The Start of School

104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it.  -- Phineas and Ferb, Disney

It is crazy to think that this first day was my 28th (as student and educator) and will be my dad's 55th (I think, you can scold me if I am wrong).  I am very excited to get the year started; faculty had their first official days back last week; Freshmen Orientation was Friday; and our whole high school was  filled today.  I hope that I can continue to have the same passion, drive, and excitement that my father has continued to exhibit in his 30 plus years in education. 

I am excited about about the future of education and I am constantly thinking about the possibilities.  Eric Sheninger shared a video called the Voice of the Active Learner on his blog: http://esheninger.blogspot.com/2012/08/voice-of-active-learner.html (check it out).  This video really captured one of the things that has been weighing heavily on my mind this summer; and that one thing is providing a world class education to a generation of students that "pack a smart phone" and has choices on how/when to learn.  How do we take the best of what we do in education and leverage technology to individualize education, as well as providing the opportunity for national and global collaboration, while upping the level of rigor and promoting creativity?  I shared the video with our faculty to promote a discussion and to get all of us thinking, developing and implementing new strategies and ideas into lesson plans. As always, I believe a balanced approach is critical to what we do.  

Whether you have had your first day or you will shortly, have a great start to the school year! As Phineas states, "We've got fun to make." 

Cheers,

Aaron