted adults that could coach them through it.  In these incidents, the students were able to re-regulate in a shorter amount of time and with little to no aggression.  I know it seems like a long process but these are huge wins!  Working together is what helps these students continue to make gains!

What's Happening at Dodgeland? (for next 2 weeks)

• Monday, Nov 18
• Bus Duty: Fortmann, Miller, Chambers, Jenkins (3K/4K playground)
• Underground Staff Only Spirit Week Begins: School Spirit Day
• Lunch Duty:
• 12:00 - Lucht
• 12:30 - Arnes
• 1:00 - T. Caine
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am

• Tuesday, Nov 19
• Vision Screening Day in Room 137 (see below for details)
• Social Media Posts due to Jessica: Stampfl, Juech, Mook
• Underground Staff Only Spirit Week: Decades Day
• Lunch Detention Supervisors:
• 12:00 - Huso
• 12:30 - Juech
• 1:00 - Open

• Wednesday, Nov 20
• Happy Birthday Reilly!
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• Underground Staff Only Spirit Week: Use anything but a Water bottle!

• Thursday, Nov 21
• Underground Staff Only Spirit Week: Flannel Fun Day
• Lunch Detention Supervisors:
• 12:00 - Turcotte
• 12:30 - Open
• 1:00 - Schulte

• Friday, Nov 22
• 4K Data Meeting - 11:35am-12:25pm
• All school assembly from 2:10-2:55pm in Elem. gym
• Underground Staff Only Spirit Week: Black Out Friday

• Monday, Nov 25
• Professional Development Day (see below for schedule)
• No Dodgeland Den, Paras are off

• Tuesday, Nov 26
• Professional Development Day (see below for schedule)
• No Dodgeland Den, Paras are off

• Wednesday, Nov 27
• Happy Birthday Michael!
• 1st day of Thanksgiving break for certified staff

• Thursday, Nov 28
• Happy Birthday Sandi!

• Friday, Nov 29
• Saturday, Nov 30
• Happy Birthday Carol!

Nitty-Gritty

• Vision Screening
• On Tuesday, the Lions Club are volunteering their time to provide vision screening for our students.  It will take place in the same room as last year, room 137, the new EL PLTW room.  They will set up one of the doors as the entrance and the other as the exit.  Please click HERE to sign up your class for a 15 min. time slot. (All classes 3K-5th grade should attend this screening.)

• Copier/Printer Reminders:
• If you have a HS TA in your classroom, please remind them that if they are making copies or printing anything for you, they need to come to the elementary office to use the machine with a printer fob checked out from the IMC.  Also, if you are copying large jobs, please use the office or staff lounge machines so that the smaller one in the gathering area can be used for quick jobs for staff.  Thank you!

• Preparing for the PD days
• As I shared at the staff meeting, on Tuesday, 11/26, we will have a guest presenter from Apple.  To prepare for this PD session, please make sure to have your iPad updated and fully charged.  It is important for you to do this ahead of time so that you can get the most of the session and learning that is presented.

• PD Agenda for 11/25-11/26
• Our PD Agenda for the days before Thanksgiving is HERE. There are times in the schedule that are devoted for you and your own work time or to meet as grade level teams.  Also, this would be a good time to add in November's Citizenship grades, make sure that your EP documents are complete, work on the Act 20 lessons for December, or finish any other things that have been on your to-do list for awhile.  If you need to see me, please sign up for a time using my calendly link HERE.

• Citizenship Grades
• Please plan to add November Citizenship grades in the gradebook before Thanksgiving break.  This monthly grade will give you data at the end of the semester to determine the grade for the report card.

• Emergency Sub Plans
• Do you need to make any changes to your sub plans that are in your substitute folder on the Substitute Teacher Plans shared Drive?  Is your class list accurate since you originally uploaded/created the document(s)?  Please make sure you have plans for an emergency that can help a guest teacher, but especially for those of us that are stepping in from the elementary. Please look through these in next week just to double check. 

TechKnow Tip

Reliable research is a crucial skill for our students to learn. World Book Online is a perfect place for students to start their initial reliable research. World Book, which can be accessed via ClassLink by staff and students, is broken down into grade-band appropriate learning pages. Each page includes information, pictures, videos, and audio clips to give students an overall understanding of a topic. There is also a great timelines feature which shows created timelines and even a way for you to create your own.

Recess Information 

Cold Weather Gear

Please remind students to bring their cold weather gear so they are comfortable at recess. If students are in need of

clothing (meaning they don’t have the means to purchase any, there are some resources in the purple purpose room).

We will not have extra coats, snow pants, boots, etc in the office for kids to borrow. If they did not bring their

gear/are choosing not to wear their gear, they will just be cold.

Behavior Specialist Information

Recess Detentions

Instead of the detention binder, there are now three folders, one for each grade level/lunch period located in the

office mailboxes. On your duty day, please check the folder to see if there are any referrals (left side of the folder).

If so, that means kids have detention, if there are only the detention resources (left side of the folder is empty),

there are no detentions that day.

PD Spotlight

This speaks to me.  Honestly, I think all people are like this sometimes.  Even my adult children, my parents, everyone... If this is you, please know I am here to listen and support you with anything!

Friday Funny

IYKYK. I'm laughing so hard at this...