Many – maybe all – schools send teachers to conferences. This practice seems important (otherwise, why do we do it, right?). It’s like collecting pollen for the hive. Curious, ambitious teachers venture out to conferences – ASCD, Learning Forward, NAIS, EduCon, SXSWedu, Solution Tree, etc. – to learn and grow. To collect pollen for the hive.

How does your school work to transform that collected pollen into honey? How do you set up and maintain your “honey production system?” How’s your honeycomb?

Do the teachers …

• Tweet tidbits of learning and links to resources gathered during the conference experience?
• Storify the highlights from multiple Twitter accounts active during the event?
• Share blog posts about what they learned?
• Create a podcast or short summary video to distribute like a radio or TV show back at the hive?
• Teach demonstration lessons based on what was learned and invite others to observe?
• “Dance” in order to share with the other bees where the best pollen is so that more can go to the same source and collect more?
• Present at a faculty meeting or facilitate a workshop to spread the new knowledge and knowhow acquired?
• Work in PLCs (professional learning communities) to transform the collected pollen into honey practices across the school?

Or does considerable pollen remain unused or underutilized once the resource is returned to the hive?

How’s your honeycomb? How are you making that honey for the nourishment of the full faculty, student body, parents, and others?

Many schools have extraordinary practices for making honey, and many teachers share the collected pollen purposefully and proactively. To do otherwise would be a terrible waste of resources and opportunity.

[Cross-posted to Connected Principals on Dec. 30, 2012]