How ironic right? So typical of leadership today (crazed with busy) that I am writing my leadership day post a day late. Indicative for sure of why we are not moving along faster in our leading of transformational change.

We are so busy and overwhelmed with the work that who has time to change? For most of us it isn’t that we don’t want to challenge the status quo, it is simply we are so caught up in supporting the status quo that we do not have time to learn what we need to learn to lead change.
Learning takes time.

Time
A friend of mine was talking to me yesterday and she was going on and on about how she just didn’t have time to learn new things. She didn’t have time to pour into her friends, much less read or network, yet later in our conversation she said because she was tired she wasn’t going to a concert for which she had tickets- rather she was going to lay on the couch and watch movies on TV.

I thought back to Shirky’s new book where his lead story is about how when 1900s London was overwhelmed and not sure how to spend their free time they turned to drinking gin as a way to cope. They wasted lots of time drinking and sobering up. His comparison was how in our culture we have turned to television for the same comfort. The stats he gave on just how much time we spend watching TV was mind bending. Which begs to ask the question- What if we, as educational leaders, took the time we all spend watching our favorite shows on TV and used it for design thinking: inspiration, ideation, and implementation.

Inspiration: I get this from my network. As resources and ideas are shared on Twitter, as I watch a TED Talks, as I read a blog post, have a Skype chat with my partner Will or one of our PLP community leaders I find myself inspired and motivated. Ideas start bursting in rapid succession.

Ideation:Once the ideas start coming I leverage the wisdom of the crowd. I turn to my community to help me define and sort out the ideas. Making my thinking stronger. (Notice I do this mostly with my community, not my network) The ideation takes time. They start to take on a life of their own. New ideas attach to my existing schema of conceptual frameworks and the ah-ha starts to percolate. All of the sudden I see the idea everywhere, as if it was hidden and only now that I have been made aware am I allowed to see it. It comes to life in books I am reading, conversations I am having and it formulates and grows and I begin to develop an action plan around it.

Implementation:This is the toughest one. This is where I start to try my ideas out. I test bed them gathering data to use to inform the work and make it stronger. I scale. I observe. I adjust. Action research at its best.

I found this graphic and started to think about how we implement. This graphic relates to community in the medical profession. My first reaction was — wow, in educational communities (like PLP) we share and talk and offer from our own personal expertise but where we miss it is in then acting on what we learn. Moving from conversation (ideation) to action (implementation). How many of us as leaders act upon what we read and learn from others to the point that we develop an implementation plan and evaluation plan to adjust our project based on what we learn along the way? And yet- this is the only way shift will happen. WE have to get beyond talking- beyond being inspired by our “wow” moment and get through ideation to implementation.

I love this by Seth Godin,

One key element of a successful artist: ship. Get it out the door. Make things happen.

Interestingly, I asked my Twitter community about the graphic above. I asked them what was missing. They didn’t see what I saw.

-kmcnulty
@snbeach re: communities of practice graphic - I’d say sustainability is missing.

- Maria Droujkova MariaDroujkova
@snbeach The voices of care recipients are missing. http://annfammed.org/cgi/content/full/8/2/170/F1

As a leader I so need my network. I so need my community. And I so need to be brave enough to not hold back on implementing my ideas. I need to ship. But mostly- I need to kill the TV. And so do you.

‘SO, DID THEY HAPPEN TO MENTION…?’

- A Poem about ‘Underperforming’ Schools,
about Turning Around & Turning Out-

They say that the tests scores are too low,

Did they mention my students are hungry?

that the school is underperforming and must be

Did they say many have no fathers at home.

“turned around,” that all the teachers must be

that few parents will attend

turned out, fired, or reapply, though

Open School Night because of that

only some will be rehired. Administrators

second job, or no job, and that

who have long forgotten what a

our phone calls rarely get answered? Oh,

classroom looks like say we teachers

did the President happen to mention the drugs,

do not care enough (that I did not care),

the poverty, the gangs, the 25 students murdered

that we whine and make excuses, because

in Chicago this year? Did

we are in it only for the money,

someone perchance recall we didn’t just stay

or that we are incompetent. Some

for a year or two to burnish our resumes for Wall

even call us racists and union hacks,

Street, but made a commitment to kids, to classrooms,

and so good riddance to bad rubbish. And

in fact pledged our lives to them, for whom we

they claim Charters can do a better job, without

stole time from our own families, long evenings,

bothersome unions and crazy pay scales,

grading, preparing, plotting that they too might hope,

that test prep can better proceed unimpeded, when all

dream, smile, eat, learn, whom we not only tested

members of the “team” are stuck on the same

but hugged, or provided a shoulder to cry

dreary page, paid piecemeal, per test score, to

on (as required) or loaned money to, or went over an

facilitate (what’s called) “accountability,” so that the

assignment –was it for the 5th time?– because of illness, or absence or

kids don’t get sidetracked by music-art-drama-

language, or no textbook, or…or… or. Did

field trips-laughter or creative lessons

that phantom principal, office-dwelling total stranger,

that might take too long to think about, and

even know I was proud to be a teacher, that I gave

can even launch unintended flights of fancy,

my all, for 5-10-20-30 years, with no ambition

or burn up way too much time by

beyond these children, no desire to shuffle paper,

requiring actual real-life participation in

to hoard data, no desire to standardize souls,

ExperimentsdDebatesSimulationsDiscussions,

but only to help children grow, to enlarge spirits,

after all, there is serious business to be done,

stretch minds against all the odds

I mean the business of education,

never mentioned in polite company.

which the businessmen will show us

The bell has rung. School is out.

how to do. So, time now for the new team

We are out.

to get down to the grim

So, tell me,

task at hand.

what’s in?

Bill Schechter was born in New York City and was educated in its public schools. He later taught history for 35-years at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional H.S. in Massachusetts. Now retired, he remains active in the struggle to save public education from those who would privatize our schools, standardize education, destroy unions, and de-skill the teaching profession.

Whenever two people meet there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.
- William James

It is sometimes frightening to observe the success which comes even to the outlaw with a polished technique.
- Phillip D. Reed

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.
- Antoine de Saint Exupery

One of the reasons education has become such a mess is that we’re isolated from each other.
- Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. - Ambrose Redmoon

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. - Albert Einstein

——————————-
Questions to consider…

As you look over your shoulder, who is in the wake of your influence and how are they doing?

Who benefits from your success?

In setting direction, are you reacting to circumstances, or acting on convictions?

What benefits have you gained from those who most influenced you?

How much of what you do is truly a reflection of who you are? Why?

Laura Varlas wrote an interesting piece in ASCD “Caught in the Middle” July 2010 | Volume 52 | Number 7
Called- Looking Within: Teachers Leading Their Own Learning

She had me at her opening line, “The most powerful and ample resource for change in education is teachers’ own expertise. Yet, teachers are regularly overstepped when it comes to leading school improvement.”

What’s not to love? Teachers developing expertise and leadership by using their voice in areas that impact them most, areas such as, professional development and curriculum.

Varlas goes on to say, “U.S. teachers also perceive little control over the content of their own professional development (PD). The National Staff Development Council (NSDC) concludes that “teachers’ lack of influence over school decisions means teachers are less likely to be engaged in collaborative problem solving around school-specific issues.”"

Why is it that we have such difficulty in generalizing what we know to be true in our classrooms with how we learn as educational professionals? Any teacher worth their weight knows that students need ownership of the curriculum being discussed for it to have relevancy. That learning by doing and deciding is much stronger than learning by being told.

Varlas discusses how other countries give teachers more voice in decision making and policy development, “The NSDC reports that Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Singapore also encourage this sort of action research. Embedded, ongoing, collaborative, capacity-building PD is the norm, the NSDC says. The study suggests that the simplest way to start building a collaborative culture is by teachers observing and discussing one another’s teaching—through videos; professional learning communities, like Critical Friends Groups; and school-based coaching programs.

Further down in the article Varlas quotes the NSDC, “Where active professional learning communities have taken shape in U.S. schools, student absenteeism and dropout rates were reduced and achievement increased significantly in math, science, history, and reading, NSDC reports in Professional Learning in the Learning Profession. Further, teachers’ professional learning communities that exhibit a shared sense of intellectual purpose and a collective responsibility for student learning were associated with narrowing achievement gaps in math and science among low- and middle-income students.”

In addition to student achievement gains, new and veteran teachers are attracted to collaborative professional communities where they have the opportunity to lead their own learning. MetLife’s 2009 Survey of the American Teacher reports that teachers in schools with higher levels of collaborative activities are more likely than others to have high levels of career satisfaction (68 percent versus 54 percent who report being very satisfied). Likewise, highly satisfied teachers are stronger proponents of shared responsibility and collaboration in schools.

Following the same kind of thinking In Team Up for 21st Century Teaching and Learning, NCTAF notes six common themes among high performing schools that use professional learning communities, which have been shown to positively affect school culture, teacher retention, teaching effectiveness and student performance. These themes include: Shared Values and Goals; Collective Responsibility; Authentic Assessment; Self-Directed Reflection; Stable Settings; and Strong Leadership Support.

As I read the findings from their research I saw so much data that supports what we are doing in Powerful Learning Practice with our team approach to PD.

A few note worthy quotes from the report. I am ordering the book today and will update you on what I learn.

Connected Learning Communities
In a book I am writing with Lani Ritter-Hall, we look at these concepts raised by Varlas, NSDC, NCTAF and others but through a 21st Century lens. We raise the question of how to harness the power of educators conversing and collaborating in their local context through professional learning communities with the learning that comes from forming DIY PD through the organization of personal learning networks, and then deepen understanding and develop a systemic approach from a global perspective through the formation of online communities of practice.

We see such power in each of these PD strategies that we felt they needed to be woven together to form a more powerful PD model for today’s and tomorrow’s educators. In an effort to discuss this concept more deeply we have coined a new, more specific term for this process- connected learning communities (CLC). We see connected educators immersed in communities that enable a situated, yet a connected experience, where participants have a common purpose and are committed to growing together and improving over time. We see CLC members developing a shared vision, common goals, beliefs and dispositions around principled change and through local and global action research, together discovering creative ways to meet the needs of the 21st Century learner. When given time, connected educators will share ideas with and ask questions of each other and their global network, often made up of a diverse group of individuals in and out of education. And from these conversations, we envision communities and collegiality/camaraderie developing that have the potential to produce lasting, positive change.

We hope you will enjoy our thinking around these concepts. We will be asking you to share ideas with us as we write. More to come about the book. We just wanted to let you know it is coming.

A good friend told me that he heard another friend whining about how he wished educational bloggers would get back to blogging from the heart. It struck a cord with me. While I am anything but a Chicken Soup for the Soul kind of blogger– (more emotion than substance in posts) I do think there is a place for emotional intelligence when addressing educational reform and change.

Michael Jansen, the first black person to serve as dean of the University of Pretoria in South Africa outlines seven themes that I think encompass leadership with a heart. I pulled these from Fullan’s new book, Motion Leadership (2010).

1. We must recognize the politics of emotions that energize behaviors.

2. The change strategy cannot create victims.

3. The problem must be named and confronted.

4. Leaders must exemplify the expected standards of behavior.

5. We must engage emotionally with students in their world.

6. Teachers and principals themselves are sometimes actors.

7. The environment must accommodate risk. (Jansen, 2009b, p.189)

The basic message Jansen gives and Fullan underscores is that we need to learn to combine love, trustworthiness, and empathic but firm handling of resistance, to quicken the pace of the change we wish to see.

In their book Switch, Heath and Heath (2010) suggest that for change to occur in behavior you have got to influence not only the environment but also hearts and minds. Direction and motivation together make the biggest impact, and motivation comes from the heart.

Seth Godin in Tribes says, “Leadership is very much an art, one that’s accomplished by people with authentic generosity and a visceral connection to their tribe” (2008, p121). Tribes is filled with emotion. In the first chapter he challenges us with - “All that is missing is you, and your vision and your passion” (Godin, p. 5).

I wonder if what my friend was longing for was passion. Maybe his own? Maybe that of others? I too have felt it. As the compelling case for change message has been repeated and repeated through many different voices, could it be that it has lost it’s effectiveness for some? With the fervor of Gregorian monks we all chant collectively … Connect– Commit– Collaborate with a constant hum of tools, tools, tools resonating in the background.  But for what cause? To what end? We know the culture needs to shift– but to where? All that seems to be missing is leadership. Leadership that has a command of direction and motivation. Leadership that understands how to leverage- not only the wisdom of the crowd, but also the technologies needed to connect tribes and amplify their work. Which takes me to the real point of this post– my motivation,  my passion, my blogging from the heart.

ISTE Revelation
While at ISTE several of the folks in my network suggested that Powerful Learning Practice had become too “vendor” like because we had a booth. Many snide remarks were made which I am sure were intended, at least in part, to be in good fun. However, many a truth was spoken in jest and to be honest the comments sort of floored me. Here is why.

PLP
1. PD as we know it (sit and get) with a tool focus is not shifting educational culture.

2. To provide the kind of job embedded, long term, team based PD that research suggests works in providing transformative change- you got to have strong leadership. The kind of leadership that requires time, commitment and a laser like focus (ie. a full time commitment). And to support full time commitment you have to have a funding model.

3. Schools require PD hours. Schools have a budget that is devoted to PD.  The PD can be more of the same which we know doesn’t work or it can be something unique and built on what we know does work in providing change and shift in a world of fast pace change.

4. PLP enables teams of educators to connect, commit, collaborate and to understand the shifts needed. It helps educators from around the world to stay connected long after their PLP experience is over. It launches great ideas that result in substantial shift on the local level. PLP builds capacity. It provides leadership.

5. In order for PLP to provide that kind of PD we have to be visible. Not in a “step right up..buy our gadget” sort of way. But in a here we are- we want to build a relationship with you and help you leverage our network to build your own. We want to connect you together with others who share your passion in the hope that together you will create something more powerful than you could alone. And then we want to help you amplify the great things you are doing in your local context (schools & districts). Not to promote PLP, but to show others that this PD model works and if you need leadership in helping to build capacity for change and toward planning and applying your school improvement ideas through a 21st Century lens- we can help.

PLP is a brand that holds the potential to build a huge tribe. A collective of caring educators who get it and who understand the needs of the 21st Century learner. A tribe that empowers each other to carry on meaningful projects that relate to transformational change in education. I am changing PLP’s mission statement to  It’s not about us. It’s about something bigger than us. It is about a collective us. We simply provide the leadership that Godin and others suggest is missing.

So there it is– my blogging from the heart. Yes, having a booth at ISTE to some may seem “so vendor” but if you stopped by, I think you you might understand why having a booth is actually a very positive thing for a company whose premise is building community, connections and helping school leaders manage change.

So I am curious- What’s your passion? Are you willing to share? PLP needs your ideas, your leadership, your commitment, your collaboration. We are all in this together. Let’s leave education better than we found it.

“A good company is one whose mission is to improve the lives of everyone in its footprint.” Tim Sanders

Yesterday was fun. I was asked to be one of the presenters at the TIE/ISTE Leadership Bootcamp. More importantly I was also allowed to be one of the learners.

During the facilitated round table discussions we had a process activity that I participated in as a learner.

It was a 4 step writing process.  Which I think is really important. One of the downfalls of ISTE is that there is so much experiencing and so little time to reflect. Most deep reflection happens after folks go home. Even now as I write this I am feeling like I am missing out on the action and learning over at the Conference Center. Tweet Deck is exploding with #iste10 updates and I keep looking up and wondering should I be writing this or head over to the conference center?

Anyway, they split the process piece into Big Ideas (most surprising or troubling thing you saw-experienced-heard), Questions Raised, Specific Insights, Implications for Action. The idea was to write and then share your thinking with folks at your table. So as I was writing I realized that if I really wanted to be a learner I needed to make my responses very personal to my own learning and if I did that I would probably be at a different place than many of the administrators at my table.  I know it sounds selfish, but you have to remember most of my day –everyday– is spent helping others learn and shift. So I gave up on the table and went out in the lobby and had some very interesting conversations with other folks who were also workshop presenters.

Here are my Big ideas (concerns) and the Questions they raised. I would love to get your response to some of these ideas below. Please be my table and help me process some of this thinking.

BIG IDEAS- Descriptive statements of my concerns

• The keynoter didn’t give attribution for any of the ideas or key phrases he used that I recognized as belonging to my colleagues.
• The role of original thought and remix content in a keynote.
• Forty minutes is too short for a presentation with content and process- process pieces were simply too rushed. Reflection takes time.
• 21st Century PD needs to be customized to the learner. It needs to mirror how we network online. Folks need to be able to connect based on passion. PD providers need to facilitate connections.
• Collaborative idea building activities ALWAYS need a shared construction space so we can grow from each others thoughts.

Questions Raised from the Big IDEAS

• Do I always give attribution (do you)? How does the 21st Century learner track what he/she works into their schema in order to give credit? How anal do we need to be? In a world of open content and remixing is attribution a 20th C construct?
• What is the balance between original thought/ideas and remixing of other’s work when giving a Keynote? Is it different for a workshop? A full day workshop? Is the compelling case for change being over done in keynotes? Do we still need to hear that message because it is still new to many? Do we need to hear it at ISTE– does the venue matter?
• In an effort to not just lecture- do attendees feel taken advantage of if more time in a presentation is given to construction of knowledge through processing, conversation, brainstorming, ect rather than content sharing by presenter if they didn’t know ahead of time this would be the case? What if the people at your table are at a lower level than you developmentally?
• What is the right amount of time to give participants to process? For example in one session where I was a learner right about the time we had gotten the ice broken and deep thought was starting to  flow the presenter would snatch us back to his presentation. Which is normal if you only have 50 min.. I mean 5 for intro and cred building, 10 to set up converation. 10 -15 for debriefing of each process piece. So by nature it is rushed right? Or is the problem that we are organizing our breakouts like we do class bells? I really identif ied with how our students must feel.

Blog Based Round Table Conversation

So if you are willing– I would love to enter a conversation with you around these ideas. Please share in comment and I will respond back to your ideas just like a round table discussion.

Alec Couros and I were talking the other day and I was reminded of a post I have been wanting to do about deep thinking, sharing and action. We originally connected to talk about a new project PLP is sponsoring, a virtual Institute for Higher Education, which Alec will lead, but it took us awhile to get to that part of the conversation. Why? Because we were sharing strong ideas and passions about education, leadership, change, and human nature. Alec said something that got to me– I am paraphrasing here, but he said something to the effect that these are the kinds of conversations (the one he and I were having at the time) that need to be brought out into the open.

I was talking about how Powerful Learning Practice’s (the company I co-founded with Will ) mission  is to build capacity- it is about connecting people with great ideas to other great people with great ideas as a way of helping them connect and collaborate to make an even better idea that will change learning and education. Alec and I discussed how PLP is about building the capacity of individuals to lead change. That PLP is about promoting others to chase their passions as a way of helping to change education and make it a better place. That PLP is about leveraging community and networks as a way of connecting to ideas and initiatives bigger than ourselves in an effort to truly transform education and empower children and their mentor teachers. PLP feels it is a win-win to help others reach their professional goals and chase their dreams and passions for making the world a better place– both inside and outside the organization.

Time to Dream-Think-Vision
These are the kinds of conversations that are missing - deep, thoughtful conversations that help shape our models and constructs.  Part of the problem is the culture of how we interact online. We need a culture shift already in the 21st Century. While networking and making connections has its place, it is only the beginning. It is through the forming of deep relationships that trust develops. And out of that trust comes community. And out of community comes deep thought and hard, messy conversations. And out of those conversations comes innovation, action, transformation- and meaningful, lasting change. But all of that takes time. Time that many either aren’t willing to invest or simply do not have.  I recently asked my Twitter Network about this idea of not enough time and there were some pretty interesting responses.

“I challenge teachers to replace, “I don’t have time to…” with, “I don’t value…” or “… Is not important to me.” @np_coach

“Isn’t time an excuse for cognitive dissonance?” @rickweinberg

If something is important enough to us, if it fits in with our value and/or belief system then we make time.” @Katiemc827

“We all have enough time, it’s what we choose to do with it that determines whether it comes dressed up as our friend or our enemy.” @joegartrell

“You make time for the things that are priorities to you. it’s not “finding time,” it’s honoring your priorities.” @mft77

How often do you spend time in deep thought and then bring those thoughts to a community of learners with whom you are vested for reshaping and push back. How often do you just let yourself dream and play with ideas? How much time do you have alone to just think and observe and study? In the blogosphere I think we often take ideas of others and recycle them without much thought to how they work or do not work. And rarely do we ever think about  the outcomes of our actions on life as we know it.

For example, today I was thinking about how You Tube and fast, easy connections to experts/mentors via technology has impacted the role of parents in the lives of their teenage and young adult children. Everything from how to apply makeup, fishing tips, how to get a job, parenting etc is transferred from computer to child rather than parent to child. I am not suggesting that this is a negative or a positive– but rather it is an outcome we haven’t thought about much and there are many more aspects like this that need thought and debate. Imagine intelligent, creative educators getting together and saying there has got to be a better way to do this– and then after figuring it out- changing it.

Deep Intentional Thinking
I like to take a complex idea I am working with and try to describe it in the most detail possible. Then I describe it aloud, to a listener, whether a live listener or to the potential listener represented through those who are reading my blog. As I describe in detail what I am perceiving I always understand more and more. It’s like I am manipulating the ideas in a physical sense.  I also like discussing ideas with others to develop a common language, a common way of looking at an issue. But I have to tell you- it is RARE that I get someone who has the time, interest or tolerance for going deeply in a philosophical discussion. And yet, I believe that thinking deeply and then having hard conversations with others about your constructs is what really allows for the greatest insight and innovations.

Albert Einstein used a technique for deep thinking, which he referred to as “thought experiments.” It was essentially the practice of relaxing and setting a visualization in motion while watching it closely to see what might be discovered. He imagined himself riding a beam of light in this way, which lead to the Theory of Relativity. A quick Google Search will reveal that there are lots of different exercises for thinking deeply- like this one.

Driving the point home, I like these quotes from a Harvard Business Review piece I was reading on critical thinking,

“… what rises to the top levels are very productive and very diligent individuals who tend not to … reflect and are extremely efficient at deploying other people’s ideas,” implying that this type of leader is not likely to understand, encourage, or recognize deep thinking in others.”

“… managers are not trained for it.”

“Time-for-thinking is a special moment which can be resource consuming and an unsafe activity …”

“There’s a name for managers who think deeply–entrepreneurs … Big companies are no place for big thinkers.”

“Providing time to reflect, particularly in an era of multi-tasking and the tyranny of technology, was most frequently suggested as an antidote to the dearth of deep thinking. As Chris Shannon put it, “I think creatively better out of the office, say while out in the boat or at a conference, so that looks very much like not working!”

The first quote makes an important point I think. One that is revealing in terms of why so many people are talking but very little is changing. This is best illustrated in David Logan’s tribal leadership concept.
David talks about the 5 stages of tribes (groups of like minded people based on experiences and interests) and how leaders can influence them. I love what he says about stage 3.  I’m great and you’re not. Meaning that most of us are so busy knowing and doing what we know and do that we miss the opportunity to see what could be if we looked at our ideas in a systemic way connected with what others know and do. What if we took a “None of us is as good as all of us mentality?” What if you and I spent a week taking what we know– our experiences and applying them to a problem or possibility. What if we invited a few smart friends over and using our diverse, unique backgrounds built on the ideas of each other. If we did I know we would be much further along to developing meaningful ideas for transformational change in education.

So– what you doing this summer? Want to spend a week together  imagineering and thinking deeply?

While I am becoming more and more dissatisfied with Delta as my preferred airline because of treatment by most (not all) gate folks and flight attendants, I am finding that I am enjoying the networking opportunities with the folks I meet there more and more.

I travel. A lot. Because of that I often get bumped up to First Class and in First Class you meet the most interesting people. People who really have a great deal of knowledge and are willing to share it if asked. The dynamics are interesting actually, networking in-flight has its own norms and literacies unique to that environment, a lot like the new literacies for networking online.

In Flight Networking Norms
Very rarely are names exchanged, yet ideas, models, and strategies often flow like water. I think it is the perceived anonymity-the … “I will never see this person again” kind of thinking that promotes such candid sharing. This kind of networking has its own tacit rules too. It has been interesting learning to read the signs that signal with whom to have a knowledge building conversation.

For example, two ear buds means I doubt I want to talk you, but one ear bud means maybe. An open book before greeting means leave me alone. An open book during the conversation mean I am done. Someone who asks you what kind of work do you do is usually a winner in terms of my walking away with useful information. I have noticed that rarely in First Class are people lonely and hunger to chat like in coach. Rather, First Class conversation are charged and powerful, get to the point, and are very business like and come in waves.

Passion Ignited
For example, one time I sat next to a guy whose passion was sailing. That is a question I usually ask– What is your passion? What captures your interest? In coach, folks respond to that question in disbelief and usually say they have no idea,  but in First Class there is no hesitation. The sailing guy smelled of the ocean, looked like the old man of the sea and he talked nonstop (something I usually hate but in this case I found it enthralling) telling me everything he knew about sailing around the world. He took out pictures and taught me terminology, techniques and pushed my imagination with his vivid accounts of storms, pirates, and near death experiences. I left shifted because of the conversation and added sailing to my list of 100 things to do before I die.

How Has Tech Impacted What You Do for a Living?
Many times I will ask folks how technology has changed their career field. A few weeks ago, I had an guy with the thickest southern accent I have ever heard (and I use to live in Ga.) dressed Bermuda shorts, a t-shirt and sweater vest keep me focused on tractors for 2 hours. Yes, tractors.

He pulled out his laptop and shared You Tube videos showing all the technological advanced in agricultural over the years. He rocked my world. I was amazed to learn that tractors today are incredibly high tech. In addition to touch screen technology (with IPAD quality) that do everything from auto-drive to select the amount of seed, depth of the planting and how much chemical to add- farmers can surf the Web, use bluetooth, collaborate with other farmers in communities and networks and buy and sell commodities– all from the cab of the tractor while the machine does the work.

There are joystick controls which can control slave drone tractors (smaller version of the master that work alongside the farmer’s machine and they have no driver). Each automated machine has a geo-circle (determined with GIS and GPS) that when someone steps into that circle will automatically shut the machine down–saving lives. The data produced by these machines in terms of yield, moisture, etc in various parts of the field rivals anything I have ever seen.

As this Kentucky born gentleman showed me Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking tools that farmers are regularly integrating into their learning and knowledge construction I began to panic a bit. I remember thinking dang– if all of this is common place in agriculture then 1) am I behind??–do I have a grasp on the next wave? 2) kids can’t wait– we need to step up our game and increase urgency! He helped me understand how even migrant workers need to have a technical literacy to do this job. Often teachers tell me that rural kids who will not go to college, but rather work on the family farm have no need of digital literacy skills- think again.

Flashes of Brilliance
I once sat next to a guy who taught me about visioning and risk-taking (he started the company that puts gift cards for all the different stores in your local grocery or convenience store- that idea netted something like 13 billion the first year.) I also sat next to a guy who taught me about insurance and investing- both skills that I came home and immediately applied. I remember an electric company owner who taught me about timing and leadership– knowing when to make your play for your most radical idea and how that was all about timing.

Deep Value
Most recently, I sat next to a passionate 28 year old who taught me about how the medical records profession is changing. He shared with me an idea he had for bringing speed dating, dating services, and community events into a respectable blended approach online that will help those new to an area find interesting people to do things with in the community. It is targeted for lonely 40-70 year olds. I was really impressed with his thinking. This same guy told me stories of how doctors find it difficult to embrace change, of watching his contractors with education backgrounds work through Bruckman’s steps of  forming, storming, norming and performing as they came to terms with teaching the medical records software in online spaces–a story which is generalizable to my work.

We got into a discussion about how learning is changing. How his girlfriend who is in veterinarian school listened to the lectures of her professors at home and sped up the videos as she could process the lectures faster than they were given and spent her time in the classroom actually engaged with dissection and hands-on learning - applying all she heard in the lectures. (Now there is an idea)

And it isn’t always just me who is learning. Often I will share my experiences and strategies as well and we use our collective knowledge to inform each others work. Sometimes we exchange business cards- most times we do not. And not once has a conversation in First Class ever resulted in a conversation on the ground. But every single time it has resulted in collaborative knowledge gained and used. I am a better person, an more creative business woman, and a better educator because of the networking I do in the air.

Have you ever had experiences like that? I would love to hear the lessons you have learned in flight.

UPDATE:
This post was in draft form waiting to be posted for a week or so and low and behold today I get an email from the last guy I talked about in this post. I had asked him to share the way she sped the recorded lectures up so I could share it  and  he did just that.  So I guess I can’t say anymore that my inflight conversations have not ever resulted in any on the ground conversation!

Here is his letter for your enjoyment.

sheryl@plpnetwork.com date Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 4:40 PM subject PLP, Zombies, and other in-flight conversations signed-by gmail.com

Hi Sheryl,

This is David from Madison WI, where I work as an Electronic Medical Record vendor. I just wanted to quickly follow up on our conversation last week spent flying into Detroit.  I really enjoyed our dialogue and found myself inspired both by your work and your life journey.  The educational legacy your are working to achieve through PLP is admirable, action-oriented, and necessary. Your desire to create a space for individuals to forge communities that seek to aid in personal as well as professional growth is one that I find uniquely exciting.

Per our conversation on the plane ride, I enclosed a document explaining how to watch/listen to videos on QuickTime at faster speeds.  As I mentioned before, my girlfriend watches all of her Vet school lectures at 1.5 speed, allowing her to both be more efficient with her time, but also pause and go back to sections that she wanted to repeat for greater understanding of the material.

Well that’s all for now–I just wanted to reach out before it was too late.

Look forward to hearing from you at your convenience.

Best,

David

Here are the directions:

I am a big fan of my adult kids. I really am. If I wasn’t their parent I would surely want to be their friend as they turned out to be really fun, creative, decent people. (on a side note– I am really glad too since my mother constantly told me I would reap what I had sown as a kid when I had my own– it just wasn’t true). I guess I find myself taking stock once again in my life and my children’s lives because my youngest just graduated from college. I felt like whew… I made it; four well adjusted children Amber-28, Heidi-26, Noah-23 and Grace-22 (today). But really it goes beyond just making it - I was very intentional in the way I raised my kids. It started when they were in the womb, I read and planned and prepared for the kind of mother I would be. I took my role very seriously and at times was probably obsessed with parenting. I learned a few things along the way-things I might share in a blog post when I have time. But for now I will say three things count most: consistency, balance, and direction.

Consistency
Consistency in the way you parent and the values you have established as a family (which means you need to talk as a family about what those values are and are not.) You need to have clear messages for your kids in terms of what is allowed, what aligns with the family mission and what is not allowed and the consequences of doing what is not allowed and then consistently follow through. This means when guests are over, when you are on the phone, when you are dog tired and when you are on vacation– family rules and consequences still apply. In our house there was intense follow through and discipline with love, mixed with the pursuit of wildly creative learning journeys, lots of laughter and fun. I allowed on occasion jumping on the bed, pretending to be a dalmatian for weeks on end (complete with costume- I had an actress in the making), the disassembling of household gadgets, dissection of roadkill, and glitter everywhere from constant use (art and music were a part of growing up in my house.) I didn’t allow the intentional hurting or disrespect of anyone, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes or behavior that didn’t align with our family values.

Balance
If there is a secret to living well I would have to say for me it is balance. When I have it- life is good, when I don’t- not so much. And that carries over to parenting as well. I have made it an intentional choice to govern myself in terms of not being too strict, too lenient, to serious, too silly — you get the idea. I wasn’t always successful but it did give me a guide, a framework to work within. Like the lines on the road when you are first learning to drive–line the car hood ornament up with the guideline and you are ok.

I have found that if you are too controlling you become a dream and passion squisher and if you aren’t controlling (high expectations) enough you produce mediocrity. I wanted each of my kids to find a sport, a musical instrument, or a visual art through which to make sense of the world. And from those wild pursuits came their passion. When Amber, at 5years old, wanted to become a paleontologist, we provided all the tools and books necessary to start exploring that passion. When Noah at 18 told us he was going hiking and camping in subzero weather we made sure he had the equipment and know how to do so. Understanding how to help your kids live in the now and making that as important as preparing for their future is critical in my opinion. I wanted my children to feel throughout their childhood that what they did now (who they were) as children, was just as important as what they would do (who they would become) as adults.

Direction
Success in life is not about intentions as much as it is about direction. Know your path with the kids- plan it, see it, then implement it. Make sure your kids know the path. You will revise constantly along the way– but follow the path consistently and you will arrive.

I remember sitting in my living room. Amber was 22 at the time and had graduated top of her class a year earlier and we were talking about how thankful she was that I encouraged her to work through college rather than get school loans. She was also appreciative of the direction we charted with internships. She noticed that many of her classmates were working in restaurants and not in the field of art (their degree) while she was working for a Fortune 500 company in her chosen field. She thanked me for helping to make our family such a highly successful family. I remember choking on her words. I looked at her in disbelief — “Do you really think we are?” I had seriously never considered we had arrived. I mean it was the direction I had set but I was always so busy doing the work I had never thought to consider when we had arrived.

So I guess that is where I am today–considering the fact that we did make it. The path paid off. I am not trying to be arrogant or a braggart– but we do have a highly successful family. And I am firm in my belief it came about because of consistency, balance, and direction.

Zombies
Ok so I know you are wondering– where do the zombies come in? For some wild reason zombies have become part of our family culture. I mean it isn’t a serious thing but it is definitely a part of who we in funny little ways. For example- I have a safe room. It is a hidden room behind the bookshelves in the library. The whole time I was constructing it I told people it was a way to hide during the zombie apocalypse (which was a tiny bit real). It is very Harry Potter too (another part of our family) and part of my own fantasies as a child.
So here is Dean Shareski modeling my secret room.

Technology and Zombies
In an effort to remain true to the theme of the blog, I have to talk about technology, So here you go- Amber gets to present and create using social media at work often. She created this to encourage volunteering at work (Norfolk Southern Railroad), too funny– and yet again- the zombie theme surfaces.

Back to Grace’s Graduation
Sitting in the audience and texting back and forth with Grace who is hidden in a sea of graduates trying to find her. Finally she said, “Look at grad caps, you’ll find me.” I start looking at all the caps– “Thanks Mom and Dad” — no that isn’t her too plain. “Go Kappa something” no that isn’t her either– not her style. Hmmm where is she? Then I spot it.. and she was right. I knew exactly where she was sitting. Later I asked her, “How come other Moms got a thank you on their cap and all I get is a zombie?” To which she replies, “Because other Moms didn’t raise their kids to be creative, free thinkers.” I guess that said it all.

Powerful Learning Practice is expanding our offerings as we enter our fourth year of PLP. I can’t believe we’re finishing up our third year of this work already, and I can’t say enough about the amazing team of educators who have joined us in this work; we both feel very fortunate to work with all of them.

In our conversations with our colleagues and our participants, we’ve identified some new areas of learning that we’re going to pursue. Aside from our “traditional” cohort model where we are putting together school teams of educators to participate in our 7-8 month long, blended learning experience that about 2,000 teachers have participated in (details here), this year we’re also offering four other totally online cohorts for educators, administrators, National Board Certified Teacher candidates, and parents.

Each of these cohorts will be together from early October to late April and will feature a virtual community space for ongoing interactions, regular webinars featuring thought leaders and practitioners, and support from Will and I and various members of the PLP team.

* For the “Global Administrator” cohort, we’re looking for educational leaders who want to connect with other leaders around the big conversations that social learning networks are starting to share ideas and experiences and go more deeply into defining what changes schools need to consider.
* The “Global Educator” cohort will be a community of classroom practitioners who are willing to share their ideas around curriculum and pedagogy but also focus on what it means to be a teacher at this moment and what our changing roles in our students’ lives looks like.
* The “Global NBCT” cohort will be led by Nancy Flanagan, former Michigan Teacher of the Year and nationally board certified teacher as well as PLPeeps, and, as you might expect, it will be heavily aligned to NBCT requirements.
* And finally, our “Global Parent” cohort is being created expressly for parents who are interested in learning more about socially networked learning spaces for themselves and for their children. The webinars will focus on a variety of topics including “Facebook for Parents,” “Managing Your Online Reputation,” and “New Learning Opportunities,” and the PLP led community will focus on the challenges and opportunities of social learning tools for parents and their kids.

We have a page on our website for more info on how to sign up or if you want a rundown of the places where our traditional Year 1 cohorts are forming. Don’t forget to check out our Virtual Institutes, Year 2 and 3 options, boot camps, graduate credit options, and more. Please let me know if you have any questions, and we look forward to your participation.