April 4, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Shout out to Sandi and Jessica B for putting an authentic activity in place for students in their program as well as the rest of the school!  It was fun to listen to kids estimate the number of markers in the container! Thank you!

• Students were working hard on the state testing and just about everyone in the building is completely done with the tests!  Yippee!  Thank you all for your support on encouraging students to do their best, getting students prepared for the test, helping younger students understand how to respect their work, giving up time for make up testing (or proctoring them too).  Thank you for the teamwork!

• Shout out to Mandy for putting so much extra work into providing an experience for her 5K students, but also for her former students that missed it when they were in 5K. Part of learning at school includes the experiences we provide them as well.

• In addition to the tea party on Friday, Bethany T arranged for her 3K students to have an exciting day with special visitors from Animart.  This is their "field trip" for the year and it is a pretty awesome experience for them as well!  Nicely done 3K team!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, April 7
• Start of Career/College Week! Wear your favorite Super Hero shirt!
• Bus Duty: Klink, Caine-Arnes, Chambers, Wagner (meet buses at end of sidewalk)
• Lunch Supervisors:
• 12:00 - Ellefson
• 12:30 - Juech
• 1:00 - CaineB
• Jenny in a meeting from 1-2:30pm
• Talent Show practice 3:15-5pm on the stage

• Tuesday, April 8
• Wear a Work Hat Day!
• Lunch Detention Supervisors: Huso and CaineT
• Talent show in Elem. gym from 6:30-8pm

• Wednesday, April 9
• Wear a College shirt or Dodgeland Attire Day (Workout Wednesday too)
• Staff Meeting in IMC @ 3:10pm

• Thursday, April 10
• Wear your favorite sunglasses for your Bright Future!
• Run for State at 8:30am
• Jenny at Cesa until 1:15pm

• Friday, April 11
• Wear what you want to be when you grow up!
• Happy Birthday Melissa C-A!

• Saturday, April 12
• It's true...Spring Break is FINALLY here!  :-)
• Wheelchair basketball event in HS gym from 9am-1pm

Nitty-Gritty

• Building Use Form
• Friendly reminder: If you need to use any part of the building for an event, practice, activity during or after school hours, please fill out a building use form. They are located by Kimi and can be handed directly to her.  This is important because there are many groups vying for the same spaces within the building especially this time of year with the unpredictability of the weather. Thank you in advance for the communication and teamwork!

• PE classes on Thursday, April 10
• This week, Mr. McKay, will be using the elementary gym for rehearsals on the stage.  This means that there may be some PE classes that will be moved for the day.  Please watch for communication from Lexi regarding your class.

• College and Career Readiness Week
• There are a number of activities that are planned for the week for our students. The green screen will be set up in the gathering area outside of the gym if you want to use it.  There are dress up days set for the week and the committee has shared with you the Game of Life Game Board (along with the resource links for your level) and ways for families to share their careers with students as well.  Thank you to the committee for their hard work on this!

• Attendance Activity outside the office
• Please continue to add to your class's word until it is full.  When your class fills it, please let me know and I will bring the Trojan Cart to your classroom.  The goal is for you all to get a visit.  At the end of the week, I will be coming with more attendance awards for students.  If you already filled it, but haven't had a Trojan Cart visit yet, please let me know.

• Survey
• Please see Jessica's survey email from this weekend and complete this as soon as possible. It is an opportunity to share your thoughts.  Thank you in advance.  https://forms.gle/EQe7iNDKsQyPE6AKA

• Calendaring
• I know I sound like a broken record, but the school year is flying by. If you are planning field trips, special events (especially that includes families), please be sure to get those forms or dates to me as soon as possible. Below are the ones I know about at this time. (Please let me know if I missed anything.)
• April 23 - Early Release
• April 23 - Assembly on energy, 4K-2 @ 9am
• April 23 - Assembly on energy, 3-5 @9:45am
• April 29 - Data meetings start 
• April 30 - Jr. Coach Field trip (all day)
• April 30 - 4th gr. field trip (half day/morning)
• May 5 - Seals on Wheels starts for sealants (will be with us in the elem. conf room until May14)
• May 8 - 4K Concert at 2:30pm
• May 14 - 4th/5th gr field trip (all day)
• May 15 - 4K Field Trip
• May 19 - Art Show and Spring Concert (5K-2)
• May 20 - Art Show and Spring Concert (3-5)
• May 22 - Book Fair starts
• May 29 - 5K Graduation at 6pm
• May 30 - 5th grade field trip (all day)
• June 3 - Field Day (all day)
• June 4 - Last Day of School

TechKnow Tip

What’s that cool, new icon on the top menu bar of your laptop?! The open book and wrench icon is a new information shortcut to essential information on your laptop. You will find information such as when your last restart was, if you are required to update your software, and when your password will expire. You will notice red or orange notification dots on anything that needs your immediate attention. At the bottom you will also find a shortcut to our tech ticket system, self service, and our staff resource site. To get started, click on the new tool in the menu bar (open book and wrench) and select continue.

Recess Information

Recess Reboot

Please sign up for a time for Mrs. Chambers to come in to talk about recess and school expectations.

Shed/recess equipment

When you are on bus duty, please open the shed when you blow the whistle for students to line up so the JCs can set up recess.

Friday Funny (Or whatever day it is...)

Here is a comedian that I like to listen to as well. Enjoy!

March 28, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Students and staff supported our students testing the last two weeks.  We have 1 testing day left, April 1.  Thank you for keeping students quiet in the hallways and for being flexible with the schedules.  It is much appreciated.

• Shout out to Natalie and her staff that provide a consistent breakfast for our students.  This week I witnessed a student get out of their car at the curb and start running to the school yelling, "Breakfast Pizza today!"  Now there was a student that was starting his day very happy!

• Shout out to Alexis, Reilly, Lexi, Ella, Kari and Gabrielle for being flexible with moving Dodgeland Den for 2 days to accommodate our 3K/4K screening.  I know that it is a lot of work to help kids and families with a new routine, but it was very helpful.  Thank you so much!

• So many of you helped provide feedback and information on the summer school booklet and letter.  Thank you so much for your attention to detail and sharing it with me.  While I do reread what feels like a thousand times, I miss things. So thank you, thank you, thank you!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Sunday, March 30
• Happy Birthday Brad!

• Monday, March 31
• Bus Duty: Bingen, Juech, Stampfl, Schuett (meet buses at end of sidewalk)
• Lunch Supervisors:
• 12:00 - Lucht
• 12:30 - Huso
• 1:00 - Schulte
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• Lance's LAST day!

• Tuesday, April 1
• Election Day
• Forward Testing for 4th grade from 8:15-9:45 and from 10-11am
• Recess for 4th/5th grade is from 9:45-10am
• Normal Specials Schedule for all grades
• Lunch Detention Supervisors
• 12:00 - O'Toole
• 12:30 - O'Toole
• 1:00 - Open
• Paraprofessional Meeting in the IMC from 3:15-3:45pm

• Wednesday, April 2
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am and 12-1pm

• Thursday, April 3

• Friday, April 4
• Harvest Lessons for grades 4-5 from 10-12
• 4K Data meeting from 11:35-12:25 in Elem. Conf room

• Saturday, April 5
• Happy Birthday Mandy!

Nitty-Gritty

• Summer Position??
• Future All-Stars Academy will once again be running their summer camp within our elementary school.  They have openings for staff to work with school aged students so that they can offer a fun and safe place for children to be this summer. If you are interested in working in the summer camp this summer, please contact Tricia Peterson at the center at (920) 386-4700.

• Trojan Tickets
• Don't forget to give out tickets to our students for a chance for you to win a prize too!  Thank you to Teresa for organizing this for us all!

• Field Trips
• If your grade is planning a field trip for this spring, please make sure to get the forms in as soon as you can. I want to make sure that the bus company has enough drivers to accommodate the groups that are traveling and providing learning experiences out of the building for our students. 

• Planning Ahead
• Please make sure that you are planning out projects, units, etc so that you can cover the material that is necessary for your class/grade.  While we still have 2 months of school left, it will go fast. I would hate for you to run out of time for something important. What units are left in MyView, Bridges? Did you complete your PLTW modules yet? What projects do you need students to complete? 

• Observations
• I will be continuing to complete observations for the Effectiveness Project.  If I haven't been in your room lately and there is something you want my feedback on or something you want me to see, please let me know the time and I will do my best to be there. If you have any unfinished EP documents, please complete them at your earliest convenience.

TechKnow Tip

Looking to connect your students outside their known world and celebrate the amazing planet we live on? Try any of these 12 Websites for Virtual Field Trips. One highlight on the list is “The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks” where you go on an interactive tour (including videos, audio recording, activities, and 360* views) with a park ranger at one of our beautiful U.S. National Parks. Another favorite from the list is Explore.org Live Nature Cams which has an endless variety of staffed nature cameras including a kitten rescue sanctuary in California, an osprey nest in Montana, a puppy nursery in Maryland, or inside a honeybee hive in Germany. Many of these relaxing live cams have soothing music accompaniments, making them great to use at the start of the day, during work time, or a way to calm down in preparation of quality learning.

Behavior Specialist Information

Trojan Tickets

Please continue to hand out tickets daily for our students that are following expectations. Here is the document if you need a refresher.

Recess Information

Worth a Repeat

I know this time of year we are all hanging on by a thread, but please do your very best to get to recess duty on time. When people are late it often impacts the system as then other adults are late for their next assignment. 

Please also do your best to be in our recess coverage zones:

5k-5th

*near home plate/far side of the playground

*sidewalk near the near side of the playground/grass area

*by the gaga/four square games

4k

*near the playground equipment

*near the merry go round/house

Thanks in advance for being proactive and holding our kids accountable to the expectations to prevent injury and/or major behavior issues.

PD Spotlight

Friday Funny

My friend's parents have a car that still needs two keys.  When she told me about it, I honestly could barely remember this.  And Now... I rarely even see my car key because I just push a button and hope the key is still in the car somewhere!  Thank goodness for technology!

March 21, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Staff provided a memorable St. Patrick's Day for many of our students this week. I know this is a lot of planning, but your students will remember that for a long time!

• The team that put together the Screening event for our new students worked SOOO hard!  It was organized and they did a great job of welcoming our students and their parents to our school.  I can not thank you all enough!

• Shout out to Noah McKay that put together his instrument petting zoo to get kids excited for learning an instrument and joining band.  One student was so excited to tell me that he was going to play the trumpet!  I love to hear their excitement!

• Shout out to Carrie, Noah, Brad, and so many others that helped our first co-op musical with Hustisford be successful.  It was a fun show with beautiful singing, set and costumes.  Way to go everyone!

• Our first Attendance Super HERO class received their prize this week.  Congratulations to Mrs. Schuett's 4K class!  I hope that I will get to come to all of your classrooms yet this year!  (Hopefully before spring break???)

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, March 24
• Bus Duty: CaineT, Huso, Lucht, Braunschweig (meet buses at end of sidewalk)
• Lunch Supervisors:
• 12:00 - Stampfl
• 12:30 - Arnes
• 1:00 - Bingen
• Jenny in Meeting from 8:30-10am
• School Board Mtg @ 6:30pm

• Tuesday, March 25
• Happy Birthday Watson!
• Social Media Posts due to Jessica: Schuett
• Forward Testing from 8:15-11:30 for grades 3-5
• Morning recess moved to 9:45am for grades 4-5
• 3K/4K Screening from 3:30-6:30
• Dodgeland Den is moved to Zastrow/Westphal's room again

• Wednesday, March 26
• Workout Wednesday
• Forward Testing from 8:15-11:30 for grades 3-5
• Morning recess moved to 9:45am for grades 4-5
• HS is testing for Pre-ACT - NO TA's for us today!
• Staff Meeting @3:10-3:55pm

• Thursday, March 27
• Happy Birthday Shanalyn!
• Forward Testing for Grade 4 from 8:15-9:45
• Morning recess moved to 9:45am for grades 4-5

• Friday, March 28
• Citizenship Grades due in gradebooks for March
• Wheelchair Basketball Assembly for Elementary from 1:30-2:10pm in HS gym

Nitty-Gritty

• Gallup Poll Reminder
• On Monday, you will receive an email from Gallup for the spring engagement survey.  Please take the time to complete this survey next week.  It is very helpful for me and the district to see areas for me to focus my work on.  Thank you in advance for your attention to this task!

• Wheelchair Basketball Assembly
• A few years ago, we had this assembly for our elementary students to learn more about the sport of wheelchair basketball.  They are returning this week to speak to our students again. Please mark your calendars for this on Friday, March 28. The elementary students' assembly time is 1:30 (right after the 4th/5th gr lunch) in the HS gym.  The assembly ends at 2:10 so that the HS students can enter at 2:15.

• Hillsboro School District Email
• Today I received an email from a principal in Hillsboro asking me if there are any teachers that would be willing to speak to some of their teachers about your experience teaching with MyView.  They are possibly interested in visiting us as well.  Please let me know if you are interested in collaborating and sharing your thoughts with colleagues from this school system.

• Summer School Registration
• The summer school booklet will be coming out digitally next week Tuesday.  Registration for this year will start on Wednesday, April 2 at 4pm. To prepare for this, please consider recommending remedial courses for students that would benefit from summer school.  The form is HERE that you can print and send home with students. The booklet is HERE, but it can not be shared outside the building until it is approved by the school board.  Finally, please let me know HERE any students that you are recommending for a course for summer school.

TechKnow Tip

Thank you to those who have already shared their valuable insights into how you utilize your devices, how often you use them, and how they contribute to your job functions. We believe that understanding your experiences with these tools is crucial for optimizing our digital resources and empowering you to deliver the best possible learning experiences for our students.

If you haven’t already, please take time to complete the survey below. We value your honest feedback and appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences. We appreciate your commitment to our students and your willingness to contribute to our ongoing efforts to enhance our educational practices. 

Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtWeXcku4DAYmg2amG0RnBMxGmdYaTxmZtom6tM3Y_qQtfUA/viewform?usp=header

The survey will close Monday, March 24th.

PD Spotlight

The Power of Yet!  This is so powerful for not only our students, but for us as well! It's so awesome to see it enter our students' vocabulary without prompting, but it comes from our modeling and prompting first.  This is a great reminder!

Friday Funny

So, this might be true, but the way Janice said it, was iconic.  I believe that has been repeated more than 1000 times by just me!  And that is mostly because I can say what I am thinking/feeling in my tone instead! :-)

March 14, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• 4th graders using math talk with great vocabulary as they review geometric shapes and practice the concept of symmetry.  Shout out to Trisha Caine for the system she has put in place to engage them in this work!

• Shout out to Melissa Arnes and Shanalyn Vertz and their teams for stepping in and covering for our colleagues when they are pulled in different directions to make sure their students get the best support they can get.  Thank you all!

• The 3K and 4K team have been working so hard to get all the supplies and routines ready for our events coming up.  It is always fun to meet our new and youngest learners.  Their hard work helps make the event run smoothly and also helps ease anxious parents' minds too.  Thank you all so much!

• Shout out to Brent who is so flexible and is willing to help wherever needed in the building, even if it is last minute in the morning.  Thank you so much Brent for choosing us to spend your time!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, March 17
• St. Patrick's Day
• Bus Duty: Zastrow, CaineB, Schulte, Donovan (please meet buses at the end of the sidewalk)
• Lunch Supervisors:
• 12:00 - Vertz
• 12:30 - Mosher
• 1:00 - Fortmann
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• EP Mtg - Documentation Log in IMC at 3:15pm

• Tuesday, March 18
• Social Media Posts due to Jessica - Donovan, Mook, O'Toole
• Forward Testing starts for grades 3-5, Please help keep hallways quiet! (8-11:30)
• 4th-5th gr morning recess moved to 9:45 for the day

• Wednesday, March 19
• Workout Wednesday
• Happy Birthday Chris V!
• Forward Testing from 8-11:30
• 4th-5th gr morning recess moved to 9:45 for the day
• Jenny in meetings from 8:30-10:30am
• 3K/4K screening takes place from 3:30-6:30 in the Elementary (in the 3K/4K hallway, please exit door #2 or door #28 between Zastrow and Stampfl's room)
• Dodgeland Den is moved to rooms 123 & 124 for the night.
• Instrument Petting Zoo from 4:30-7pm in the Band room for 4th-5th graders

• Thursday, March 20
• Forward Testing from 8-11:30
• 4th-5th gr morning recess moved to 9:45 for the day

• Friday, March 21
• Happy Birthday Brittany!
• Jenny at dr appt, be in by 9:30 am
• Pyramid Model Leadership mtg @ 1pm in Elem. conf. room

Nitty-Gritty

• Email labeled External
• Reminder from Brad's email that if you receive an email from outside of Dodgeland it will be labeled [External].  This is another clue to help you apply your training on cyber security before opening any links, attachments, etc.  In addition, if it looks suspicious, please use the phish alert button on the web version of Gmail to report it.

• Forward Testing
• This is definitely not one of my favorite events of the year, but it is important yet taxing on many of our children.  Please help support our students and staff that are proctoring these assessments for our students.  Encourage our kids to do their best work, help our younger students stay quiet and avoid testing rooms whenever possible, and model flexibility during the weeks to help our students with any changes to routines.
• As I shared earlier this week, the specials may have changed for your class.  Please look at the schedule carefully to determine what your schedule might have for next week's planning.  I know that this is difficult, but I wanted to be sure that our 3-4-5 students had these courses in their week to help them.

• Our Celebrities
• Did you see our celebrity and supporting cast in the paper?  On the front page of the Daily Citizen is one of our very own classes!  Click HERE if you haven't read the article yet.  The picture draws you in and the article shares some great information for all.  Share with anyone you think may be interested!

• Homeless Liaison
• Ashley Neis is our district's homeless liaison and she sent out some important information for us regarding this.  HERE is the pdf of information to help us identify what it is and how we might determine if a student qualifies or needs resources.  If you have questions, please contact Ashley. 

• It's Spring!
• With spring, comes an increase of biking to school.  We have already had a few of our students that are cutting through the parking lot to get to school.  I have talked to the ones that I know about and have contacted home as well.  In addition, there are a number of students that are coming to the playground after school.  Due to the Dodgeland Den programming, the playground area is closed to the community until 5:30 when that program ends.  This will be in the next newsletter and signs will be posted as well.  If you see any students that are making unsafe choices, please remind them of these expectations and/or let me know the situation and I will address it as well.

TechKnow Tip

Brad's email for us is below.  Please fill this survey out as soon as possible!

We are committed to continuously improving our educational environment and ensuring you have the tools you need to succeed. To better understand how laptops and iPads support your daily work, we are launching a brief survey on technology usage.

This survey aims to gather valuable insights into how you utilize these devices, how often you use them, and how they contribute to your job functions. We believe that understanding your experiences with these tools is crucial for optimizing our digital resources and empowering you to deliver the best possible learning experiences for our students.

The survey will ask questions about:

• How often you use laptops and iPads?
• The specific ways you utilize them in your daily tasks.
• How your work would be impacted without these devices?

Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtWeXcku4DAYmg2amG0RnBMxGmdYaTxmZtom6tM3Y_qQtfUA/viewform?usp=header

We value your honest feedback and appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences. We appreciate your commitment to our students and your willingness to contribute to our ongoing efforts to enhance our educational practices. 

PD Spotlight

We are on "X" already!  When we model our flexible thinking and mindset, we are influencing our students and peers.  And, we get to grow as people and professionals too.  Win-Win!

Recess Information

Please, Please, Please make sure that you are at your recess duty on time and that you are covering the zones on the playground.  I know it is tempting to chat with our colleagues or some of our students that want all of our attention, but we must be diligent during recess to be sure that we can head off injuries or behaviors that should not happen.  Thank you in advance for your help with this.

Friday Funny

The meme below was shown at a staff meeting a few weeks ago.  And when I was talking about the song that goes with it I remember saying, "When I sang it she asked her mother for fifteen cents."  Then many of you told me that it was FIFTY cents.  Now I am wondering if it was always fifty cents but my horrible hearing heard fifteen cents and I was the only one!  So what I thought was an inflationary change was really just me making my own lyrics I guess!  :-)

(I have been known to do this with other songs as well!  I just realized a few years ago that during the song "Drift Away", one of the lines is "Give me the beat boys, and free my soul..."  I ALWAYS sang this song with the words, "Give me the Beach Boys, and free my soul..." It made total sense to me because the Beach Boys were one of my parents' favorite groups and I listened to a LOT of their songs as a kid.  It's embarrassing that I was in my 30's before I realized that those were not the right words! sigh.)

March 7, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• The Reading and Math Family Night was so much fun!  Thank you to the committee for putting such a great event together for our families.  Shout out to Tina, Andrea, Sue, Brenda and Christina for welcoming and showing our families how fun learning is!

• Noah put on a presentation with his HS students to show our 4th/5th grade students the band instruments that are open to them to learn. Thank you for organizing this Noah!

• Shout out to Melisssa A and Ashley G. who did such a great job of explaining the complex process of a re-evaluation to a parent as well as celebrating the tremendous growth that her child has made in the past year.  Such great work!

• Kathy's morning meeting one day this week talked about perseverance.  I love how she used recent experiences that her class had during PLTW to help them understand this idea. The way she tied the experience in to the new word, the feeling they had during PLTW work and finally with the read aloud was so well done!  Kudos!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Sunday, March 9
• Happy Birthday Hailey!

• Monday, March 10
• Happy Birthday Jen!
• Happy Americorps Week! Let's celebrate Bethany and Ashley!
• Bus Duty: Lexi, Mosher, O'Toole, Ellefson (please meet the buses by the corner)
• Lunch Supervisors:
• 12:00 - Schuett
• 12:30 - Zastrow
• 1:00 - CaineT
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• Community Referendum Information meeting at Clyman Village Hall @ 6pm

• Tuesday, March 11
• Wear Black/Red to support our Reading Corps Tutors!
• Social Media posts due to Jessica: No one signed up, but feel free to send one anyway!
• Community Referendum Information meeting at Reeseville Community Center @ 6pm

• Wednesday, March 12
• Early Release, Dodgeland Den opens at 12:20
• Workout Wednesday
• Lance's Retirement Celebration at 11am-12:30pm
• Act 20 Staff meeting @ 12:30pm in the IMC
• 3K/4K Screening team mtg in Elem. Conf. rm @ 1:45pm

• Thursday, March 13
• Community Referendum Information meeting in IMC @ 6pm

• Friday, March 14
• Pi Day!  :-)
• Harvest of the Month lessons for Grades 4-5 from 10-12
• Jenny at dr appt from 10-11:15am
• HS Musical performance of Cinderella @ 7pm

• Saturday, March 15
• HS Musical performance of Cinderella @ 7pm

Nitty-Gritty

• School Nurse Update
• We are currently working on securing contracted nursing services with an outside agency. However, we will not know until after the April 1st referendum election whether we will be posting to hire a full-time school nurse or if we will need to move forward with a part-time or contracted part-time position.  It is not uncommon in districts our size to have either a part-time nurse or a contracted part-time nurse (some of you may recall in the days before COVID we only had a nurse 4 hours a day). In the meantime, staff in the office will continue to triage students with minor issues/injuries and we will continue to have ice and bandaids on hands. (For most of our students, these two things work wonders! :-)) In addition, we will continue to address what we can, or call home or for emergency help if necessary.
• Field trip season is coming up soon too, so, please make sure that you connect with Patti or Ella to get the materials ready for the trip in advance.

• PE teacher update
• I have been looking and talking to many people about the next steps for the PE teacher vacancy.  I wanted someone that would be dependable, patient, and understood that there has been some inconsistency in PE instruction delivery for more than a month.  However, I was finding that to be quite challenging and the teacher I thought I had decided not to take the position.  So, that means I am going to put in place a long-term substitute plan. This is the plan that I am going to use for the remainder of the year based on availability of people, and also so that our students have some consistency for awhile.
• Lexi is going to be the sub for PE classes four days a week while Anna Volkova subs for her job in the Special Edcuation Dept.  Every Thursday, Bekah Mountin will be subbing for PE while Lexi is in her regular job and Anna is off.  In order to help with this transition, Lexi has met with Sue Kuhn (Bless this lady for helping me out this month with ideas and coming in to help. If anyone sees her, please help me thank her!) and talked with Marcia.  Lexi has taken these tips/ideas and has begun to plan for procedures to create a system that hopefully will create a structure again for the kids coming to PE.  
• I want to personally thank Teresa, Brent, Lexi, Jessica and all the other people that have stepped in to sub in the last 4+ weeks for a PE class/day.  I also want to thank Melissa and Shanalyn for their flexibility as I am shuffling people in their programs to help the system.

• Early Release
• The schedule will be out soon for this, but we will be returning to some Act 20 training that day starting at 12:30 in the IMC. Please bring a device to the training.  In addition, we will also be meeting for final planning for the 3K/4K screening days.  Finally, if you have not met with me regarding Forward testing, that will be that afternoon as well so that we are ready for the testing the following week.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

• Forward Testing
• Please watch your emails as I may need to move some schedules around for those few short days due to the testing and the adults that are proctoring the test and unavailable for students' intervention times.  Every effort will be made to be as consistent as possible during testing so that our students continue to have access to the instruction they need though.

• Google Survey Results
• Thank you to those that were able to complete the survey regarding feedback on end of the year and last day of school activities.  It was pretty split between end of the year picnic vs. a beginning of the year carnival.  I also talked over this with Brad as our Safety Coordinator as well.  Given all of that information, I think we will use some of the time on the last day to enjoy each other as a school community during the last hour/90 min. of the school day.  We will not be inviting parents in during that time though due to host of logistical details and considerations.  I will however be asking the end of the year picnic committee to look over the feedback we received from staff to help come up with a more definitive plan going forward.  If you are on that committee, please watch for an email from me.

• Summer School
• One more plea...Do you (or know someone) who would be willing to teach summer school for those 5 weeks?  Or share a position with someone?  I had a teacher drop out that has been teaching for many summers and without her classes, it will make the remaining sections have higher numbers than usual.  I can assist with planning and idea generation.  Just let me know!

PD Spotlight

This week we are on the letter "W." It is a great reminder that the behavior of our children and really all of us is communication!  When we genuinely wonder what our students are trying to tell us through their behavior, we have a much better chance of helping them to grow, learn and solve any problems they might be struggling with.

TechKnow Tip

Have you checked out Padlet lately?! Padlet is a powerful tool for brainstorming, collaborative projects, visual learning, and so much more! It is no longer just a virtual bulletin board- the choice and creativity are even more with their recent updates. 

• A new gallery of project ideas with examples. It is searchable by grades or subjects.

• A new AI “recipes” like AI art studio, brochures, and bookshelves 

• New tools like Venn diagrams and a “sandbox” to draw, create, and collaborate in real-time

Click here if this is your first time exploring Padlet.

Click here if you have used it before.

Recess Information

Pretty Please
I know this time of year we are all hanging on by a thread, but please do your very best to get to recess duty on time. When people are late it often impacts the system as then other adults are late for their next assignment. 

Please also do your best to be in our recess coverage zones:
*near home plate/far side of the playground
*sidewalk near the near side of the playground/grass area
*by the gaga/four square games

Thanks in advance for being proactive and holding our kids accountable to the expectations to prevent injury and/or major behavior issues.

Friday Funny

This past weekend were the Oscars.  I always like to see what kind of clothes the celebrities are wearing and watch the opening monologues.  Every once in a while I find something humorous or moving in a speech.  This clip is not from the Oscars but it did make me smile and made me think of our kids and what they may do some day.  I have been fortunate to have been in the district for almost a quarter century and know multiple generations of families.  It is a pleasure to see former students become happy adults too. I wonder what this actor's former teachers think when they see him perform and talk. Enjoy this clip!

February 28, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Shout out to Hailey for running an IEP meeting in a way that helped her student's parents feel proud of their child's growth and communicating well regarding next steps.  Very nicely done Hailey!

• Shout out to the 4K team for working as a team to take on extra students when we were short substitutes this week.  I truly appreciate your teamwork!

• Third Graders are working hard on writing their own story problems.  What a great way to make sure they really understand how to explain the math thinking of problem solving!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, March 3
• Bus Duty: Fortmann, Miller, Chambers, Jenkins(please meet buses at end of sidewalk)
• Lunch Supervisors
• 12:00 - Donovan
• 12:30 - Westphal
• 1:00 - Klink
• Read Across America Week starts - Hat Day

• Tuesday, March 4
• Social Media Posts due to Jessica - None, but feel free to send something though!
• Dress in Animal/Animal Print Day
• Band Preview Day for 4th/5th grades (8am for 5th gr, 8:30 for 4th gr in Elem. gym)
• Para PD Meeting in IMC at 3:15pm
• Family Rdg/Math Night @ 6pm

• Wednesday, March 5
• Workout Wednesday
• Reading Buddy Day
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am

• Thursday, March 6
• Wear a shirt with Words
• Jenny at Cesa, back at 1:15ish

• Friday, March 7
• Vocabulary/Book Character Day

Nitty-Gritty

• Staff Meeting Follow-Up
• Please complete this short survey about the end of the year picnic.  It should take less than 2 min.  Thank you in advance for your opinion.

• Read Across America Read Alouds
• Thank you to Christina for putting this together for us.  Each of the pages has two read aloud options for our students.  During snack time may be a great time to share the books. Click HERE to get the links.

• Budget Purchases
• Reminder from Jessica's email.  All budgeted purchases must be made by March 14 and should be for things that were already budgeted for and needed for this school year.  We can not forward spend.  If this is an issue, please see me ASAP to talk about this.

• Planning Ahead - Watch your Email
• The High School FFA club is planning a couple of Elementary events.  March 11 they will be reading to some classrooms a book about agriculture and doing a project with the students.  On April 30, the annual Petting Zoo is being planned.  Please watch your email for more details.

TechKnow Tip

Videos can be a great way to introduce a topic, take students places or show students things that are otherwise unreachable, and videos can be a great way to wrap-up or review a topic. Here is an article from Edutopia: Teaching Students How to Learn From Videos. The bigger question is: Where do I find quality, enriching videos for my class?! Check out these three great places:

• Brain POP - Short (less than 10 minute) videos introducing a variety of topics in student friendly language. Each video has embedded questions that will pause while watching for great discussions. Videos are organized with grades K-3, grades 3-8, Spanish, and French.

• Discovery Education - A variety of videos that can be shown in smaller segments. Videos can be downloaded and added to slide decks or our learning management system (Schoology or Google Classroom). Shout-out to having all the Reading Rainbow episodes!
  

Both of these resources can be accessed through ClassLink on your iPad or laptop!

PD Spotlight

We are on the Letter V this week. Vulnerability is not always easy, but when we feel safe to be vulnerable with those around us, we truly can grow.  Helping our students feel safe to take risks and be open, helps them to grow exponentially and build confidence too!

Friday Funny

This week's Friday Funny is a story that Ella told me about one of our 4K students.  The 4K's theme right now is Space.  The teachers have been reading books about space, including one about the planets.  One of our 4K students was very upset that she lives on the blue planet Earth. She said, "I want to live on the red one, the blue planet is ugly!"  Ella had a very hard time consoling her that she simply has to live on Earth and not the red one. Ella is so UNREASONABLE! :-)

February 21, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Monday's PD sessions on accommodation and accessibility was great learning for me.  I could tell that Jen and Christina and Brad put a lot of thought, energy and work into the presentations.  Thank you so much for this!!  I know that we talk about this a lot, but it is important to keep seeing the options so that we can use them when our students can benefit from the techniques.  Thank you for continuing to implement these things when students need it!

• Shout out to Stephanie Schuett for teaching our 4K students to successfully use the Think, Pair, Share strategy to talk about background knowledge about the sun.  It was so incredible watching even our youngest learners be so engaged and communicating with one another.  My favorite thing they "know" about the sun is that it has spikes!  :-)

• As you know, our 3K students main job is play and what a good job they do!  Plus, their teachers are modeling and prompting them to communicate with one another while playing, clean up after themselves, asking for help and even peers feeling good about helping their friends.  Shout out to Bethany and Chris for giving our littles such a great start to their education career!

• A week of indoor recess is a lot, but thank you to all of our paras and teachers that have kept that time period safe, fun and as conflict free as possible.  You're Amazing!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, February 24
• Happy Birthday Heather Stange!
• Bus Duty: Klink, Caine-Arnes, Lucht, Wagner (3K/4K end - please meet the buses at the end of the sidewalk in the am's)
• Lunch Supervisors:
• 12:00 - Braunschweig
• 12:30 - Miller
• 1:00 - O'Toole
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• School Board Meeting at 6:30pm

• Tuesday, February 25
• Social Media Posts due to Jessica - Wagner
• Lunch Detention Supervisors
• 12:00 - Stampfl
• 12:30 and 1:00 - Open

• Wednesday, February 26
• Workout Wednesday
• Staff Meeting 3:10-3:55pm in IMC

• Thursday, February 27
• Jenny in meeting from 11-1pm

• Friday, February 28

Nitty-Gritty

• Safety Drill Volunteers Needed
• Please see Brad's email from last Friday (2/14) looking for people that are interested and willing to be volunteers that are participating in the drill.  This is taking place during our spring break, April 14-17. If this is something you'd like to do, please let Brad know as soon as you are able.

• Christina's Tech Slides
• Click HERE to see Christina's slides from Monday's PD session.  Please refer to this if you need help on how to provide accommodations or accessibility techniques to your lessons or communication for your students.  It is very important for our students that we make accommodations for them so that they can do their best work.

• Sound Equipment in Gym
• Next week, the tech department will start to move the tech equipment into the elementary gym to be used during the HS Musical practice after school.  This means that students will need to be careful around the equipment during PE and during any indoor recess times.  Please help reiterate to students to stay away from this equipment.

• Sense of Urgency
• One week from today, we will be at the end of February already.  This means we have only 3 months left of school.  Please continue to plan your lessons and days with a sense of urgency.  I don't want to be an alarmist, but we have limited time left that we get to work on SEL skills, academic skills and enjoy them.  Thank you in advance for making good use of every minute we have with our students!

PD Spotlight

This week's letter is U and in just a few words, it says A LOT!  This is not only true for our students but our colleagues as well.  When we talk about others (kids, parents and colleagues) and make assumptions about events that may not be 100% accurate, we are adding to these emotional backpacks.  This does not help us feel better, work together as a team, or feel good about our jobs.  Being curious and asking questions and then listening with an open mind for the answers is a great way avoid adding to the emotional backpacks, maybe even lighten the load, but also to avoid misplaced judgments. None of us try to get in these situations, and it is easy to do, but please remember we all have our own stories that comes with our own baggage that affects us from time to time. Be Kind and Be Curious as often as possible.

TechKnow Tip

This week we all learned what an asset Canva can be with everything from document translating to the creation of posters, worksheets, or presentations. Once you are done creating, there are a variety of ways to share your work. The “Share” button in the top right of your screen gives you the initial options of downloading or even sharing directly to Google Classroom (pictured below). The Google Classroom option will show up for students as a view only Canva project. If you choose “Download”, you will have a choice of what type of file you would like and where to save it (pictured below). Google Drive is a great place to save it when sharing it with others. OneDrive is a great place to save if you are printing things. Please remember to take time to save it to the cloud (Google, OneDrive, iCloud Files) and NOT your desktop or downloads.

Friday Funny

This week one of our 4th graders was helping Ella create a video for our March Attendance initiative.  I wanted a student voice in the video and this student is in the den every day so I knew that I wouldn't have to take him out of class!  Plus, Miss Alexis and Miss Ella were willing to share him!  Watching this happen in my office though was hilarious!  Almost every sentence started with a sniffle.  He'd fumble some words and tell me there was a glitch or that the wifi went out causing an error!  And the whole time Miss Ella got to build up her skill of patience.  It was so enjoyable for me to watch! Listen to one of his bloopers here.