As I walked into the front doors of SLA Thursday afternoon, I had a sense of coming home. Granted the visit was only my second, having attended Educon  two years ago.

The comfort came from walking into a world where people believe as I about teaching and learning.

Carey, Deb, and I spent Thursday afternoon visiting classes, and once again I was given hope that given the right circumstances and the right vision, great learning can happen in a bricks and mortar institution. My tendency these days is to work online. I believe the future of education will be a mix of face to face and online sharing and collaboration–and at SLA it works.

But watching these SLA students shine makes me realize how powerful leadership is in an institution in providing guidance, vision, inspiration, support, and love. Principal Chris Lehmann and his staff seem to do it all.

Listen to one of the students talk:

SLA 1 from Susan Carter Morgan on Vimeo.

Other highlights of the weekend:

• meeting most of my Twitter friends (though I am so bad with faces and kind of an introvert. I had to see @sarahhanawald TWICE before I realized it was, indeed, Sarah. Yay!!) and seeing old friends with whom I share so much in common
• listening to Leif Gustavson lead us in a discussion about collaborative writing and the thorny issues of copyright. (I have SO changed my views.)
• working in a small group with @courosa and @benhazzard as we tackled “big questions.” Thanks for helping plan my next month’s lesson!
• participating in @dlaufenberg’s solid session on school vs real life
• finally meeting @jennyluca from Australia (you are so funny!)
• the independent school dinner where many of us connected face to face for the first time
• and, of course, laughing w/ @capohanda, @dgarcia, and @mcarls

So  many ideas floating around in my head. Too many to list here. I am leaving much out.

A huge thank you to the SLA faculty, @chrislehmann and @dlaufenberg and all the students and parents. Well done. My brain is full.