Reflections on the Aspen Institute 2015

Reflections on the Aspen Institute 2015

It's been a little over a week since the conclusion of the Aspen Institute that brought Aspen users to Providence, Rhode Island. The theme of this year's conference was "Unlock the Superhero Within: Saving the World One Student at a Time".

I love the theme, and the important message that it conveys. The message that we're all superheroes, and it really is our job to ensure that we protect our students and staff "one person at a time".

I think that's what attracted our district to using Aspen over five years ago. Of course it came down to the capabilities of the student information system, but it was more than it being a robust SIS. Aspen allowed us to customize the system so we could collect the data that we valued, and could tell our own story as a school district. Ultimately that meant that we could tell the individual stories of our students, and our staff. In today's education reform environment it's easy for policies to get created at the federal and state levels that have dire consequences for the students and adults that serve them at the local level. Aspen allows our district to collect thousands upon thousands of data points that we can then analyze. This analysis is crucial in determining our effectiveness as a district, as schools within the district, and as individuals within schools. I think that's what the theme was trying to get at, and I believe the vast array of presenters helped us move towards that understanding.

Krista Moroder, from Digital Promise, was the keynote. She did a great job framing the work ahead of us for the duration of the conference, and the foreseeable future. Krista talked about setting the stage for change in our schools. She discussed the importance of supporting not the leaders, but the early followers. This simple but important understanding will help us build momentum in our schools. The short video clip illustrates the importance of leaders supporting early followers.

Her words resonated with me when she said, and I'm paraphrasing here; "If you don't like something, go out and fix it!" Time and time again, Krista captured the essence of the conference with her keynote presentation. Her words helped set the stage for the next two days, and the work that would continue into the future.

It was inspirational to hear how districts all across the United States and Canada are using Aspen to "go out and fix it"! Participants shared how they use Aspen to solve problems in their district connected with teaching and learning. I wish we could have figured out a way to identify all of our superhero powers during the conference. Many of us engaged in conversations with our peers across districts, and we discovered the super powers they embody as superheros. Our work together will bring us closer to the promise of saving the world, one student at a time! I can't wait to see what the happens in our districts over the next few months!