cc licensed flickr photo shared by battlecreekcvb
After a fantastic weekend at Educon 2.3 in Philadelphia, the question that kept coming up in conversations was, “What are you going to do differently because of this conference?”
Here is my answer.
Nothing.
This is probably relief to many of my teachers as when a principal goes away to a conference, I used to be always worried about what new, seemingly crazy idea our principals would come home with after a conference, and be curious about if this was just another passing “trend” in education.
You probably are thinking that I just wasted a lot of time and money on a professional development trip to come back and do nothing differently, but it is not always about doing stuff differently. I deliberately went to sessions that discussed things that we were already doing in our school, and had the opportunity to expand my ideas and hear the thoughts of others. It was a reaffirmation that we are definitely on the right track. We are empowering our students, giving them opportunities for project based, inquiry focused learning, that gives them the opportunity to really develop their own passions.
It was also fantastic to hear from Chris Lehmann, principal of the school, discuss that his number one focus was the relationships that happen in schools. This is something that I continue to believe is the foundation of building a true learning community. Teach the child first, curriculum second. We are on the right path.
So as I return home, with a stronger commitment to our students and school community, I keep hearing these words in my head.
Do what we do, better.
