The first day of school is right around the corner, but teachers are still busily preparing for its arrival, learning about the many new resources available to them and their students at the Personalized Learning Institute (PLI).

The annual event, which concludes this week, provides content-specific training to teachers at each grade level in advance of the new school year. The 2014 Institute also featured an overview of the district’s Literacy By 3 initiative, a new approach to reading instruction.

“There are so many new things happening in elementary schools this fall that it feels really important to have the time to introduce teachers to all of it,” said Senior Manager of Elementary Teacher Development Dianne Alvarez. “We are also making literacy connections throughout the training and across all content areas.”

PLI participants are already expressing excitement over all the new tools available to them this year—from the centralized convenience of the PowerUp:HUB to the Guided Reading leveled bookrooms.

“I look forward to using the HUB to find all of my resources,” said Janet Silmon, a kindergarten teacher at MacGregor Elementary School. “And I taught Guided Reading many years ago and continued using the techniques in my classroom. This program really works and I am very excited about using it.”

“The HUB will simplify acquiring the student data needed to personalize, differentiate, and individualize instruction,” explained Meltonia Thomas, a first-grade teacher at Janowski Elementary School. “I expect student achievement in literacy to soar at every level.”

“I really can’t wait to use the Istation data to group my students and monitor their progress,” added Elsa Simon, a bilingual teacher at Janowski. “The online activities and tutorials for solving word problems will help student achievement in both literacy and math.”