Crafting PLE
The Art of Creating Personalized Learning Environments
Ferndale September Edition
Welcome to the Future of Education
Pioneer (n) - a person who is among the first to explore or settle a new country or area.
You are a pioneer. You are the first to set out into largely uncharted territory to better the educational experience for our future generations. Whether you want to admit it or not, a part of you is excited to think of yourself as such. Good teaching has always been about doing what's best for students by keeping up with the latest practices and trends. Personalized learning is a trending topic. Don't believe me? Just pop over to Google,Twitter, and Facebook and check it out for yourself. See? However, before you dismiss this new wave of education as the "latest trend" consider the purpose. Edglossary.org defines PL as:
"...a diverse variety of educational programs, learning experiences, instructional approaches, and academic-support strategies that are intended to address the distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of individual students. Personalized learning is generally seen as an alternative to so-called 'one-size-fits-all' approaches to schooling in which teachers may, for example, provide all students in a given course with the same type of instruction, the same assignments, and the same assessments with little variation or modification from student to student..."
Now, based on that definition, how many educational tools do you already posses to move toward a more personalized learning environment? Starting with knowing your students as individuals is the greatest investment you can make. The remainder of this newsletter is dedicated to doing just that.
Remember, you are a pioneer. Being an educational pioneer is a rarity, and it's rewarding. Keep this mind every time you want to throw your hands up at the frustrations you experience at the thought of personalizing learning and the use of tablet technology. It may seem overwhelming now, but it is worth it. Enjoy this ride, and rest easy in knowing that what you do is shaping our future.
Tools of the Craft
Playlist Builder
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Non-teaching Staff
News Tidbits
Tablet 101 Training - Sept. 17th
PLEF Schedule for September
Sept. 2 - Johnson St.
Sept. 3 - Ferndale
Sept. 4 - Johnson St.
Sept. 5 - Washington St.
Sept. 8 - Ferndale
Sept. 9 - Johnson St.
Sept. 10 - Ferndale
Sept. 11 - Southwest Middle
Sept. 12 - Johnson St.
Sept. 15 - Ferndale
Sept. 16 - Johnson St.
Sept. 17 - Ferndale
Sept. 18 - Johnson St.
Sept. 19 - Washington St.
Sept. 22 - Ferndale
Sept. 23 - Ferndale - PACE Meeting
Sept. 24 - Johnson St.
Sept. 25 - Johnson St.
Sept. 26 - Ferndale
Sept. 29 - Ferndale
Sept. 30 - Johnson St.
Crafting Wisdom
Becoming a PLE Master
Can you do this? Of course you can. You have the tools. From the PACE summer training to upcoming events offered by your school PLE team to the Amplify tablet, everything you need is before you. Your job is to truly engage in the workshops offered not only in your school but around GCS. Maintain connections with the teachers you met this past summer or become a connected educator and seek out other PLE Masters around the world. Where do you start? Begin by searching educational hashtags on Twitter or subscribing to educational sites such as Edutopia, Pinterest or Discovery Education. Speaking of educational hashtags on Twitter, be on the lookout for information about GCS PLE Twitter Chats coming soon.
Make sure you are working to accomplish your PLE goal that you created during the School Focus session at summer training. If you didn't attend Ferndale's training, what will be your personal PLE goal for your classroom this year? You may want to post your goal somewhere to keep it in mind as you plan your lessons.
Teena Martin, PLEF
Email: martint6@gcsnc.com
Website: ple.gcsnc.com
Location: serving Ferndale Middle and Johnson St. Global Studies
Facebook: facebook.com/PLEFs
Twitter: @craftyPLEF