You Should Read... #Educon Style

I was very fortunate to attend a very unique professional development opportunity this past weekend in Philadelphia, Pa. at Science Leadership Academy, a public magnet school. Many educators traveled several hundred miles to "meet old friends for the first time" as well as forge new relationships. Social media played a huge a part in all of this as the #educon hashtag trended nationally during the event. Leading up to Educon many of the participants had become good friends professionally by sharing, debating and commenting through social media, specifically Twitter.

This was not a technology conference or even a social media conference. It was a conversation between passionate educators that struggle everyday finding the perfect learning environment for their kids. It was a conversation about what is learning, innovation, inquiry and taking risks. Each session or discussion would lead to more questions and deeper thinking. Professional debate and discussion forces us to challenge each other as well as our own beliefs. Reflection is a powerful tool and after spending time with all the amazing folks at Educon, reflection is exhausting. I am blessed to have been a participant and thankful to have great educators in my network that I can rely on for help, motivation or in the words of  Chris Lehmann principal of SLA, to be imbued.

Here are a few blog posts I feel you should read... #Educon!

Educon: Shift Happens by Tom Whittby Tom provides us with a good synopsis of how the event works and why it has a huge impact on what we do.

What I Learned Today Steve Goldberg shares his experience at Educon and provides examples of his learning as well as some very meaningful tweets.

Educon 2.5-ish Random-ish Reflections - Will Richardson, author of Why School, shares his thoughts about the session he led where participants attempted to create the 95 Theses of contemporary learning and schooling. 

Why Preaching to the #educhoir Really DOES Matter - Bill Ferriter shares not only a few pictures of his notes but also his thoughts about being a real change agent when everyone is preaching to the choir.

My big take away from Educon is this: I am not alone! Take a chance! Create the environment where your staff can take a risk. Learning is messy. If we are going to be great tomorrow, we have to be great today!