August 05th, 2019

Welcome to the August 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. 

Teacher Emails 
​We need your help to collect emails of teachers at all PL cohort and emerging schools. We will use these emails to send exciting opportunities (Book Clubs, Edcamp Personalize DISD, etc.) directly to teachers so you don’t have to. Please find you campus tab and update your teacher list on the spreadsheet here no later than Friday, August 23rd. 

MAP Update
If you haven't heard yet, the district has adopted the NWEA MAP assessment in grades 2-9 as our Universal Screener for reading and math [Memo from Teaching and Learning]. Yay!
What this means for PL Campuses:

• The PL Department will purchase MAP [reading + math only] for K-1 at existing PL schools and for K-1 teachers at pilots schools. 
• We will no longer use the language assessment.
• If you are interested in using the language or science assessment for use, you will need to purchase on your own. Reach out to Kristen by Friday, August 16th if you need support requesting invoice/purchasing. 
• Kristen is no longer the district MAP administrator and will not be able to make adjustments to assessment windows, assessment rosters, etc. 
• Charissa Govan, MTSS Manager is the district MAP admin and is your best point of contact re: anything MAP. Her email is [email protected].

Teacher Performance Rubric Alignment to PL Rubric[TEI] 
The PL team is currently working on updating the PL Coaching + Development Rubric to alignment to the new Teacher Performance Rubric. We will share a draft of alignment at the August 27th PL QB Huddle for campus review/approval. Once the alignment is approved, we'll print and deliver updated PL Coaching Guides to all campus administrators [expect late September]. 

PL Educator Tours
Thank you to those who have signed up to host a PL Educator Tour this year! All dates have been confirmed with calendar invites to your QB + Principal. Dates and links to every tour are now live at www.thepltoolbox.com/tours. Feel free to share this link [or the direct Eventbrite link] on your campus website and/or when folks reach out who want to visit your campus. 

To help lighten the lift of hosting, the PL team will continue to manage registration for each tour and will support each campus with hosting the tour. Your PL support person will reach out one month to begin planning for the educator tour. 

PL Support Meetings [August + September]
Starting August 19th, the PL team [Kristen + campus support person] will meet with each campus to review menu of support selections made in April, campus priorities, and the freshly minted campus support card to co-create a support plan for your campus. These will be 90 minutes and will require at least the principal and PL QB to be present. Kristen will reach out directly to principal and QB to schedule.

2019-2020 PL Calendar 
Access the 2019-2020 PL Department Calendar at bit.ly/1920plcalendar.
To review the PL QB Huddle topics and see the calendar at a glance click here. 

PL Cruise
Thank you to those who joined us onboard the #PLCruise last week! We hope that your teachers found the time worthwhile and are ready to cruise into the new school. Each campus will receive a spreadsheet with attendance for each day along with feedback collected by Friday, August 16th. If any teacher reaches out about not receiving PD hours for attendance, please direct him/her to reach out to Vanessa at [email protected] after August 14th. 

The PL Team is Hiring
If you know anyone who is looking for a new job and/or would be a great fit on the PL team, please help us spread the word for two positions:

1. Manager of PL Campus Coaching [bit.ly/plmanager]
2. PL Coordinator [bit.ly/plcoordinator]