Edu-Connections: Reflections on Educon2.4

It has been a week since Educon 2.4.I have needed that time to digest and process the time spent with some of the brightest, most optimistic, passionate thinkers I know.

This year, for the first time, I had the opportunity to spend Friday at Science Leadership Academy, to visit classrooms, share moments with students, and to spend time with friends and colleagues. Spending time with the students and student tour guides made me miss teaching; because the best part about teaching for me was getting to know my students, and guiding them to new discoveries and helping them achieve and overcome new challenges.

 I am grateful that  in Session 1 on Saturday with Paul Allison from the NYC Writing Project when I introduced myself and shared where I worked,I got pleasant smiles and a sense that I was not  only welcome, but teachers were grateful I was there to share their stories and passion. I still missed teaching .

But what surprised me yet again was how connected we are and how small the world has become. There are no longer 6 degrees of separation between any two people, more likely it is less  than three degrees of separation between two people. If I met someone new-most likely we shared a common friend, or had some other personal, poignant connection. This is the world our children will inherit. We must take the learning outside the four walls, and help them make those connections-with their friends, their communities, their world.

I am thankful for those that took the time to share with me and chose to spend time with me, because it was important to me. I appreciate your stories, your ideas, and your voice in all things important to you.Instead of trying to be everywhere for everyone, I had the opportunity to spend quality time with friends, really connecting. I felt a little guilty at first, because there were so many people I wanted to spend time with, but a smile and a hello were all that transpired.So to the new educators I met, to the new connections I made, to my dear friends and colleagues who I was fortunate to spend time with, thank you for an inspiring weekend.I have been thinking about the importance of moving slowly-with intention; reading slowly, deeply, and taking the time to truly get to know each other and make connections- as people, as learners, as a global community.

Perhaps that is the magic of Educon; for those of us that want, it provides a space and place in time to forge connections, to think deeply and slowly and passionately, and to know that we are with friends..