Glad this makes sense to both of you. I'm still thinking about all the discussions on Monday. Next I'm going to figure out the relationship between standards and competencies. That's a critical roadblock right now.

Thanks for your comments, Jason. I so appreciate your responsiveness. This kind of open dialog is rare in other states, so I want to be sure to acknowledge how much I value it. I do think we are coming to the table with different constructs of transformation. My bias is for that which fundamentally changes the way students experience learning. That is a view that probably limits my ability to appreciate significant changes in others areas of the education ecosystem. As with all perspective, mine is a product of the world in which I live. I am fortunate to be working in a district that is doing much right. I can concede that my definition of transformation is narrow. CBE aside, I will always long for a way to speed up the process of testing, studying and sharing new ideas in education. I just don't have the patience to sit back and wait for traditional methods. My kids (and too many other people's kids) are growing up too fast for that. I'll clarify my frustration with the CBE work - and perhaps it's as simple as a mismatch between words and actions. The words I constantly hear are words of hesitancy because CBE is not currently developed in a way that is evidence based or scalable and replicable with validity -- and that the DE's focus has to be on those things which are evidence based, scalable and replicable. I get that. I even agree -- even though I wish I didn't. Your list of DE actions that support CBE are valid and important. Maybe the solution is simply in squaring the words and the actions by framing the purpose and role of the CBE work outside of the scope of the calibrated cannonballs. I'll be blunt about my comments on standards and evaluation -- I probably should have been from the beginning. I have no problem with you making a judgment call among INTASC, the old 8 and 42, or some iteration in the middle, but you're not going to be here forever. I just don't want something as foundational as standards and evaluation in a position to change on one person's whim. There has to be a way to get past the immediate hurdle and protect checks and balances into the future - maybe it's there and I just missed it. I recognize the immediate importance of securing an NCLB waiver and support the necessary means to that end until we can what we really need, which is ESEA reauthorization. Again, thanks for the dialog. I know we are both committed to the same core mission, and I stand ready to support the right work for kids in whatever ways I can.

Hey Russ :) I'm 3:1 for all kinds of different reasons, but probably first and foremost because of mobility. I use my phone more than any other device because it's super mobile. Honestly, my laptop is mainly used for consumption in a typical day, but of course, I'm writing this post with it now ;) I leave it open on my desk and watch Twitter and FB feeds scroll by--the larger screen size makes that easier. I mean, I currently have 9 windows in one browser and 2 windows in another browser open, as well as 3 apps. I do much on my work on my iPad that's sitting next to my laptop. I did imply that I think the workforce is moving in the direction of tablets--and it's completely fair to call me on that. And now I have to say that I threw that in there because I was countering a point made to me ad nauseum. Probably a little Don Quixote of me, I suppose. I really don't care what tools students will use in the workforce. That has nothing to do with our goals here. We're just trying to provide as many tools for learning and work to our students and teachers as we can. We did choose to pick a device--probably for all kinds of reasons related more to adults (parents and staff) than anything. Thanks for always making me think :)

Jacob, your points are well taken. I'm not easily offended ;) You are absolutely right in your statements that it's not necessarily the great teachers who became administrators and that many master teachers are still in classrooms. No doubt. The point I wanted to make was that there should be advancement options for teachers who want to remain teachers. Thanks for the feedback!

Great thoughts, Trace! Thanks for responding. I agree that Twitter's social network has connected us in previously unimaginable ways. I'm slowly meeting my PLN, one at a time. Hopefully we'll get to meet face-to-face soon too.