Blogs on Professional Development

Of all the initiatives a school can begin, integrating technology may require the most professional development. This is partly because of the equipment, hardware, and software involved and partly because of the shift that a teacher must make in his or her teaching style, technique, and planning process in order to effectively use technology in the classroom.

"Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time."
-- Tagore, Bengali poet

About 20 years ago, I received my first email account. It was awesome -- not many college students had one. Of course, I quickly realized that I only knew five friends with email and I lived with four of them.

Today, almost every teenager in our schools has the opportunity to access email, but many choose not to. It is much easier to send a message via texting or through Facebook. In fact, a growing number of my college students only use email to correspond with "old people."

This past Friday four of the top comedians in the world sat down and had a conversation about comedy for the HBO special, "Talking Funny." Jerry Seinfeld, Rickey Gervais, Chris Rock, and Louis CK discussed and shared their craft for roughly an hour on a faux living room set. Now, I am not one of those educators that feel there is a hidden message about education in everything I watch, listen to, or read. However, educators can learn a lot from comedians. Our jobs run parallel.

On the eve of this year's EduCon gathering, a winter storm dumped a foot of snow on Philadelphia. That didn't deter the 600 educators who trekked in from all corners of the country, and beyond, to take part in two days of heady conversations at the Science Leadership Academy.