Blog Archives

November 30th, 2020

11/30/2020

Welcome to the December 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.

1:1 Quarterback December Check Ins
During this month's check in, we'll chat about your leadership goal and prep for the upcoming design studio in January.

Action Items
1. Sign up for a 30 minute time-slot with your PL coach by clicking their name:

2. Before your check-in, please reflect on your leadership goal in your learner profile in the Fall column (pictured below).

Google Cloud Conference | Tuesday, December 1st
Join us after school for live webinars on Google tools to help engage students Choice-Based Learning with Docs & Slides + Google Drawings. These webinars will be presented by FriEDTechnology and supported by the PDL and PL departments. Sessions will happen after school from 5:00-6:00 pm. participants will be able to choose between the two sessions. This opportunity is open to the first 800 participants in Dallas ISD who register.

To learn more + register visit: http://bit.ly/dgcc121

Google Cloud Conference | Tuesday, December 8th
Join us after school for live webinars to learn ways to Create and Accommodate with Google Extensions + Playground of Learning for Littles. These webinars will be presented by FriEDTechnology and supported by the PDL and PL departments. Sessions will happen after school from 5:00-6:00 pm. participants will be able to choose between the two sessions. This opportunity is open to the first 800 participants in Dallas ISD who register.

To learn more + register visit: http://bit.ly/dgcc128

PL Transformation Recruitment Opportunities
Elementary QBs, Please connect with your 5th grade teachers to sign up for an IGNITE Informational Session for 5th grade students. Each session will be for both in-person and at-home 5th grade students and will be geared towards learning more about IGNITE Middle School.

Sessions will be held from 10:30-11:30 AM on Tuesday, December 8th and Tuesday, December 15th. Please register your classes by Thursday, December 3rd by completing the spreadsheet here (there is a tab for each date- please add your campus information).

Please consider helping our PL Transformation Schools advertise by sharing their upcoming open houses in your campus newsletters and/or via Social Media.

IDEA HS- coming soon!
IGNITE- coming soon!
PL Prep- image below (click for registration)

MAP Goal Setting + COVID Learning Loss

The video linked above provides an overview of reports to use for goal setting as well as a data file that generates COVID learning loss. Quarterbacks, this is the same presentation from flex time at the November huddle! Slides are accessible at bit.ly/huddleMAP.

Potential SEL Pilot
GiveThx is a digital program that strengthens student wellbeing and social-emotional skills using gratitude science. Students and staff use digital thank you notes to recognize and reinforce positive behaviors that nurture relationships and build self-esteem. GiveThx is a powerful social-emotional learning system that K-12 schools can use on a daily basis, leveraging technology to create safe and inclusive communities.

In response to COVID GiveThx is free through June 2021 (normally $3/student/yr)
Open, editable curricular resources support in-person and distance learning
ESSA tier 2 evidence impact on wellbeing & social-emotional skill development
Interested schools and districts can learn more in this 2-pager & at www.givethx.org.

If you're interested in piloting GiveThx on your campus in the spring, email Kristen Watkins at [email protected] to express interest and share which grade(s) you'd like to participate in.

Spring Personalized Learning Google Summit
Calling all Googlers! This Spring the Personalized Learning Department will be hosting a virtual Google Summit with help from teachers + administrators from our PL Cohort. Our goal is for participants to gain tools + insights to add to their toolbox by showcasing the exemplary work from leaders across the PL Cohort. Be on the lookout for further details in the weeks to come!

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November 2nd, 2020

11/2/2020

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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.

November At a Glance

[Optional] PL Team Office Hours | Wednesday, November 4th, 1:00-2:00 PM
PL Principal Huddle | Tuesday, November 10th, 9:00-10:00 AM
PL QB Huddle | Tuesday, November 17th, 9:30-11:00 AM*
*Note the time change! We've adjusted so that it does not conflict with elementary dismissal.

PL Camping Trip to Yellowstone Goes Live November 9th
Our second camping trip exploring INSTRUCTIONAL RIGOR kicks off in one week! 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 the optional planning template. If your teachers have already enrolled in the course, they won't need to again.

Camping Trip Survey
During support meetings we collected all campus' plans for camping, but realize adjustments have been made. Please indicate which camping trips you plan to have teachers attend for the rest of the school year on this survey no later than Wednesday, November 11th. The remaining campfires will be hosted by teacher leaders so this will help us support those teachers in facilitating the campfires.

Close out Joshua Tree
Thanks for everyone who attended the Joshua Tree Campfire on Thursday, October 30th. Shoutout to CityLab with 18 teachers who attended! Attendance has been updated in your campus tab on the selection sheet here. If teachers from your campus participated, you will receive feedback specific from your campus via email this week. We will also be dropping off stickers for your teachers who participated soon!

Virtual PL Educator Tours
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 virtually 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 virtual tour. Your PL support person will reach out one month to begin planning for the virtual educator tour.

Fall 2020 Campuses Hosting + Dates

Google Cloud Conference | November 17th, 5:00 PM- 6:00 PM
Join us after school for live webinars on two digital tools Jamming with Jamboard and Google Slides & Pear Deck. These webinars will be presented by FriEDTechnology and supported by the PDL and PL departments. Sessions will happen after school from 5:00-6:00 pm. participants will be able to choose between the two sessions. This opportunity is open to the first 800 participants in Dallas ISD who register.

Learn more and register at: bit.ly/GCC1117

Google Opportunity for Middle + High School Students
We are excited to be able to offer Google Digital Applied Skills certification opportunity for PL middle and high school students. Learn more and sign up using the survey at bit.ly/googledasc.

Opportunity for Assistant Principals
The Stanford d.school is coming to Dallas ISD in the winter of 2020-2021 to facilitate the fifth 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 half-day, synchronous workshops (live via Zoom) on Tuesday, December 15th, Tuesday, January 12th, Thursday, February 4th and Wednesday, February 24th from 12:00-4:00 PM.
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 complete asynchronous learning and put what you learn into practice at your campus.
Participation in our annual Innovation Showcase and celebration hosted Tuesday, March 9th from 4:00-8:00 PM. Note: This event will be hosted virtually this year.

Interested in being one of the 20 School Retool fellows? Submit a short application at bit.ly/schoolretool5 by Friday, November 20th at 5:00 PM.

Schoology Training
If you opted in to use Schoology for PD or with students this year, we're ready to begin booking Professional Development from the team at Schoology. If you're interested, click here to view the PD Catalog and sign up. Can't remember if you signed up? Check on the original sign up sheet here.

New Tool Alert: Community Resource Explorer (CRE).
The CRE visualizes what assets and needs exist within a two-mile radius of every Dallas ISD neighborhood campus across five categories of indicators: Education, Health, Family, Community, and Economics. In a nutshell, the CRE was designed as a diagnostic data tool to help educators, nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and residents identify and address very specific needs in neighborhoods around Dallas. There are three main components to the CRE: a map view, a feeder pattern view, and individual school profiles (see example here).

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The Lighthouse

November 30th, 2020

MAP Goal Setting + COVID Learning Loss

November 2nd, 2020

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