February 01st, 2021

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. 

The PL Lightbulb is turning 7 this month! 
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 week of February 15-19th and the official designation for February 20th as #PLday.

February PL Quarterback Huddle
The February Quarterback Huddle is Thursday, February 18th from 1:00-2:30 PM on Zoom. Our topics this month are the PL Leader and Assessment and Data. 

Quarterback pre-work:

• At the huddle this month, we’ll be doing some work around the Enneagram! The Enneagram is based on 9 basic personality types and helps to clearly describe why you think, feel, and behave the way you do (and really so much more).  If you are familiar with the Enneagram and know your number, great! If you don’t, please take this quiz. It takes about 10-12 minutes and you want to answer on first reaction (some say to answer as you would’ve in your early 20’s).  Note: You'll need to enter your email to receive your results!

Fall Campus Support Visit Teacher Survey
If your campus participated in a campus support visit this fall, our team is reaching out to the teachers who were visited to provide feedback on their perceptions of the visit. No action is needed on your part, the PL team member who observed the teacher will email directly. If you have any questions, please reach out to your PL coach.

PL Camping Trip Acadia | Assessment + Data
​Our third camping trip exploring ASSESSMENT + DATA kicks off today, February 1st! The QB checklist includes base messaging for you to adjust to build hype and excitement about the opportunity. You'll also find the one-pager with directions for enrolling in Schoology and an optional planning template. If your teachers have already enrolled in the course, they won't need to again.  

As your teachers begin their trip, the phase of Assessment + Data they select will appear under your school's tab on the Phase Selection Form. This is a great way to check in with teachers on their progress and to guide coaching support for this month.

Google Trainer Academy:
We are hosting a Google Certified Trainer Academy! friEdTechnology will train participants during 2, one hour webinars, over three afternoons, to prepare participants to become Google Certified Trainers. If you are Google Level 1 and Level 2 certified and are interested in attending, add your name here. This workshop will be held February 9th, 10th, 11th from 2:00-5:00 PM.

Dallas ISD Virtual Google Summit:
SAVE THE DATE
We are so excited to announce we will be hosting a Google Virtual Summit on Saturday, April 17th. This virtual summit will be from 9:00 AM-3:00 PM with sessions (45-60 minutes) throughout the day.

Interested or know someone who may be interested in leading a session? Fill out or share this form. 

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 sixth 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 2021-2022 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.

This fellowship exists to expand opportunities for personalized learning across the district and to support teachers who might not be on a campus that is ready to innovate at scale. We could use your help by sharing the nomination process to your friends and peers outside of Personalized Learning cohort. 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. 

More information about the application process and deadline coming soon!