November 4th

Welcome to the November 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. 

Introducing our New Personalized Learning Coordinator 

Nicolette Luna
Nicolette began her education career in 2012 in Southwest Louisiana.  Through various roles at the campus level, she developed a passion for ensuring education is equitable for all scholars. Currently, she serves as a Personalized Learning Coordinator for Dallas ISD, supporting schools as they implement personalized learning.  When she’s not working, Nicolette enjoys spending time with family & friends, being with her dog Milo, working out, cheering on her favorite sports team, and traveling. 

Design Studio [November 19th]
Our winter design studio of the year is Tuesday, November 19th from 8:30AM-4:00 PM and will be held at Linius D. Wright Admin Building at 9400 North Central Expressway.  This workshop is required for Principals + PL Quarterbacks at existing and year 1 schools. We strongly suggest that you bring others on your leadership team to help ensure that PL implementation is distributed across all leaders on campus. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to Kristen as soon as possible. 

• [ACTION ITEM]: Please submit team members attending no later than Tuesday, November 12th at 5PM by adding names + contact information to the spreadsheet here. We'll use this list to send out final communication to attendees Thursday, November 14th. If you have any questions about who should attend from your campus, please reach out or join the PL monthly office hours to ask. 
• Sneak peek at our learning agenda:
  • QB-led Team Time
  • Differentiated Team Time
  • ​Google for Administrators with friEDTechnology
  • Creating a Culture of Mentorship with Dr. Heather Greenhaugh-Spencer [Texas Tech]
  • PL Cranium 
• [ACTION ITEM]: Forward the design studio calendar invite to team members attending. 
• We will not be providing lunch for this workshop, so please plan to bring your lunch and/or know you'll have some time to leave for lunch during design studio. 

4th Annual Holiday Baking Championship! 
It's time for the 4th annual Holiday Baking Championship! This will take place after lunch at design studio. Each campus is allowed one entry. Don't be the campus that doesn't participate :).  If you're curious on what rubric the judges will be using, check out last year's here. 

GOOGLETUDE
Saturday, November 9th from 9:00AM-3:00PM at Hill Middle School

All teachers listed on your campus teacher email rosters received two emails in October inviting them to register for this opportunity. This will be a day rooted in gratitude, mindfulness, and Google's G Suite Tools. Throughout the day participants will have choice in sessions focused on leveraging gratitude and mindfulness in the classroom through the use of G Suite. Sessions will be tagged for beginners to advanced Googliers. This opportunity is open only to the first 200 teachers and leaders at current personalized learning, Math Innovation Zones, and Verizon Innovative Learning schools in Dallas ISD. 

To register and learn more, check out www.thepltoolbox.com/googletude. 

Opportunity for Assistant Principals 
The Stanford d.school is coming to Dallas ISD in the winter of 2019-2020 to facilitate the fourth cohort of the School Retool fellowship. School Retool takes a design thinking approach to spreading Deeper Learning practices and will equip participating APs with tools, processes, and resources to intentionally and creatively tackle campus challenges using small experiments called “hacks."

The fellowship includes the following commitments from participants: 

• Four day-long, in-person workshops on Friday, December 13th, Thursday, January 16th, Thursday, February 6th, and Tuesday, March 3rd.
• Your principal should plan to join you for the first half of the day on Friday, December 13th to better understand the fellowship design and how to support you through the experience. For APs selected to be part of the cohort, specific details about the first workshop on December 13th will come your way at least two weeks in advance.
• One day (chosen at your discretion) to shadow a student at your campus to better understand how he/she experiences school.
• Dedicated time in-between workshops to put what you learn into practice at your campus.
• Participation in our annual Innovation Fellowship Showcase and Celebration hosted on Tuesday, March 10th from 4-8PM.

Here are a few short videos that highlight the experience of other principals that have participated in the fellowship:

• Marthaa Torres: Adopting a Hack Mindset
• Retooling for Equity

​Interested in being a part of School Retool's 4th cohort in Dallas? Submit a short application here by Friday, November 15th at 5:00 PM. Up to 20 assistant principals will be selected for this cohort. 

Spring 2020 Graduate Course Application
SMU is no longer offering the Graduate Blended Learning courses. This spring they will be offering a NEW course [information below]. We recommend sharing the course and application with specific teachers who are proficient with technology. 

Teaching and Learning with Technology EDU6384
Description: This course prepares teachers to integrate technology into their teaching in a way that enhances learning based on current research and the application of a structured model for technology integration. Students learn about the National Educational Technology Standards and 21st-century skills and explore a variety of technologies for developing and applying these skills. In addition, students learn about legal and social issues related to technology integration and plan for the integration of assistive technology to address the needs of diverse learners. 
 
To learn more and apply, go to www.thepltoolbox.com/smu. Applications are due by Friday, November 8th at 5PM.

Registration is now open for the Texas MAP Suite Users Conference!
Check the event details below to register for your preferred location. 

Also — because this is a one-day event, we want to make sure you get what you want from the conference. To help us make the most of your event experience, please fill out our brief survey by November 28 and opt-in for a chance to win a free registration! 

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 
Education Service Center — Region 11 
1451 S. Cherry Ln.  White Settlement, TX 76108  Register 

Thursday, February 20, 2020 
 | Sockwell Center — Plano ISD 
 6301 Chapel Hill Blvd.  Plano, TX 75093
 Register ​

Looking for an opportunity to present? 
PLearn- Personalized Learning Conference Mid-Atlantic
March 11-13 2020/Harrah's Conference Center Atlantic City, New Jersey

Call for Proposals-due November 11, 2019
Proposal link here: https://www.eventsforce.net/caiu/frontend/reg/tAbsSubmitterLogin.csp?pageID=9863&eventID=21

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