The Final Friday Focus - May 27, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

1. We made it!!!!

2. This email was sent from a struggling student to their teachers and other staff members. It is messages like this that make all our hard work worth it:    

 Most of you have known since freshman year. some of you have only known me for a year or two, maybe three but no matter how long you have known me. I have to say it's been a long ride but I do have to give credit where credit is due. I probably wouldn't be graduating without all the work everyone of you have put into teaching me and reminding me of stuff I have due. As my high school career comes to an end. I just wanted to say thank you to all the amazing adults I have had in my life helping me get here. I owe it to each and every one of you because without all of you I won't be graduating this friday.  

Nuts & Bolts Notes:

I will be emailing the agenda for the PD days this weekend (I'm sorry I don't have it ready yet for you!)

*Next week you have to park in the MS/HS parking lot

Tuesday, May 31st - 

*Advisors - please turn in your class list locker cleanout sheets so we know which student lockers still need to be taken care of. 

All of the following equipment must be turned in by Tuesday, May 31^st End of Day:

1. Document Camera
2. Web Camera w/Tripod
3. SuperDrives
4. Belkin iPad Keyboards
5. Logitech Mice
6. Microphones
7. Green Screen Kits
8. Bluetooth Headsets w/Charger
9. Specialty iPads (iOgrapher / Osmos / Speech)

If you need any of the above equipment for Summer School, you will still need to turn the equipment in by May 31st. The equipment can then be checked back out on Wednesday June 1^st or Thursday June 2^nd.

Just a reminder...

Certified Staff – We have yet to receive the new laptops that will be issued to you. At this time we will not be issuing new laptops on June 6^th as we had hoped. I am hopeful we will be able to start issuing new technology mid to late June. With that timeline we are expecting all currently issued  iPads and Laptops to be turned in no later than July 15. If you cannot commit to having your district issued iPad and Laptop turned into the Tech Department by July 15^th you can turn in your technology prior to you leaving for the summer. Any technology not returned by July 15^th will be issued a technology fine for the replacement costs of the devices.

End of Year stuff to complete:

*Alternative Compensation foms must be submitted to me for approval. I will then print it out for you to sign and return. 

*Grades due by NOON on Thursday. 

*Any purchase reqs for next year need to be turned in to me. 

*Submit extra duty forms. 

The Final Countdown Friday Focus!

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:
*Many of our seniors were awarded scholarships on Wednesday night. It is incredible to see such great kids with strong academics, athletics and citizenship.  We truly are lucky to have such support from our community organizations to support our seniors off to college after all of their years of support from you!

*I've seen several end of semester projects for students demonstrating their learning in different ways: published pieces of writing, posters, videos, and presentations. It is great to see such high engagement in your rooms at the end of the year, which only happens with great planning and maintaining consistency in your classrooms to keep the engagement! 

*Staff rallying around students who need the extra support (and kick in the pants) to finish the year with success, whether it is to make sure they get to walk across the graduation stage or just pass classes to not have to come to summer school. Thank you for helping to support students through to the end!

*I really appreciate the problem-solving/idea-generating conversations to be prepared for the final week and starting planning for next year!

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday - MS/HS Faculty Meeting

Thursday - last day for seniors (and they need to turn in iPads 8th hour)

-ms students turn in ipads 6th hour

Friday - 9-11th grades turn in iPads 8th hour

9:30 HS Graduation Rehearsal

THE HELP OF EVERYONE IS NEEDED AT DISMISSAL!!! Please check this document to see where we need you to go to help supervise.

6:00 PM Graduation :)

Week of May 31

Monday - Memorial Day parades in our communities with our hs band participating :)

Tuesday- Packing Day for HS teachers

 8:30AM MS proactive behavior planning meeting

Wednesday/Thursday - Target Based Professional Learning/Target based curriculum work time -schedule to be shared with you next week

Thursday - 8:30 in IMC High School IEB brainstorming discussion to plan for next year

-Grades due by noon

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

Middle School Last week details

*As students are cleaning out lockers, there will be bins for any supplies that can be donated to the Purple Purpose room. As you are cleaning (at school or home!) and have clothes or supplies in good condition, the NHS will gladly take your donations for Purple Purpose.

*If you need to review the end of year iPad procedures with students in your advisory, the slides are HERE.

*Any additional tech checked out by students must be turned in to the library (keyboards, hotspots, mice)

*It is SO important that teachers check when students are turning in ipads/blocks/cords and check off/initial their label.  Our awesome tech team begins going through these right away and we do send bills to students/parents.  If a student brings something to you after everything is collected, send them to the Tech Department.  Thank you so much for your help with this!

*Classroom tech equipment needs to be turned into the IMC by May 31 (i.e. doc cameras, tripods/web cameras, superdrives, belkin ipad keyboards, bluetooth headset/charger, etc.)
*Staff iPads/Laptops must be turned in by 7/1/22 for Certified staff. Support staff must turn in technology by 5/27/22.

Getting on my soapbox:

*Something I've heard this week is "kids probably won't be here the last day." I have heard this too and it's partnered with "nothing happens the last day."  Remember how much you planned for the first day of school to hook them in? What are you planning for the last day in their classrooms so they can't wait to come back after summer?  If you have nothing planned, then you're perpetuating the idea that nothing happens the last day and there's no reason to come. 

How to Keep Students Engaged at the End of the School Year

4 Meaningful Activities to Mark the end of the School Year

Sponge Activites at End of School Year. - A fun one on this list that stands out to me is 7)Philosophical Chairs Debate, 

Dates to keep on your calendar:

August 15 Dodgeland Summit
August 28, 1:00 - 3:00 Building Celebration and Tour

Friday Focus - May 13, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*Our students' musical talents were incredible at both the middle and high school concerts this week. Kudos to Mr. Muenchow and Mr. Robinson for all of their hard work and preparation with students to be ready for two great nights of music!
*Several of our middle school students (who call themselves the Dodgeland Student Association) have been hard at work with passion and excitement to elicit student feedback to have some student-led changes to come next year. Thank you Mrs. Schulte for leading this.  They are also excited to help transition 5th graders to get ready for middle school!
*Our NHS students have been great recruiters to fill up the calendar for the blood drive. 
*Our seniors voted on their class gift to purchase a banner for inside the high school that reads: "Individuality makes us different, respect brings us together." What a great motto!

Upcoming Events:

Today - Neon Dance after school for middle school students

Wednesday - High School Faculty meeting (last week planning!)
 7:00 PM Senior Scholarship and Awards night (all are welcome to attend)

Thursday - Mr. Sterling's last day with us
3:15 - additional MS meeting to finalize plans for the last day of school (this wasn't on our calendar, but I know there's still a lot of details to plan!)

*While I want to announce our new principal, I still need to wait until after the board meeting. 

*Do you have your calendar marked for the August 15th Dodgeland Summit? This year we will also kick off our day of learning with a keynote by Keith Mountain on Rethinking Technology Through Engagement at Any Age. 

*Next Week's IEB/Advisory Doc is HERE

Reminders as you're preparing for summer:
* Middle School classrooms will be used for Summer School.
*High School staff will not have access to high school classrooms after May 31st.  If your room is getting windows for the skylights, all your cupboards will have to be packed up. That day will be for packing/cleaning. We will be in the IMC together on June 1st for PD/target based work.
*Classroom tech equipment needs to be turned into the IMC by May 31 (i.e. doc cameras, tripods/web cameras, superdrives, belkin ipad keyboards, bluetooth headset/charger, etc.)
*Staff iPads/Laptops must be turned in by 7/1/22 for Certified staff. Support staff must turn in technology by 5/27/22.

Friday Focus - May 6, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*We recognized over 80 students at the Juneau Lions Paideia on Wednesday night. Since COVID started around this time in my first year, this is the first time I got to be a part of this event. It was so great to be together with our high achieving students and their parents to celebrate their accomplishments. Our students in attendance got to hear an incredibly inspiring message from Dodgeland alumni Christine Kjornes (Yes, relative of our current Kjorneses) about her zig zagging journey after high school.  Note to the ACP committee -we need to have her join our alumni panel next year!
*Sophomores highly engaged in reading the Julius Caesar script, excited to act out certain scenes. Even the students who don't like reading or literature were excited about it!
*I heard students return from AP testing eager to tell their teachers what was easy, what was hard, how they think they did. 
*ACT Aspire testing is DONE! Thank you to those of you who let me pull students out of your classes to get caught up on all the makeups. That's a wrap for all forms of state testing! (Although Mr. Sterling is still proctoring AP exams)

Upcoming Events:
Saturday - PROM :)
Monday - EP Support time in the IMC after school - no training, just a dedicated space/time if you need it and I'll be there to answer any questions you may have on the Documentation Log or the Alternative Compensation form. 
Middle School Music Concert at 7:00PM

Tuesday - Our new counselor, Mrs. Buss, will be here for the day. Please introduce yourself and welcome her to Dodgeland!
High School Music Concert at 7:00PM

Wednesday - MS Faculty meeting (planning for the last week!)

Wednesday, May 18th - 7:00PM Senior Scholarships & Awards Program (all are welcome to attend!)

Nuts & Bolts:

*Just a reminder that next Wednesday's advisory time is for preparing students' iPads for end of the year turn in.  Review the slides of this slidedeck before Wednesday so you have time to ask any questions to be ready to lead your students. 
*The IEB/Advisory doc for next week can be found HERE.

Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:

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

Friday Focus - April 29, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:
*Our middle school students did a great job presenting their science fair projects - during the day for elementary students and in the evening with a packed crowd in the commons. Kudos to Mrs. Penterman and Mrs. Neis for coordinating this event and to the middle school teachers for being flexible to have students set up in their classrooms during the day. I heard many great comments from elementary teachers and parents!
*We completed ACT Aspire testing in the high school...with teamwork to get everything coordinated and patience when things didn't go perfectly...you know, just what you do every day! I also appreciate all the feedback collected in rooms at the end of the day. It sounds like our students want to learn how to do even better next year!
*Students were writing individual goals for the last month on their Work Habits skills in advisory...what a great way to give ownership of their behaviors for the last stretch of the school year. 

Upcoming Events:
*MS Forward make-ups are done, but I still have ACT Aspire makeups so I will be pulling 9/10th graders to get those completed.
Wednesday - District wide all staff (certified/paras) meeting regarding end of the year (this one last until about 4:00)
*7:00 Juneau Lions Padeia to celebrate our high school students' achievements (we haven't had this event since pre-pendemic!)
Friday - I will be out of the building at CESA 6 until around 1
Saturday - Prom

Nuts & Bolts:

*MS Faculty - please let me know if you have a new Fun Friday choice to add to our final month's selection.
*The IEB/Advisory doc for next week is HERE.

*Scheduling update - Remember when I said we had a plan for scheduling to be done in March? It was a great plan...until other things started happening. ;) It's just like the schedule/to-do list that seems great until the day gets started, which I know you can relate to you. I know some of you are anxiously waiting to know what your classes will be next year, especially for budgeting purposes. 

 As you know, from Dr. Thompson's information that has been shared multiple times, being a declining enrollment school district means that our budget is challenging. We value our staff and want to keep everyone, but that does mean there are some shifts in positions being made.  With every challenge we encounter, also brings opportunity to look at our students' needs and the strengths of our staff to put the best-looking puzzle together. 

For most teachers, there won't be any drastic changes in courses. For some, there will be so I'm having individual conversations with the people who are most affected by change first and then I'm scheduling meetings to get into the details of which individual courses are running and hope to schedule all of those next week. 
Thank you for your patience with me. :)

*The hiring update on counselor and principal should be coming out next week. 

Blogs, Tweets & Quotes:

End Your School Year with What Matters Most "Beginnings set the tone, but endings don't just come together on accident. There's something special about a narrative that ends really well."

Friday Focus - April 22, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*Great teamwork in helping to coordinate make up testing at the middle school and collaborating to prepare for ACT Aspire testing at the high school for next week. 

*Our middle school students have been engaged and hard at work completing their science projects that they will present at the upcoming inaugural science fair. 

*We have several high school students who have been helping with the first ever elementary musical (the performance is Saturday). It is so great to see our students finding additional ways to be connected in school while supporting others. 

*HS athletes helping run events at the MS track meet. Many of you were at the track meet and could have complained about it, but I heard so many of you connecting with students and colleagues with a mindset to enjoy the opportunity of the evening (even when it got cold!)

Upcoming Events:

Monday - I will be out of the building at CESA 6 until around 1. 

Tuesday - Middle School Science Fair 5-7PM

Wednesday - ACT Aspire testing for 9/10th graders all day (no high school classes)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*We have been in the process of interviewing candidates for both the counselor and principal positions and hope to have updates to share with you in the near future. 

*Here's next week's Advisory/IEB Doc: Week of April 25

*As we get closer to the end of the school year, please do not start a countdown with your students to summer....what message would that give them about how you feel about having them in your room? If YOU need to have a countdown, how about this...after today we have 25 days left to make an impact on our students this year! Every one of those days matters!

*Dodgeland Summit info: Dodgeland is very excited to share that this summer we will resume Dodgeland Summit! Summit is a conference style professional development event to help you get a jumpstart on your year. The sessions you attend will prepare you for your amazing year ahead, as well as provide you with one checkmark toward your alternative compensation plan, all before our students even enter the building! This year's summit will take place on Monday, August 15 from 7:45am-12:00PM. Continental breakfast and snacks will be provided throughout the morning to fuel your learning brain. 

Please take a few moments to complete the Dodgeland Summit Form to indicate your interest in attending, possible session topics, and even your participation by presenting a session. 

Please complete the form by Friday, April 29th. 

It will be exciting to learn together again!

"Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:
*The Magic of Mistakes: 4 Ways to Boost Critical Thinking with Mistake Analysis

Friday Focus - April 8, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:
*Students speaking up for a peer when they saw others being unkind.
*Use of the Employability Skills as a focus of conversation when returning back from break - looking at how they are each expected in the classroom. It was great to hear one student who recently started working and said his boss has a lot of the same expectations! This is exactly why we're teaching employability skills and using them in our conversations with kids (and also Work Habits at middle school).
*Our juniors were emailed their ACT scores. I've heard several conversations from students talking about their results - some proud of what they accomplished and some already wanting to retake it for a better score in the future. Isn't it great to hear academically focused conversations?  (For those of you just as eager as me to see the full list of scores, I haven't received it yet. All I know is what students have reported to me).
*We have a senior who spends half of his day as a Youth Apprentice for welding who is such a shining star there that they had him go speak at another school as a representative for the Youth Apprenticeship program. What an incredible spotlight!
*I heard some high school students complaining about the new IEB rules (well, they're not new, we're just rebooting them to utilize our time well!). Why do I include this in Great Things I Noticed? Because it's just like when I make choices to eat healthier and I complain about needing to eat vegetables and no chocolate...I know it's good for me, even if I don't like it. And...let's be real, when I do eat the vegetables, I do feel better! ;)

Upcoming Events:

Monday - 3:15 IMC EP Training - this one is not required and not really a training; rather the time/space/chocolate/support for you to work on your documentation log. 

*The Middle school will be taking the Forward test next week Monday - Wednesday.

Friday - No School

Planning ahead for the week of May 30th: As you know, Dr. Thompson already shared that May 31st is the last day we can be in the high school so this will be a day of packing before it is closed off for construction.  June 1st will be a day of professional learning in the IMC for MS/HS combined on our target based work. Becky Peppler from First (Garth's organization) will be with us this day to support our continued work. You will then have time on June 2nd to work on learning targets, assessments, rubrics, etc. More details will come as we get closer. 

One thing you can do is keep a folder (in Onedrive of course!) of examples of student work that demonstrates different levels of proficiency for your learning targets. This can help you in the future as you develop clarity for students in the following year. 

"Nuts & Bolts"

*Next week's HS IEB doc is HERE.

*We've been having some continual issues at both building levels of behaviors that are not being good digital citizens:

• Taking photos of others and air dropping them in class to others to make fun of others.
• Air dropping memes as a distraction in class. 
• Taking pictures on phones and posting them to social media to bully others
  

Back in my day, we had some of this, but it was with passing notes in school. Obviously it's much tougher to deal with now, but I ask you to continue to be vigilant with following through on the expectations for phones in class (they should be put away in high school and NOT at all in middle school) and to address when you notice airdropping distractions or taking pictures of others without their behavior.  I'll be looking for some videos that could be used in aspire classes to address these issues to share with you all. If you know of a good one, please share so we can help prevent cyberbullying and class distractions together.

Reminder from the Tech Department: 

• Technology Spring Cleaning (Reminder message from the Tech Department)
• Trash those old digital files before saving to the cloud!  Check out the staff resource page for more saving tips or stop by the tech department for a quick one-on-one session.
• Turn off your classroom display by holding down the power button on the board or the remote control. You can give your board a quick clean by spraying a microfiber towel with the pink rejuvenal spray and wiping it down.
• Encourage students to clean their iPad by cleaning yours too! Spray a microfiber towel with the pink rejuvenal spray to clean the screen and the case too.  DO NOT take the iPad out of the case to clean and DO NOT spray directly on the iPad.

Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:

*Why Your New Classroom Management Plan isn't Working

Friday Focus - March 25, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*HS FFA students leading agriculture trivia at both ms and hs lunches. It was great to see how many students were interested to join in the fun!

*At the start of the class period, students reviewed their notes from the previous day for the first two minutes while the teacher was taking attendance and then asked for any follow-up questions from when they reviewed their notes. Then 10 minutes into the lesson the teacher stopped the lesson to give students time to review their notes again to process what they had just learned and to ask any questions before moving on.  This frequent review of notes gives students the time/structure to study (many don't know how to study!) and check in on any gaps in their learning. 

*I've overheard many conversations in the middle school about books...in classrooms, hallways and lunch. They're been chattering about the March Madness book bracket! It's so great to see kids excited about books! I also know some high schoolers have been checking it out to see which books are winning so next year High School will need to have their own March Madness book bracket!

*I appreciate the reflection that some of our high school faculty have been giving to the IEB reboot for after break. I have heard some teacher/student conversations and seen emails to students/parents. 

*Our 9th/10th graders went on their business/MPTC and Fox Valley Technical College visits on March 8th, but I've still been hearing students talking about new decisions they have made about choices after high school that they did not have on their radar before the trip! This really speaks to how important it is that we have ACP lessons and activities to expose them to the many options that they might not even know exist!

Upcoming Events:

Just a reminder that no one will have access to the building Friday, April 2nd from 1:00pm until Sunday, April 4th at 3:00pm due to complete power shutdown.

Wednesday, April 6 - MS Faculty Meeting (Forward exam training)

April 27 - ACT Aspire test for 9/10th graders, Senior class trip (No class for Juniors)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*HS faculty - please make sure you're ready for your reboot of IEB (see my email on March 22nd). Here is the IEB/Advisory Doc: Week of April 4

*I will be working over spring break for all sorts of catch-up work to prepare for the end of the year. I do not expect you to be checking email, so please do not feel like you have to check them. If I need you for anything (which I can't imagine I will) I will call/text you. 

SPRING BREAK ORDER: RELAX. RECHARGE. REJUVENATE!

Friday Focus - March 18, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*Check out the great artwork above by one of our seniors.  What do you think of when you see this picture of a rainbow over Dodgeland?

*Class game of "trashketball" to review concepts for a test while having fun.

*Middle school students focused on writing, referring back to their criteria for writing counter arguments.

*One of our hs students with the most tardies only had one this week...a friend bet him to go through without tardies and kept checking on his classes to make sure he was there. Talk about an accountability partner! How can we incorporate student leaders more?

*Teachers working 1:1 with students in ARP/Study Hall to help them maintain focus or work on getting caught up.  While we wish kids would spend this class period independently studying, most of them need our help to use that time well! 

Events Next Week:  March Madness College shirts and jeans all week! 
I don't see any meetings...am I missing anything?

Upcoming Events:

Please make sure Wednesday, May 4th is on your calendar for the next district-wide (certified and para) meeting 3:15 - 4:15 in the IMC. This meeting will be longer than the last one. 

*As you plan for your classes when we return from Spring Break, please be ready to welcome students back and reconnect with relationships, review expectations/procedures and be ready for them to finish strong. If we come back grumbling that we wish spring break were longer, they will too. (Sure, we all wish we had a longer break, but when we say that outloud with grumbles, we will act that way too and that attitude will spread. What do you want spreading in your classroom?)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

I know you're probably counting down your days until Spring Break, but remember that if your daily actions exhibit that mindset, your students will too.  While we only have ___ days left until spring break, we also only have ___ days left until spring break to keep kids learning and growing until they are gone for a week.  We have Forward and ACT Aspire testing upon us, along with lots of left to learn in your classes.  Let's keep focus and be engaged in our work so our students will too. :) :)

*Just another reminder: As we close out the midpoint of the quarter, you should have a rating in for Employability Skills or Work Habits.

*Next week's HS IEB doc is HERE

Reminder - if you do decide to take a class outside to use a fob to re-enter the building (we can not prop doors open)

Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:

*25 Things Successful Teachers Do Differently

Friday Focus - March 11, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

• HUGE thank you to all the different tasks of high school staff on Tuesday - proctoring the ACT, relieving staff for breaks while supervising students, supervising on the field trips, etc. It was a successful day!
• Our juniors took the ACT exam seriously and several mentioned their appreciation for tips they learned from teachers to prepare for the ACT. 
• In a parent meeting, the parent told his daughter that the reason he got through school was that staff member in the meeting from when he was in school. Sometimes it takes years to see the harvest of our seeds planted, but it feels so good when it does!
• We had an alumni panel for our juniors to hear about life after high school - military, work, college options and lessons learned in life. 
• Our freshmen and our sophomores had field trips to local businesses, MPTC and Fox Valley Technical College.  It was great to hear students find interests in possible jobs/careers that they didn't even know about before. 
• As new unit math terms were introduced, the Spanish terms were also introduced. The spanish speaking student beamed with a smile while getting to teacher peers how to pronounce it as they tried to repeat it. 

Upcoming Events:

Monday - 3:15 Effectiveness Project training in the IMC. Topic: Documentation Log

Reminder...the week of May 21st you can wear jeans each day along with college shirts for March Madness.

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*Our Targets for Employability Skills or Work Habits provide students and parents with important feedback on the behaviors in school.  Do you have grades in for Employability Skills or Work Habits?

*The IEB/Advisory Doc for next week is HERE

Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:

*Helping Students Find the Truth in Social Media

Friday Focus - March 4, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:
*Our students were shining stars at the Bandorama concert. Not only does this concert show the incredible growth in musical skills that sudents make from 6th - 12th grade, but this year it also showed the growth in our instrumental program with the addition of the Jazz band and drumline this year!
*I hear all sorts of interesting topics being discussed at lunch tables. This week I was excited to hear several students discussing their middle school science fair project ideas. It's great to see how engaged our students are in coming up with experiments for our upcoming first ever science fair!
*When a lesson was done and most students were finished with their practice work early, the teacher quickly pulled up a review kahoot of the unit vocab that was ready to go for filing in any cracks of time so there was no time lost.

Upcoming Events:

Monday - Our new school social worker starts next week. Please help welcome Ms. Neis to our team!
Tuesday - Juniors taking the ACT. No school for seniors. Freshmen/Sophomores on college/business trips
Wednesday - All district staff meeting (for certified and paraprofessionals) in IMC at 3:15

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*Planning ahead...the NCAA March Madness is a great time to promote colleges as people make their bets on what teams they think will win. To help promote colleges you can wear jeans every day the week of March 21st if you wear a college shirt!

*Here's the HS IEB/Advisory Doc: Week of March 7

*From the handbook: No field trips will be allowed 3 weeks prior to the end of the school year. No more than two field trips per week will be allowed unless adminstrative approval is given.

*I'm honored and humbled to take on a challenging new role next year.  While it will be another new learning curve for me, Dr. Thompson has been an incredible mentor and leader for all these years to pave the way on our road to a better tomorrow.  For those of you who have expressed your fears of change and concerns of who will fill my role next year, please be assured that I am fully committed to every facet of our district and school and won't be far!! That is why I pursued my superintendent's license...because I knew the day would come someday when Dr. Thompson would retire and I wanted to make sure that someone who loved this district was ready to follow in her footsteps.

Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:

*The 3 Best Practices of Performance Based Assessment

Friday Focus - February 25, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*After a snow day and then missing a whole class period, I'm sure some of you may have been frazzled to have a lockdown drill, but you certainly didn't show it.
*A student who has been disengaged for years has been getting back on track. Not only have I seen him engaged in learning multiple times, this week I got to see him helping another student who was struggling. This is a student that I was worried was on the path to dropping out...sometimes the seeds we plant take years to sow.  Don't give up on them!
*Towards the end of a lesson, the teacher referred back to the lesson objective on the board and had students turn and talk for 30 seconds to share how they met that objective (quick moment of closure) and then had 4 students share out. I confess closure to a lesson was always an area of growth for me so this was a great way to stay focused and have students a part of the process!
*Some of our high school student leaders have been busy brainstorming additional ways to give back and support students in need in our school community. It is so rewarding to hear the young leaders we have amongst us who have been mentored by incredible staff to help them learn how to be leaders!
*As we always do...

Upcoming Events:

Monday - Bandorama concert 7:00pm
Wednesday - HS Facutly meeting (see my email on 2/22 for the 2 different agendas/locations)

Mark Your Calendars - District-wide staff meeting (for certified and paraprofessional staff) onWednesday, March 9th regarding technology. (No IEP meetings should be scheduled during this time)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*Did you see Dr. Thompson's message about our new Dodgeland Store? Check it out: https://www.ez-promotion.com/sr/2139209 

*Continuing next week: Juniors will need to remain in their Junior Advisory groups for ACT Preparation.  The ACT is on March 8th and we are going to utilize their aspire time (not taking away from class time) for ACT Prep/Test-taking strategies. 

*Here's the HS IEB/Advisory Doc for next week: Week of February 28

*Do you have a grade for Employability Skills or Work Habits for your students yet? If not, you should!

Friday Focus - February 18, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*A student's email reply to a staff member said, "Thank you for not giving up on me."
* I overheard a student telling a classmate that she just wanted to go home for the rest of the day. He replied to her, "You made a decision to get up and come to school today, so you already won the first battle of the day. Don't go back on that, you can make it the rest of the day!"  He had such wise words of encouragement!
*Students were meeting with book club partners to discuss character traits that collided to develop life lessons from the book they were reading. 
*Students practicing writing with different types of transitions, with topics of their choice.

Upcoming Events:
Today: No Fun Friday for Middle School due to lack of gyms. Today's aspire is for MS locker cleaning! 

In case you are planning to come in to work this weekend, we are hosting Wrestling Sectionals on Saturday so the parking lot will be packed. 

Wednesday - Workout Wednesday

Thursday - I will be out of the building at a conference

Mark Calendars - District-wide staff meeting (for certified and paraprofessional staff) onWednesday, March 9th regarding technology. (No IEP meetings should be scheduled during this time)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*For the next 2 weeks, Juniors will need to remain in their Junior Advisory groups for ACT Preparation.  The ACT is on March 8th and we are going to utilize their aspire time (not taking away from class time) for ACT Prep/Test-taking strategies. 

*Here's the HS IEB/Advisory Doc for next week: Week of Feb 21

PD and Motivation:

This is a repeat for those that attended the Mentors/Mentees meeting...Mrs. Huelsman shared tips on how to Thrive through winter (because February is such a blah month!) and I wanted to share with all to help you get through...

Stress is a normal part of life, however, there are different types of stress:

A helpful factor to decide between if stress is felt to be tolerable vs toxic is RELATIONSHIPS. We know that have students who are able to be supported by relationships from supportive adults at school. WE each need to have people to help support each of us as well.  Who is your thinking partner to talk thorugh things at school?  Laughter really is the best medicine...who do you go to for a good laugh each day? Don't be afraid to ask someone for help when you need it! 

Friday Focus -February 11, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*Students in deep discussions in their small groups about possible themes/motifs in the short stories they read. 
*Students analyzing song lyrics (choosing a song of their choice, which was highly motivating) to analyze for poetic devices such as theme, author's purpose, figurative language, symbolism, etc. 
*I've been included on several teacher emails to inform parents about students they are concerned about. Communication to parents is key so they can help team with us to help their child be successful!

Upcoming Events:

Monday - Mentors/Mentees meeting 3:15 in IMC for year 1, 2, and 3 teachers and mentors (Topic: How to Thrive (not just survive) the Winter)

Wednesday - HS Advisory is for course registration
HS Staff meeting at 3:15 in IMC - Main topic - supporting our ELL students in the classrooms

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*Here's next week's High School Advisory/IEB Doc Week of February 14

*Just resharing Mr. Modaff's email regarding virtual meetings moving forward:

As of January 1^st 2022 BlueJeans is only available for the districts Special Education Teachers. Moving forward Regular Education teachers are able to use Google Meet for virtual meetings. Directions on creating a Google Meets Meeting can be found here. When using Google Meets you will need to use the Chrome browser for everything to function properly. Please ensure you are logged into your district google account and not your personal account. For additional information on how to use Google Meets you can visit their website or stop by the Tech Office for assistance.

*Sanitizing Reminder - we've been seeing an increase in pink eye and stomach flu bugs..please continue to encourage desk sanitizing and hand sanitizing. 

*Reminder about Parent/Teacher Conferences: just a reminder that we did not schedule an evening for February conferences this year, rather giving you flexibility in using your time to communicate with parents.  Here are my expectations for this:

• Make sure to communicate with parents of any students that you currently have concerns with.  
• Advisors - please check through your advisess to see if they are struggling in mulitiple classes. These are students that we should be coordinating setting up parent meetings so that all teachers that the student is struggling with can be a part of the parent/student meeting to help set up a plan of support. Please let Marcia or I know if you need help coordinating. 
• I also encourage you to send out any positive messages that you can

*Following up to Dr. Thompson's detailed message about upcoming renovation work, if your room is impacted and you want to get a headstart on any packing and need boxes, please email Mrs. Vitale (she saved a bunch when she unpacked) and then Kimi Pasewald when those run out. This is also a good reason to purge materials that are no longer needed. I know I will be doing some deep cleaning of my files/cabinets during spring break to pack up in preparation for the busyness that the end of the school year will bring as we prepare for more amazing things to happen to our building!

*If you plan to come into the building this Sunday or next Saturday, February 19th please know that we are hosting wrestling tournaments that will likely completely fill the parking lots.

We are at mid-February...the armpit of the school year. The freezing cold is here, some student behaviors, cell phone addictions, tech violations, snapchat and tik tok drama, new students...there's a LOT going on right now. It's the time of the year that we hit that slump and countdown the days until spring break....IF we let ourselves get lost from our why. 

Do you remember YOUR why? Why do you do what you do? When you feel yourself getting lost in your to-do list, behaviors, all the minutia...go back to your purpose. That's what brings you back and keeps you going even when the day throws challenges your way. 

Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:

*Teacher Engagement: Emotional Engagement

Friday Focus - February 4, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:
*Students discussing the question "Can you show respect to a person you don't respect?" 
*Vox Choir students listening to song choices and then having discussion about whether or not the song is well suited for their upcoming performance in Memphis, considering the song's history, lyrics, tone, mood, and harmonies.  
*Students analyzing a political comin to identify the meaning of what the artist/author intedended to convey and why.
*Several students have been working on a math rap that they are excited to present to their class to demonstrate their understanding in a fun way.
*We had several students stand up for another student during a difficult incident and following it to make sure the student was ok and send the message to others that what happened was not ok. 

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday - Workout Wednesday and MS Faculty Mtg

CTSO week at the high school...

Monday- color day - with a quizzizz about our CTSO's in advisory

Tuesday- Camo Day (FFA)/ relay activity in gym during advisory

Wednesday- Worker/career day (Skills)/ relay activity in gym during advisory

Thursday- Country vs. Country Club (FBLA)/ tug of war activity in gym during advisory

Friday- Chapter t-shirts/purple pride

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*The HS IEB/Advisory Doc can be found HERE.

*Please plan ahead for your personal days. As a reminder, I'm sharing from the Employee Handbook:

Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time/Flex Time by Hour may not be used to extend a holiday or school recess/break period.  Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time/Flex Time by Hour may not be used during the last two weeks of the school year.

 

Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time/Flex Time by Hour will not be granted on parent-teacher days or professional development days unless an exception is made by the building principal.

 

Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time must have prior approval from the building principal/ supervisor.  Employees must complete a Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time Form at least five (5) days prior to the absence. Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time requests will be granted in the order in which they are received.  Only two (2) requests for certified staff and two (2) requests for para-professionals that require substitutes will be granted for the same day for the use of Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time.  Once approved, these absences will be entered in the absence management system by District Office staff.

Blogs, Quotes and Tweets:

*7 Clever, Teacher Tested Tech Hacks