21C - the third year

Yesterday we talked about what the third year of 21C should be like. My vision is as follows: because most of us are burned out on theory, I think that we should have fewer theoretical discussions and mix back in some technology during first semester. I would bet that the district tech team would be happy to come in and make some presentations to us because we have been a group that really goes back to classrooms and works with the new technology with students. This is not to say that we should get rid of theoretical discussions - it is just to say that if, say, we do read a minimal number of chapters from the DuFour book and create mission, vision and values statements, we should really only discuss other theoretical topics when one of the 16 of us finds something that he or she thinks everyone might find useful to discuss.

As I mentioned in the group discussion, I think that the best way to go second semester would be to get into small brainstorming groups of 2-3 people and think of ways to spread the 21C discussion farther. For example, I would be interested in gathering together the 4-5 most influential articles / ideas and technologies that I have been exposed to in 21C, and create a proposal to be a Karl-type of figure during the 2008-2009 school year for a small group of interested teachers at AHS or LPS in general who are interested in what 21C is all about, but were not able to get involved with 21C. In other words, I see 21C as an ultimately useful experience IF the ideas and technologies to which we were exposed have the chance to impact teachers outside the 21C group.

What are some other visions for the third year of 21C?