John David’s struggles have prompted me to think about why being big is desired by so many. Isn’t this the great American goal? Big portfolios, bigger salaries, the biggest toys, the most myspace friends, the most prestigious awards, the most hits, the greatest influence. Being small has never really captured the imagination of most Americans. Bigger is better. And the biggest must be the best.

So, is this bad? Is it simply a collective American fault, a bad seed planted in the proverbial evil garden causing us to chase the wind? Maybe. And maybe not. Maybe being big is the point of it all and the undiscovered purpose for unfulfilled dreamers. Growing is as natural as desiring, indulging, and seeking to make ourselves laugh. Somehow John David knew being big would bring greater rewards. Who wouldn’t want the reward now. I agree with him. Why wait?

Now, what about other kinds of growth? Few adults seek growth with the passion of a child. And most of us clearly understand the rewards of personal growth. Teachers acknowledge the necessity of professional development, but lack passion for it. We are quick to point out the obstacles to our growth. When others encourage our development by designing opportunities for us we complain. They ask too much. They don’t challenge me enough. They, they, they. We rarely take responsibility for our own growth and create our own opportunities and situations. We just sit back and expect others to “grow” us, like we are a plant being watered with air.

And then there are others who love to grow. I love these folks. I call them Jolly Green Giants. They are always trying on pants every place they go. And most of the time the pants they find are Jiminy Cricket’s. But they keep searching for big pants to wear. Big pants. That’s what I want to wear and I want them to fit. So while John David works his way out of a car seat and water wings, I’ll work my way out of Jiminy Cricket’s breeches and into some suited for a giant.

Yesterday the Alabama Best Practices Center held its first face to face meeting of the year for the schools involved in its 21st Century Learners project. Five people from twenty Alabama schools convened in Alabaster to prepare for a year of professional technological growth in the third year of the program. I don’t remember being served a Jolt or Vault cola, but somehow an energy source was poured into me and many of the other teachers present. This energy could be found everywhere. You could feel it in the messages each educator left to another on our networking site, Ning. You could hear the energy in the noisy conversations. You can see the energy on the abpc wiki, in the emails to each other, and in today’s conversations in the halls among the teachers who attended. And it hasn’t even been 24 hours since it ended.

The day was loaded full of instruction for meaningful uses of technology in our classrooms. All of this can be seen by the world at the abpc wiki. The leaders of the project, Cathy Gassenhieimer and Sheryl Nussbaum Beach, can be counted on to thoroughly plan a meaningful experience for teachers. This kind of attention to detail provides the motivation to engage the message and transfer to practice. Today, the transferring began.

But what made the F2F (Face to Face) launch such a great jolt into this professional learning year was how the group felt about the project. It is our mission to prepare our students for this century. We no longer need to teach kids how to work on the railroad, we must teach them how to adapt and work on things we haven’t yet conceived. Not only does everyone believe in this mission, 21st Century Learner teams refused to make excuses for failing to carry out that mission. It’s exciting to be a part such a trailblazing group of educators.

I am looking forward to so many things during this next year. Deeper connections to other “mission-minded” educators is somewhere near the top of my list. Sharing, talking, and blogging will be great fun in 2007-08. I’m even feeling pretty good about failing when I try something that doesn’t work. Basically, it’s a year to take risks, reflect, and learn from taking risks. And none of us have to do that alone. A supportive structure for learning is not easy to create. But this has been accomplished over the last couple of years by the hard work of lots of teachers and their leaders at the ABPC.

Jolt and Vault promote themselves as energy in a bottle. Trying to bottle and sell what is happening in Alabama might really be worth a venture capitalist’s efforts. Our 21st Century Learners project doesn’t have an official energy drink as its corporate sponsor. Now that I think about it, maybe it should!

Where to begin?

Participating in Microsoft’s Innovative Teacher’s Forum in late September continues to cause me severe pain. My enlarged brain is now so full, I’m sure it will blow any time now. Trying to figure out how to organize my many thoughts is almost as painful as trying to make space for all the new stuff I have in there now.

Some of the greatest lessons in life are the simple and unexpected discoveries we make about ourselves. I went to Seattle hoping for the best, but secretly worried that I had little to offer others. Being wrong never felt so good. It was a wonderful experience realizing that I need to speak up, take more action, push harder for the changes I know need to take place. So, one of the best things I got from the Innovative Teachers Forum was realization that I am a truly innovative teacher.

Collaboration. I like that word. It’s a great word. It brings lots of positive things to mind and makes me feel sort of like I used to feel when I travelled the world with Up With People almost 20 years ago – hopeful, global, neighborly. It takes a village to …… well, you get the idea.
But I understand it differently now. It’s less about the process (which brings back that loving feeling), it’s actually about the product. Everyone gets something from collaboration. The networking concept is not new to me. Collaboration is not new either. But talking to strangers about common interests and goals is new to me. And I’m sold on its effectiveness. I can’t wait to make this a common daily practice.

Time deserves respect. I need to change my attitude about time. For some reason I have been working really hard to “beat” it as if it were an opposing team, the plague, or the Crimson Tide football team. I can’t remember ever trying to work with it as if it were my trusted friend. If I’ve learned anything over the last couple of amazing weeks about time it’s this: I’d like more time in my day than everyone else has and I can have it. Yes, I can have more time for what I really want to do. I have just given myself permission to take what I need. If it means a little less sleep, cutting corners on other things, or removing some things altogether, I can do that. I hear so many teachers tell me that they don’t have time for this or for that. Actually what they are really saying is, “I don’t care enough about this or that to do it.” It’s simple. We do whatever we really want to do. I really want to dig, learn, collaborate, grow, explore, and use all I learn to become a better teacher. So, that’s what I am going to do. I am so excited that MY spare time is actually going to be MINE!

The last couple of weeks have been full of new opportunities for me as well. I may soon be writing for the Teacher Leader Network. There is just no better way to find your voice than to exercise your hands. Thinking on the most pressing issues facing teachers and other educators is a challenge I’m excited to accept. Moreover, I’m beginning an amazing journey in the study of engaging instruction. Working with gifted professionals from the Alabama Best Practices Center in Montgomery, I am thrilled help plan special training for teachers AND students in designing and implementing engaging 21st century curriculum. There are many other interesting projects on the horizon for me in Talladega County as well. These opportunities offer me the professional validation I need to spur me toward all that awaits me on the horizon.

Before setting out to win favor with the seletion committee for Microsoft’s Innovative Teachers Forum in Redmond, Washington, I knew it would take a lot of work. I never dreamed that after returning from the forum that I’d want to work ten times harder to win favor with myself. Now that’s the kind of professional experience I’d like to bottle and give to every teacher on the planet.