October 10, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 2nd graders were learning some capitalization rules for proper nouns, beginning of sentences and always the word I. Way to go!

• Shout out to Miss Lucht who kindly, patiently and clearly helped her students reflect and process a difficult day in the classroom.  She helped her students to show empathy and think about perspectives, including putting themselves in others' shoes.  This is an important skill to build as a foundation!

• We continue to have a number of new students/families join our elementary school. Thank you to the many of you that are welcoming them so warmly, even though it often means catching your new student(s) up to the established routines and perhaps making more changes.  I tell anyone and everyone, that I work in a phenomenal school with the best educators I know.  So many of these students/families that are joining our school tell me frequently how much their children like coming to school.  This is because of you all and the environment we build together. Thank you for being you!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Sunday, October 12
• Happy Birthday Teresa!

• Monday, October 13
• Brewers Day! (Regardless of how it turns out, I love our Crew!)
• Morning Duty:
• Blacktop/Playground: Fortmann, Arnes, Chambers
• 4K Playground: Braunschweig, O'Toole (meet buses by stop sign)
• Breakfast: Schuett, Schulte
• Lunch Duty:
• 12:00 - Stampfl
• 12:30 - Open - Anyone available to help out this week even if just for a couple of days
• 1:00 - Tietz
• Afternoon Duty: 
• Blacktop/Playground: Juech, Klink
• Circle Drive: Jenkins
• Lunch Detention Coverage: Ellefson, Juech, TCaine

• Tuesday, October 14
• Rescheduled Picture Day (Let's Try this again!)
• Social Media Posts due to Jenny: Miller, Braunschweig
• Jenny in meeting from 9-10:30
• Quarterly Mentor/Mentee Meeting 3:15-4pm

• Wednesday, October 15
• Jenny will be gone until around 2pm
• Parent Teacher Conferences from 4-7:30 (last night for the Book Fair as well)
• At the end of the night (or Thursday morning), please email Patti the number of conferences you had total between the two nights.

• Thursday, October 16
• Workout Wednesday moved to Thursday

• Friday, October 17

Nitty-Gritty

• Stand up, Speak Out: Anti-Bullying Efforts
• This month, we're focusing on fostering a safe and kind school environment. All students are invited to participate in our Anti-Bullying Poster Contest! Completed posters can be turned into classroom teachers (and then to Patti/Jen). Digital posters can be emailed directly to Jen. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to use their creativity to design powerful messages about kindness, inclusion, and what it means to be an upstander. Additionally, please mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 22nd, as we ask all students and staff to Wear Orange to show our collective solidarity against bullying. Together, we can make sure every student feels respected and valued. More information about both events will be in the digital signage. 

• Professional Development on 10/24/25
• The final schedule will be out next week in the blog for the PD day on Friday.  One thing to know is that we will be meeting for Act 20 training right away at 7:30 that day.  Please make sure that you have lessons 1-2 complete before then.  In addition, you will have time to work on your EP documents (especially if you are working on a group SLO) that day so I have moved the due date for the forms to the end of the day on Friday, 10/24/25.  Lastly, there are enough kids signed up for Dodgeland Den that day. It will be open that day in room 109.

• Picture Retake Day - Take 2
• Marcia is still available (thank goodness) and will be organizing this.  For students in grades 5K-2, we will have someone come to classrooms to collect students to bring them to the stage to get their pictures taken.  In grades 3K/4K, when Marcia or Patti contacts your classroom, please have one of the adults in the room escort the students to the stage.  The goal is to get started by 8:15 at the latest.

TechKnow Tip

Your Password Power-Up!

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and we want to share the most valuable security tip you can use everywhere: deploying strong and unique passwords. This practice is vital for protecting both our school systems and anything involving your personal email, bank accounts, social media and more at home. The great security habits you build here protect your digital life everywhere!

To create a powerful password strategy:

• Go Long: Aim for passwords that are at least 10-12 characters long, mixing in mixed-case letters, numbers, and symbols.

• Be Unique: Give every single online account a unique password. If a hacker breaches one account, the rest stay safe.

We highly recommend using a Password Manager to make this easy. These tools securely generate, store, and fill all your complex passwords for you. To find one that fits your needs, explore popular options like 1Password, LastPass, Apple-Passwords, or Google Password Manager just to name a few.

If you'd like quick advice on crafting a unique and hard to break password, check out this helpful site: Create and Use Strong Passwords.

ML Information and Tips

Have you ever asked yourself about or worried about these issues* with MLs in your classroom?

Recently, I sent (every teacher with an ML student) a Snapshot about that student. In that file there is a link to We Can Statements. 

The WIDA "Can Do Descriptors" are a tool for educators to understand and celebrate what multilingual learners CAN DO at different stages of English language development. They change the focus from what students are lacking to the strengths they have.

Don’t forget you can find even more resources here: Dodgeland Teacher Resources. You can also feel free to email me or contact me at any time! 😀

*Find the entire video here: WIDA's Can Do Descriptors and Using ACCESS Results.

Friday Funny

A few weeks ago, the kids and I went out for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. While there, our server told me that she thought I was much too young to be their mom. At this, my children instantly started groaning and told her that she should not have said that because "we are going to hear about this FOREVER!" and I immediately, told them that is the absolute truth. I also told them I want a picture to remember this moment of being such a YOUNG mom who is staring down a new decade at the end of the school year. Notice how excited they were to be part of my memento! :-)