October 4, 2024

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Interventionists working hard to get to know our students and their strengths/needs.  They are matching their instructional needs to the resources we have or working to find the resources they need!  Thank you so much!

• I sat in on a few student meetings this week with educators who came prepared to share positives and next steps for their students, as well as open to suggestions and ready to work as a team with parents and other professionals.  I just love listening to our staff explain student growth, watching them be as excited for our students as parents are.  Our students are so lucky to have this quality of educators in their life!

• Shout out to all of those that have stepped in to help out with coverage from individual students, to classrooms, to helping/saving me from messing up math instruction (Thanks Sue!).  I truly appreciate all of you that help out across the building where help is needed.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, October 7
• Bus Duty: Fortmann, Miller, Chambers, Wagner (3K/4K playground)
• Lunch Duty for the week: 12-Ellefson, 12:30-Juech, 1:00-Bingen
• Fundraiser Packets Due to the office
• XPD registrations due to Kimi in DO
• Everyday Speech lessons start in Grades 2-5
• Jenny in a meeting from 8:30-10am
• 2nd Grade Data meeting from 12:05-12:55pm
• Jenny in meeting from 2-2:30pm

• Tuesday, October 8
• Social Media Posts due to Jessica: Wagner
• Jenny/Teresa in meeting from 8:15-9am
• 5K Data meeting from 11:35-12:25pm

• Wednesday, October 9
• Workout Wednesday (Please have professional dress for P/T conferences though)
• Parent/Teacher Conferences from 4-7:30pm
• Book Fair from 4-7:30pm

• Thursday, October 10
• Jenny at Cesa from 7:30-1pm

• Friday, October 11
• SAEBRS assessment due for grades 5K-5 (Don't forget to have students complete the mySAEBRS in grades 2-5)
• ASQ-SE2 assessment due on Monday, October 14 for 3K/4K teachers
• Jenny in meeting from 8:15-8:45 and 9:30-10am

• Saturday, October 12
• Happy Birthday Teresa!

Nitty-Gritty

• Parent Teacher Conferences
• If you would like me to attend any conferences for any of your students, please let me know.  I will do my best to be at any/all conferences that you'd like my support for or even just for me to answer questions.

• Everyday Speech
• Please watch for information from Sophie regarding the weekly/daily lessons in Everyday Speech for grades 2-5.  The information will be posted in Google Classroom under the Elementary Staff.  The goal of this is to help our students have more interaction with SEL instruction throughout the year. You do not need to add the reflect lessons unless you think it will be helpful for your class.  If you have questions, please reach out to Sophie or myself. 

• Dodgeland Den Reminders
• Because both of the after school Den staff are in classrooms at the end of the day, please make sure that you are not sending students to the den before 3pm.  The last few weeks there have been students arriving at the room prior to 3 and there is no supervision for them at that time.  Thank you for your help!

Recess Information

Playground Coverage

Please make sure that you are coordinating with other staff to cover our zones

(here is the presentation with the zones, slide 10)

on the Playgrounds. Additionally, if a student has a minor injury (needs/wants ice),

please radio the office and send them in alone or with a Junior Coach. If there is a

major injury and the student needs to be escorted, please call for the nurse or

support staff to come and assist so that no adults are left outside alone. There are

first aid kids inside of both the 2nd grade and 5th grade doors for bandaids.

Confidential - Bee Alerts

Maverick Westphal (3K), Layla Lewis (5K) and Kinsley Kadinger (5th grade) are allergic to bees.

If they are stung, please call for support as they need to be escorted to the office and assessed

(none have an EpiPen). Any updates will be added to Powerschool and shared out.

If you are aware of a student with a bee allergy that is not on the list, please share

that information with Leah and Trisha so we can confirm the allergy and add it to Powerschool.

Behavior Specialist Information

Recess/Lunch Coverage

Please take this short survey to help us determine how to move forward with coverage when staff are out without a guest teacher. If you know of anyone that may be able to be a guest teacher, please reach out to them and encourage them to apply. 

Bathroom by the Multipurpose Room

Students seem to be hanging out and messing around by the gym bathroom. Please limit the number of students allowed to use the bathroom at one time.

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”. 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.

Friday Funny

Today I had the displeasure of riding around town while Ella drove to run errands.  Part of me wonders how on earth she passed her driving test, and then I remember that I was a TERRIBLE teacher for Ella so I take some blame.  But, she did share what I think may go down as one of the most interesting ways to get out of a speeding ticket.  She was pulled over in Beaver Dam going 12 mph over the limit.  The officer says, "Where are you heading to in a hurry?"  Ella says, "I'm going to work.  I work at an elementary school in Juneau and start at 9."  She then says, "I have recess duty and I CAN'T BE LATE!"  He must have thought, "Well this is original, or maybe he thought, this is a new one, or maybe he just thought she was losing it!"  Either way, she walked in at exactly 9am with NO TICKET!!

PS:  Whatever else she adds to this story I choose to ignore. I don't care which street it was, or why she thinks this wasn't that fast.  All I hear is blah, blah, blah, agree with my excuse!  (If she starts with the statement, "in my defense" you know it is an excuse coming next!). LOL

September 27, 2024

 I apologize for how REALLY LATE this week's blog is.  It's been a really rough week for me, but there is no excuse for it.  This one is a bit pared down as well.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 30
• Homecoming week begins! 
• Represent Day - Dress up to show your interests and hobbies.
• Picture Retake Day - Click HERE for a list of students that need to get their pictures taken
• Bus Duty for this week: Klink, Arnes, Westphal, Jenkins (3K/4K playground)
• Lunch Duty this week: 
• Reminder:  Teachers, please help transition 1st and 3rd graders to the lunch room.  Also Teachers should supervise the lunch line at the beginning of the period and then circulate amongst the tables when everyone is through.
• 12:00 - Wagner
• 12:30 - Zastrow
• 1:00 - TCaine

• Tuesday, October 1
• Season/Holiday/Tradition Day - Dress as your favorite Holiday/tradition/season.
• Social Media posts due to Jessica - Klink, Fortmann
• 3rd Grade Data Meeting in Elem. Conf room from 12:05-12:55pm
• Para PD Meeting in the IMC at 3:15pm

• Wednesday, October 2
• Outdoorsy Day - Dress in clothes you wear to explore the outdoors.
• Jenny in a meeting from 8:30-10am
• 1st Grade Data meeting from 11:35am-12:25pm

• Thursday, October 3
• Beach/Tropical Day - Wear your beach/tropical attire.
• Jenny in a meeting from 8:30-11am in Watertown

• Friday, October 4
• Purple Pride Day
• Face Painting for $1 during lunch recesses from HS Student council.  More details to come.
• September Citizenship grades due in the gradebook
• Early Release at 2:30pm for Homecoming (Pep assembly is at 1:30pm in the HS gym)
• Homecoming Parade is at 4pm through town.

Nitty-Gritty

• Picture Day on Monday
• There will be a staff member (Miss Lexi) that will come to classrooms (or call for older students) when to send them down for their pictures. If you get a message from a parent that they want their child's picture retaken and they are not on the list please let the office know so they are added!

• SAEBRS and ASQ-SE Assessments
• Starting next week, you can begin to work on the SAEBRS assessment for grades 5K-5 and the ASQ-SE for 3K-4K.  Both of the assessments are online and both are asking for you to rate the student's social and emotional skills that they are showing in the school setting.  This is an important dillenation because some students have different behaviors depending on the setting.  Some students cry more easily when at home than school.  Others might have a hard time with a skill at home, but they are doing great at school.  The results of these assessments will be used to communicate with families and also to help us know what instruction or small group needs there are in each grade.  If you are new to this, please check with your mentor or me if you need some help getting into the program.  SAEBRS is on FastBridge.  ASQ-SE is on the asqonline.com site.  These assessment rating scales should be complete by Friday, October 11.

• Zones of Regulation & Everyday Speech 
• Ms. Mosher is going to start the new Zones of Regulation curriculum this week in your classrooms. (5K-5)  The curriculum also has some hand outs and some tools that she will be teaching that she will share with you as well so that you have info about them to use if they are needed.
• Everyday Speech for Grades 2-5 will start in classrooms on Monday, October 7.  (Emotional ABC's will continue in grades 5K-1.). Ms. Mosher will send you an email with directions on which lessons to do each week along with helpful tips on using the site.  Remember, you can do this at a time that works best for you and your classroom.  You do not need to do the last tab, reflect, if you do not want to.  Please do the other 4 tabs though. (warm-up, learn, discuss, review).  Please watch your emails for more information from Ms. Mosher this next week.

• Homecoming Plans
• The Homecoming committee shared the flyer of the dress up days for this year.  Please see Amber's email from Wed, 9/25 for the other details relating to these days.  Please make note that students will be sent home early on Friday (2:30) due to the parade.  Please have your students packed up before you go to the assembly at 1:30pm that afternoon.  It is their intention to dismiss elementary by 2:10pm, but sometimes it runs late and this way they are ready to go if that happens this year.  (4th and 5th grade students should go directly from the commons after lunch to the HS gym.)

TechKnow Tip

Edutopia.org is an amazing professional resource with a plethora of great articles.

The article “Using Edtech Tools to Differentiate Learning”, discusses how edtech tools can be used to provide students with options for how they learn, what materials they use, and how they demonstrate their learning. Edtech such as Google Classroom can create more inclusive and engaging learning experiences. The article highlights three key edtech tools: digital audiobook platforms, multimedia presentation tools, and digital annotation tools. These tools can help remove barriers to learning and empower all students to succeed… and that’s really why we are all here, for our students.

Behavior Specialist Information

Hallway/Classroom Safety
As we have responded to some student behaviors this year, it has become evident that our students are unaware of how to respond to keep themselves out of a potentially unsafe situation. Please sign-up here for a time next week for me to come in and do some training with your class.

Recess Information

Bus Duty/Before School

Please remind students that before school the options are playground equipment, tag zone, or hanging out in line. (Or while I haven’t told them before, they could play Switch on the 4 square courts). The student’s should not be getting balls out in the morning. Thanks for your help!

Indoor Recess

Here is the link for indoor recess procedures and coverage for indoor recess. I will always do my best to call recess at least 10 minutes prior to recess via the PA system. My goal is to be outdoors whenever possible, so we may have to pivot at the last minute if it starts raining when we are outside or within that 10 minute window…

Extra Incentive

Ms. Rose donated some really cute Halloween Bags. We are going to use them to help boost our positive communication at recess. If you hear students cheering each other on, being good sports, or otherwise using kind language, please give them a ticket (they will be in your mailbox). Students should put their name and class code (for example Mrs. Bingen would be 5B) on the ticket and I will draw names once a week in October to earn the bags.

Friday Funny

From the files of "Of course this happened to Lexi," is this week's incident. At volleyball warm-ups, Lexi gets hit in the face and her glasses break. At this point, she can not see much at all because the lens wouldn't stay in. So she starts making her way through the hallway. She gets to the elementary wing and one student stops to lead her down the hall to her ride and the other stops to test her on what she can see. Such sweet boys huh? Luckily, she was able to get new frames in the exact style she already had. But, did you see her today? It looked like they were brand new. Her frames faded this much in two years! Let's see what weird thing happens to her next week! Hope it is cheaper for her though! :-)

September 20, 2024

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Teachers sharing important and sensitive information to parents to help them understand what's happening at school and problem solve with them as a team.

• Shout Out to Teresa Chambers for organizing Field Day for our school so that students have the opportunity to learn all of the core games for our recesses!

• Students are learning digital citizenship and one 2nd grader has really mastered what is private versus personal information to share online.  Yay!!!

• The interventionists are working hard to get assessments done, beginning to analyze the data and make instructional plans.  Our students are very lucky to benefit from their hard work.  Thank you Sue, Brenda and Andrea!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 23
• Happy Birthday Gabrielle and Blasia!
• Bus Duty for the week: Bingen, Juech, Stampfl, Schuett (3K/4K playground)
• Lunch Duty for the week: 
• 12:00 - Lucht
• 12:30 - Turcotte
• 1:00 - McKay
• Library Lessons start this week!
• Jenny in meeting from 8-10am
• EP Meeting in IMC from 3:15-4:15pm on SLO/PPG
• October Calendar and Info due to Trisha
• School Board Meeting at 6:30pm

• Tuesday, September 24
• Jenny in meeting from 8:15-8:45am 
• Flu Clinic from 2-4pm
• 5th Grade Data meeting in El Conference room @ 12:35pm
• Social Media Posts due to Jessica: Turcotte, Mook, Zastrow

• Wednesday, September 25
• Workout Wednesday
• Early Release for Students at 12:20pm
• Staff meeting for Act 20 Reading training at 12:30 in the IMC, watch for email with more details.
• Watch for the schedule coming soon for students attending Den and the supervisors for that.
• Office staff meeting at 3pm in the IMC

• Thursday, September 26
• Lockdown drill at 1:35pm (Do NOT share with students)
• 4th Grade Data meeting in EL Conference room at 12:35pm

• Friday, September 27
• Jenny in meeting from 8:15-8:45am
• 4K Data Meeting at 11:35am
• Rapid Cycle Feedback Planning form due for all certified staff

Nitty-Gritty

• October Calendar/Newsletter
• If you have any information or events that you need put in the newsletter and/or monthly calendar, please get this to Trisha by Monday.  We want to make sure that they have a way to access the important work we do!

• New Face at Dodgeland
• We have a practicum student starting this next week working with Amber Jenkins in the Early Childhood program.  Her name is Crystal Guell and she will be putting her hours in during the Fall semester through UW-Whitewater.  Please help me make her feel welcome here at our school!

• Wednesday's Act 20 Meeting
• For many of us, we will be meeting to continue to work on the Act 20 training and using Cox Campus as our tool for the initial instruction.  If you do not have an account yet, please let me know.  For some of us, the Act 20 training is not required or does not relate to your specific role.  However, there are other PD sessions within Cox Campus that you will be working through that are more closely related to your specific grade level and/or position.  Please watch your email so that you know the specifics of what you will be doing for the staff meeting on Wednesday, Sept 25.

• Classlink
• Have you created your account for Classlink yet?  If so, when you log in, do you see the numerous additions to the home page for your Classlink?  If you see Sam, please express your gratitude for the many hours he has spent on the phone, setting up accounts, etc to get as many of these accounts created and ready as fast as possible!  Thank you Sam!

Recess Information

Field Day is Friday, September 20!

Here is the information for Field Day. Remember we will not be doing popsicles due to the bee issue on our grounds lately. However, we will still end the day with a dance party together.

TechKnow Tip

Have you checked out Novel Effectsyet?! It is a read aloud aide that adds sound effects to the book you’re reading. Some great seasonal

titles you may want to check out first are All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold, How I Became a Pirateby Melinda Long, Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen, and The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming. All

these can be checked out from our library or the Sora app and read with your students. They also have a

great activities and learning resources page. Theyprovide activities like printable coloring sheets and games, as well as resources like graphic organizers

and supplemental research information. These can be a great way for students to continue to practice their

literacy skills they are working so hard on with all of you! 

If you used it previously, you will need to re-connect to our school again this year! Click HERE and re-enter our plan id MXKFQN. You can find more information here on our staff resource page.

Friday Funny

I do not like this one bit.  How on earth did I blink and this happened?!  1994 is when I graduated from High School.  

September 13, 2024

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Teachers are supporting each other for their celebrations and also with a listening ear for difficult situations.  This is what teamwork looks like.

• 2nd graders are creating addition and subtraction sentences that are related.  They were very proud of their work!

• Paras working together to find ways to help one another with schedule conflicts and providing tips on ideas to try with students to help them be successful.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 16
• Bus Duty this week: CaineT, Huso, Lucht, Braunschweig (3K/4K playground) (reminder to stay on the playground supervising until the buses leave campus, about 3:15)
• Lunch Duty (Remember, please help transition kids from the hallway to the commons - 1st, 2nd or 3rd, 5th)
• 12:00 - Donovan, Stampfl
• 12:30 - Arnes, Mosher
• 1:00 - Schulte, Fortmann
• Yearly Fundraiser Starts
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• EP meeting in IMC at 3:15pm on SLO/PPG

• Tuesday, September 17
• Social Media Posts due: Braunschweig, Westphal, Miller

• Wednesday, September 18
• Happy Birthday Kimi!
• Workout Wednesday

• Thursday, September 19
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• Administrative Hold drill at 2:15pm (Do not share with students)

• Friday, September 20
• Field Day (see details below)
• Pyramid Model meeting 1-2pm in Elem conference rm

Nitty-Gritty

• Homecoming Shirt orders
• Homecoming is coming up in a couple of weeks, September 30-October 4.  The annual pep rally and parade will be on Friday, October 4.  A flyer will be out soon from the committee regarding this year's dress-up days.  Also, please see Mrs. Beaudo's Homecoming T-shirt order forms to order if interested.

• October Family Newsletter
• If you have any articles or events that you want to be a part of the next family Newsletter, please submit them to Trisha by Wed, Sept 25.  This could be field trip information, math or reading tips, articles regarding things that are happening in your class/grade, etc.

• Substitute Teacher Feedback and Reminders
• Jessica met with some of our subs this week to go over the sub handbook and technology updates.  There are some important notes that came from this meeting.  Please see below for important reminders/updates.
• If there is a planned absence, our subs love getting to see plans ahead of time when they're at home. If possible, please add a link to your sub plans into frontline (make sure the share setting is so anyone with the link can view).  It is great that our subs want to know what will be happening so they can be the best sub for your classroom while you're out!
• When scheduling absences for multiple days, please enter as separate days. While it is best for 1 sub to take all 3 days in a row of an absence, the affordable health care act limits the number of hours we can have a sub so if your absence is for several days in a row, subs will not see the absence as one they can take in frontline. 
• When writing your classroom information for subs, please share any student specific details that would be helpful. Due to confidentiality, this doesn't mean identifying students with an IEP, but it DOES include notes like "when we take a test, these students will go to room____" or "if (student name) becomes agitated, quietly tell him that he can go take a break in _____." These are the kinds of things that you know about your students and just do naturally, but to help a sub be successful, they will need to know too. 

TechKnow Tip

Your advertisement here! 

We know you and your students have really enjoyed all the information provided through our digital signage.

Digital signage is found in the halls, on classroom boards, and even as screensavers. The goal of our digital signage

is to inform students and staff of all the amazing things happening here at Dodgeland. Digital signage is great for

organization announcements, upcoming fundraisers, and building dress-up days!  

Here’s what we need from you or your students: any and all information about clubs, organizations, sports, celebrations, and upcoming events you’d like to advertise. Information shared should include a JPG digital poster (Canva is a great tool), pictures, and specific information such as dates, time, and visibility, can be shared to Sam Santana via email. Be sure to include what school areas you want it advertised in and the time period in which you’d like it visible. The more information you include, the better an advertisement we can provide. If you are creating your own or using Canva, please share as a PNG or JPG format and use dimensions 1024x576 px (landscape) or 835x1080 px (portrait).

Recess Information

Field Day

Here is the information for Field Day. Please let me know if you have any questions. 3k, I’ll get you your popsicles.

4k, if you’d rather have your popsicles in your classrooms and skip/host your own dance party, let me know.

Indoor Recess

Here is the linkfor indoor recess procedures and coverage for indoor recess. I will always do my best to call recess at least

10 minutes prior to recess via the PA system. My goal is to be outdoors whenever possible, so we may have

to pivot at the last minute if it starts raining when we are outside or within that 10 minute window…

Documentation/Powerschool 

Please continue to document minor and major behaviors in Powerschool including behaviors displayed by our special education students. Minor reports will automatically be sent to guardians, and majors will be sent by the office, however whoever witnessed the event should be the person to input the information into Powerschool.

Behavior Specialist Information

Check-in/Check-out

Starting Monday we will start our formal check-in/check-out process. Sophie will be available

in the Oasis from 7:50-8:10 and 2:45-3:00. Students should bring their iPad as we will be using

a form to keep data and process with the students. If you have a student that you feel needs a

daily check-in or check-out, please email Sophie and Teresa so we can set it up. If you have a

student that comes in and needs a break, please call Trisha in the office and let her know you

are sending a student to the Oasis. If students are needing a break outside of that time frame

and the classroom calming strategies and sensory path breaks have not worked, please call Trisha

and she will radio pupil services staff to take students on a break.

Friday Funny

We lost one of the Greatest Voices ever this week.  In honor of him, here is a couple of funny videos where he played himself on the Big Bang Theory.  

September 6, 2024

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Thank you for letting me come in to your classrooms this week.  It was so great to see all of your students and visit for awhile.

• The interventionists are working together to work on plans for helping with iReady assessments, and also planning for the interventions for the year.

• Shout out to Rose who continues to be a big help for our families with enrollment, registration and transitioning to a new school or school year!  Thank you Rose!

• Teachers modeling, teaching and practicing how to use the sensory paths.  I am very proud of our students that are showing us that they can handle this and use it appropriately!  It's exciting to see what outcomes come from this.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 9
• Happy Birthday Roxanne!
• Fall Assessment Window opens (iReady, FastBridge, etc)
• Bus Duty: Zastrow, CaineB, Schulte, Donovan (3K/4K playground)
• Lunch Duty for the week:
• 12-12:25 - Vertz, Elefson
• 12:30-12:55 - Miller, Westphal
• 1:00-1:25pm - McKay, O'Toole
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• New Teachers Meeting on PowerSchool Gradebook at 3:15-4pm

• Tuesday, September 10
• Social Media posts due to Jessica: Stampfl, Schuett
• Jenny in meeting from 8:15-8:45am
• Paraprofessional meeting from 3:15-3:45pm in IMC
• 5th/6th Gr Football game at Dodgeland @ 6pm

• Wednesday, September 11
• Workout Wednesday
• Staff Meeting 3:10-3:55pm in IMC

• Thursday, September 12
• Tornado Drill @ 8:30am (Do not share with students)

• Friday, September 13
• Locker numbers for each of your students due to Trisha or myself

Nitty-Gritty

• Goose Passes
• Happy Birthday Everyone!  Trisha is putting a Goose pass for everyone in your mailboxes on Friday morning for you to use when you need it as a birthday present from me!  :-)

• Cox Campus
• If you didn't get an email from Cox Campus to make an account, please let me know.  There is nothing that you need to do in the site.  There are a lot of courses in there, but we will work through the things you need to do as we go through the school year.  Do not stress about this.  It will be broken down into small manageable chunks and we will not finish the whole thing this year.  I just want to make sure that you all have your account because you will need it on our first Early Release coming up.

• Google Classroom and the Staff Resource Page
• Google Classroom is a great way for you to get information, links, etc to your students quickly without a lot of hassle and a million questions for how to log in and to keep them on track with the assignments.  Don't forget that there is a LOT of help on our Staff Resource Page including videos and how to documents.  The more comfortable you become the easier it will be!

• Fall Testing Window
• Starting Monday, 9/9/24, the Fall testing window officially opens.  K-2nd grade will be using FastBridge and 3-5th will be using iReady.  Students should access iReady or areading/amath in FastBridge through Class Link to take the assessments.  Please reach out to the special ed dept and interventionists for assistance with giving the assessment in small groups for those that need it.  The goal is to have very minimal number of retakes.  :-)

• XPD's
• It's that time of year when we start to put the XPD catalog together for staff.  Is anyone interested in leading a session this year for your colleagues.  Maybe you want to lead a book study?  It has been a few years, perhaps someone would like to do a session on Playworks in the classroom?  Do you have tips/tricks on a topic related to your instruction, planning or assessment?  Please let Jessica know if you have an idea for an XPD that you would like to lead this year!

• Sensory Path Reminder
• One quick observation from yesterday's fire drill.  When students are in the drills, please tell them that it is not safe to be using the sensory paths at that time.  If we practice it, it will become a habit!
• If students are carrying their iPads with them, they also should not be using the sensory path so that they do not drop, step on, etc their iPad.  (This may not be a common occurrence, but I wanted it to be on your radar.)
• Flu Clinic
• The flu clinic will be at school on September 24 from 2-4pm.  If you and anyone in your family (spouses, children aged 3 and up) are interested in participating, please make sure to let Laura Grossman know so that she can tell Walgreens.  They want to have enough of the flu shot on hand for us.  

• ClassLink and Student/Teacher Accounts
• Any website, app or software that you are using in your classrooms that has individual accounts MUST be through class link to protect our student's data.  This is anything where they log in including IXL, MyView, FastBridge, Happy Numbers, etc.  If your students are entering a login/password to a site outside of ClassLink, please stop and contact the tech department right away. Following this meeting, they will work on getting it set up.  It may take awhile, so it is important that you do this as soon as possible.

• Custodial/Maintenance Needs?
• As you we go through the school year, please use the link below to let the custodial staff know if you need help with anything from them. https://bit.ly/4g936Nm

Friday Funny

Last weekend, my sister sent our family this picture of her kids at a park they stopped off at on their way home from a road trip to Ohio.  My nephew, Johnny, LOVES baseball.  He plays on a traveling league and can tell you any stat you want about the Brewers.  He was pretending to be Christian Yelich as a two year old in his living room even!  So Why is this in the Friday Funny spot, because, they get to the park, run into kids he has never met before and they decide to play a pick-up game of baseball.  No equipment?  No problem, they found a stick to use as a bat and crumbled up a piece of aluminum foil from their picnic lunches to be the ball.  Then, they could "Play Ball!"  I love it!

August 30, 2024

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• You all worked so hard to welcome our families at Open House.  Our families were excited to be here!

• Shout out to the Tech Team, Brad, Sam and Christina, for all the work that they put in for this week to help us learn new tools, new procedures, and tips for success.  They even had to spend a lot of time teaching me about these things which was probably the most annoying part of the process!

• Have you seen the elbow grease and the planning that is going into getting the Sensory path in place for our students.  I know I have publicly thanked Teresa, Leah and Ashley for getting this for us, but I had no idea how much work it was going to be to get it actually on the floor.  THANK YOU Teresa for all the thought, work and leadership for this.  Thank you also to James and team for getting the hallways scrubbed well so we could start.  Thank you to Jen and her family for helping as well as anyone that is going to help again on Friday!  We are lucky to have such dedicated staff members.  (I know there are lots of others that are helping with this, so if I missed you, I sincerely apologize!)

• Finally, thank you for your attention, your feedback and your hard work this week.  I know it has been a lot of meetings to attend and a large amount of information being shared.  Your professionalism, questions, and collaboration do not go unnoticed!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 2
• Labor Day - No School

• Tuesday, September 3
• First Day of School - Wear Purple/Dodgeland Apparel and be comfortable
• Happy Birthday Kay Rex
• Social Media posts due to Jessica: Juech
• Bus Duty for this week: Schweitzer, Mosher, O'Toole Vertz (3K/4K playground)
• Lunch Duty for the week: 
• 12:00pm - Braunschweig, Schuett
• 12:30pm - Huso, Juech
• 1:00pm - Klink, BCaine
• Support Staff Duties: 
• 7:35-7:55am - Breakfast in Commons: Lexi, Vicky
• 7:35-7:55am - Circle Drive on 3K/4K playground: Eneida
• 3:00-3:15pm - Circle Drive Parent Pick up: Jessica, Sandi

• Wednesday, September 4
• Workout Wednesday

• Thursday, September 5
• Jenny's in a meeting from 8-10am
• Fire Drill Today

• Friday, September 6
• Bus Evacuation Drill starting at 7:35am by playground drop off (All MS/HS students from bus will need to enter from Elementary playground because of this drill.)
  
  

Nitty-Gritty

• Digital Citizenship
• As we talked in the staff meeting today, please help me know when I can reiterate lessons from the Digital Citizenship curriculum by filling out the Google Sheets document HERE.  Please let me know what parent resource you shared with families so that I can piggy back off of it in upcoming newsletters.  If you have any questions, please let me know!

• Locker Numbers
• Eventually, we need to put the locker numbers of each student into PowerSchool.  By September 13, please submit to Trisha or myself a list of your students and which locker they are using this year.  If you make any changes during the year, please let us know as well.

• KnowBe4 Trainings?
• Did you get them all done?  If not, please take care of this as soon as you are able.

• Schedules
• If you made any modifications or tweaks to your schedule, please let Trisha or myself know so that we can update the Master schedule document.  Please remember though that there are a number of people (Reading Corps, Sp. Ed dept, interventionists, etc) that use these schedules to plan for their own schedules so that it does not overlap with other grade levels and groups.  However, I am open to other ideas if you have something that will work better for your students as long as it doesn't disrupt others.

• Interventionists
• Our interventionists will start to come in to start doing some assessments for some students the first week, but mostly by week 2.  Second, they will not be doing the F&P Benchmark Assessment this year.  If you would like to assess your students, you can certainly get a Benchmark box from them to assess your students if you'd like.
• The interventionists will be using FastBridge to complete the fluency assessment and the Early Reading/Math Assessments.  They will be communicating with you as soon as possible when they are coming in to your classrooms.

Friday Funny

As I was watching short videos on YouTube, it made me laugh!  What do you think of their metaphor?

August 26, 2024

 You would think there would be nothing else to put in a blog before school starts, and yet, here I am, creating another one!  Although, this one is MUCH shorter! The topics for this blog were determined based on things that can be an email to save time in staff meetings.  However, if you have questions about anything, don't be afraid to ask and there will be time to go over questions on Thursday afternoon.

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, August 26
• Welcome Back!  Join us for breakfast in the Multipurpose room at 7:30am.
• 9:30am - ALL Elementary Staff meeting
• 2pm - Pyramid Model meeting with 3K/4K staff
• 6:30pm - School Board Meeting

• Tuesday, August 27
• Happy Birthday Holly Blattner!
• 8:00am - Act 20 Training in the Commons for all Elementary Staff (and MS/HS ELA/Sp. Ed staff)
• 10am - Paraprofessional meeting for all paras in District in IMC
• 12pm - All District Staff in Safety meeting in Multipurpose Room
• 2pm - Dodgeland Den staff meeting in Elem. Conf room
• 6pm - Trojan Jr Football - 5th/6th gr - 1st game

• Wednesday, August 28
• Happy Birthday Nicole Lauth!
• Happy Birthday Rose Fobes!
• Work Day starts at 11am!
• 11am - Recess Committee Meeting for all paras and anyone on Recess Committee
• 12:30-2pm - Staff photos - Everyone MUST get their picture taken to get a temporary badge for the first day of school (starting at 2pm, students' and their families can start arriving)
• 3:30- Staff Supper in Multipurpose room
• 5-7pm - Open House (I will have optional parent meetings in the IMC at 5 and 6:30pm)

• Thursday, August 29
• 7:30am - Verbal Deescalation Training in the Multipurpose room
• 12:45-1:30pm - Tech Office Hours on Google Classroom (optional)
• 1:30pm - Elem. Staff Meeting

• Friday, August 30
• 7:30-9:30am - NVCI training for all sp. ed teachers/paras in the multipurpose room
• 8:30-9:15am - Tech Office Hours on PowerSchool (optional)
• 9:15-10am - Tech Office Hours on Classlink (optional)
• 2:15-3pm - Tech Office Hours on Communication (optional)
• KnowBe4 Trainings are due by the end of the day.

Nitty-Gritty

• Flu Clinic at Dodgeland
• Mark your calendars - We will hold a flu shot at Dodgeland on Tuesday, September 24 from 2-4pm.  This will be open to Dodgeland employees and their families.  Watch for more details as it gets closer.

• Lunch/Milk Count Directions
• Click HERE to see the directions on how to fill in the lunch and milk counts for this school year.  Remember, there will be a green shopping cart by all students that are eligible to get milk during snack break by Monday, Sept. 16.  Up until that date, all students are able to get a milk at snack break if they would like.

• Green Nurse Slips
• This school year, we will be returning to using the green nurse slips.  It is easier for Leah and Trisha to have the slips when students walk in to the office and the slips will be filed later to save Leah time with documentation as well.  If you do not have any green nurse slips in your mailbox, please check with Trisha to get some for your rooms.

• Read Aloud to Classrooms
• For any classroom teachers that are interested, please sign up for a time for me to come to your classroom to read to them and welcome them back to school for the year!  I understand if your schedules are full, just offering.  :-). Click HERE to see the available times.
  
  
• Go Kit Bags 
• At some point during this week, please make sure to update your red Go Kit bags for emergencies.  There should be an updated class roster, coloring sheets or activities for your students to do, first aid kit and diabetic emergency kit if necessary, red emergency attendance sheets, and any other items you think you would need if you would be away from your classroom for an extended amount of time.

• Fall Field Day
• Watch for information from Teresa regarding a Field Day on Friday, September 20.  This is part of the surprise that you see on the Elementary Calendar.  Just want you to have this on your calendars.

• Library Information and Lessons (Please read this information from Christina carefully!)
• Library lessons will start the week of September 23rd. Watch for a Google Calendar invite from me - once you accept it, the time will be added to your Google Calendar too. 


• Even though the library won't be ready for students to use on day one, you are welcome to request books! We have some great read aloud books about bucket filling, school routines, and beginning of the school year. You can browse our books using this link or Destiny Discover app (dark blue with an orange lightbulb). You can also check out a digital book on Sora! You may also want to utilize Novel Effects for some great sound effects to accompany your read alouds. Here is their "Back to School" curated list of book titles.


• You'll be busy day one with all those awesome procedures and relationship building, so iPad orientation can begin Wednesday 4th. Remember that just as you go through specific expectations with the hallways, bathrooms, and recess, clear expectations should be addressed with iPads before they are used. Please keep your iPad lockers locked until those expectations are shared with your students. If you haven't signed up for a 30 minute lesson with me yet, you can do that here.


• Lastly, I want to share that there is probably no one who missed school as much as Watson! He is eager to see all his friends again and I'm eager to get throughout the school to interact with our students. Starting Friday 6th, I would love to bring Watson in to see you and your students. I'll be sending out a digital book for you to read with your class before we come and visit which tells you a little about Watson, his job here at school, and expectations for when you see him in the building. After reading the book, we will come in for 15 minutes so your class can practice those skills they read about and we can answer any questions they may have. You can sign up here for that visit!





Questions? 

If you have any questions, or topics you want me to make sure I address in Thursday's staff meeting (or one in the future), please complete this survey HERE.

Friday Funny (on a Monday)

Seriously though.  I hope this is just a poorly placed sign...