ISTE/TIE Leadership Bootcamp

When we found out we would be able to attend ISTE this year, we were intrigued by the opportunity to attend Leadership Bootcamp.  We went into the camp hoping to meet fellow attendees that would be like-minded with similar goals as well as learning from amazing leaders in education.

The day was strategically planned with session strands for teaching and learning, IT professionals and administrators.  Susan attended the administrator sessions and I went back and forth between the teaching and IT sessions.

Lucy Gray talked about the importance of PLNs.  If you're still unsure what a Personal Learning Network (PLN) is, listen to Will Richardson explain here:


Lucy's review of PLNs validated my own opinions on the subject.  She emphasized the importance of being professionally generous with others.  She encouraged teachers to step forward and lead where they can and not wait to be "annointed" to lead.

Mark Benno talked about Communication and Collaboration with ITs.  Mark kept returning to the idea of relationships.  Effective communication and collaboration in almost all areas can be attributed to the relationships built between the people involved.  Mark highly recommended the book:  Relational Intelligence for those that want to learn more about this.  He reminded us that you can do amazing things with incredible tools, but if people aren't using the tools and learning from you it doesn't matter.

Doug Johnson was another great break out speaker.  I had never heard him speak before and I have been such a fan of his quick wit and thoughts on his blog for quite a while.  He kept us laughing and nodding as he compared the goals of teachers/librarians and IT personnel.

Howard Ditler and Elizabeth Hubbell presented data they have collected through McRel's research through classroom walkthrough observations.  Using an ipod touch to collect data on affective domain, bloom's taxonomy levels observed and technology tools and strategies in practice they did power walkthroughs thoughout schools providing powerful feedback that initiates change in schools.

The most inspiring part of the day for me, was the lunch keynote from Chris Lehmann.  Chris is the principal of the Science Leadership Academy, in Philadelphia, PA.  Chris spoke about the Schools we need.  And he is so right.  And I cannot even begin to do justice to what he said.  Because he touched my heart with his words, his passion and his ideas.  His recent TED talk is not the same thing, but he touches on many of the same topics so I would ask you to take the time to watch Chris...and be inspired.