I went to a couple of sessions today that were inspiring and that I agreed with completely, but I was frustrated that they weren't more practical.
- A CDW-sponsored session on technology needs for Common Core adoption included three great educational technology leaders who had exactly the right focus: instruction first, then technology. Common Core (and 21st-century education) will not work if we just drop technology into classrooms (via purchases or BYOD) and hope it gets used well. So the conclusion is that we need to transform instruction before anything else.
- George Couros' session on Leading Innovative Change was very entertaining and inspiring, but I'm already inspired. I don't think he said anything that I disagreed with, but I was still left with the conundrum of how we can foster this transformation within our district.
I suppose it is asking too much to get practical answers that are specific to our district's situation, or perhaps the speakers were giving practical answers and I just wasn't recognizing them. But what I'm struggling with now is implementation, not inspiration. I feel like I have a good idea of the direction in which I want to lead, but I'm still working out how to get there.
