Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to work alongside several groups of education leaders at the EdTechTeacher Innovation Summit in Boston. Of all the themes, topics and challenges we explored, the biggest takeaway for me had to do with time. Check out the word cloud generated by participants of our Tuesday session when asked about their greatest leadership challenge.
Although you can see that their challenges spanned across multiple fronts, the one that came up the most was "TIME." Here are just a few of the questions that we grappled with:
1. How do we provide targeted time for teachers not only innovate in the classroom, but learn with and from one another during the school day?
2. How can we provide time for educators and administrators to build the skills and confidence needed to effectively work with and coach their peers?
3. When educators do have the time and space to innovate, what guiding vision and common language can we provide to make sure that their "innovations" are aligned with the vision and mission of our schools?
As I further reflect upon these challenges and explore new strategies in my home district (Bristol Warren Regional in RI), I will make sure to share in future posts. One major goal I have this year is to increasingly make my own thinking visible and learn with others around the nation. Any thoughts, suggestions, questions, please reach out and connect!
You can access resources from our pre-conference workshop here: bit.ly/ettbostondll Slides also embedded below. The next ETT Summit is coming up in January in Palm Spring, CA. Click here to learn more.