Wow, what a couple of days. A ton of hard work from many people brought over 400 passionate educators together to have community around what is best for our learners in schools.
I feel supported, inspired and challenged all at the same time this week. I am still checking up on tweets from the hashtag #viclead from yesterday’s sessions with George Couros on “Leading Innovative Change” as well as the hashtag #edcampvic from last night and today’s 2nd annual EdCampVic . One big take away I came out with from the day is the idea that “Less is More”. And this may sound simple, but it is incredibly hard to resist collecting and sharing all the different ways to use new tools in new ways in classrooms. I see so much inspiration, across such a spectrum in our 40+ K-12 schools in SD61. I am a yes-man at heart, where I aim to provide resources and support for as many folks as possible. But as I respond more and more to questions about specific tools, devices, platforms, services, etc, I am beginning to feel run ragged. But more importantly, I feel like I am then overwhelming teachers with various solutions. I want to start more quickly and delicately asking “why”? Because to be honest, if I am able to support every teacher with every direction they want to go, how am I building capacity? Am I helping educators go deeper? After George’s talk, I heard loud and clear that in order to support innovation in schools, I need to narrow my focus. This requires a balance of being too prescriptive and limited, which actually can limit innovation, and the building of capacity, community, and ability to go deeper with learners. At a time where resource is limited, and time is limited, I feel completely inspired and hopeful that the solutions to our biggest barriers are in our schools and classrooms already with learners. The solutions are within reach. There are educators and students willing to step into something new and embrace change. There is a readiness and a community for momentum.
Another piece that has hit me was a statement from George last night at our EdCamp Launch.
“Isolation is now a choice educators make” @gcouros #edcampvic let’s move away from the silo together
ā Dave Shortreed (@mr_shortreed) October 3, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsIt is now a choice I make to not share my take aways, or ahas. Blogging has always been my weakness, something to work on, and something that requires way more energy than you might think. But I am interacting with educators daily where I am asking the same thing from them. I am asking them to enter into new spaces using technology to reach learners. So I need to walk to talk and step out. So here I am. Lets do it together.
Shared today at #edcampvic – 8 Characteristics of the #InnovatorsMindset http://t.co/KvLHfQZb4H pic.twitter.com/KpkeUZz9El
ā George Couros (@gcouros) October 3, 2015
Learning along the way 
Hey Dave š Thanks to you, Aaron, and your respective teams for putting on such a great event! One of my thoughts on how to keep the momentum going is to really think about how you make your learning visible. As leaders, we have to be able to continuously put ourselves out there and share ideas, to not only provoke thinking, but to also show that we are wiling to do what is best for kids. I hope this is the push for you to really start sharing your learning more š
Keep blogging my friend!
LikeLike