February 4th, 2020

Welcome to the February 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. 

PL QB Huddle- February 13th 
The February Quarterback Huddle is Thursday, February 13th from 1:00-4:00 PM at IGNITE Middle School [2211 Caddo Street]. Out topics this month are: teacher selection, mindset, and succession planning. With that in mind, along with your QB, please consider sending someone from your team who supports hiring on your campus. 

Emerging Campuses [CityLab, Hill, Oran Roberts, Reinhardt, L.K. Hall, and Stockard]
Please bring 1-2 ideas to the QB Huddle that you would like to pilot (or have begun piloting) for the spring semester, Feb-April.  This will be your 2nd design cycle that you will share your Presentation of Learning at our April 21st Design Studio.

PL is Turning 6!

On February 20, 2014, the first message went out district-wide asking for school leaders to embrace personalized learning and to join the inaugural personalized learning cohort! Join us for a PL birthday celebration with events throughout the day and the official designation for February 20th as #PLday @PersonalizeDISD

Ways to Celebrate:

• Use social media to share your why via Twitter and/or Instagram using #PLday @PersonalizeDISD. Use templates (tiny.cc/plday) to print and use with staff and students. Remember if you include students in pictures, make sure you check to see that they have their media release forms signed. The PL lightbulb will award individuals/campuses that celebrate in the most personalized way.
• Shadow-a-Student either on your own campus or sign up at one of the personalized learning campuses. The Shadow a Student Challenge is a fun, illuminating, and supportive journey where educators come together to empathize with students and take new kinds of action at their school/district.
  • To sign up and take the pledge, go to www.shadowastudent.org.
  • Download the toolkit at tiny.cc/sastoolkit
• Plan for a formal birthday celebration and cake at our last design studio of the year, April 21st. This is also when we’ll formally introduce our new personalized learning schools for the 2020-2021 school year.  

Social Media Take Over
We had a social January with IGNITE and PL Prep taking over Twitter and Instagram. If you missed any of the action, just search #dallaspltakeover. Tune in on February 25th for Cowart Elementary's Instagram takeover! [ACTION ITEM] Click here if you're interested in participating or want more information. 

Innovation Showcase: March 10th
Our Innovation Showcase is growing! Join us for our 4th annual Showcase night Tuesday, March 10th from 5:30-8:00 PM at Conrad High School to learn from our Innovation in Teaching Fellows and School Retool Assistant Principal Fellows. Fellows will share their "ah-ha" moments and we'll celebrate their fellowship experience with a fun evening. [ACTION ITEM] If you're interested in using the night to share about your campus, we're happy to provide an opportunity to have a table for you to share about your campus. If you're interested, please reach out to Kristen by February 14th to reserve a table. 

Be on the lookout for a formal email invitation to RSVP for this evening later this week! 

Innovation in Teaching Fellowship
We are excited to announce the Innovation in Teaching Fellowship, a professional learning opportunity to expand personalized learning instructional practices across Dallas ISD, is beginning to recruit teachers for our fifth cohort of fellows, and since you work closely with teachers, we’re hoping you might be able to help with the recruitment process.
 
The Innovation in Teaching Fellowship equips Dallas ISD educators to grow in their understanding of and pilot Next Generation models in their classrooms. Over the 2020-2021 school year, fellows will draw from research, best practices, and their own ingenuity to design and test personalized learning in their classrooms. Fellows will have access to workshops, pop-up (i.e., on-demand) professional development sessions, internal and external site visits, and coaching from the Dallas ISD central personalized learning team. At the conclusion of the fellowship, fellows will have an opportunity to share their learnings and ideas with the education community through our Showcase.
 
Please feel free to pass along to other schools within your network or nominate 3-5 teachers on your campus who might be ready for the challenge. Please click here to access a quick nomination form or to share use, bit.ly/nominatefellows. Once a teacher has been nominated, he/she will receive an email regarding the opportunity, application, and deadline. 

For additional information about the Innovation in Teaching Fellowship and the application process, check out www.thepltoolbox.com/fellowship. Applications are due Friday, April 3rd by 11:59PM CST.