Get by with a little help from my fellows

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers”
Henry V, Act 4, Scene 3

No man is an Island. My final lesson learned from my CA trip revolves around the people pictured above.

The transition to Personalized Learning is not possible as one educator. Simply you can’t do it alone. We all need the support of smart, creative and resourceful individuals. We need people who are actively involved in similar work.

We don’t need to be surrounded by “experts”, though talking with them is useful. We need people with whom we feel comfortable in order to bounce ideas off each other. We need people who we can learn from, while contributing to their learning.

As such the best thing about my week in California was not the food (thanks Lauren Bryant), or the weather, or the amazing product demonstrations. No, the best thing was really getting to know and collaborate with the other 2014 Education Innovation Fellows.

I felt humbled on a daily basis by their dedication, intelligence and insight. We contributed immensely to each others learning, working together to probe, discuss and consider all of the schools, products and speakers we experienced. We worked completely as a team and have developed an honesty essential in a learning community.

Getting to know this group of people convinced me of the prospect of Disruptive Innovation and Blended or Personalized Learning more than any book or study. They demonstrated to me that there are educators with the ideas, the drive and the ability to put this model in action. They will drive the change in their schools influencing their buildings in the process. As this wave of innovation grows it will slowly, but surely, destabilize the old model.

But this whole theory relies on people of such amazing caliber and their being given trust and respect. From that basis the ability to take risks grows allowing for a whole scale re-imagining of education. In this re-imagining, things will not flow simply from success to success and we must be ready to have fall back supports for those moments. Again a moment to rely on these people above.

So if you’re hoping to find a way to innovate your classroom and blend your children’s learning, my absolute number one piece of advice is get a group of people who can support you. Find people who are engaged, committed and smart educators so you can push each other through this process.