#21CLHK11 Takeaways -- Standing on the Shoulders of Giants Part 1: David Lee

Back in my days at KIS, I worked with an amazing team of coaches. It has been, and will continue to be, the high water mark of my coaching career. I've written about "the boys" before, so I really don't want to get into that whole story in this post, because this post is about one member of the team -- David Lee (@davidleeedtech). If you don't know David, you really should. He is a super kind, humble, and amazing educator. He is the sort of person who makes you want to be a better person. We don't see each other often, so at #21CLHK11, he tweeted me asking me where I was. To be honest, I needed a short break and I was at my hotel room just getting some rest, but hearing from David re-energized me. I got up and dashed over to the conference again. As I was walking, I spotted David sitting by myself and doing some work. It was great to catch up with him and hear how he is enjoying and adjusting to his new role at SAS. I'm a little jealous because he is working with Ben Summerton (@bensummerton) again, but I'm super happy for him and to know that part of the band is back together. And David is a

big deal in EdTech, but he is so humble and genuinely down to earth about the whole thing. As soon as he saw me, he gave me a copy of his book. Of course, me, being me, gave him a hard time about it because it wasn't signed. He smiled and laughed and then went ahead and signed it. But look at what he wrote to me... And the thing is I never felt like I did enough for the guy and I have always felt like I'm the one that grew from our relationship and work together. I felt like he was my mentor and I learned so much about working with elementary students from him. So David, if you read this, thank you! Thank you for including me in your PLN. You are a rock star, buddy. I miss working with you. But one big takeaway for me from the whole #21CLHK11 conference is the affirmation of PLNs. This whole community of people mentoring each other and collaborating with each other. It has the power to transform, gang. It really does.

It is really easy to look at the world we are in right now and feel a little depressed. I still believe that social media can help us change the world. Sure, it has problems, but the upside is also really great. We just need to focus on the good stuff -- real human interactions and engagement with each other as educators. We need to continue sharing and collaborating whether it is face-to-face or online. Stay strong, support each other, and we can make things better. And by the way, Carlos (@clos_gm), did you like how I worked my #PubPDAsia swag into that photo of David's book? Blogging skill +10.