About a week ago, we were having a discussion on Slack about the upcoming state educational technology conference. I’m sitting this year out. A couple members of my personal learning network weren’t happy. The conference isn’t necessarily about learning. It’s … Continue reading Focused Presence
I’m a believer in personal learning networks. I’ve often said that I have learned far more from my colleagues than I have from any graduate course or workshop or conference. I’ve connected with people from all over the world, exchanging … Continue reading Are We There Yet?
Now comes the hard part. Learning doesn’t mean anything unless we can put it into practice. Sure, we went to Educon. We were inspired. We saw some really neat models of how real teachers and real students are working in … Continue reading 5 Things to Do Next
It’s a week after Educon 2.6, and I’m still wading through my notes and thoughts from the experience. That’s pretty much what I expect from that conference now, and it’s one of the reasons I didn’t follow up the Educon … Continue reading 5 Resources to Investigate
Education in this century is not so much about finding the right answers as in asking the right questions. As I reflect on the #educon experience this past weekend, I’m drawn to the volume of questions that show up in … Continue reading 5 Questions from Educon
One of my goals for the year is to reboot my professional learning network, which has grown a little stale lately. Because there seemed to be a lot of new people at #educon this year, and because it’s a fantastic … Continue reading 5 New People to Listen To
One of the new things I’m doing this year is posting lists in a series I’m creatively calling “5 Things”. You don’t really know that yet, because I haven’t actually gotten around to posting any lists, but trust me. They’re … Continue reading 5 Quotes that Changed My Thinking
It’s a funny thing about social media. Sometimes, it can be kind of social. That’s fantastic. It’s great for democracy. It’s a monumental shift in how information is managed. It changes the structure of power. Everyone has the means to … Continue reading Listen: We Need a Community
I’ve had the great fortune over the last few days to engage in several conversations about ideal schools. One of the wonderful things about Educon is the serendipitous mingling that happens. Even though the sessions go through a proposal and approval process, and are meticulously planned by the facilitators, there’s always an element of unpredictability when they can go off EdCamp-like in any direction. So the idea of what makes a great school came up quite a few times. We talked of the challenges of testing and common core and unfunded mandates and professional development. We discussed the need for … Continue reading Culture of Caring
It’s 8:30 on a Saturday morning, and I’m sitting in a rapidly filling high school cafeteria in Philadelphia. As I look around, a see a few familiar faces, and even more familiar names. But for the most part, these are strangers. They’re not part of my world. They’re from urban schools. Charter schools. Parochial schools. Private schools. They’re teachers. Integration specialists. School leaders. Professors. Students. They represent 40 states and five countries. Â Zoe Strauss’s opening comment from the previous night’s panel discussion leaps to mind: Chris, what the hell am I doing here? The panel had included some pretty heavy … Continue reading A Common Purpose
Taste of Tech 