action drives belief

Douglas Reeves says that “action drives belief,” not the other way around. He contends that it’s usually difficult to see the benefits of something before we do it because it’s too abstract. We have to start doing it - and thus turn the conceptual into something more concrete - before we actually see the benefits and buy in. This is why, for example, many school districts require educators to be in professional learning communities (PLCs). At the beginning, most educators aren’t clear what the benefits of PLCs will be to them. Over time, however, if the initiative is done well (and, unfortunately, in education that’s a big if), the idea is that educators will start seeing - through their ongoing PLC activities - the benefits of belonging to such a group. Does action drive belief or does belief drive action?

Zen Student Story

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." 
The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" 
Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."

From Seth Godin- again

Type 1. You can take a class where you learn technique, facts and procedures.

Type 2. You can take a class where you learn to see, learn to lead and learn to solve interesting problems.

The first type of teaching isn't particularly difficult to do, and it's something most of us are trained to absorb. The first type of schooling can even be accomplished with self-discipline and a Dummies book. The first type of class is important but not scarce.

The second kind, on the other hand, is where all real success comes from. It's really tricky to find and train people to do this sort of teaching, and anytime you can find some of it, you should grab it.

The sad thing is that we often conflate the two. We think we're hiring someone to do the second type, a once in a lifetime teacher, someone who will change the outlook of stellar students. But then we give them rules and procedures and feedback that turn them into a type 1 teacher.

Even worse, we often pay as if we're getting the scarce and valuable type 2 teachers but we end up hiring and managing type 1 teachers.

I spend a lot of time in colleges and other teaching institutions. Over and over I see the same thing--organizations that have painted themselves into a corner, keeping themselves busy but refusing to do the difficult work of teaching people to see. The dean of one college was so stuck in his type-1ness that he couldn't even bring himself to participate in a session run by a gifted type 2 teacher.

Is there anything more important to you and your organization (or your kids or your town) than figuring out how to obtain and share the wisdom that real teaching can deliver?

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing

We all went to Brittany's graduation reception and Christy reminded me of the quote from my Valley days. It deals with focus. I used to remind the kids that their academic focus was most important as we spent hours practicing for extra curricular activities. Stephen Covey origin.

I also remember WIN? What's Important Now? That has a Lou Holtz origin.

And Gretzky- "Skate to where the puck will be"

Lance Armstrong- "Are you riding or hiding?"

Viktor Frankl

Found a youtube of a 4:22 speech in which Viktor uses an analogy from flight school to help understand how we should treat people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD1512_XJEw

From David Warlick

Here are just a few suggestions for administrators for promoting these conversations:

1. Hire learners. Ask prospective employees, “Tell me about something that you have learned lately.” “How did you learn it?” “What are you seeking to learn more about right now?”
2. Open your faculty meetings with something that you’ve just learned – and how you learned it. It does not have to be about school, instruction, education managements, or the latest theories of learning.
3. Make frequent mention of your Twitter stream, RSS reader, specific bloggers you read. Again, this should not be limited to job specific topics.
4. Share links to specific TED talks or other mini-lectures by interesting and smart people, then share and ask for reactions during faculty meetings, in the halls, or during casual conversations with employees and parents just before the PTO meeting.
5. Include in the daily announcements, something new and interesting (Did you know that a California power utility has just gotten permission to start buying electricity from outer space?).
6. Ask students in the halls what they’ve just learned. Ask them what their teachers have just learned.
7. Ask teachers and other staff to write reports on their latest vacation, sharing what they learned – and publish them for public consumption.
8. Ask teachers to devote one of their classroom bulletin boards to what they are learning, related or unrelated to the classroom.
9. Include short articles in the schools newsletter and/or web site about research being conducted by the teachers – again, related or unrelated to the classroom.
10. Learn what the parents of your students are passionately learning about, and ask them to report (text, video, Skype conversation, or in person to be recorded).
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11. Find ways to be playful at your school — and perhaps feel less grown-up. (see Do Grown-ups Learning?)

1 to 1 Institute

First, The keynote speaker surprisingly was a 1985 W-SR Graduate. Angela Maiers (maiden name – Fink) is an educational consultant from Des Moines. She presented well.

Her website is http://www.angelamaiers.com/

She spoke about Web 3.0. The slides and notes from her presentation are on her website.

Second, http://vimeo.com/7416500 is a video explanation of a School for One pilot from New York. It is interesting in that they have developed an algorithm that automates some of the instructional decisions teachers make daily and customize each students learning experiences. It’s way out there.