Which came first?

Much like the chicken and the egg question, and continuing with a poultry theme, I got to wondering today: If birds of a feather flock together, which of those birds looked around and made the decision they were "of a feather"? I mean, one of 'em had to take stock of surroundings and say something, right?

Well, that question got me thinking about how leadership can show up in just looking around and speaking up about an observation.

I'm at this conference which is all about identifying the strengths in every learner, be it academic or otherwise. If we start doing this for our students, why aren't we doing with our staff? Should we focus less on targeting the weaknesses and instead use strengths and interests to build confidence and skill in areas of weakness (aka: technology)?

Would a teacher who is not very tech savvy be more inclined to use and practice using Glogster, for example, if in a training session, they were allowed to create something on their recent trip to Greece, rather than creating something on Earth Science? Would the teacher who isn't sure how to create a lesson in SMART Notebook be more inclined to practice with the software if I encouraged them to make an "All About Me" activity, rather than a math lesson?

In sitting in some technology sessions at this conference, I've been truly surprised at how many have access to at least 1 computer in their classroom, but never put it in the hands of students. At a conference hosted by "Gifted and Talented Gurus" there is defintely a need for a technology strand alongside all the other invaluable information being absorbed this week.

I'm no GT expert. I'm not an expert in much of anything, actually. I'm just a bird, looking around, making an observation.

Bringing the Funk to GT

This week I am attending Confratute at the University of Connecticut. Confratute is the annual Conference/Fraternity/Institute hosted by Dr. Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis. Joe and Sally are largely responsible for the entire concept of the gifted student and the push for recognizing the need for gifted education in school. The main message of this week is that there should be opportunities for all students to have their gifts-academic and otherwise-recognized and addressed at school. It is only the 2nd full day, and already I'm overwhelmed with excitement in what we are going to be bringing back to the learners in Coppell.

My only surprise has been in the lack of technology integration in many of the courses and even the basic knowledge of the availability of technology for all learners, across the country. I sat in a class yesterday where 10 out of 25 participants had never heard of Skype. I've looked at several course descriptions that toute "Learn about all you can do with PowerPoint!"

I'm actually attending a course titled "60 Tools in 60 Minutes" that is giving Web 2.0 tools to attendees. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they are going to present. The class doesn't start for anothe 10 minutes, and we already have people standing in the back!

I'm thinking I may submit a similar course for next year, but have it focus on Web 2.0 tools that aid in differentiation.

Folks, I may be a Confratuter yet.