"It’s painful, expensive...stressful and ultimately pointless to work overtime to preserve your dying business model." -Seth Godin

As I make my way through my day, I often wonder how much energy I exert on keeping things as they are rather than wondering about the way things should be. In our profession, so much of what we do is a reflection of where we've been- if we've already been there, do we really want to go there again? Is it working?  Do I ask myself this question enough? If I do, what resources am I using to answer this question and are the resources I choose the right vessel to tap?

“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.” Albert Einstein

 I just recently shared a blog posting from Dangerously Irrelevant outlining the learnings of another school invested in a 1:1 laptop program. Their conclusions (for now...) in headings:

Lessons learned

  1. It's the pedagogy not the technology.
  2. Support the pedagogy at all costs. A list of this year's sessions is here.
  3. The plumbing and the plumbers.
  4. Student ownership.
  5. Principal leadership.
Biggest Struggles
  1. Classroom management.
  2. Assisting parents.
In conclusion, our journey is an ongoing one. Simply buying the machines and upgrading the network is not enough to be a 1:1 laptop school. The true work is in shifting the pedagogy to be more student-centered. As Gary Stager says, less "us" and more "them." The rewards to this point have been worth the risks.

We're moving forward...thank goodness! I am so glad to be along for the ride.

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