Education Elements January 2017 Newsletter
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January 2017 Newsletter

On Our Minds

 

Get Ready To Make New Friends at the PL Summit

With the start of 2017 we are getting increasingly excited about our 3rd Personalized Learning Summit. We received nearly 200 proposals for workshops, are putting together an AMAZING line-up of keynote speakers (we aren’t quite ready to share all our secrets yet!), have secured some very exciting technology company tours and are in the throes of planning an epic party for Thursday night. The PL Summit is going to be both bigger and better than last year, with plenty of time dedicated to both top quality professional development and networking, so that everyone leaves with new ideas and new friends.

Early bird registration ends soon and we don’t want you to miss out. So sign up here and save your spot!

It’s Time To Breakthrough to New Models in North Carolina

Education Elements is excited to announce a new partnership with Wake County Public School System to design a breakthrough model elementary school. Set to launch in Fall 2017, this new elementary school will be student-centered and incorporate new approaches to meeting the needs of every student.

 

An Open Letter from Our CEO, Anthony Kim to Appointed Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos

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Image Credit: EdSurge

Over the last fifteen years, I have been directly involved in supporting a diverse mix of charters, virtual schools, and public school districts. All of it with a lens around expanding opportunities around choice, voice, path and place to create the best possible outcome for those our decisions impact most: the students. My work has exposed me to philanthropy, non-profit policy organizations, public schools, charter networks, and state departments of education where I have seen both success and failure when change was not implemented correctly.

Betsy, this is why I am writing to you today, as you embark on your mission to “make American education great again” or, as I believe, prepared for the future. Read More.

 


Design Spotlight

 

Seeing is Believing

In the early stages of our work together, we often ask district and school leaders to tell us what the term ‘personalized learning’ means to them. And while there might be variations in technology’s role or the degree to which learning should be personalized, the core of their responses is almost always the same: learning that meets student needs. In this way, the definition of ‘personalized learning’ is self-explanatory and universal.

But when pushed to explain what personalized learning looks like, answers vary widely. Folks may describe personalized playlists, or student-driven projects, or structures for students to set and track goals. It’s because of this variety of ideas around what PL “looks like”’ that we developed the Core Four to help articulate and categorize the many types of moves that make up a teacher’s personalized learning playbook.

And while districts that have adopted to Core Four have found terrific success, educators still approach personalized learning with a need to ‘see it to believe it’. To support them, we’ve developed the Core Four Tactics Bank, a repository of teacher tactics and classroom examples of data-driven decisions, integrated digital content, student reflection and ownership, and targeted instruction.

The bank is categorized by Core Four Strategies, with sub-sections indicating different ways the strategy can be approached. For example, ‘Student Ownership and Reflection’ includes tactics divided across four categories: Reflection and Feedback, Goal-Setting, Self- and Peer-evaluation, and Choice. The tactics within each category include best-practice examples from PL classrooms across the country.

The best part about the Core Four Tactics Bank? We’ll be continuously updating the bank with best practices we continue to encounter in the amazing classrooms we work with around the country!

 

 

Last call for the early bird registration rate!

Join us for the Personalized Learning Summit 2017, a three-day event in San Francisco focused on harnessing the power of personalized learning.
Early bird registration rate ends soon! Register now to secure your spot.
 


Places to Meet Up

Connect with us at these events: 

  • DALI, Tuscon, AZ January 11-13
  • LearnLaunch Conference, Boston, MA February 2-3: Our CEO Anthony Kim will moderate a panel entitled “Personalizing the System, Not Just the Classroom”
  • DALI, Tampa, FL February 22-24
  • EduTech Academics Summit, Tampa, FL February 26-28
  • Spring 2017 Education Congress, Los Angeles, CA March 5-7
  • SXSWedu Austin, TX March 6-9: Don’t miss our singing competition!
  • DALI, Colorado Springs, CO March 22-24

Want to meet up at an event? Email amy@edelements.com and tell us where you will be! 


Education Elements in the News

People are talking about us and the awesome districts we support:


 

Win a Free Ticket to PL Summit!

Apply to win a PL Superhero Pass and attend The Personalized Learning Summit 2017 in San Francisco for free!