The passion of 1 to 1 #i11i

by Dave Sparks

April 20, 2011

1 comment

I watched the fifth-graders in Public School 22’s choir from Staten Island, New York, inspire and move the crowd at this year’s Grammy Awards telecast. Did you see them? Incredible. At the time I tweeted “All it takes is one inspired and inspiring teacher.”

The choir’s performance that started with the passion and dream of a single teacher, supported by passionate leadership, came back to me last night as I was thinking about another group of passionate educators who are inspiring students to reach greater heights. This group is made up of educators in Iowa’s 1 to 1 laptop initiatives. Many are gathered in Des Moines today to learn and grow together at a sellout conference of 1,200 people.

The only evidence you need is to follow the conference Twitter hashtag, #i11i. The excitement and passion of these folks is palpable. Following the Twitter stream is almost like being at the conference.

What fuels this passion? It seems to me they know they are doing good work. They know they are making a difference. They know students are engaged, and that makes them even more committed, and that makes students even more eager to learn.

I’m admittedly no expert on passion, but I know it when I see it. From the classroom to Twitter streams, from conferences to private lives, I see passion in the 1 to 1 programs. There is excitement about teaching and learning in new ways that are not only exciting, but fun.

Passion is the secret ingredient of all successful school programs and is a key to school transformation. Let’s all get some passion.