This summer, the Leading Schools Summit returned for its fourth year in Utah, bringing together 70 school administrators from all across the state together. Hosted at the Canyons School District and Adobe headquarters, this three-day event was focused on empowering school leaders and giving them the tools to lead student-centered Project-Based Competency Learning (PCBL) initiatives in their schools.  John Spencer was the keynote for the event and offered participants a lot to think about as he inspired them to think about our students' learning experiences. 

Being a tourist in a foreign place is exciting! Instead of having our heads buried in our phones, we are constantly looking around, taking in the sights and sounds, and immersing ourselves in the culture. Our minds become curious, and we are full of wonder and anticipation as we make sense of the things that are around us. My recent trip to Porto Portugal, not only allowed me to experience this beautiful city but also brought me back home with inspiration that I hope to be able to share with others.  During the trip, our delegation had the opportunity to visit two schools;  Colégio Santa Eulália (birth through 6th grade plus a retirement community) and Colégio Alfacoop (PreK-12 grade).

 Here are my takeaways from these school visits. 

Lifelong learners face many challenges, there is always more to learn and rarely enough “time and space” to do so. As a provider of professional learning, I find that it is easy to put my head down and immerse myself in designing and facilitating learning, building partnerships, and developing plans to sustain positive movement alongside school and district leaders. Taking a step back each year to pause, reflect, and set a course for my personal and professional growth is an essential strategy to mitigate time slipping away as I focus on designing learning experiences for others. Successfully implementing this strategy of stepping back requires intention, which is why in late August at Leading EDge, while schools are kicking off first days and getting to know new staff and students, we retreat to an offsite location to reflect and focus.  From this retreat, we walk away with goals for Leading EDge Learning as an organization and professional learning goals for emerging research in the world of education to ensure that we can serve our partners with the most up to date, evidence based practices. This year we added stretch goals that would push us beyond our routine learning opportunities, which included expanding our learning to explore international successes and seeking out emerging practices for learning and development from non-education sectors.