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"We've all been there. Those meetings that drag on, and on, and on. Seemingly pointless meetings that, while they may have had a purpose, it got lost in the message. Many meetings are just information transfer. What are the dates for training for administering the next state exam? Who is going on the field trip? Remember to walk your kids to the cafeteria. But think about if that hour/90 mins/half day was spend on meaningful, embeded professional development that was participant driven? We complain we don't have the time for that really good PD. Why? Because we are meeting all the time. So instead, lets flip it. Let's front load with all the basic information we all need, freeing up that faculty meeting time for more learning, PLCs, sharing, etc. But what can you use to share the information. You need something easy. Something that won't take a whole lot of time. But will communicate what you need it to."

"Why? I am an educator, and I love to learn. Like most of us, I read hundreds of articles and blogs every month, go to dozens of PD sessions, and gaggles of meetings and presentations--an education geek to say the least. However, you do not have my (nor many of my colleagues, I would guess) full attention at a meeting or presentation if: you are minimally prepared (and we can tell) you are reading from a Powerpoint you are giving me information that I could have read in an email or a memo you are lecturing for more than 3-5 minutes at a time you are not maximizing the number of interactions that I can have in the room, either with you, my peers, the material that we are working with If you aren't doing some, many or all of these things (depending on the context) I have a great smartphone, and I am going to be checking my email, looking at my Google Reader, having a peek at a chat on Twitter, looking at my calendar to see what else I have on the go, checking the weather....on and on and on. And I am an education geek who wants to learn from you."

For six years, I taught in a basement classroom with no windows, and yet I could see what was happening around the world thanks to the Internet. Though I tried learning something new each day, until I put systems in place, I spent more time searching for materials than actually learning. I realized that to effectively engage in professional learning, I needed tools in place to curate content, save what I found, and connect to other educators.