Teacher Learning Communities at the DSC National Conference

At the end of June DSC hosted its first National Conference in Chicago, IL. It was exhilarating to be around so many thoughtful educators. I had the opportunity to keynote a general session on the importance of creating powerful learning communities for teachers. In my talk I made the following points:

• Innovation does not happen when people work alone. Ideas grow through collaboration, commitment, community, and action.
• Teachers are not born “good teachers.” Teachers become experts through hard work, collaboration, and practice.
• If we want our schools to be places where innovation and excellence occur regularly we need to establish a teacher community committed to ongoing learning, collaboration, practice, feedback, and community.

My colleagues at DSC worked hard to make this conference unique, innovative, collaborative, and forward thinking. We raised the key issue of what matters most in the new age of the Common Core State Standards. I encourage those of you who attended to share your experiences below. It was great learning with you.

If you want to check out my talk you can see it here: