Initial Reflections from BLC08

Wow…my three days at the 2008 Building Learning Communities Conference certainly were thought provoking. My mind has been filled with exciting new teaching and learning opportunities and I am eager to explore some new tools with my teacher colleagues and students.

Trying to synthesize 11 sessions and 3 keynotes into a blog post is a daunting task. I do, however, want to capture some initial reflections.

Some words and phrases I heard a lot at BLC08: 21st-Century Learning, Web 2.0, communities, collaboration, partnerships, leadership, and vision. People spoke of the shifting role of the teachers and students and of the new literacies we must learn ourselves and teach our students. The importance of school culture and community engagement was discussed. And, as Pedro Noguera, Professor at the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, stated in his powerful keynote lecture entitled "Changing the Culture of Schools: Creating Conditions that Promote Student Achievement," we must create a culture of high expectations in our schools.

I saw a number of videos illustrating the exciting opportunities and changes happening in education. One of my favorites was "Learning to Change/Changing to Learn" shown by Keith Kruger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) at his "Leadership & Vision That Enables Effective Use of Technology" session:



Simple visuals, yet strong message. Technology is not simply something we add to our current teaching practices, rather technology (as it continually morphs) and the synergy between technology and education means that we must change our fundamental beliefs and work.

That's it for now. Check back for future posting after I have more time to revisit some of the sessions virtually, reflect and rethink about the ideas presented, explore new tools, and share lessons learned.