October 23, 2026

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Supportive, Encouraging, Positive

• Shout out to Mandy and Bethany who are supporting Becky Schulz in her first few weeks of the school year. Becky said to me that they are "taking good care of me!"  Thank you both for supporting Becky with the many ways that you both are collaborating and supporting her and the classroom.

• Shout out to the 4th grade team that I had the pleasure of sitting in on their collab meeting this week. The professional dialogue, the planning they do together and how they are offering ideas/solutions and make each other feel valued when considering others' perspectives/ideas is so inspiring!  Great job Trisha, Steph, Lindsey, Olivia and Christina!

• Thank you to all of the staff that have helped out this week when we were short people, had unexpected situations arise and needed support for student situations. I truly appreciate the teamwork and willingness to help one another out.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, Oct. 26
• AM Duties:
• Breakfast: Mook
• Big Playground: CaineB, Fortmann, Tietz
• 3K/4K playground: Donovan, Schulz
• Lunch Duties:
• 12:00: Lucht
• 12:30: O'Toole
• 1:00: Klink
• PM Duties:
• Big Playground: Juech, Knibbs
• Circle Drive: Grebel
• Lunch Detentions for this week: Braunschweig, Huso, Bingen
• 5K Collab Mtg (Rdg) @ 11:00am
• School Board Meeting @ 6:30 in the Choir Room

• Tuesday, Oct 27
• Social Media Posts due this week: Oestreich, Stampfl, Fortmann
• 5th gr. Collab Mtg (SEL) @ 8:35am
• 2nd gr. Collab Mtg (Dig. Lit) @ 12:00pm
• Parent/Teacher Conferences from 4-7:30pm
• Book Fair Begins after school

• Wednesday, Oct 28
• 4th gr. Collab Mtg (SEL) @ 11:35am
• Network system Maintenance from 4-6pm

• Thursday, Oct 29
• Parent/Teacher Conferences from 4-7:30pm
• 3rd gr. Collab mtg (Dig.Lit.) @ 2:05pm
• 1st gr. Collab mtg - MOVED to Friday
• Project Energy Assembly in the Elem. gym
• 8:30-9am - Grades 4K-2
• 9:55-10:25am - Grades 3-5

• Friday, Oct 30
• No School - PD Day (Schedule coming soon)
• Book Fair is getting packed up
• 4K and 1st Gr collab mtgs will be held today.

Nitty-Gritty

• Project Energy Assembly
• On Thursday, the National Theatre for Children, will be at school to present Project Energy to our students.  This is partially sponsored by Juneau Utilities and representatives from Juneau Utilities will be on site on Thursday as well.  The performance will take place on the stage and students should sit on the floor from youngest to oldest.  Grades 4K-2 will attend the 8:30am performance and the 3rd-5th grade will attend the 9:55am performance.  If you want to preview anything for the assembly, please click HERE for a teacher tool kit of ideas to accompany this message. @Mr. Jackson - Let's connect about the morning classes that have PE on Thursday.

• Parent Teacher Conferences and ML needs
• Gabrielle sent out information earlier this week regarding some recommendations that you could use to help make the conferences smooth and successful for parents that need information translated.  In addition, she shared the directions to use the language line which is a way to get access to an interpreter by phone for the conference.
• Translate Written Summaries: Write a summary of what you plan to say during conferences ahead of time and translate it. Having a printout available for the parent to read in their requested Home Language can be extremely helpful.
• iPad Translation Tools: Use one of our translation tools available on the iPad during the meetings.  You can find more information about these tools at the bottom of the ML Resource Page.
• Language Line: This is a telephone service that gives you access to an interpreter. Click HERE to see the directions on how to use this service.

• Recess Injuries
• As much as we all try to make sure that students do not get hurt at school, sometimes accidents happen, especially at recess.  If an injury occurs, do your best to assess what the student needs. (I believe there is a first aid kit in the vestibule for minor things.) If there is a head injury that is beyond a small tap/bump, please send them to the office. We have a concussion protocol to follow and information to share with families.  We especially want head injuries to be assessed since sometimes concussion symptoms can come on later too. If you have questions about this, please let me know.

• Office Guests
• Sometimes students need to be sent to the office due to their choices/behaviors.  If this is the case, please make sure to let Ella know in the office that they are coming and send them with work (or send a student with it later) so that when they are regulated, they can return to learning and be productive.  When students are in the office for extended time periods with nothing to do, it becomes much more difficult to continue with the business of the office itself.  Thank you in advance for your help with this!

• Lost/Missing iPads
• If a student has lost their ipad and has truly spent time looking for it, the tech department should be contacted. However, we have some students that are using the tech department and the lost mode signal as a way to avoid trying to locate the iPad or truly using their best effort to find it on their own. This adds more work, time from learning and disruptions to multiple people in the system. The first time the device needs to be put into lost mode, the sound will not go off, but we will be able to determine an approximate location for them to look.
• Please notify me if a student says they have lost an iPad in their home and have not returned it by day 2. I will reach out to parents regarding this as this may result in a replacement cost for the parents. Let me know if you have any questions regarding any of these things!

TechKnow Tip

As you prepare for Parent/Teacher conferences, keeping a student’s information confidential is required. Teachers should not show a live PowerSchool Gradebook with parents. It is recommended that parents log into their Parent Access Account to view their students’ progress and grades. If they do not have access to PowerSchool, another option is using PowerTeacher Gradebook Reports. PowerSchool Reports can assist you with conversations with your students’ Parents/Guardians. Helpful reports may include “Individual Student Report” and “Missing Assignment Report” (reference the attached image). These reports are available for all your classes, but ensure you are only sharing specific student data with specific parents/guardians. Specific directions can be found here.

ML Information

Understanding Language Modes: Expressive vs. Interpretive Communication

When supporting Multilingual Learners in our general education classrooms, understanding how students process and generate language is essential for designing accessible, high-leverage instruction.

Rather than looking at language skills in isolation, the WIDA 2020 Standards Framework focuses on how students interact with language through two primary modes: Interpretive and Expressive.

Did You Know?

WIDA 2020 groups traditional language domains into two main modes:

• Interpretive Mode: How students construct meaning from input — Listening, Reading, and Viewing images/visuals.

• Expressive Mode: How students communicate meaning through output — Speaking, Writing, and Drawing/Representing.

Take It to the Next Level: Visualizing the Modes

Recognizing these modes allows us to scaffold learning by pairing an interpretive activity (e.g., viewing a visual or listening to a model) with an expressive outlet (e.g., drawing or oral sentence frames).

What This Looks Like in Practice Across Grade Bands

Grade Band	Interpretive Communication (Input)	Expressive Communication (Output)
PreK3 – K	• Listening to read-alouds with physical gestures • Pointing to visual symbols or illustrations to show understanding	• Drawing pictures to explain a concept • Using 1–2 word oral responses combined with gestures during share time
Grade 1	• Matching read-aloud sentences to story illustrations • Listening to peer explanations during partner turn-and-talks	• Labeling diagrams with key academic vocabulary • Using sentence frames to speak in simple compound sentences
Grades 2 – 3	• Reading short informational texts paired with visual infographics • Identifying main ideas from audio recordings or teacher demonstrations	• Writing short structured paragraphs using graphic organizers • Explaining a process orally using labeled sketches or models
Grades 4 – 5	• Analyzing complex texts, data charts, and digital media • Listening critically to draw conclusions and synthesize information	• Writing multi-paragraph responses using domain-specific vocabulary • Presenting research findings using multimedia, charts, or slides

Friday Funny

Does anyone else live in a house like us? You know, that house, where the dogs (pets) actually run the house. The picture below is what it looks like when the dogs are in charge and can get the humans to do their bidding! In fact, these 2 (Oliver and Molly) have Lexi wrapped around their paw. Oliver (the larger golden doodle) will bark at Lexi until she gets up to get him something. As soon as she gets up, he very quickly will jump up and take her seat. Molly is sneakier about it, but just as effective! It is unbelievable, but we tell her that they only do this to her. No one else. Hmmmm, what does that tell you!?