A conferences with gluten-free cookies!!

It's been a few days since i've posted because i've been at a conference: the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS...yes, i know what it sounds like: giggle giggle) Leadership Conference.  i can't give you a spectacular reason why i'm at a leadership conference for independent schools spanning the Utah-Montana-Oregon-Washington region.  i guess i just really love my job, and i want to see my friends be able to keep loving their jobs too.  i want us to love what we do for a long time. 

My list of things i've been learning (even while soaking in the saltwater hot tub beneath blue-peach inky sunsets):

• There are people who have been teaching for a million years and they still laugh.  They have even started families, and they said that having kids actually helped them become more compassionate teachers.   I would call that a miracle: apparently miracles exist.

• People who teach 6th grade light up when they talk about how they teach ancient civilizations.  One of my favorite ideas so far has been for each student to design her own Utopia.  She puts her continent somewhere on the planet (after learning some key elements of geography).  She puts in mountains and rivers and decides the best place(s) for her society to settle, according to human environmental needs.  She invents language, religion, art, government (does she even want a democracy??), and economy for her Utopia, as she learns about them through an actual ancient civilization (Mike used Mesopotamia).  i love this idea as a way to really understand and apply concepts that make up a civilization. 

• TED.com

• Darin, Fleur and I want to re-institute Red Door Gatherings, where educators of all ilk get together for a drink and a chat once a month.  All those people who experience miracles that i mentioned above used to do it, and they smile wistfully when they talk about their friends and conversations that buzzed them up at Red Door Gatherings to keep doing amazing work. 

• Of course i've been learning tons of other things that in order to be retold need accurate percentage numbers, the correct causal links and factors, etc.  I'll keep you posted.

• I'm still a firm believer in relaxation.  g'night.