Conference of State Administrators

Last week, I won a scholarship to attend a two-day retreat/conference, attended by administrators and superintendents of every school district in our state.  It was an exciting experience for a number reasons.  One, since entering public education, I'd never participated in anything like a "business trip," the kind that was routine for me when I worked in international marketing eons ago.  And two, I felt special standing among the "giants" in my state.  Here are my high level notes from the conference:

• There is a whole universe of relationships in public education beyond the district level.
• You can choose to have a vibrant, impactful life in public education, beyond retirement if you so choose.
• The socio-political realm of public education is much larger than what I had previously known.  This gives me an additional context from which to view the role of central office administrators.
• The superintendents' panel discussion caused me to reflect on how quickly a bank of goodwill (e.g. with the public) can erode.  Leaders should seek to strengthen their base of power at all times. 
• Once you've identified an excellent teacher, how do you recognize/leverage him or her in a way that is politically acceptable to a staff? 
• "The Implementation Gap":  We know what to do, but we just don't do it.  In loose relation to that, how do we encourage teachers (or administrators) to practice new skills, in the way that, say, athletes do? 
• PLC's are what everyone is talking about--I wasn't fully aware of the extent to which this is true.