Filling Your Bucket

January 6, 2025

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For 20 years now, I’ve attended the Learning Forward Annual Conference. With the exception of just a handful of times due to exigent circumstances, I have gone every year. It’s one of those times that fills my bucket–intellectually, socially, and, quite frankly, for my soul. This year’s conference in Denver was no exception.

Intellectual Learning

My pre-conference session was less-than-stellar, though this was the first time in those 20 years that my experience at a pre-conference session disappointed. Nonetheless, the learning from other sessions more than made up for that.

The session that I got the most from was from the incomparable Marcia Tate. You might most famously know her from her series of books along the lines of “Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites.” Her sessions are lively, focused, fast-paced, and full of practical approaches to improve learning. If I can emulate just a fraction of her excellence I’m doing good.

Just a few highlights of her session on “Sit and Get Won’t Grow Dendrites” included the use of story to engage, humor to uplift, movement to refresh, writing to focus, mnemonic devices to remember, and celebration to rally. And what I particularly loved about this session focused on adult learners is that every single element she highlighted is directly applicable to classrooms of young people.

Social Connections

sePresenting at a national conference is an honor, and I’ve been privileged to present with others at this conference close to 10 times (maybe more…I lose track!). This year, colleagues from the Williamsburg Community School District joined me in presenting on the topic of the development of leadership teams to lead improvement efforts of a school. Titled “Clarity Precedes Competence,” over 70 people joined us for the 2-hour session focused on the use of specific tools and processes to lead any initiative.

Watching the leaders of Williamsburg prepare to present reminded me of the proverb I’ve heard attributed to the Chinese: “When one teaches, two learn.” It was cool to see their own clarity evolve as they prepared to present their work to others. And the social connections we developed with each other in that preparation was a nice side-bonus. Particularly enjoyable was a night at a comedy club to just sit back and enjoy some much needed laughs.

Soulful Upliftment

Part of what makes the Learning Forward Annual Conference special is their effort to highlight those we most directly serve in schools each and every day: our students. Every plenary session begins with students performing, and this, to me, is truly one of the pinnacles of each conference. While it used to be that there were five plenaries over the course of the conference, and we therefore had five student groups, now there are only three. Still, the talent of our young people is truly remarkable, and their use of the arts to uplift and inspire touches my soul and fills that proverbial bucket every year.

A Whole-Person Experience

Not many experiences take into account all aspects of our personhood. The reason I continue to attend Learning Forward every year is because it does. If you haven’t already, make plans for Boston in early December! You won’t be disappointed.

Questions for Reflection

What fills your bucket?
How do you go about prioritizing this?
What steps might you need to take to ensure that your bucket gets filled regularly?

Rib review

Shiver’s BBQ in Homestead, Florida was a treat. My wife and I had a little vacation to the Keys at the end of the month, and decided to fly into Miami and drive down highway 1 to experience the full nature of the islands. So given that the Husker football bowl game (first time in 8 years!!) was on that driving day, we decided to find a place where we could enjoy both football and good food. While the ribs were okay, the side dishes took center stage. I don’t think I’ve ever had better greens, and their corn bread souffle was Ah-Maze-Ing! And, since our rule was that we would have key lime pie every day of the trip, we gave it a whirl. The crust was so-so, but the tart of the filling was the best of the trip.

Speaking of key lime pie, we had some good ones. However, the absolute best one that I’ve ever had was at a little out-of-the-way place called Croissants de France. The topping was meringue instead of whipped cream, and the crust had to have been made with caramelized butter. If there is such thing as a divine pie, this was it.

Filling Your Bucket