Twitter, spontaneous visits and an invitation
A few days ago, I saw this this message pop up on twitter:
I instantly realized that one of the education heroes, Grant Lichtman, was only a hour away from my school. So I sent him a direct message to see if he had some time to drop down for a visit. He did, and he made it to campus in time to see out school meeting, and we then got to spend an afternoon together chatting about the future of education.
Grant was kind enough to write up his reflections from his visit to my school in this post: authentic community reelection at an unscheduled stop.
I’ve never met Grant in person–I’ve exchanged a few tweets with him, watched a few video interviews he did with another close friend, Bo Adams, and read his blog regularly. But I didn’t think twice about inviting him to campus, and when he arrived, it was like a reunion of two people who knew each other well. We had places and people in common to discuss, we were both well aware of what the other was doing and we were able to take our discussion to a fairly deep level very quickly. Grant also re-introduced me to an outstanding idea he’s developed, the Tao of Innovation:
The calm centers of tradition, reflection, slowing down, and understanding our center in the moment have to exist at the exact same time as we rapidly ideate, pilot, and innovate.
I’m so thankful that I saw Grant’s tweet this past Thursday morning and that he took the time out to visit me. It makes me want to want to do this more often.
Which brings me to the invitation. Surely some of my readers are close by, and might be interested in stopping by to see what life is like at a boarding school in Delaware; we are 20 minutes away from I-95, and an easy drive from Washington DC or Philadelphia. So if you’re nearby and up for a visit, please let me know. Likewise, if you’re nearby and interested in having me come to visit (I’m still looking for ways to productively use my Tuesdays off), I would love to talk about planning a visit to your school as well.
Quantum Progress 
I am glad we connected, but I don’t think I am anyone’s hero, except maybe the treasurer of Comfort Inn!
Thanks for posting this. It has inspired me to make a similar connection with a teacher nearby!
John – did you mean to type, ‘one of *my* education heroes’?
Nope. I think Grant is an education hero. He’s written a profound book on education,The Falconer, he’s led a school through great change, and now he’s touring the nation sharing many of the innovative things taking places at schools all around us.
Well, that depends on how one values the particular ‘innovation’ one is talking about.
Behold the power of Twitter. By reading “Authentic Community Reflection At An Unscheduled Stop,” one might draw that you have quite the effective academic arena there at St. Andrew’s Episcopal. While I live much too far for a a visit to your school, your article has inspired me to make my own random visit to a school stooped in tradition, yet oozing with academic freedom (as I am college student/aspiring educator). Thank you for your post!