Thursday, November 6, 2025

November 7, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

  • Shout out to Stacey who took the EP survey and reworded the statements to fit for 1st graders so they understand the question better!  She is willing to share if anyone else would like a copy for the future!
  • Welcome Back to Mrs. Huso!  I talked to a couple of her students today who were glad to see her and told me, "Mrs. Huso really missed us at school and is excited to be here!"
  • Shout out to Ms. Duhr who is doing so great with our youngest learners.  I watched her do a lesson with one of her nonverbal students helping him complete a painting activity and teach him to communicate when he wanted "more" or "all done."  Way to go Lexi!
  • Shout out to Miss Brittany who is advocating for students in the classroom and helping to figure out how to get their needs met that are way beyond just the academics of the classroom. Thank you Brittany for seeing this need and being so caring and respectful in how to help them.
  • Mrs. Gunderson has been busy, busy, busy the last few weeks.  I have sat in on a number of SIT meetings, evaluation meetings, re-evals in the last couple of months. She is always prepared, a great listener/collaborator and I also leave feeling positive about the outcome and sure of the next steps.  Thank you so much for your leadership Ashley!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

  • Saturday, November 8
    • Happy Birthday Kerri!
  • Monday, November 10
    • Morning Duty
      • Playground/Blacktop: Bingen, CaineB, Zastrow
      • 3K/4K Playground: Vertz, Donovan (meet buses please)
      • Breakfast: Miller, Wagner
    • Lunch Duty:
      • 12:00 - Donovan
      • 12:30 - Huso
      • 1:00 - Bingen
    • Afternoon Duty:
      • Playground: Huso, Lucht
      • Circle Drive: Duhr
    • Lunch Detentions for the week: Stampfl, Zastrow
    • Fundraiser Pickup starts after school at 3:05 in the commons - If you are available, please help for a little bit after school.
  • Tuesday, November 11
    • Veteran's Assembly in HS gym starting at 9:30-10:30
      • Recess times changed (updated on 11/10/25)
        • 8:45-9:00 - 4K/5K/1st, 
        • 9:00-9:15 - 2nd/3rd, 
        • 10:30-10:45 - 4th/5th (as soon as the assembly ends)
    • Social Media posts due to Jenny: Huso, Westphal, Neis
  • Wednesday, November 12
    • Workout Wednesday
    • Staff Meeting (Note this date!) @ 3:15 in the IMC
  • Thursday, November 13
    • Happy Birthday Todd!
    • Jenny at Cesa, returning around 1:00ish
  • Friday, November 14
    • Happy Birthday Betsy!


Nitty-Gritty

  • Veterans' Assembly
    • The annual Dodgeland Veteran's Assembly is planned for Tuesday, November 11 starting at 9:30 for students in grades 4K-12th grade. (Our 3K students will not attend, but will get to go next year!)  It is tentatively planned to take approximately an hour.  The recess times have changed slightly, so be sure to check that above. If you have duty, please mindful that you know the time to be outside.  Also, please dress professionally as we have many guests in our building that day.
  • Help Desk Tickets
    • This is a friendly reminder to be sure that you are using the Helpdesk Ticket system to communicate needs you have with technology or with safety/security needs.  This is especially important as we look towards next month when Brad will be on paternity leave.  You can find this in the staff resource page, at the top of your laptop in the IT Support App, or on your iPad.
  • Newly Enrolled Students
    • When new students enroll into the district during the school year, there is a process that needs to be followed in order for them to become active students in PowerSchool.  In order for the Tech Dept to set up an iPad for the student, they must be active students in PowerSchool. This means that when a new student starts in our building, their iPad will be ready for them no earlier than Day 2 of their attendance.  It may take another 24 hours for accounts to sync on the iPads. (i-Ready, ST Math, etc.) Please keep this in mind if you get a new student this school year.
  • AIMSWeb Plus
    • Whew, just in time.  (insert eye roll). Math is now up and running on AimsWeb for all grades.  Please refer to the assessment planning doc HERE for the How-to videos and the specific subtests for each grade.  The assessment for grades 5K-1st is 1:1 interview style.  For grades 2-5, the assessment is through their iPad on TestNav and can be done as a group. You will need approximately 10 min. to complete both assessments in the room. (They are timed tests; one is a 3min test and the other is a 4 min test.)
  • Dodge County Land and Water Conservation Poster Contest
    • If you are interested, they are participating in the 2026 Poster concert. The theme is "Soil. Where it all Begins."  Click HERE to read the letter from the department and click HERE for the details for the poster itself.  Feel free to introduce your students to this if it fits with your lessons.
  • The WORST four letter word I know!
    • Yep, you guessed it, MICE! These unwanted visitors have been around the building in a number of places in the past few weeks. Why wouldn't they want to be in our school, it is warm and dry, has lots of food options, and of course we are so FUN!
      • Seriously, though, please help us to keep this problem from getting worse.
        • Keep food in sealed containers.  Mice can get into drawers and cabinets and can eaily chew through bags. It is best  to not keep food in an easily accessible storage location.
        • Make sure to clean up after yourselves. Don't leave lunch containers out and help our students make sure they are regularly taking snack containers home and food out of lockers.
        • Mice love to find little places to nest so do your best to avoid clutter around your room so they don't burrow in and make themselves at home!
      • If you see anything, please let maintenance (Virgil/James) or Patti/I know so that we can get someone to help with getting them out of the room!


💡 $20,000 Micro-Grant Opportunity!

The Smart Thinking Foundation, thanks to a donation from CESA 6, is offering $20,000 in micro-grants for 2026. Each Grant is up to $1000.

The grant empowers schools to drive student success through projects like:

  • Updating web solutions.

  • Utilizing school data analysis.

  • Enhancing academic and career planning.

  • District leadership coaching.

Think big about how a small grant can make a huge impact on your students and staff!

Apply Here


Recess Information

Playground Evacuation Protocol Update
To alleviate some of the congestion when we need to evacuate the playground in a hurry, we have made the following change:
  • Students playing on the turf, playground equipment or grass will enter DOOR (2nd/3rd grade doors).
  • Students playing on the blacktop will enter DOOR (4th/5th grade doors).
  • All students regardless of the door they enter should quietly walk back to their classrooms, sit at their desks, and wait for the next instructions.
We will be practicing this procedure again over the next few weeks unannounced. 

Please add any questions, concerns or feedback from our drill HERE. Thanks for everyone’s help and flexibility in learning this new procedure.


Behavior Specialist Information

2nd Quarter Incentive

This quarter we will be focusing on “Be Respectful”.  Here is the matrix to review.


Students can earn Poms for showing respectful behavior. Please record Poms your students receive on the “Schoolwide Be Respectful” button in Class DoJo. If you don’t have Poms, you can also just give a student a DoJo point for “Schoolwide Be Respectful”. Additional Poms are located by the mailboxes in the office if you want/need more Poms.


Zone of Regulation

Here is the presentation that I shared with your classes. Please review all or any of it with your class as necessary.


ML Information

It's already the 2nd quarter of school! This quarter's tips for ML learners and teachers will be about Encouraging Interaction & Deepening Comprehension.


Tip:


Use Sentence Starters. Provide sentence starters and sentence frames to help students participate in discussions and written work.


For example:

" I think _____________ because..." 

"In my opinion..."



TechKnow Tip

Recording mini-lessons or instructional videos offers significant research backed benefits for student learning! Check out these key reasons:

  • Self-Paced Learning: Videos allow students to learn at their own speed. They can pause, rewind to review confusing concepts (the "muddiest points"), or re-watch entire lessons, which helps manage cognitive load and is especially useful for students who were absent.

  • Improved Attention: Research shows student engagement drops significantly after just 6-10 minutes. Breaking lessons into shorter video segments aligns better with students' natural attention limits, helping them stay focused and retain more information.

  • Flexible Review: A library of recorded lessons provides students with a way to review material at any time, which is a powerful tool for retrieval practice and exam preparation, unlike live lectures that can't be replayed.

  • Clearer Content: The process of recording encourages teachers to organize their thoughts, prioritize core content, and deliver more coherent explanations, ultimately improving the clarity of the lesson.

So how do you get started? Utilize screen record (and Freeform to write) on your iPad or QuickTime on your laptop.


Click HERE to see how to screen record on your iPad!

Click HERE to see how to use QuickTime on your laptop!

Click HERE to read the entire Edutopia article!


Friday Funny

This week was full of moments where I asked myself, "Did that really just happen?"  And, I also believe that I need to check the moon phase when conferences come up for staff.  How on earth did I miss that it was a full moon and both Patti and Teresa were out of the building?!  At least then I would prepare for what is coming up! Anyone else feel like this teacher this week?  :-)







Friday, October 31, 2025

October 31, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

  • Thank you to everyone that helped with the playground evacuation drills. We will continue to practice these drills in the weeks/months to come, but I appreciate everyone's help today and especially to Teresa for organizing it!
  • Shout out to the Lexi D, Chris, Betsy and Ella for stepping in and making the week smooth for all of our 3K and EC students with the unexpected, but exciting events of this week! Congratulations Amber! We are all so happy for you!
  • I am loving seeing the many ways that so many of you communicate with families on Class Dojo. There are so many examples of parents involved in what is happening in their child's classroom.  Thank you for taking the time to post updates frequently and keep families informed!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

  • Saturday, November 1/Sunday, November 2
    • Daylight Savings - Don't forget to set your clocks back!
  • Monday, November 3
    • Morning Duty
      • Playground/Blacktop: Schulte, Fortmann, Caine-Arnes
      • 4K Playground: Braunschweig, Chambers (meet bus please)
      • Breakfast: O'Toole, Schuett
    • Lunch Duty
      • 12:00 - Ellefson
      • 12:30 - Juech
      • 1:00 - Neis
    • Afternoon Duty
      • Playground/blacktop: Klink, Juech
      • Parking Lot: Rollins
    • Vision Screening All Day - Schedule is below
    • Lunch Detentions for this week: Lucht, O'Toole, Schulte
    • NO Library Lessons today
  • Tuesday, November 4
    • Fall Flannel Day - Wear your cozy flannel!
    • Patti is gone all day
    • Teresa is gone all day
    • Social Media Posts due to Jenny: Stampfl, O'Toole, Fortmann
    • Jenny in meeting from 9-10:30am
    • Para Meeting from 3:15-3:45pm
  • Wednesday, November 5
    • Workout Wednesday
    • Patti is gone all day
    • Teresa is gone all day
    • Jenny in meetings from 8-10:30am
    • Louann's last day with us. :-(
  • Thursday, November 6
    • Teresa is gone all day
    • Happy Birthday Lindsey!
    • Welcome Back Taylor!
  • Friday, November 7
    • Jenny in meeting from 9-10am
    • Citizenship grades for October due in Gradebook

Nitty-Gritty

  • Run for State
    • On Friday, Oct. 31, starting at 10:30am, we will be celebrating 2 cross country runners that will be competing this weekend at state. Mr. Thompson will announce when to come to the hallway to cheer on our students.
  • Resources for Families and Employees
    • Please keep Jen's email and information handy in case you have any families that need help with anything. The flyers can be sent to families if you need to, but if you know what is available, you will be able to offer the information to them. If you want any assistance with this, please let me know!
  • IMC/Library Lessons are closed on Monday, Nov 3
    • Mrs. Rollins is out of the district today for professional learning. If you have library lessons on Mondays, please see her email to book a new time for your class to go to the library next week.  Thank you for your flexibility!
  • Fundraiser pick up (looking ahead)
    • Pick up for the fundraiser items is on Monday, November 10. If you are available at all to help with handing out the orders, please let me know.  Usually it is only busy until around 4pm and then it gets much slower.  In addition, if you are available (or have a TA you'd be willing to send my way after 1:30) to help organize the materials in the commons, I would appreciate it!


Vision Screening Schedule






TechKnow Tip

The Power of the Software Update

As we move into the final week of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, here is a simple habit that makes a huge difference: Updating your software promptly!

Think of a software update like repairing a small hole in a fence. If you leave it, someone could sneak through. Updates fix tiny "vulnerabilities" that attackers can use to exploit our systems—and your personal devices, too!

This quick action helps secure both our district's digital environment and your own personal devices at home.

  • District Devices: When you see a notification for a software update on your district-issued laptops, tablets, or other devices, please install it promptly. Avoid clicking "Remind me later."

  • Personal Devices: We also strongly recommend that you turn on automatic updates for your personal phone, tablet, and computer operating systems.

Installing these updates right away is one of the easiest ways you can ensure a safer digital life for yourself and our entire school community!


ML Information

Here are the last two tips for the 1st quarter!

  • Provide Wait Time. After asking a question, give EL students extra "think time" before expecting an answer. They may need to translate the question and formulate their response.

  • Partner Up. Pair EL students with a supportive, patient peer for collaborative activities. This encourages low-stakes conversation and practice, which is crucial for 

Don’t forget you can find even more resources here: Dodgeland Teacher Resources. You can also feel free to email me or schedule an appointment! ðŸ˜€


Recess Information

Feedback from the Playground Evacuation

Please add any questions, concerns or feedback from our drill HERE. Thanks for everyone’s help and flexibility in learning this new procedure.


In Case you Missed It - Recess All Grades

Rob and I will be working together to have a "tag game" of the week. He will teach it in PE and then the following week that will be the "tag game" that will be played in our tag zones. It will be listed in the daily announcements. Currently kids are coming up with their own games like "trip tag" where you trip each other... hence the change.


Please also help kids at recess to use regulation skills (Zones Posters are on recess doors and I'll print some and put them in the shed) and make apologies to each other as appropriate.


5k-1 - Bridge ball should be played in the Gaga pit, not Gaga.


2nd/3rd grade - the 4 square courts will be used to play BLOCKER BALL. Here are the rules: https://www.playworks.org/game-library/blocker-ball/. Regular 4 square is not an option and is closed until further notice. I will be outside to help make this change as well as have a junior coach run it.


Friday Funny

I think this is kind of funny.  Now if you are Ella, you just ignore these signs.  :-)





Friday, October 24, 2025

October 24, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

  • Shout out to Gabrielle! She has been working so hard at getting us on track for compliance and preparation for the upcoming assessments and plans our ML students need.  Way to go Gabrielle!
  • Thank you all for the ways that you step in and help each other out when we are ill, or have unexpected things happen.  I truly appreciate your flexibility and assistance.
  • I love listening to our kids tell me about the things that they saw or learned while on a field trip.  I know there is a lot of extra planning, work and money put in for students to attend these trips, but please know how much this means to our students to be able to have those experiences.


What's Happening at Dodgeland?

  • Monday, October 27
    • Morning Duty:
      • Playground/Blacktop: Stampfl, Tietz, Neis
      • 4K Playground: Mook (meet buses), Houk
      • Breakfast: Westphal, Ellefson
    • Lunch Duty:
      • 12:00: Wagner
      • 12:30: Westphal
      • 1:00: CaineT
    • Afternoon Duty:
      • Playground/Blacktop: CaineT, Duhr
      • Circle Drive: Huelsman
    • Jenny in Meeting from 9-10am
    • School Board Meeting (Annual Meeting too) @ 6:30pm
  • Tuesday, October 28
    • 5K Field Trip to Ebert's from 8-11:30am
    • Jenny in meeting from 9-10:30am
  • Wednesday, October 29
    • Workout Wednesday
    • POP-UP PD in IMC from 3:20-3:45pm on iOS 26 updates
  • Thursday, October 30
  • Friday, October 31
    • Happy Halloween!
    • End of Quarter 1


Nitty-Gritty

  • Pop Up PD is coming up!  Mark your Calendars!



ML Information

It is a common misconception among educators that language support is exclusively beneficial for multilingual learners (MLs).

This is perhaps the most transformative shift: recognizing that every student is a language learner, and every subject has its own academic language. From math to PE, students need support to learn and use subject-specific vocabulary. Language-rich instruction benefits all learners, not just MLs.

You may be asking yourself, “How can I do this?”

WIDA has created grade level clusters to help teachers of all core content areas with language support. The best part is that these supports will help ALL learners in your classroom. Check them out on the Dodgeland Teacher Resources link or from here:


Don’t forget you can find even more resources here: Dodgeland Teacher Resources. You can also feel free to email me or contact me at any time! 😀


TechKnow Tip

As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, let's focus on staying sharp and spotting those tricky emails known as Phishing attempts. Phishing scams try to trick you into giving away personal information, and they can target your school account just as easily as your personal email, social media, or bank accounts.

The key is to stay alert and look closely before you click!

  • Check the Sender: Does the email address perfectly match the person it claims to be from (Admin, IT, a colleague, or a family member)? If the domain looks slightly off, be suspicious.

  • Hover Over Links: Before clicking, always hover your mouse over any link. Check the destination URL that pops up (usually in the corner of your screen). If the link address doesn't match the destination mentioned in the email, do not click it!

  • Verify Attachments: Be extremely cautious about opening unexpected attachments, even if they seem to come from someone you know.

Your Action Step: If you spot an email that looks like a scam in your school inbox, be a cyber-hero and click on the "fishing hook" button to report it immediately! Your vigilance helps keep everyone in our district safe.


Friday Funny

I honestly can't tell you how fast time seems to fly, but this just hit me in a way that makes me laugh (and it's a bit sad too.). Enjoy!





Friday, October 17, 2025

October 17, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

  • A number of IEP and Eval meetings have been held in the last week or so.  I'm constantly impressed by Dodgeland staff that can explain complex test results in a way that parents understand and also make sure that everyone at the team feels like a part of the team.  These are not always easy meetings, but knowing that the staff cares about the progress of their child has to feel good.  I'm truly blessed to work with such competent and caring professionals.
  • Shout out to Louann who has been such a great addition to our staff.  Her time with us is coming to a close soon, but we are not quite ready to let her go!  We miss Taylor of course, but she has been so wonderful to have in the building and getting Taylor's class of to a strong start!  Thank you so much Louann!
  • Shout out to Ms. Tietz who is working so hard at putting procedures and systems in place to help her students with behavior.  I appreciate so much that she works hard at organization, communication and making it fit with the students on her caseload.  Great job Andrea!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

  • Monday, October 20
    • Morning Duty:
      • Playground/Blacktop: Miller, Zastrow, Bingen
      • 4K playground: BCaine, Vertz (meet bus)
      • Breakfast: Wagner, Donovan
    • Lunch Duty:
      • 12:00 - Schuett
      • 12:30 - Miller
      • 1:00 - Klink
    • Afternoon Duty:
      • Blacktop/Playground: Mantei, Lucht
      • Circle Drive: Betsy
    • Lunch Detention this week: Donovan, Mantei, Bingen
    • Pop-Up PD in IMC from 3:20-3:45 on iPadOS 26 updates
  • Tuesday, October 21
    • Social Media Posts due to Jenny: Mook, Arnes
    • Happy Birthday Sue Reimer!
    • Jenny in meeting from 9-10:30am
  • Wednesday, October 22
    • Wear Orange to support Anti-Bullying Month (also Workout Wednesday)
    • Staff meeting in IMC from 3:15-4pm
  • Thursday, October 23
    • 1st Grade and 4K Field Trips (all day trips)
  • Friday, October 24
    • PD Day, Dodgeland Den is open from 6:30-5:30pm
    • SLO/PPG docs due by the end of the day
  • Saturday, October 25
    • FFA Fall Festival at Dodgeland from 10-4pm

Nitty-Gritty

  • November Newsletter/Calendar
    • Please send any events or articles that you want in the November newsletter and/or on the November calendar to Patti.  She will be working on this soon so please send as soon as you are able but no later than Oct. 27.
  • Screens in Classrooms
    • Friendly Reminder:  Please make sure that you are turning off the screens in your classroom when you are not using it and especially before leaving at the end of the night so that we can preserve the life of the screen.  Thank you!
  • Anti-Bullying Posters
    • Please turn in any posters your students have made by the end of the day on Friday, 10/17.  Winners will be announced next week and winning posters will be displayed for our student body.
  • PD Agenda for 10/24
    • The agenda will be out early next week for all staff.  There will be work time for grade levels, Act 20 training, AIMSWeb progress monitoring training, Pyramid Model training, etc. If you have any questions, please let me know.
  • Mr. Greco message - See his message to staff below
I have enjoyed visiting classrooms over the last couple of weeks. While there are a multitude of things to do each day, it is important to me to be in classrooms to see the important work being done with our students. Everything we do is intended to directly, or indirectly, support teaching and learning!

I have been impressed by the strong rapport staff have with students as well as the relationships between students. I am proud to see "being good to yourselves and each other" modeled for our students. The enthusiasm staff show students for the subjects under study, the authentic learning our students are being exposed to, and the thoughtful care being put into lesson planning to engage our students in meaningful ways is fantastic.  

Thank you for welcoming me into our learning spaces. It has been my highlight, and makes identifying 5 things that went well each day very easy for me as I reflect during my evening commute.


Looking to purchase new Dodgeland Wear?

We have a school clothing site where you can purchase Dodgeland clothing for all ages. Click HERE for the site to see all the options.  Below is a coupon/code you can use to save some money.  The expiration is the end of November.




TechKnow Tip

Double-Lock Your Digital Doors with MFA

This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, let's talk about Multifactor Authentication (MFA), which is one of the easiest and most important ways to boost your security!

Think of your password as a key. MFA is like adding a second, high-security lock that requires a separate code, fingerprint, or notification approval before anyone can get in. It's a critical extra layer of defense that protects both our school's administrative and teaching platforms and your own personal email, social media, and financial accounts at home.

The Tip: Turn on MFA wherever it's offered!

  • School Accounts: If a platform you use for teaching or administration offers MFA, please enable it immediately.

  • Personal Accounts: We strongly advise you to do the same for your personal bank and email accounts.

For the most robust protection, we suggest choosing the most secure method available, such as an authenticator app (like Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator) over less secure methods like text messages (SMS)

MFA is your security superhero, preventing hackers from getting in even if they manage to steal your password.

ML Information

How do you Build a Vocabulary-Rich Classroom for English Learners?

Here are some ideas from Episode 198 of Equipping ELLs by Beth Vaucher :

  • Target Tier 2 Words: Focus instruction on Tier 2 academic vocabulary (e.g., analyze, distribute), as these are the high-impact words most useful across subjects. Limit yourself to selecting 6–8 key words per unit.

  • Plan with Context: Use a simple planning framework to teach words in meaningful context, ensuring your lessons are culturally responsive and scaffolded to student proficiency levels.

  • Go Visual: Create anchor charts and flashcards for new vocabulary to provide essential visual supports and reduce the cognitive load for learners, particularly newcomers.

  • Teach "Shades of Meaning": Move beyond simple definitions by teaching synonyms and related terms. This helps students grasp the nuances and use the words with greater precision.

  • Prioritize Repetition: Ensure words are simple, targeted, and repeated frequently in various contexts so students can move from recognition to confident, active use.

  • Simplify to Stick: Keep vocabulary instruction focused and avoid overwhelming students, emphasizing that words should be learned and applied in real-life situations.

Don’t forget you can find even more resources here: Dodgeland Teacher Resources. Feel free to email me/contact me at any time! 😀


Friday Funny

Did you see this weird play from this week? The outfield, Sal Frelick, uses colorful language if you can read his lips that I apologize for, but watching this made me laugh. But the memes of Sal afterward were even better!