Shirley Grover, principal of the School of the Future, refers to herself as the "Chief Learner" of the school, and as I progress through this year in my own development and as I talk to prospective teachers for SLA, I’m realizing what a powerful notion that is. Much of blogging, for me, is reflective practice of thinking out loud about what I’m learning. And of course, since blogging tends to go hand-in-hand with reading blogs, I learn a ton from the people I read.

I just took the on-line test that goes with Now Discover Your Strengths and three of my top five strengths all dealt with learning. (My five, for the record, were "Strategic, Input, Learning, Ideation and Woo.") And it’s funny, because I don’t really think of myself as a student — really more of an activist than an academic — but it’s true that I love ideas. And I love figuring out what I can learn from other people. I think it was what made me an effective teacher — the kids really did feel that I enjoyed learning from them, and sharing the stuff I was constantly learning.

And as I talk to teachers who are applying for these founding positions, I find myself really being drawn into the conversations that center around how these professionals learn. Who do they read… what is their process… and how does they think that process will affect their students… their colleagues… the school?

I think if we have a building full of people, students and teachers, who can’t wait to share what they are learning, we’ll be well on the way to success.