After a short day at the office, Dan and I headed down to Philly for Educon 2.0. Leaving work behind, I have to say, was a relief; I think we both needed some time away from the rigors of work (but I have to say, leaving the family was not easy–miss them way too much right now).
I laid kind of low tonight and avoided the really big gatherings, not for reasons of anti-socialness, but more to get centered before tomorrow begins. To be honest, this is my first “big idea” conference, where most of the people whose conversations I have participated in are here. There are definite goals I have going into tomorrow, and tonight was a good time to get them ordered and centered.
- we’ve worked very hard to establish the groundwork for change in our district, but where do we go from where we are?
- How do we create a “felt need” for open professional development and creation of personal learning environments for teachers to participate in dynamic learning alongside their students?
- What are the best practices involved with this thing we are calling School 2.0? If I am going to continue pushing for innovation, I am going to need to be armed with strategies and materials for them to grow with.
My schedule for tomorrow breaks down like this, at least for now:
- Session 1: Influence without Authority: Finding the Common Ground to Frame Innovation and Change with Kevin Jarrett and Sylvia Martinez
- Session 2: Tearing Down the Walls – Practicing What We Preach with Vinnie Vrotny and David Jakes
- Session 3: Building School 2.0 — New Tools and Dewey’s Dream with Chris Lehmann
At the conclusion of the sessions, I will be leading a reflection session from 4:00-5:00, which I hope to do as little interfering with conversation as possible.
Sunday is still up in the air, as it should be. I want tomorrow’s conversation to dictate where I end up.
I look forward to hearing from all of you out there as the weekend goes on.
