January 17, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 1st Graders were very excited to share with me about their "Backwards Day" that they earned from their Dojo points.  They had a fun day doing everything backwards.  I love the joy that little things bring to our students! Way to go Miss Lucht for celebrating their wins in an innovative way!

• 4K students are working hard on fine motor skills and writing numbers and letters.  They are growing so much and it is exciting to see their learning!

• Shout out to Patti who is learning our routines and procedures so fast, as well as getting to know our students, families and staff.  I'm so glad you are on our team Patti!

• Staff are working together to come up with solutions that help our students to thrive, communicating the plan to others and implementing it successfully. This includes sharing concerns, questions and comments to colleagues (including me) when something is bothering them.  This is the kind of culture we want to have where we can work together to find solutions.

• Shout out to Hailey and Jen who organized and implemented hearing screenings for our 5K students in the last couple of weeks.  As you may or may not know, a screening test at school when I was a 5th grader is how my parents found my hearing loss that was there from birth.  The hearing loss also affected my ability to learn to read at the same time as my peers because I couldn't hear the difference in sounds.  By us checking on this with our students, we can hopefully see if students need further intervention in time to avoid issues in their educational careers. Thank you both for your work on this.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Sunday, January 19
• Happy Birthday Kari W.

• Monday, January 20
• National Penguin Day - Wear your Cozy Winter PJ's
• Bus Duty: Klink, Miller, Chambers, Jenkins (3K/4K playground)
• Lunch Duty Supervisors
• 12:00 - Schuett
• 12:30 - Zastrow
• 1:00 - T. Caine
• Jenny in meetings from 8-11am
• Exam schedule for HS, Odd periods (See below for Schedule)
• Happy Numbers Challenge begins!  See your email from Happy Numbers to see the details for the challenge!

• Tuesday, January 21
• Social Media Posts due to Jessica: Lucht
• Lunch Detention Supervisors
• 12:00 - Donovan
• 12:30 - Open
• 1:00 - Open
• Exam schedule for HS, Even periods (See below for schedule)

• Wednesday, January 22
• Workout Wednesday
• End of Semester 1
• 4K Aimsweb Screening from 8:30-11am
• Blood Drive for NHS in the MS gym (7:30-2pm)
• Data Meeting for 5th gr (12:35-1:25pm)
• Staff meeting in IMC (3:10-3:55pm)

• Thursday, January 23
• 4th/5th graders on a field trip - No Jr. Coaches for recess
• Semester 2 starts, New HS TA schedules begin
• Lunch Detention Supervisors
• 12:00 - Huso
• 12:30 - Open
• 3rd Grade Data meeting (12:05-12:55pm)

• Friday, January 24
• Happy Birthday Lance!

Nitty-Gritty

• New Face at Dodgeland
• Starting on Monday, there will be a new face in our school.  Her name is Lauren Schmidt and she will be student teaching with Rachael Bingen in 5th grade. She will be graduating from Maranatha Baptist University this spring.  Please help me welcome her to our school!

• PLTW Room (Rm 137)
• There are many people that use the PLTW lab each day for a lot of different reasons.  If you are using the room, please help make sure that students' projects are not touched.  Students are working hard on them and it would be very frustrating for them if their hard work was disturbed.  In addition, if your students make a mess, please make sure they have cleaned up after themselves so that it is ready for the next group. Thank you!

• Summer School Anyone??
• It is a short 5 weeks, but so very important for our students learning, emotional health and even a way to provide some nutrition.  It is also a really great way to try out new lessons, projects or subjects.  Please let me know that you are interested in summer school by clicking HERE.  If you are not sure, please let me know and we can talk about it as well!

• Attendance Initiative Update
• I am going to continue the Mystery Student activity this month.  Students will never know when names will be announced so it is important to be in school on time each day!  (February will have a classroom reward when all students are present to fill the chart.  It will be in your mailbox in the next couple of weeks.)
• On Thursday or Friday, I will be coming to classrooms to announce students that have at least a 95% attendance rate with a small "prize."  I will emphasize how important it is to be in school and that I'll be back at the end of March to give out more and for most improved attendance as well.  Sign up for a time HERE.
• The committee wanted to have an assembly that is interactive and that is coming up in February that can also emphasize how important it is to be in school. (I couldn't get it scheduled for the end of the first semester.) The assembly will be at 2pm on Tuesday, Feb 11 for grades 4K-5th grade.  The assembly is from The ProKids Show.  The assembly for students will be at 2pm and there will be a 60 min. family night at 6pm for parents/kids that is free of charge.  There will be different content in each performance and will have lots of audience participation. Mark your calendars so you can bring your families for a night of laughter too!

• Newsletter/Calendar items
• If you have any items or articles that you'd like in the February newsletter or calendar, please send them to Patti as soon as you can.  She will be working on this next week.  Remember that Parent Teacher conferences are next month. If you need to talk through any students and their needs, please let me know.  That is the opportunity to get parents in the building to collaborate and communicate with parents to help our students.

• HS TA's and Exam Schedule
• If you have a HS TA, please remember that the end of their semester brings some changes for their schedule. On Monday and Tuesday, there is an alternate exam schedule that will affect when they are in your classroom.  (see below for the schedules). Also remember you must grade them as well.  The directions are in the TechKnow Tip. If the same TA is staying in your classroom for 2nd semester, there is a good chance that the time period they are coming changes as of Thursday.  Please check PowerSchool and/or with your TA to make sure you know the change in the schedule for Semester 2.

TechKnow Tip

If you have a teacher assistant, please be sure to enter a grade for them. This needs to be completed by ALL elementary, middle, and high school teachers who have a TA. Once logged into PowerSchool, select “Dodgeland High School” from the drop-down in the top right corner. Select “PowerTeacher Pro” under one of your teacher assistant courses. Select “Grading” along the left and then “Traditional” under the grades tab. Click on the white box under “S1” and select “P” (pass) or “F” (fail) along the right. Select the green “Save” button. Once the grade is saved, select “Final Grade Status”. In the pop-up window, check the semester 1 (S1) and select “Save”.

PD Spotlight

You've heard me say many times that behavior is communication.  This week's PD Spotlight is a good reminder of how we understand that communication.

Friday Funny

This is most definitely not funny, but this legend sure was.  I just couldn't resist looking back on the joy that he brought my family and I for so many years.  Our family group text has been going off all night with memories, stories, etc. He will be missed!  If you haven't heard Bob Uecker tell a story, click HERE to watch his Hall of Fame speech.  It is classic Uecker and I love it!  (It is almost 20 min. long, but worth your time.)