8/31/2020

Welcome to the September edition of the PL Lighthouse! 
This monthly email blast and webpage has been designed to serve much like a lighthouse, to serve as a way forward and help in navigating through the busy school year. Nothing else speaks of safety in the face of adversity and challenge quite like the lighthouse. 

The 2020-2021 PL Calendar is Live!
Access the PL Department Google Calendar at bit.ly/plcalendar2021. We've also gathered the dates on a Google doc here. QBs, you'll also see the scope and sequence for QB huddles this year. If you see any major conflicts with other district events, please let us know as soon as possible. As this year continues to ebb and flow, we appreciate your flexibility and understanding if/when dates change. 

It's Time to Schedule Your Campus Support Kick Off Meeting
We'll use this time to review your campus' 2019-2020 support card, menu of supports selections and revisions, and 2020-2021 campus readiness continuum priorities.
Week of September 21st we have 90-minute slots available from: 

• 8:30-10:00 AM
• 10:30 AM -12:00 PM
• 2:00-3:30 PM
• 3:30-5:00 PM

Week of September 28th we have 90-minute slots available from:

• 8:30-10:00 AM
• 10:30 AM -12:00 PM

Please use this Calendly link to schedule your meeting by Wednesday, September 16th. Before you submit a date, make sure all members of your leadership team can (and plan to) attend!

*Updated Support Alert* PL Camping Trips
PL Camping Trips will replace the 5 PL Summits originally planned for the PD days on the first 2020-2021 calendar. Camping Trips will be four-week long asynchronous, self-directed learning cycles on Schoology, ending with a 60-minute synchronous session. Each trip will be designed around one domain of the PL rubric (see schedule below). 

We need your help! We are searching for 40 teacher leaders and instructional coaches or coordinators to be campfire starters who will assist our park rangers in facilitating and leading synchronous sessions each camping trip.  Please use this one pager to distribute to teachers on your campus who might be interested. Applications can be found here and are due Friday, October 2nd.

Save the Date for all PL Camping Trips:

*New Coaching Tool Alert* Distance Learning Progression
The Distance Learning Progression is a tool that identifies the necessary system, leader, teacher, and student actions when operating in a full-time distance learning instructional model. A progression is a pathway a learner might take to reach the end goal or learning target. This tool is carefully sequenced across four phases of implementation:

• Establish a Learning Management System (LMS)- Identifies the sequence of actions that must be in place for students to access materials and actively engage with content in a distance learning environment. 
• Engagement in Guided Learning- Identifies the sequence of actions for synchronous instruction to be purposeful, relational, and interconnected with self-paced independent learning.
• Engagement in Independent Learning- Identifies the sequence of actions for asynchronous instruction to be clear, collaborative, and include opportunities for authentic tasks.
• Feedback for Learning- Identifies a sequence of actions to develop a culture of feedback that promotes student agency through goal-setting, reflection, and progress monitoring.

A recording of the webinar we held for PL Leaders can be found here, and the slide deck used during the webinar can be accessed at bit.ly/DallasDL4Leaders.

Did you miss out on the first webinar and are still interested in attending live? You've got one more chance, Friday, September 4th from 10:00-11:15 AM. Register here.

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