I am currently away on school business, writing this post in a hotel room in Cupertino. Some of you may recognize Cupertino as the home of Apple Incorporated, the world's leader in innovation. Our school was invited to an Executive Briefing at the Infinite Loop location, an important step along the way to becoming an Apple Distinguished School. There are well over a hundred thousand schools in the United States alone, tens of millions in the world serving a population of billions. The number of Apple Distinguished schools number around 300. It's pretty exclusive company, and the surest mark of excellence for schools not only in technology, but in education.
For Apple, the conversation doesn't begin with technology. In fact, we spent most of our day talking about learning and pedagogy. Many of the key players in this program are veteran educators recruited by Apple to instigate critical conversations on the leading edge of education and its interface with technology. We are, to quote one of these educators, fighting two hundred years of muscle memory when it comes to educational initiatives. Apple, with more than thirty years of experience in educational innovation, understands that the crucial conversations begin with talking about learning. The technology is not an end in its own right; it helps kids do amazing things as they conceive them.
Beyond the obvious benefits to reputation that such a partnership may provide, our burgeoning relationship with Apple is a litmus test as to where we stand relative to the finest and most forward thinking schools in the world. We are asked to consider our leadership approaches, our philosophy of education and commitment to research-affirmed best practices, our commitment to continuous professional development, our strategic vision for learning spaces, and our metrics for measuring success. We were asked directly where we think we are relative to these measures, and I am happy to report we are well on our way.
Apple's teams take a design approach that stress working problems, new and old, thoroughly, conceptually, before arriving at a solution. It is no coincidence that they also promote an inquiry-based vision for learning that directly challenges traditional approaches to teaching and assessment. We will have to earn the right to be an Apple Distinguished School. We are in the conversation because of all that we have been doing to reshape education at our school, and because of the hope, theirs and ours, that by example and thru our Summer Institutes, we can change the shape and trajectory of education for all of Puerto Rico.
Channeling Apple, we are asking our students, teachers, and parents to "Think Differently" - about learning, about assessment, about school. Every meaningful shift in our world has occurred when someone dared to challenge the status quo, to turn the conversation on its head, to be subversive in the face of orthodoxy and tradition, to look on old problems with new eyes. Thinking differently can be scary and bumpy on the front end, but based on what we've seen here in Cupertino and back home in our classrooms, the payoff is worth it.
I hope to see you all this Saturday at our Night @ Oktoberfest fundraiser in support of the Innovation Center, another important step in our development as a school.
For Apple, the conversation doesn't begin with technology. In fact, we spent most of our day talking about learning and pedagogy. Many of the key players in this program are veteran educators recruited by Apple to instigate critical conversations on the leading edge of education and its interface with technology. We are, to quote one of these educators, fighting two hundred years of muscle memory when it comes to educational initiatives. Apple, with more than thirty years of experience in educational innovation, understands that the crucial conversations begin with talking about learning. The technology is not an end in its own right; it helps kids do amazing things as they conceive them.
Beyond the obvious benefits to reputation that such a partnership may provide, our burgeoning relationship with Apple is a litmus test as to where we stand relative to the finest and most forward thinking schools in the world. We are asked to consider our leadership approaches, our philosophy of education and commitment to research-affirmed best practices, our commitment to continuous professional development, our strategic vision for learning spaces, and our metrics for measuring success. We were asked directly where we think we are relative to these measures, and I am happy to report we are well on our way.
Apple's teams take a design approach that stress working problems, new and old, thoroughly, conceptually, before arriving at a solution. It is no coincidence that they also promote an inquiry-based vision for learning that directly challenges traditional approaches to teaching and assessment. We will have to earn the right to be an Apple Distinguished School. We are in the conversation because of all that we have been doing to reshape education at our school, and because of the hope, theirs and ours, that by example and thru our Summer Institutes, we can change the shape and trajectory of education for all of Puerto Rico.
Channeling Apple, we are asking our students, teachers, and parents to "Think Differently" - about learning, about assessment, about school. Every meaningful shift in our world has occurred when someone dared to challenge the status quo, to turn the conversation on its head, to be subversive in the face of orthodoxy and tradition, to look on old problems with new eyes. Thinking differently can be scary and bumpy on the front end, but based on what we've seen here in Cupertino and back home in our classrooms, the payoff is worth it.
I hope to see you all this Saturday at our Night @ Oktoberfest fundraiser in support of the Innovation Center, another important step in our development as a school.