K12 Online PD Committee – A note from the Chair
Terry Freedman gives us a glimpse behind the scenes”¦
If you’re reading this, then obviously you have heard of the K12 Online Conference. Perhaps you have even “attended” some or all of the sessions. And maybe, just maybe, you took advantage of the self-reflection rubric. You may even be on your way to gaining some credit, if your school district has “signed up”.
As you can imagine, that “simple” rubric involved a great deal of effort. Bearing in mind that the Professional Development Committee and those willing to help were all over the place, geographically speaking, it’s a minor miracle in itself that we actually managed to meet online on a regular basis.
What is quite tragic, in a humorous sort of way, is that despite the fact that all of us have goodness knows how many degrees between us, working out the time in different time zones was quite a challenge! But we got through, by and large, without a hitch.
What I enjoyed the most about Chairing the committee was being able to be in the presence of, and bounce ideas off, so many great thinkers.
Now, before you mutter to yourself that I must be overstating the case, please bear in mind that I am a Brit, and we Brits don’t like to overstate anything. An excellent example of what has become known as “typical English understatement” was a scene in a film made in the 1950s (I forget the name), in which the Foreign Secretary has just been informed that the Soviets have launched nuclear missiles at Great Britain. Completely unruffled, he picks up the phone and says, “Ah, Prime Minister. There’s something I think you ought to know.”
So, for their insights, commitment, and incredible fund of knowledge and skills, I should like to thank the following members of the PD Committee:
* Jim Lerman – lermanj [at] gmail [dot] com
* Miguel Guhlin – mguhlin [at] gmail [dot] com
* Cindy Lane – lane.cindy [at] gmail [dot] com
Assisting Volunteers:
* Scott Mcleod – mcleod [at] iastate [dot] edu
* Derek Baird – baird [at] yahoo-inc [dot] com
* Brian Grenier – brgrenie [at] episd [dot] org
* Jeff Utech – thinkingstick [at] gmail [dot] com
* And last, but certainly not least, Jamey Osborne, who created the Reflections database.
Also, of course, I should like to thank Wes Fryer for inviting me to chair the committee, Shery Nussbaum-Beach for recommending me.
I hope I shall have the opportunity of working with these fine people again, in the not-too-distant future.
In the meantime, please do make use of the rubric and tweak it to your heart’s content.