I am attending EduCon 2.1 and having a great time.  My goals for this conference were to deepen the connections I have with members of my learning network and to look for ideas and strategies to facilitate changes and growth in the educational environment in my district.  There are many ways to connect to the archives of the conference but the best way is to go to the conference wiki and find the links there.

I am just beginning to review my notes and add additional thoughts and comments.  Here just a smattering.

Notes on Friday Evening Panel

I attended the evening panel discussion at the Franklin institute.  It was a very interesting discussion on what is the purpose of school, with some very brilliant people on the panel.  The even was recorded and when that is available I will post the link.  It is something I most definitely want to review and reflect on some more.  Below are some to the statements that caught my attention, and my initial thoughts for each.

How do you create teams of excellence in a bureaucracy?
You get the right number of participants with a common passion.

I wonder about this as my network grows how big is to big. How many will it take to create a team to bring constructive change to a district or school?

Talent equals passion and hard work.

Excellent teaching also requires passion and hard work.

The difference between those who succeed and those who do not, are those that just do it and those that do not.

It made me think of Yoda, “Do or Do not, there is no try.”
You have the confidence to do it or you lack the confidence, confidence equals courage.

Education is the great equalizer.

I disagreed.   Everyone should have equal access to education, to fulfill their potential but not everyone needs the same /equal education, we have different talents, needs and passions.

Big Bureaucracy’s can’t innovate too much inertia.  So big businesses create separate spin off divisions called skunk works. These skunk works are to experiment, innovate. think outside the box the goal is to kill the mother ship.

They create new products and innovations that transform the company.
In education do we not do this with Charter Schools?
Why have we not looked at the successful charter schools and apply what we learn to other public schools.

Hopefully over the next few days I will be able to share more.