January 16, 2026

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Shout out to Mr. K for stepping in and helping us out all over the building this week!  I truly appreciate your willingness to be flexible and be with us day after day!

• Winter Assessments are off and running!  I love hearing teachers celebrating students' growth.  The hard work of all of you and our students is showing!

• Shout out to Sue for writing another excellent retirement song to show Laura how much she is loved and will be missed.  Enjoy the Goodie Table in her honor as well!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, January 19
• Happy Birthday Kari Westphal Oestreich!
• Welcome to 2 new student teachers! Olivia Barefield in Bingen's room and Sierra Harper in Vertz's room.
• No Nurse today
• Morning Duty:
• Playground/Blacktop: Tietz, Neis, Westphal
• 4K/5K playground: Houk, Mook (one meets buses)
• Breakfast: Ellefson, Stampfl
• Lunch Duty:
• 12:00 - Donovan
• 12:30 - Huso
• 1:00 - Bingen
• Afternoon Duty:
• Playground/Blacktop: CaineT, OPEN (unless Lydia K is okay with helping too)
• Parking Lot: Rollins
• HS is on an Exam Schedule, affects TA's hours
• Para Meeting for 3K/4K staff @ 3:15 in Elem. Conf. Room
• School Board Meeting at 6:30pm

• Tuesday, January 20
• Lunch Detentions for the week: Stampfl, Zastrow
• Nurse Katie is in the building
• HS is on an Exam Schedule, affects TA's hours
• Jenny in meeting from 9-11am
• Pop-Up PD @ 3:20 in IMC

• Wednesday, January 21
• Early Release Day - School ends at 12:20pm (End of the Semester)
• Lexi Duhr's last day with us! :-(
• Paras from 5K-5th grade - PD training in the IMC from 1-2pm
• Dodgeland Den schedule is posted HERE
• Early Release afternoon is worktime for teachers on grades and planning
• Jenny is leaving at 2:40 for a Dr. appt

• Thursday, January 22
• Happy Birthday Harmony!
• 4th and 5th Grade on a field trip from 9-3pm

• Friday, January 23
• 1pm Pyramid Model Meeting for 3K/4K team

Nitty-Gritty

• TA's Schedule next week
• If you have a TA this semester, their schedules are different next week Mon-Wed due to semester exams.  Please check the schedule HERE so that you know when to expect your TA for the exam days and the early release.  If you have any questions, please let me know. 

• Medical Emergency Response Team
• Please note Nurse Katie's email if you are interested in becoming a member of the emergency response team at Dodgeland.  Please see her email from Jan. 14 that explained the expectations and also a link to communicate your willingness to join this team.

• Mystery Writing Option
• You may have received an email regarding Mystery Writing.  It is free until the end of June 2026.  Feel free to try thing from it if you'd like.  If you are not interested, just delete!  Thank you to Gabrielle who shared it with me!

• Budget Money
• The last day to spend money from your budget for this school year is February 28.  Please be conscientious and only order what you need for this school year for your classroom. Remember, you can not forward spend by purchasing this for future classes/years.

• Summer School Staff Needed!
• I am looking for people interested in teaching this summer! It is a really fun way to teach new classes, interact with students in a different way and to stay connected during the summer too!  If you are interested, please complete the link HERE.

• February Newsletter
• If you have anything you'd like to put in the February newsletter, please send to Patti by Friday, Jan. 23. This is another way to share with our parents what is happening at our school and provide ways they can support their children's education. Thank you in advance for your input!

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”.

ML Information

We know that Differentiated Instruction is the heartbeat of ML success. But you don't need to create three different lesson plans! Instead, try modifying the output.

The Tip of the Week:: Keep the same grade-level content, but adjust how students show they’ve learned it based on their proficiency level:

• Emerging (Level 1-2): Have students point to pictures, circle key terms, or use a "Word Bank" to label a diagram.

• Expanding (Level 3-4): Provide Sentence Frames (e.g., "The main cause of the revolution was ____ because ____.")

• Bridging (Level 5): Ask for a short paragraph but provide a Graphic Organizer to help them structure their academic language.

The Result: You aren't lowering the bar; you're just building a sturdier ladder.

Friday Funny

Does anyone else love watching clips from the Graham Norton show?  I am addicted to watching this show. Here is one of the clips that makes me giggle.  Hope you enjoy it!