Change in Parent/Teacher Conferences and the future of education

Parent/Teacher Conferences

I want to start by talking about a change in the upcoming Parent/Teacher Conferences.  On the calendar, they are scheduled for Monday, October 30th, and Thursday, November 2nd.  We are going to change them to Thursday, October 26th and Thursday, November 2nd.  I'm sure you're wondering why the change is happening.  If you've been following our volleyball girls, they have been doing outstanding this season.  The post-season volleyball pairings and schedules have been released and we expect our girls to play well past the regular season.  With the pairings, there is a Regional Final Volleyball match scheduled for October 30th.  We've decided to move it now to give everyone plenty of time to adjust schedules and prepare as needed.  So, instead of conferences on Monday, October 30th, they will be changed to Thursday, October 26th at the same times.  Sorry for the inconvenience, but it is a great problem to have.  

Future of Education

On Tuesday of this week, the board met in a work session to outline some goals for the district.  One of the items that was discussed was the Vision for the future of the district.  Are we still preparing our students for the world that awaits them.  One of the things the board directed me to do was to update the district's vision statement.  Over the coming months, I will be holding meetings with community members, students, staff, and the board to review/revise the district's vision.  

In preparation for these meetings, I've been doing some reading on the future of work and how education can help with that.  Based on the number of articles I found, it's something a lot of people and groups are looking at.  Education Week has done a complete edition on this subject.  Here's an article from the issue I found particularly interesting.  The theme that keeps coming up over and over is that the world is quickly changing.  The pace of that change is increasing each year.  The Industrial Model of education that served us so well in the past, is becoming less relevant.  I will be addressing this topic on a regular basis in this blog.  Please be on the lookout for some meetings later this fall to discuss the district's vision and what it should look like today.  With all of the changes in our world, it's an exciting time to be alive.  We just need to make sure we are doing what's best in preparing our students for the world we are in.  

Here's a video to provide some information to think about.  In the end, it's an ad for a company, but it provides some good insight into educaton.  

Here's another video I've shared before that I feel is still relevant to this conversation.