Monday, January 25, 2010


Be Part of the Education Transformation Proclamation!

With the “roll out” of our 1:1 laptop program last August, and bringing our Virtual Reality system “on line”, the rate of change for teaching and learning at Van Meter is accelerating exponentially. Our thinking has forever been changed. We are now connecting and networking in the classroom, with the other schools not only in Iowa, but nationally and globally as well. We have had over 130 visitors “come to see” and more are on the way. This is an exciting time!

#vanmeter goes to the State Capital!

Iowa State Senator Brian Schoenjahn, co-chair of the joint House/Senate Education Appropriation Committee, has invited Van Meter and Superintendent Allen Nelson from Clayton Ridge Community Schools (IA), to give testimony before the entire committee. The focus will be on “educational transformation.” Iowa Legislators truly care about Iowa youth however many are “digital immigrants.” Our mission is to show them the connectedness of learning and give them a glimpse of what could be (or perhaps of what is).

Be a part of the presentation!

We are scheduled for THURSDAY, January 28 with testimony beginning at 10:00 am Iowa time. (That is 11:00 am New Jersey time and 8:00 am California time) Our plan is for the presentation be interactive, with Twitter “shout outs” being displayed, video streaming and a “back channel.” We want to include as many people as possible and are hoping for 500+ tweets! The ThinkLeadServe Wiki has been created and we invite you to post ideas and artifacts. The intent is that the ThinkLeadServe Wiki will give committee members and their staff a starting point for carrying the conversation forward into action!

What is our core message: We need to transform education!

We have before us an opportunity to rethink and redesign teaching and learning. Leadership and dialogue need be established so as to build consensus and direction for education in Iowa. Our current educational structure has served us well for 100 years, but the World has changed. It is crucial to our State, and to our Nation, that a new educational system emerge so as to empower our youth to THINK, LEAD, and SERVE.

Please join us on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:00 am (CST).

We would like our network of friends to contribute to the conversation. There are two ways you can participate:

  • just use the hashtag #vanmeter to contribute and follow the conversation or
  • be a part of the conversation on the coveritlive link on this page
We appreciate your help and we look forward to hundreds of people contributing to our efforts to transform the educational system. See you Thursday!


If you have any questions contact @johnccarver, @shannonmmiller, @derondurflinger via twitter or email us at john.carver@vmbulldogs.com, shannon.miller@vmbulldogs.com, or deron.durflinger@vmbulldogs.com


3 comments:

  1. Thank you for the opportunity to follow it live and to comment using twitter. Should be a great experience and we can certainly make an impact if we can get our networks to contribute and follow. Am looking forward to it and the legislature's reaction.

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  2. I have not posted before and I am not sure if I am doing this correctly. Does every post get posted? I guess this can serve as a test to see if I am doing it right. Please let me know the specific steps to be able to post if this is not accurate.

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  3. I liked the "Poll" that you setup to get the students input, however, I would like to know how the adults gain access to complete the poll as we don't have bulldog accounts. We also know the kids scheudles for sports, dance, music lessons for Saturdays, and travel for for spring break and summer.

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