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Education Elements
 

DECEMBER 2018

 
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FEATURED NEWS

 

Pathways to Personalized Learning - A Virtual Event
Thursday, December 6

Education Elements is excited to participate in this one day Education Week virtual event offering a big-picture look at how states, districts, schools, and education companies can better serve students through personalized learning. Check out our presentation Strategies for a Personalized Approach to Professional Development in Room 9!

 Sign Up Here

 

Jump Start Your PL PD - A Webinar
Thursday, January 17, 2019

Are you spending too much time developing professional development, agendas, slides, and conducting the necessary research for your professional learning? Hear from folks who have found a solution. Rather than spending valuable time recreating the wheel, they are focused on changing pedagogy.

Webinar Sign-up



2019 Personalized Learning Summit 
Registration Now Open!

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The PL Summit is a two-plus day, in-person event full of workshops, networking, discussions, keynotes, and innovative company tours. District leaders and thought partners will share their experiences through dynamic and engaging sessions. Join us May 14-16, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia!

Learn More

 

ON OUR MINDS

 

Building Alignment and Capacity in Fairbanks

In Fairbanks this year, our twin focuses have been on alignment and capacity-building, working with a variety of stakeholders to build skills, increase support for teachers, and deepen the sense that we're all pulling in the same direction in support of students. We just wrapped up a great visit underscoring these themes, beginning with an innovative workshop format designed to build the skills of secondary teachers, across schools and subjects, in creating PL lesson designs that suit their content, teaching style, and classroom needs.

Later in the week, we continued our ongoing support of instructional coaches from a variety of departments, helping them build community and common purpose, deepen their understanding of personalized learning, and build skills in Ed Elements' innovative coaching competencies. The outcomes we're working towards? A community of teachers with rich skills as PL educators, supported by a network of coaches with expertise in both PL techniques and innovative coaching strategies, all working towards equity for Fairbanks students.

 

Re-thinking the High School Experience at Lakota Local Schools

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Lakota Local Schools is in the process of re-thinking the learning experience for high school students in their district. In an effort to model design thinking, Lakota is applying the process to their own problem of practice. The district team teamed up with the school leaders at both of their high schools to undergo a 3-Day Design Sprint. The driving question for the 3-day Design Sprint was: “How might we design a prototype of a high school ‘student experience framework’ (i.e. the master schedule) that fosters the core principles of personalized learning that we have explored?”

The team brought together district leaders, school leaders, educators, students, and community members to participate in the sprint. The group of over 30 stakeholders was divided up into Design Sprint Teams of no more than 7 people with the goal of presenting their proposal for the new high school schedule at the end of day 3. Check out this tweet. Better yet… this tweet with students in it!

 

DESIGN SPOTLIGHT

 

Math Innovation Zone

As part of a grant across the state of Texas through The Texas Education Agency (TEA), Education Elements has been fortunate to work with seven schools in Dallas Independent School District to design and implement blended learning models for math across elementary and middle schools. We worked with a leadership team from each school (a group of admins, teachers, and coaches) to build foundational knowledge of blended learning this summer. Earlier this fall we met with each school leadership team to learn about design thinking and build empathy maps that tie their instructional design to their desired student learning experience.

Dec NL Design ImageWe’ve loved focusing on math instruction (our project leads are former math teachers!) and connecting with schools at the teacher level. At the same time, we’ve enjoyed working with the district leadership team to set up strong support systems for schools that provide ongoing coaching and opportunities for sharing. The success of each campus has been amplified by the cohort, leaving district leaders eager to apply this approach to other content areas. We look forward to sharing more learnings and success stories from Dallas ISD this spring!

 
We’re excited to learn that more districts will be a part of Cohort 2, kicking off in 2019! We hope to extend our partnership to these schools who are tackling innovative learning models to close achievement gaps + increase engagement in mathematics.
 

RESOURCES

 
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The Ultimate Guide for Personalized Learning

Everything you need to know about personalized learning and how to implement it successfully.

 Access the Resource

 
Personalized Learning Quiz

Are you a personalized learning expert? Assess your understanding now! 

Take The Quiz

 

FEATURED BLOGS

 

Innovative School Leaders Part 3: Leading with Intention

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By Andrea Goetchius
We have been on a journey that began with personal reflection and then expanded to thinking about the way we work with others and develop teams and communities. In the final installment of our three-part leadership series, we will discuss how to use the Innovative School Leader Competencies to take the reins and drive innovation.

 Read More

 

7 Things We're Grateful For at Education Elements

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By Amy Jenkins
According to research, the feel-good benefits of sending or saying a sincere thank you can last up to a month. So as I sit here, outside on a balmy evening on vacation with my family, I recognize how much I have to be grateful for and know that I should write about it more than once a year...for my own benefit as well as for the benefit of others. And as always, my potential list is long but I recognize our average attention span is short and getting shorter, so here it is - just 7 of the many things we are grateful for this season.

Read More

 
 

EVENTS WE'RE ATTENDING

 

Dec 1-5
Learning Forward Conference
Dallas, TX

Dec 6-7
New School Rules Institute
Denver, CO

Dec 10
National Academy for Personalized Learning
Texas

Dec 11-13
TOSS Leadership Development
Knoxville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Jan 27-30
TASA Midwinter Conference
Austin, TX

Want to meet up at an event? Email ben@edelements.com 

 

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