January 10, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• A team approach to helping students struggling this week.  When we work together to support each other, everyone wins, the students and the staff.
• Staff modeling how to deal with frustration when the i-Ready testing had technology glitches.  Students were frustrated too, but they take their cues from us.  Shout out to Mr. Modaff for working for many hours on this with multiple companies and tech support people this week to get this working for all of us.
• Kindergartners are working on number sense by understanding how teen numbers are 10 plus another number.
• There were a number of students very proud of themselves when Student of the Month was announced.  It made me smile!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, January 13
• Hand in your Featured Staff Friday planning sheet please!  :-)
• Read Across America planning committee meeting
• Tuesday, January 14
• Wear Milwaukee Bucks Attire
• Wednesday, January 15
• Workout Wednesday
• Thursday, January 16
• End of the 1st Semester
• Early Release @12:20pm --No AM recess, lunch period changed to 11-12 for K-5 (4K is 10:30-11:30)
• Report & Planning from 12:30-3:00
• Friday, January 17
• PD Day

Following Week

• Monday, January 20
• Grades due at 8am
• Wednesday, January 22
• Report Cards are sent home
• Self Care Academy in the IMC

Nitty-Gritty

• Target-Based Grading Follow-Up
• I received a few questions and some feedback recently about this process.  I wanted to take the time to respond to them.
• The guidelines are meant to give parameters for our work.  They are not strict "rules" for the work.  If we need to add more, let's have a conversation about this.
• The priority standards list does not have to be done in a way that every standard is a priority at some point during their elementary career.  We will teach skills from all of the standards, but we are identifying the ones that are the priority. These are the guaranteed curriculum that we are saying every child will be assessed and held to these skills while going through our system.
• Aren't we just teaching to the test?
• This is an unsettling statement isn't it? It sounds like we only care if kids can do well on a test, not on all the other unique abilitiies and skills that make our students. This is not at all what I believe a well-rounded education looks like for our students.
• However, I want to address this issue because it fits in with the target based work that we are doing. Our state assessment, the Forward test, is written with some of the most important reading, writing, matha nd thinking skills that we teach in a year.  Is it a perfect test? No.  But there are no perfect tests.  We must take into account the skills that our students are going to be asked questions from on this assessment. It would be very frustrating for a student to go through this testing process without having the advantage of instruction beforehand.  This is why it is important that our priority standards match the assessment. (The REAL process asked us to do this at the very beginning of this target-based work.)                                                                   

• But, what is important to remember is:  This is not the only education and skills that are taught at our school.  Yes, we are teaching the skills taught on the Forward, but we are also teaching skills that are not tested on the Forward.  We are teaching them to work collaboratively with others, we are teaching them to problem solve independently, we are teaching them to use organization skills, and the list goes on.  These are all important, even if they are not on the Forward.  For the Target based work, our priority standards must include a direct and realistic view of what our students will be asked to do.  This is why I don't believe we are "teaching to the test," but rather we are preparing them to be strong readers, writers, listeners, speakers, mathematicians and the Forward is just one way that our students will get to show their skills.
• Recycling
• Please help our students understand the difference between the two baskets in our classrooms.  If a milk container or other food remnants/wrappers/etc are put in the recycling bin, everything in the bin has to be put in the garbage.  

PD Spotlight

• The quick article this week is from Pernille Ripp.  It is related to conferring, but as I read it I also think it fits with our concentration on SEL and building relationships with our students.  The idea is that a single question can give us a glimpse into a child's world, help us see their perspective, and lets us in to the things that our students find important.  It is a question I want to add to my repertoire to use often with students.  Perhaps it will fit with your conversations too...

Friday Funny

January 3, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Since it is such a short week, I have very little for this spot this week.
• HOWEVER, it was so great to see everyone today.  I missed the kids and all of you during break.  I hope you had a great first day back!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, January 6 
• Mentors/Mentee meetings in the IMC
• Tuesday, January 7
• Wednesday, January 8 
• Wear Badger Attire
• Staff meeting in the IMC @ 3:15pm
• Thursday, January 9 
• Student of the Month announced
• Phonics Committee meeting in D.O. conference room @ 3:15
• Friday, January 10 
• Pyramid Model committee meeting @ 7:45am

Nitty-Gritty

• Target Based grading planning 
• Our next PD day will be focused on our target based grading work.  I will be following up with an email to help prepare for this work so that we can be efficient with our time on Jan 17.  Let me know if you have any questions related to this process.
• Literacy Block Visual

• As I stated in the last blog, I will be providing information and feedback on literacy instruction to support your SLO and PPG goals. One of the challenging parts of Units of Study is keeping the Mini-lesson--mini so that there is a lot of time for students to practice.  I like how the pie chart to the right visually shows a goal of how literacy blocks are spent.  Because mini-lessons are at the beginning of a lesson, it has the potential to throw off the timings of the block.  
• Staff Meetings
• Our staff meetings are the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month.  However, the 4th Wednesdays in Jan, March and April have been cancelled so that you all can participate in the self-care academy.  (On the Elementary Google Calendar, the meeting is described as a Self-Care Academy date for those three months.) These sessions are designed for adults to learn and practice their own self-care.  Our profession is very stressful and complex, and self-care is not always a top priority, even though it maybe should be.  This is our opportunity to fit it in to our schedules. Attendance at the Self-Care Academy is optional.  
• Self Care Academy Flyer (See the email from Kalise Horst for more details.)

• Upcoming Event - January 28, 2020
• I wanted to give a heads-up about an event that is occurring at our school on January 28. Representatives from the Office of Children's Mental Health and the Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation, along with a number of other agencies related to student SEL skill development including First Lady Evers will be visiting Dodgeland Elementary to see the initiatives that we have in place regarding SEL.  This visit is in the early planning stages.  As more logistics and details are developed and planned, they will be shared.  At this time, you should be aware that there will be many visitors in the building that day.

PD Spotlight

• This week the PD Spotlight is a VERY short article that I would like you to read before Wednesday's staff meeting, January 8.  The article will give you some background information for the presentation that Andrea Schulte will be leading for us during the staff meeting.  I liked that the article acknowledges how difficult it is to teach a mini-lesson from UoS, but it also gives some helpful advice on how to work on getting it mini in our own classrooms.   This blog is one of my favorites.  Feel free to subscribe to it yourself if you are interested.

Friday Funny

December 20

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• So many wonderful memories made this week at school...Thank you to all of you for providing a structured learning environment, yet still taking a few short moments of time to provide experiences for them that they will remember for a long time!
• 4K students excitedly telling me that they are looking for the Gingerbread Man!  (When I asked a student today about whether they ever found the gingerbread man, she said, "He's gone. We ate him!")  This age group is teaching me SO much this year! :-)
• Impressive 3rd grade writing pieces about a informational topic of their choice.  I read about Nerf guns, fishing, comic books, candy corn, Dodgeland, Roboblox, dance, etc.  There were great leads in them, and so many text features including pictures with captions, a Venn diagram, charts and glossaries.  So great to read and hear about their excitement in pride in their work!
• 4th graders practicing how to start a conversation with others.  They learned they can ask questions, notice and comment on something, compliment others, use their knowledge of the other person.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Winter break!  I sincerely hope you have a relaxing, peaceful and safe break.  Please take care of yourself and spend time with those that make you happy!

Nitty-Gritty

• iPad Updates: Please update your iPads to the latest software version before heading off to break.  The latest iOS version is 13.3 as of today.  Please check your software today.
• Class DoJo: In a continued effort to communicate and share the awesome learning and activities that happen in our building, please share your class DoJo pages with Christina Abegglen from the IMC.  This will give her another way to communicate with families.
• FaceBook Features - This is the other way we can get information out to our community about the students' experiences and learning in our building.  In January, I will begin the Staff Member Feature for the week.  I will be coming around to get information from you. (This is my heads up!) . Thank you to those that have already sent me the information for this upcoming post feature.
• Literacy - I have read all SLO and PPG forms that have been submitted by Elementary Staff.  The majority of you are working on individual or team SLO goals related to reading.  In an effort to support this work, I will be sharing information through the weekly blogs, in person, through feedback and tapping into staff member's expertise to share at Staff meetings.  The goal of this communication is to help us all elevate students' reading achievement, learn and grow in our own teaching craft, and ways to reflect on our classroom and student progress.
• i-Ready - Looking ahead: The winter i-Ready testing window is from January 7 through February 1.

PD Spotlight

This week's PD spotlight is more about a topic that is timely for me right now.  Click here to read the article on the importance of sleep.  Sadly, the part I am looking forward to during break is getting more sleep.  However, I have to figure this out for every week, not just trying to catch up.  It is a myth anyway.  You never actually "catch up" on sleep,  This article just made me think.  I share it with you as so many of us have had an exhausting week.  Take Care everyone!

Friday Funny

This week it is a short video clip.  I saw this online on Monday, and Ella and I enjoyed it so much I felt I had to share!  (It is a 3 year old video, but I had never seen it before.  Be sure to watch all the way to the end.)

December 13, 2019

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 5th graders celebrating their writing pieces in front of parents and other guests.  What great figurative language I read in so many pieces!
• Students singing their hearts out at the winter concert.  A huge shout-out to Ms. Hudson and Mr. Muenchow for their hard work to make the concert a success.
• 3rd graders writing informational text features in their writing.  How cool is that?!
• Staff members stepping in to help out colleagues when emergencies arise or students are struggling to regulate. This makes us all feel supported and encouraged.  Thank you!

What's Happening at Dodgeland

• Monday, Dec 16
• Cozy Christmas Day for Staff - Hot chocolate in the lounge
• 1st and 2nd graders - Field trip to Schauer Arts Center until noon
• Math Curriculum Analysis Committee meeting at 3:15-4pm in the District Office
• School Board Meeting @ 6:30
• Tuesday, Dec 17
• Wednesday, Dec 18
• Workout Wednesday
• 2nd grade - Field Trip to Milwaukee Public Museum (all day)
• 5K Data Level meeting at 12:05 in the D.O. conference
• Thursday, Dec 19
• Goodie Table Day
• Friday, Dec 20
• Ugly Christmas Sweater Day
• Break from December 23-Jan 1
• See you on Thursday, Jan 2!

Nitty Gritty

• Food Service Survey - As you finish the paper surveys for grades 4K-3, please place them in my mailbox.  Grades 4-5, I will send you and your students a link on Friday. Please plan a time for students to take the survey before next week Friday.
• Break is coming up - For some of our students, they do not look forward to winter break.  The uncertainty of their days, the stress of the holidays on family, and other adverse childhood experiences cause students to have more difficulty with regulation skills and focusing just before breaks start.  The best way to help our students is to continue to be the compassionate, kind and consistent educators we are every day.  The more we deviate from our normal schedule the harder it is for students already struggling to have successful days.
• Target Based Grading - Please watch for an email and/or video with some follow up information from concerns and questions brought up on Wed. night.  

PD Spotlight

Please check out the part of an article about how to find renewal during Winter Break. My greatest wish is that you all have a peaceful relaxing break doing the things that allow you to renew and come back in January ready to take on this exhilarating, but complex profession. The article is by a man named John Spencer, a former MS teacher, now college professor. He writes a blog (among other things) and emphasizes how to help students and teachers tap in to their creativity.  Please click here to read this VERY short piece about strategies to find renewal during winter break.

Spencer, John. “Finding Renewal on Your Winter Break.” John Spencer, 6 Mar. 2019, www.spencerauthor.com/seven-teacher-tested-strategies-for-finding-renewal-on-your-winter-break/.

Friday Funny

I was reading some meme's about dad jokes and came across the one below. This made me laugh out loud for two reasons.

1. Born in a car, so his name is Carson!  That's funny! 

and 

2. It reminded me of my late husband.  When Mason was born, Matt started telling people that we named him Mason because he was born in May and he's our son, so he's our Ma-son!  Then he laughed and laughed.  I groaned, and it became a running joke in our household ever since!

December 6, 2019

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• First graders working hard on story problems using math mountains and a missing addend.  They really had to use their reading skills in math. :-)
• 4K students helping to read the pictures in a Santa book in the library.  They learned a hard word to say-- ornaments!
• I'm excited to see the finished doors for the contest.  So many creative and fun ideas!  
• Students working on using their inside voices during lunch.  Thank you for reinforcing this in classrooms too.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, December 9
• Mid-Quarter for Qtr 2 
• Milwaukee Bucks Attire day (students and/or staff)
• Wear your Christmas Bling (staff only)
• Board Workshop in IMC at 6pm (School Perception community survey results will be presented)
• Tuesday, December 10
• Wednesday, December 11
• 1st grade Data meeting at Noon
• Staff meeting in the IMC @3:10 (Bring your target based grading materials to the meeting)
• Thursday, December 12
• Elementary Winter Concert for grades K, 2, 4 at 6:30 (Kids arrive at 6:05)
• Friday, December 13
• Santa's Ho-Ho-Ho Down (wear your flannel and western wear)

Nitty-Gritty

• FaceBook reminder - Please let me know if I can feature you for a FaceBook weekly post.  The more we can connect with our community, the more they will hear the positive things we do each and every day here.

• Playworks Update - Coach Jena emailed out a follow up after her last visit to our classrooms.  This is her final visit to classrooms, but she will be here a couple more times this year during our recesses though.  I encourage you to continue to use the Playworks games, activities and attention getters to develop/practice SEL skills and build community in the classroom. The few minutes that these activities take will pay off in upcoming lessons when students are ready to learn and focused.

• Food Service survey - The school board has asked that students be surveyed about breakfast and lunch.  Please watch your email next week for the link and/or procedure for giving the survey to our elementary students.

• Summer School - Yep, you read that correctly!  I'm going to begin planning for next year's summer school session.  The dates are: June 15-July 23 (Mon-Thurs from 7:30-noon).  Watch for an email in January with more information!

PD Spotlight

I am sharing a short article this week about managing teacher stress.  I truly believe teaching is a calling and one of the best careers in the country.  It comes with the opportunity to make a difference each and every day.  It also means that we make hundreds of decisions day after day.  We get to work with lots of different people that have a variety of perspectives.  The work is exciting but also can cause stress.  How we handle the stress is the key to taking care of our own well-being and enjoying this career.  I came across this article and thought about how I needed it after today in particular.  I want to draw your attention to numbers 8 and 9 specifically. (All of the tips are good, but I want to emphasize these.)  As a part of the elementary team, I want us all to find it easy to use these two tips here at Dodgeland.  Let me know if you need me!

Friday Funny

November 26, 2019

Thanksgiving Week Quick Blog Update

This two-day week is a whirlwind!  Thanks for keeping the focus on learning.  When we return it will be a fast 3 weeks before our winter break.  When we keep our focus on the routines/procedures and the learning we get to do, our students' behavior and/or anxiety stays in check.  The more we disrupt their routine, the more struggles our students seem to have.  Thank you in advance for helping them to stay regulated during this time of year.  For some students, this time of year is more difficult and stressful.  Continuing to be the consistent, caring people and places in their lives will help them tremendously!

Nitty-Gritty

• Sharing with our Community - FaceBook and beyond
• FaceBook is a wonderful social media tool that reaches a large portion of our community.  It is a way to showcase our celebrations and get important information out to stakeholders in our community.  However, it can also be a place where others can spread negativity or complaining.  DES has a lot of things to celebrate.  The education and experiences that our students get while in our care are important to share with everyone.  Let's fill our school's FaceBook page with the awesome learning that is happening here each and every day.  Many of you already do this on your DoJo site or your class FaceBook sites.  
• If you have pictures from your classes, please share them with me and a sentence or two to describe the learning.  I will place it on the DES FaceBook page.  If you have a classroom page, allow the DES page to Share it on theirs.  This can be any learning; experiments, collaboration, reading, problem-solving, etc. 
• The goal is to have something to share each and every day.  Our students are constantly learning!  Let's make sure everyone knows about it!!
• In addition, another way to connect with the community is with a Staff member of the week.  This means we would highlight one staff member each Friday on Facebook.  Here's our chance to connect with our community and share why we work at Dodgeland.  Please share with me:
• Your hometown/where you graduated from
• Your Career experience (this could be years taught, previous positions/schools, etc.)
• Family, hobbies, fun Facts that you are comfortable sharing
• Why you love Dodgeland
• Pictures of you, your classroom, your family...again what you are comfortable with (I can take pictures here at school if you like too, but you might have fun pics that would work even better.)
• Taylor graciously allowed me to play with this idea.  Below is a sample of what it would look like.  (Thank you Taylor!) -Click here to see the whole feature.

Also, check out what happened in the Elementary office while we were gone...No more running in to someone at the copy machine in the mail room!  Thank you to the custodial staff and Brad for coordinating this project!

Last but not least, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday week that is full of relaxation and all the things that fill your bucket.  I have all three of my kids home for the weekend and we are planning a Toy Story marathon on Black Friday.  See you all in December!

November 22, 2019

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 5K students practicing their skills with quickly and quietly transition from lockers to the classroom. 
• 4K students enjoying their teacher reading the book called "The Book with No Pictures." They were so engaged in the literacy activity.
• 3rd graders writing equations for 2-step story problems.  Listening to them explain how they got the equation was so insightful!
• I can't wait to see Dodgeland's version of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Students during library have been hard at work making their own "floats" for the parade!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, November 25
• Coach Jena will be here for recess from 11-1:30pm to watch our playworks activities in action
• School Board meeting @ 6:30
• Tuesday, November 26
• Winners of the Attendance challenge will be announced at the end of the day
• Last day of school before Thanksgiving break
• November 27-November 29
• No School.  Enjoy your break with your family and friends!

Nitty-Gritty

• IMC- The IMC is a busy, busy place!  Almost all of our 330 Elementary students enter this location weekly. (Not to mention how many of the 400+ MS/HS students enter the library every week.) 
• The goal of the IMC is to be a resource for students, a place to learn new skills, share a love of books, ask questions, create new things, and get help with technology.  It is also a place for staff to find professional resources, help with planning or organizing resources for upcoming lessons, and learning from peers. 
• Click here to see a weekly schedule of the predictable events that take place in the library.  Use this calendar when planning to use the IMC for projects, research, book checkout, etc.  

To accomplish these IMC goals, it is important to have a system that allows all of them to be met, in some cases simultaneously.

• First, when students come to the IMC, they should be aware of their purpose before arriving.  To help with this and to aid in clear communication, there will be copies of IMC passes put in mailboxes by next Tuesday, Nov 26.  The pass will be similar to the nurse and Oasis passes. It will help adults assist students, and also to keep them accountable for their time in the IMC.  This would include students that need assistance with technology/devices.

• Second, our tech integrationists (Kay and Christina) strive to be helpful when planning lessons, units or projects that utilize technology.  In order to support the learning objectives, they need time to research and gather materials, plan alongside teachers, and help teach the skills needed to complete the activity.  Please utilize their expertise while keeping in mind that the more time devoted to planning, the more successful the project will be.  A week's notice prior to teaching the lesson is usually adequate.

• Lunch Procedures: After the break, I'd like to have a refresh of lunch procedures on Monday, Dec 2 in the morning.  Students have been getting louder and forgetting manners more often in the past couple of weeks.  I will be putting together another video to help our students see and understand the expectations of the lunch period.  Just giving you a heads up.

• Reminder:  If you need tech assistance right away, please call ext. 1222.  If there is no answer, you can call ext 1000 and ask Marie if she can radio for help. 

• Hallway Door entrance - FYI: The doorstop to the door by the elementary office has been removed.  There is a time setting on the locks so that the door is unlocked at the following times: 


• 6:30am - 8:00am
• 12:00pm - 1:05 pm
• 3:00pm - 6:00pm 

PD Spotlight

I don't know if it is because I am more aware of it, or if it is because Thanksgiving is around the corner, but I seem to notice so many students and adults interacting positively and thanking others.  Below is a link to a very short blog post from George Couros.  As a mom, I tell my children that even if others are not always kind, it will always feel good to be kind to others.  Respecting yourself and being kind and positive is more important than responding to unkindness with negativity.  That interaction might feel good in the moment, but it won't last.  I like how Mr. Couros adds another layer to that here, by adding in, that you will never know which kind word or action will have an impact on another.  Wouldn't you rather that impact be a positive one?

https://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/tag/the-importance-of-kindness-in-education

Friday Funny

I am okay with not doing this for awhile though... :-)