Back from MSTA LeaderU Conference

I am headed back home from the MSTA LeaderU. I had a great time and am filled up with enthusiasm for the new school year. This was my 5th year to visit the conference. Some of the information was the same, but I always get something new to take back to the members in my district.

I had fun interviewing several people about technology they use with our organization and about school reform. I’m still working on putting together all the interviews I’ve done so far. I’ll start posting those podcasts soon.

One thing I brought back from it was the potential teacher organizations have to influence school reform and shaping what our schools should look like. I think many leading educational blogs have a vision of using technology to teach students meaningfully and powerfully. However, we can talk amongst ourselves all we want, but if the people in charge don’t hear us, then nothing will change. ISTE and other ed technology organizations are doing a great job of lobbying legislatures, but the message needs to come from all teachers, not just us “geeks“. We need to have the big teachers associations like MSTA, NEA, and AFT going in the same direction on how students should be learning in school.

I hear more than one teacher wishing they had wireless internet down out in the woods by the Jacks Fork. I was with them in that wish, but sometimes we just have to turn off our technology, sit back, and enjoy the nature around us. Still, it’s great to be connected again.

I’m headed to a math workshop this afternoon. Oh, the summer is so short.

Until we connect again.



This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.