May 29, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Thank you so much for everything Dodgeland Staff.  If I were to write about all the awesome things that you accomplished this week, it would take about 3 days to read.  Way to go everyone!  Enjoy your last day with your students and I will "see" you next week!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, June 1
• Grade Level Meetings with Jenny (Click here for schedule.)
• iPad pick up begins in Reeseville
• Material delivery begins

• Tuesday, June 2
• Please plan a time with your group to reflect on the virtual learning process.

• Wednesday, June 3
• Possible staff meeting at 11:00

• Thursday, June 4
• Group meetings for 4K, 5K, 1st, 2nd and Specials (check schedule)

• Friday, June 5
• Group Meetings for 3rd, 4th, and 5th (check schedule)
• Last Day for staff - Enjoy your summer and BE SAFE!

Nitty-Gritty

• TpT School Access
• The site has the licenses open until June 30.  There are about 200 licenses left for us to use.  If you have anything you'd like to use, please access them now.  It is first come first serve for all licenses that are left for us to use.

• Virtual Talent Show
• A huge shout-out to Sue and Christina for the hard work of putting this together.  In addition, all of you made the "staff meeting" very entertaining.  The Talent Show is Ready and will be shared on Friday on Dojo and FaceBook.

• Next Week
• I will be around every day at school next week.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

PD Spotlight

As we reflect on the year and work together to plan for next year, I have been reading a lot of research and guidelines for the future.  In some cases, it is overwhelming to think about.  However, when I think about what is most important, it is our students' social and emotional needs.  I may have shared this before, but CASEL has a number of resources for schools related to COVID-19.  Please use them to help your teams as you plan next week.

Friday Funny

I don't know what this says about me, but I do think this is really funny!!!

May 22, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• A 4K student explained to me that in her school at home, her mom is the principal and her dad is the teacher, but she would really rather go to school at Dodgeland!

• Teachers celebrating when they hear from students that they have had limited contact with since the school closure.

• Staff members continuing to focus on relationship building and how they can provide closure to students at the end of the year.

• Staff coming together to provide a Talent Show for our students this year.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 25
• Memorial Day - No School

• Tuesday, May 26
• Virtual Recess for 4K-2 with MR. LANGE and COACH JENA!!!! at 11:15am on https://bluejeans.com/411624574

• Wednesday, May 27
• Virtual Staff Meeting at 11am on https://bluejeans.com/901415692

• Thursday, May 28
• Virtual Recess for 3-5th grade with MR. LANGE and COACH JENA at 3:00pm on https://bluejeans.com/411624574

• Friday, May 29
• Last Day of Virtual Learning

Nitty-Gritty

• Budget Process
• By June 1, staff will receive their budget requests back so that you know what purchase requisitions will need to be completed and turned in.  I will be looking over all of the items that you have submitted over the weekend.  If you have not submitted it, please do so as soon as possible. 

• Week of June 1
• During this final week of the 2019-20 school year, there will be a number of things that need to be done and planned.  I will be meeting with each grade level team that week to discuss: class lists finalization, review the target based work, reflection on virtual learning and planning for the fall.
• There will also be time built in to the week to complete: paperwork (i.e. report cards, IEP's, etc), purchase orders, and Effective Project forms.
• During this time, you may choose to join meetings from home on BlueJeans, or you may choose to come in to the buildings for them.  However, we still must maintain social distancing and groups smaller than 10.  If you are experiencing any symptoms or have a fever, please do not leave your home.
• A full schedule will be shared with you early next week, but for now you should know that grade level meetings will take place on Monday, June 1.  Each team will have about 30-45 min. to meet with me.  Also, our very last full staff meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 3 at 11am.

• Report Cards
• If you have any questions about completing report cards for this 4th quarter, please let me know.  Many of our students will receive P or DNP for all categories across the board.  However, in some cases, students have participated in reading, but not math or vice versa.  You may find that you are giving different scores depending on the subject. Please still provide an overall comment at the bottom of the report card that communicates with parents their overall performance from this grade that may or may not include the virtual learning experience.

• End of the Year Celebration
• Thank you so much for your creative ideas of how we could end the school year for our kids.  Due to the many regulations that we must follow, anything we do will need to be done virtually.  Here are some ideas that we could do:
• Virtual School picnic - (RaChelle's idea) We log in to a single BlueJeans site and eat lunch together outside or on a blanket in the house if it's raining while a slide show of pictures is shown on screen share.
• Dance Party - (Teresa's idea) We end the day with a dance party on one site while we celebrate the end of the school year.
• Handwritten notes/Postcards sent to each student to mail on June 4-5.
• Please click here to provide me feedback of the idea(s) that you think we should do.

PD Spotlight

It is possible that I am feeling out of sorts with the end of the school year fast approaching because it doesn't have the normal excitement and expectations of completion that most school years include.  It is why I have spent so much time thinking about how to close this school year in a way that is meaningful.  I came across this article that provides ideas for how to do this.  Many of them are meant to be ideas for students.  However, they could easily be used for us as adults as well.  How can we reflect on things that have gone well?  How do we go back and remember all the experiences that occurred before March 13?  I found this to be thought provoking for myself, even if it is meant as a practical piece for educators.  Hope you find it helpful as well.  CASEL has many wonderful resources relating to SEL and COVID-19.  It will be important that we have a plan for welcoming our students back into the building that will address these needs.  In order to do this, we have to stop and think about all that we have been through as a society, a community and as a school.

Friday Funny

I saw this earlier this week and could totally relate to the music teacher's original song. It made me laugh out loud.  Hope it brings you laughter today too!

May 15, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• First graders having lunch together and having a dance party!  What a great way to stay connected!

• Staff members celebrating connecting with kids that they have been missing for awhile!

• Teachers advocating and looking for resources for parents that are struggling with their children.

• A class participating in Read to Self on BlueJeans.  What a great way to add in dedicated time for students to spend reading during the day! 

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 18
• Start of Color Week! Wear Red today
• Talent Show Recording @ 11:00 on elem. staff mtg BlueJeans link 901415692
• School Board Meeting @ 6:30pm

• Tuesday, May 19
• Wear Orange or Yellow today
• Kahoot with Ms. Hudson at 11:15am at 510888687

• Wednesday, May 20
• Wear Green today
• 11am Virtual Staff Meeting at 901415692
• Virtual Talent Show Debut on FaceBook at 6pm?  (if it is ready)

• Thursday, May 21
• Wear Blue today

• Friday, May 22
• Wear Purple Today

Nitty-Gritty

• Color Week 
• Each day students and staff encouraged to wear a certain color.  Thank you to the 1st grade team for sharing!

• Budget
• The Google Form for submitting budget is here. Originally it was due today, May 15.  If you need a little more time, please let me know.  To clarify, this form is to help us know what you need for next school year.  It doesn't have to be super specific with item numbers, page numbers, etc, but it should have a description for the items that you are adding to the budget.  (like Happy Birthday pencils, visual timer, etc) The goal is to use this at the school level to budget for next school year.  Later, you will also use this to fill out the purchase orders.  If you have questions, please let me know.

• Citizenship Rubric
• If you have not had a chance to take the survey regarding the citizenship rubric, please let me know.  I will take the feedback and combine it so that you all can see it.  We will finalize this rubric on Wednesday.

PD Spotlight

This week I have been reading a lot about virtual fatigue.  I'll link some of them here if you want to read them too, but the one that I found the most helpful was this one.  I know that it is about Zoom, but really it's the format not the specific application. Zoom could be replaced with Google Hangouts or BlueJeans and the article would still fit.  In fact, I identified with the very first paragraph instantly.  After reading it, I can totally understand why all of us are getting tired, but especially our students.  We have to focus on so many things, the delays affect how we perceive the conversation and the person we are speaking to.  Plus the added dimension of our work interactions have collided with our home.  At the end of the article, it has a few hints to help us.  Can any of these ideas help our families and students?  Hmmm, I wonder.
Other articles if you are interested:
Zoom is "taxing" our brains.  Why?
Learning during COVID-19

Friday Funny

At first when I saw this, I thought it was a screen shot from the "My Talking Pet" app.  But upon closer inspection, I realized it is a bone.  It makes me giggle!

May 8, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• This week I enjoyed showing you all how much I appreciate your hard work.  Hopefully you enjoyed The Game of Games as well.  There were so many submissions this week.  Some of them are on this doc for your enjoyment.  

• Book clubs have been going on virtually with 5th graders.  They were able to continue their discussions and their books.

• Parents sending messages all week to show appreciation to their children's teachers.  They are missing their school community too.

• First graders using play-do to complete math with ten frames.  What a creative way to provide math manipulatives for students to do their math work!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 11
• Student Pick-up from 8-4pm

• Tuesday, May 12
• Student pick-up from 11-6pm
• Virtual Recess for Grades 3-5 at 11:15 at https://bluejeans.com/411624574
• Talent Show Run through 3pm on https://bluejeans.com/901415692

• Wednesday, May 13
• Student pick-up from 8-4.
• Virtual staff meeting at 11am at https://bluejeans.com/901415692

• Thursday, May 14
• Self-Care Academy at 11am.  Sign up here.
• Student pick-up from 11-6pm.

• Friday, May 15
• Pupil Services meeting @ 8:30 at https://bluejeans.com/901415692

Nitty-Gritty

• Self-Care Academy
• Just a quick reminder of the Self-Care Academies online. 
• With such great interest in our first round of Self-Care Academy sessions, we're extending our offering to three differently themed Academy options.  For those who wanted to attend the first but were unable, we've added options.  Details are attached and you may use this form to sign up for Self-Care Academy sessions.

• And the WINNER IS...
• The race was extremely close.  In fact the top 6 points earners were only separated by 3 points.  There was a 3-way tie for first place.  At first I tried to figure out who had the most bonus points, or who entered theirs first, etc.  And then I realized, they were all so great, why can't I change it.  So I did.  I present to you the 3 Grand Prize WINNERS that tied for 1st. (Grand Prize will be mailed to you!)
• Kevin Klueger
• Susan O'Toole
• Stephanie Schuett
• Congratulations to you all!  It was super fun and thank you to everyone for participating. (Jahra, Rachael and Patrick - You were sooooo close!)

• Target Based Grading
• Our next step in this process is finalizing the citizenship rubric.  At Wednesday's staff meeting, we will discuss any changes that should be made to this document.  Click here to see the draft that was summarized from the first group discussions we had back in February.

• Volunteers for Material Pick-up
• We could still use 1-2 more people each day next week to help out with getting supplies to families as they arrive at the curb.  There will be a list of who is coming each time period.  They would love to see your happy smiling faces too!  Let me know if you want to join us!

PD Spotlight

This week the PD Spotlight is based off of an article that was shared with me about how students feel about virtual learning during this pandemic.  In fact, Mindy had the same suggestion and I plan to send a survey out to our 3-5th grade students so we get their feedback too.  (Thanks Mindy for the great idea!)

I love the graphs because I like data.  But even more, I find the responses that kids gave that they want their teachers to know fascinating.  It could easily be any of our students/families sharing the same ideas.  The other part that made me think was the reflective questions at the end of the article.  This process is new for all of us.  We are working very hard, but how can we make sure that we are feeling success too.  How do we continue to engage our students through this, and even more importantly, how do we make sure to cultivate strong relationships with them as well?

Friday Funny

That was probably me this week at the staff meeting.  Or maybe all staff meetings actually.

May 1, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Students submitting pictures of themselves taking their "Flat" teacher with them.  Students loved to share their days with their teachers.

• Teachers using the chat box as a formative assessment technique and to pace the lesson when they can't see all of the students during the lesson.

• Staff members checking in and supporting parents of their students with encouraging words and affirmations.

• Students helping each other learn new math vocabulary words by using their own words and relating to real life things in their homes.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, May 4
• National Teacher Appreciation Week starts
• We all appreciate you each and every day, but this week we can't wait to show you all how very much you are appreciated.  Enjoy your week!
• Fort Day - Construct your best fort creation with blankets, legos, drawings, etc
• Self-Care Academy @ 3pm (click here to sign up 24 hours before)
• Tuesday, May 5
• Virtual Talent Show meeting at 11:00 on https://bluejeans.com/782539236
• Dance Party - Organize a dance party for you and your family.
• Self-Care Academy @ 8am (click here to sign up 24 hours before)
• Wednesday, May 6
• Virtual Staff Meeting @ 11:00am
• Coach Jena will be joining us at the beginning of the meeting.
• D.E.A.R. Time - Drop Everything and Read Day! Share a photo of you and family reading together.
• Thursday, May 7
• Dress-Up or Face Painting Day - Get out some dress clothes, costumes, parents' clothes or play clothing and dress up.
• Friday, May 8
• Game Day - Get out the game boards, deck of cards, puzzles, etc and play!  Create some laughs as a family.

Nitty-Gritty

• Virtual Dodgeland Family Spirit Week
• This week we will have another spirit week to encourage families to spend time together having fun.  Each day will be posted on Class Dojo and on FaceBook.  Encourage kids to share how they are participating each day either in person or with a photo.

• Talent Show
• Our talent show is being planned for our students.  Please consider joining the staff entry for the talent show.  Sue has a great idea and it will be fun to participate!  The meeting is on BlueJeans on Tuesday at 11:00am.

• May Virtual Activities
• I started a calendar of activities for students to connect with each other in fun activities.  Click here to see the Calendar.  If you would like to add an activity to the calendar please let me know before Monday, May 4.  I will then share the document with our families.  These are purely optional, but one way to help our students stay connected.  

• Momentum for May
• Students across the building/grades are struggling to maintain momentum for virtual learning.  Some students' sleeping schedules are way off, some are finding it difficult to focus on lessons, and so much more.  This is one of the reasons we are adding in spirit weeks, virtual recesses, and why Jena is going to join us for the staff meeting to support your work and provide ideas to continue to provide play in their lessons.  I know this is hard, and I know that it is not our preference, but I am so impressed by your incredible work the last 6 weeks.  Please take care of yourself, and reach out if you need help with a student or personally.

PD Spotlight

There is a theme for this week's blog, and it is about how to end our year strong.  It is not even close to the year that I thought we would have. We have one more month to help our kids learn and progress and grow.  Together we can still have a memorable year filled with fun, laughter and learning. This will only work if we take good care of ourselves.  Stress affects so many areas of our lives, our mood, relationships, reasoning, etc.  This article was helpful for me to reflect on my home schedule.  I hope it helps you as well.

Friday Funny

In my case, it will be super curly and gray!  :-)

April 24, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Teachers and specialists reminding students often about what times BlueJean meetings/classes are to help them keep a schedule and predictable routine, including teaching them to set alarms and reminders for themselves.  What a great life skill!

• A parent shared with me that when it was announced that school would be closed for the rest of the year, the child said it wasn't that bad because he still got to see his teacher and class everyday. This speaks to our dedication to our students emotional well-being along with their achievement.

• Kindergartners are doing really well using BlueJeans and using the iPad camera to angle it in a way that you can see them and not their toys, pets, ceiling, etc.  

• Staff helping each other out with all of the tasks to prepare for the end of the school year in the building, even when we really just want to see our students again in the building.  Your strength and compassion with each other is inspiring.  Thank you for all you do at Dodgeland.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Friday, April 24 (today)
• 2pm - Virtual keynote speaker, Adam Welcome, on BlueJeans. (772807416)

• Monday, April 27
• School Board Meeting @ 6:30

• Tuesday, April 28

• Wednesday, April 29
• NO Virtual STAFF Meeting 
• Self-Care Academy @ Noon (See below for more information)

• Thursday, April 30

• Friday, May 1
• The last day for staff to prepare your rooms for summer cleaning.  If you need more time or help, please let me know.

Nitty-Gritty

• Virtual Learning
• Now that we know that virtual learning is going to be taking place for the remainder of the school year, I wanted to evaluate on how things are going for our students, families and for all of you.  Click here to see the results from the survey, as well as a summary of some general guidelines for virtual learning for the remainder of the year.  Our families/parents are overwhelmed, as are some of you.  However, most everyone I speak to is overwhelmed because they want to do the best things for their kids. I am hoping this will help everyone feel a little bit less overwhelmed. This will be shared with families in a separate communication.

• Bridges Math Curriculum Update
• After a lot of research and conversations and thinking, I have decided that it is NOT a good time to start a new math curriculum for our elementary students.  However, this does not take away from the fact that the trend of our math data is not where any of us want it to be.  Coupled that with the loss of instruction from the pandemic, we will have a very important year ahead of us.  It does mean that I will be exploring other ways to address the math achievement of our students. At some point in the future, it is my intention to revisit this decision regarding Bridges.  I do still believe it is a strong curriculum that our students would benefit from.  Just not in 2020-21.

• Future Virtual Dress-Up Days
• We will have 2 more weeks of Dress-up days for students.  One is the week of May 4 and the other will be the week of May 18.

May 4 Week: 

May 18 Week:

• Milk Calendars
• Cathy Lamb needs the completed milk calendars for the months/days that we were in school.  Please complete them as soon as possible and share them with her or complete them in the google drive sheets she created for this.  It is important for us to receive reimbursement for the milk that students already received.  If you have any questions or need the document shared with you again, please let Cathy or myself know.

• Self-Care Academies
• Kalise and Pam will be guiding 3 virtual self-care academies starting next week.  See their email on April 23.
• If you’re interested in joining us, please click here to sign up, at least 24 hours in advance, for one of the following sessions:
• Wednesday, April 29 at 12:00pm
• Monday, May 5 @ 3:00pm
• Tuesday, May 6 @ 8:00am

• Budget/POPS/Activity Account dollars
• If you have receipts for things that you purchased for students during the virtual learning or before the school closure using POPS/Activity account funds, please submit them as soon as possible.  Marie will be in the building next week to take care of these.
• If you have receipts for things from your general budget, please submit them ASAP.  Unfortunately, we are unable to purchase things from our budget because school is closed and it is the end of April.  Auditors will flag it as forward spending at this point.

• End of the Year Questions
• A comprehensive document that provides explanation/clarification for many pressing important questions will be coming soon.  Many of you emailed me questions about these things:
• My Learning Plan - EP process
• Alt. Comp document
• Budget planning for next year
• Personal Day
• Etc.
• Please let me know if you need help or have any questions as you prepare your room for summer cleaning.  The maintenance staff will begin waxing classrooms on May 4.
• Don't forget to hand in any technology to the tech dept before you leave. See Brad's email for more specifics.

• TpT School Access
• I had contacted the rep for the TpT school access site.  She increased the number of licenses available.  Each of the 10 groups now have a total of 20 licenses (up from 12).

PD Spotlight

As I write this, it is the day before what should be a celebratory day in our family.  However, it will be more a day of memories.  This adds stress to my life every year, but this year it seems even more stressful.  I know I am finding myself to be more moody and irritable.  I found the video on the compassion resilience toolkit to be just what I needed to hear.  There are some things that I can do to manage stress and to feel better.  In addition, the video reminded me of the science of gratitude.  In case any of you need to hear this too, click here.  Take care and Be safe everyone.

Friday Funny

I used to watch this show all the time with Matt.  If you've never seen it, it is a pawn shop in Las Vegas that people bring in all kinds of stuff to find out the value of it and sell or pawn for money.  At this point, these items are VERY valuable!  :-)

April 17, 2020

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Professional conversations multiple times this week with various staff members about target based grading, math curriculum, student needs, and instruction.  Our school gets stronger and stronger when we work together to discuss professional topics openly.

• Teachers encouraging their students to greet each other when they join BlueJeans.

• Staff members giving extra 1:1 assistance when they are struggling with work.

• Staff going above and beyond contacting parents and working with students to continue learning.

• JUST FOR YOU!  Our students miss you all too.  Many of them submitted pictures or videos to share how much they miss you.  Please enjoy this video.  https://youtu.be/x7IL614G66c

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, April 20, 2020 (Start of another Virtual Spirit week)
• Making Creations Monday - Share a photo of a creation you've made.
• Target Based Grading Dept Meetings continue

• Tuesday, April 21, 2020
• Tourist Tuesday - Share a place you would like to take a virtual field trip to

• Wednesday, April 22, 2020
• NO STAFF meeting - Use this time to collaborate with your teams to work on success criteria for your prioritized learning Targets. 
• Wellness Wednesday - Share a photo of a healthy snack that you enjoy.

• Thursday, April 23, 2020
• Thankful Thursday - Share something you are thankful for.

• Friday, April 24, 2020
• Fun Day Friday - Share a picture of something fun that you like to do.
• 2pm - Live virtual keynote with Adam Welcome.

Nitty-Gritty

• Virtual Keynote - Friday, April 24
• Your virtual teaching duties are relieved early for you to join in a bluejeans session for a live virtual keynote from Adam Welcome.  If you don't know who this is, you are in for a treat. Adam is co-author of Kids Deserve It (and other books). He is a highly sought after speaker for education conferences and I guarantee you'll end your week feeling pumped up!  Please thank Jessica for setting this up.  She will be sharing a BlueJeans link next week.  I am really looking forward to ending my week with this keynote!

• Virtual Spirit Week (We all may need a fun pick me up next week.)
• The week is not necessarily about dressing up for the day, but instead ways to share other fun thoughts and likes with our school community.  There will be a visual shared with you on Friday afternoon if you'd like to post to your own classroom pages.  I will be sharing on Dojo and FaceBook as well.  Click here to view a table with all of the days in one place.

• Schoology
• If you are using Schoology, can you please add me to your Schoology classes?  Some parents contact me with questions about Schoology, but I can not see the same things that they are seeing from their child's iPad.  Thank you in advance.

• Chat Feature on BlueJeans
• After Brad tested this out with BlueJeans, he has reported that system does not have the option to shut down only the direct message feature of the chat box.  Please let Brad and myself know if you would like the chat box turned off for your class.

• BlueJeans Reminder
• Now that the setting has been changed that BlueJeans session needs a moderator in order for it to start, it is important to be logged on right before the official start times.  There have been students and parents reporting that they are logging on, but nobody is there for them.  Please remind students of this setting so that if they are early, they know to wait.  Please communicate if you will not be on BlueJeans for students.

• Alternative Classes Ideas for Students
• I love the ideas shared on Wednesday for other ways to help our students connect with each other.  (Cooking with the Zastrow's was a pretty fun watch too!)   Please let me know if you'd like to work on a team putting ideas together for a calendar for the month of May.  RaChelle leads students with fun Movement activities (many of them from Sue Kuhn) that all are welcome to join at 1pm. BlueJeans #768744832

PD Spotlight

Today's PD Spotlight is something I learned today from the wonderful ladies at the Greater Watertown Health Foundation.  They shared that the Compassion Resilience toolkit website had a number of videos directly related to staying resilient during COVID-19.  I was devastated by the news today, and while I want all of you and our students to be healthy and safe, I selfishly wanted to go back to school and have "normal" school.  As I tell my daughter, we can only control our reactions to bad news, I really just wanted to scream and go back to bed.  I watched the stages of Fatigue video and recognized many of those stages in myself in the last few weeks.  The tips they shared gave me strategies to realize this is temporary and that I will be okay.  If any of you need someone to talk to, cry with, scream with, please let me know.  I am always here for you.  Take care and be safe.

Friday Funny