Friday Focus - May 28, 2021

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*Getting to see our band out marching in preparation for the Memorial Day parades.
*Incredible student leaders presenting at the FFA banquet.
*Several end of semester projects in different courses for students to demonstrate their learning in different ways - presentations, recorded videos, paintings, posters, etc. I also noticed the accommodation of students with anxiety about presenting in front of the entire class allowed to do so after school for just a couple. 
*After reflecting on their year, students wrote an email to their future selves of what they want to remember next year as a goal for themselves.  They sent the email to themself, but instead of hitting send, they tapped the three dots on the top right to select "schedule send" and scheduled it for the first week of school next year. (Makes me want to email my future self!)
*Several adults (including me) tried to brainstorm a graduation detail (how to get each grad's signs to stay up in their parking lot square). Between multiple brains, we invested a lot of time brainstorming. The problem was shown to a student who solved it in seconds. I laughed so hard I cried at how simple the solution was. Sometimes we just overthink things! :)

Upcoming Events:

Middle School document of last week plans
High School document of last week plans

Monday - Memorial Day parades in our Dodgeland communities (our band will be marching in each)

Tuesday - Brewers attire day
*during your 4th hour class please take some time to complete the first 4 steps for iPad turn in (see details below in Nuts & Bolts)
*6th grade iPad turn in 
*HS locker cleanout starts during lunch. Check the HS document for which class/which day.

Wednesday - MS/HS faculty meeting - ok, not a meeting, but a quick celebration for Lori's retirement and a social for the end of the year for all of us. I'll have ice cream treats for us to enjoy after dismissal. Location dependent on weather (I'll email that day).
*7/8th grade iPad turn in during 6th hour
*MS yearbooks handed out

Thursday - Senior graduation walk through elementary (seniors should gather in the hs foyer at 11:15 and might be late to 5th hour). Reminder - this is the seniors last day!
*7/8th hours - Middle School awards ceremony on the football bleachers (or HS gym if inclement weather)
*MS locker cleanout during ELA blocks
*HS iPad turn in during 8th hour

Friday - Please park as far away from the front of the high school entrance as you can! 
Refer to previously shared schedules for each building level (special last day activities schedule for MS and shortened class periods for HS).
Your supervision is needed at dismissal. Please see HERE for where everyone needs to be. Thank you!
2:00pm Graduation Rehearsal - rain or shine
6:00pm Graduation

Sunday - 1:00 PM Graduation rain date

Monday, June 6th - Grades must be finalized by noon. *I heard your concerns about finalizing grades by Friday with the pressure of having to pack up for the summer. We can give you some extra time, but do need to get report cards printing that afternoon. 

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*Have you filled out the key inventory form yet? We need you to complete this form about your keys if you haven't yet. 
*Turning in iPads takes quite a bit of time. We've decided it will be very helpful to take care of these first four steps ahead of turn in time:

HERE is the full list for iPad Turn in Procedures.

*Summer - Please don't hesitate to reach out to me over the summer. I have no idea where I will physically be in the building due to renovation, but you can reach me on my cell or email. 

Friday Focus - May 21, 2021

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*I've heard of some great class discussions about the student survey results. I've also started looking at some the student responses. Thank your leadership in your classroom to lead these reflective discussions. 

*We recognized many seniors this week at honors night with academic and athletic achievements and awarded many scholarships.  It is so great to celebrate their achievements!

*When I had to quarantine students this week and most were concerned about prom (understandably), one student was most concerned about her final project she has been working on for a class and wanted to make sure she would still be able to complete it from home.

*MS faculty put their minds together with some great teamwork to come up with plans for a great end to the school year. 

*Our art candidates were very impressed with our students that brought them on a tour and had interview conversations with them. Our students were shining stars in talking about our school and our art program, while also asking each candidate questions that matter to them for a new teacher. 

Upcoming Events:

Friday (tonight) - online streaming of our musical, Freaky Friday

Saturday - prom

Monday - budget request worksheets due

Wednesday - senior class meeting at 11:15 in MS gym (Mrs. Johnson will be talking to them about graduation ceremony)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

Planning for the final week...iPads will be collected on these days:

Tuesday, June 1 - 6th graders

Wednesday, June 2 - 7/8th graders in 6th period

Thursday, June 3 - 9-12th graders in 8th period

Blogs, Tweets and Quotes:

*How to Be a Role Model for Your Students (And Not an Internet Troll)

Friday Focus - May 14, 2021

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:
*Middle school students proud of their improvement in iReady scores for reading and math (I was really excited when a student who previously acted as if he didn't care about how he did was excited that he made growth...see they do care, they just don't always want to admit). 
*One of your colleagues lost a parent this week and several of you pitched in to help support in different ways. Additionally, our students demonstrated empathy and compassion knowing about the teacher's loss. 
*NHS students serving at the Blood Drive with professionalism and positivity as they checked people in. What a great representation of Dodgeland!
*Great staff discussions sharing feedback with me. I appreciate your candor to help me reflect/grow and value the conversations that you had in problem-solving ways to improve our student culture. It makes me so excited about what is possible! I will be emailing out all of the feedback you shared, but that likely won't happen until this weekend due to subbing during the days. Thank you for your patience!

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday - I will be in interviews for the HS art position (I know, I'm still sad too!).  Heads-up that we will have some high school students involved in giving tours to the candidates so you may see them walking around during classes

Wednesday - MS Faculty meeting (planning last week of school)

Saturday - Prom

Monday, May 24 - budget worksheets due (see Dr. Thompson's email sent out on May 10th)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes: 
*Several teacher conversations in the feedback meetings included wanting to share student survey results with students and get additional feedback with them. I am planning to put together some slides for both Middle and High school that could be shared with your 4th hour lunch group and then a survey link for students to share some specific thoughts/ideas just as you did in our meeting. Please plan for this for next Wednesday/Thursday in your classrooms. 
*You've heard me say that I cannot stand countdowns (I know you all look forward to summer, but this one stresses me out about how much I have left to do by that end date. And when we countdown until students are gone, what message does that give them?) Everyday that we have left with students matters and we need to make them count. My hope is you will keep the calendar placed in your mailbox somewhere visible as a reminder of how precious our time left with students is and ways you can continue to make a difference: Days Left to Build Relationships

Blogs, Tweets & Quotes:

*Suceed in (Don't Just Survive) the Last Days of School

Friday Focus - May 7, 2021

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*Middle school Academic Decathlon students were a virtual panel for 5th graders to tell them all about middle school and answer their questions to help get them ready for their big transition from elementary school. 

*Mrs. Vitale has been working very hard at a Fab Lab Grant application and it has been awarded! Thank you for all your hard work on this Mrs. Vitale!  Check out the news story HERE. 

*Thank you part of the middle school faculty for sharing constructive feedback in the first faculty feedback meeting. There was also some great problem-solving/brainstorming faculty discussions surrounding promoting better student climate, end of the year fun ideas and already planning for the start of next year. 

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday - HS Faculty mtg option 1
Wednesday - HS Faculty mtg option 2
Thursday - MS Faculty mtg option 2
 - Brewers Day (wear your Brewers gear/jeans!)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*Summer Technology Boot Camp Sign Up:

For the 7th Annual Summer Technology Boot Camp, Kay and Christina will be facilitating a book club starting June 17th and meeting virtually for 1 hour each week through July 8th. This is the same amount of time as previous camp sessions. The book being read is "The Innovator's Mindset: Empowering Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity", by George Couros. Register for Tech Boot Camp with this link on or before Thursday, May 13th.

*Planning ahead - I know that several of you have been continuing to tweak your learning targets before having them loaded into PowerTeacher Pro and that some of you want to revise learning targets that are already in PowerTeacher Pro. This is a time-consuming process for Mr. Modaff to load them in and recognizing that he will be a key player in putting our building back together for the opening of school (literally putting things together after renovations!) we need to have any new/revised learning targets by July 15th.  

*I shared that middle school faculty won't have access into the middle school wing after June 6th. High school faculty - you should plan for the same as well. The timeline of what happens when isn't set in stone right now, so plan to have what you need for the summer and we will be emailing out over the summer when parts of the high school are open. Thank you in advance for your flexibility and understanding of this while amazing work is being done to our spaces!

Blogs, Tweets & Quotes:

*I choose to Teach - we all have a different journey and you could have done anything, but you teach. It's a hard job, but you make a difference!