Saturday, June 21, 2008

The Benefits of Thinking Like a System

"Each year the farmer entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked. "Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn." He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves. So it is in other dimensions."

- James Bender, author of How to Talk Well, as cited in Conzemius & O'Neil (2002).

Conzemius, A., & O'Neill, J. (2002). The Handbook for SMART School Teams. Bloomington: Solution Tree.

What do you think about this story and how does it relate to your position as a leader in the school system?

Monday, June 9, 2008

Welcome eCoach members!

This blog will serve as a discussion place, in addition to the School Fusion message boards, for the 2008-2009 eCoach team. 

As an eCoach member, it is important that you are a lifelong learner. Not only should you use our training sessions to learn new ways to integrate technology in the classroom, but you should seek out new knowledge on your own to share with other members and the teachers at your school. Through this blog, we will discuss important issues in the integration of technology and meeting the needs of today's learners. 

Please find time to check out any readings members may cite. If you reference an article/book, please cite it so others can read it too.