Week 11: November 3 - 7, 2008

Upcoming Events:
Nov. 4 -- Election Day!
Nov. 5 -- Leadership Team Meeting; 7:30; Room 103
Nov. 6 -- Job Fair, 5th Hour, Modis Gym
Nov. 7 -- FACS Staff Lunch, Room 103
Nov. 7 -- Fall Play "Sweeney Todd", 7:00p.m., Auditorium

WEEK ELEVEN IN REVIEW:
Invigoration is easy to notice once it happens, but to notice the actual moment of inception requires a very sensitive palate. I think my revitalization started on Sunday with the end of Daylight Savings Time. That extra hour of sleep just does a super-psycho number on my brain, and I feel empowered to accomplish great things after stealing an extra hour of snooze time.

An Historical, Invigorating Moment
And as CNN, Fox, and the networks each celebrated Obama's status as President-Elect, I sat alone in a hotel room in Omaha, Nebraska. I started my day with a meeting with the superintendent and significant others discussing the Benton School Profile to be delivered at the School Board Meeting on November 11th. The energy of the meeting was contagious as our supreme instructional leader listened to our thoughts and ideas patiently and with deep, rigorous questions and reflection. The excitement of the future of Benton 2.0 was given a powershot that only an approving nod from the head honcho can award.

I left that meeting full of joy and drove two hours north to meet Nash and Rusty Schneeflock. They were already one hour into experiencing a most invigorating Apple 1 to 1 professional development event at Westside High School in Omaha. The learning I gained from that institute galvanized me even further in my quest to revitalize pedagogy and learning at Benton -- it's just NOT about the stuff (laptops) -- the change (and our hope for change) is about what you DO WITH THE STUFF!

And so, after spending an hour or more on iChat (I am still amazed that we live in the day and age when one can talk and see the person we are talking to "in the live") with Kurt (F16Pilot), we logged off as the networks called the victory for the man who brings so much invigorating energy to our country. It was not all that hard to reflect about what this means to our future; the power of hope is beyond measure. I tweeted to my followers as my soul was touched by the moment and power of the moment. Sean would say it was my true blue self coming through. Orange-ya glad I didn't know better! Exhilaration in collective wisdom -- that's what history is all about.