The Leadership Team had previously discussed 2 new imaginings of the ISI, and is still hammering out ideas, dates and locations for the upcoming event. This year's ISI will be shorter than previous years (2 1/2 weeks long). It will still be offered for college credit. The ISI could also include a mixture of new peeps and fellows from previous ISIs. A committee will be meeting later this month to begin planning for the ISI. Let's prototype!

Afghanistan:

Jeff made a pitch in December, and is currently waiting for a response.

Writing Retreat:

This year, the retreat will be held at the O'Fallon Public Library on June 6 & 7 (9:15-3:00) and June 8 (9:15-1:00). It will be open to fellows of previous ISIs. The option of opening the event to others outside of ISI fellows, as well as possible sources of funding that focus on "connected learning" was also discussed. How can public libraries become learning and innovation hubs?

Stanford/Finland:

Patti, Ann & Ralph presented and networked at Standford. The Colab is interested in harvesting partnerships with educators in Finland. Finland is currently in the top of the rankings in education, and The Colab would love share information on creating a community of collaborators with our foreign friends!

Renewals:

Six people attended the renewal in December, and approximately twenty fellows attended the summer renewal. Valerie M. (Go 2010 ISI!) will be hosting the next renewal. The option of holding renewals after school at different local schools was discussed. Other issues addressed included the option of inviting other WP sites to renewals, offering CPDUs for attendance, and focusing on the CCSS at the renewals.

Articles:

One article written by Ralph is currently undergoing blind review by the NCTE. Another article written by Ralph with Mike M. has been accepted for publication. Ralph is also has a presentation on the ethnography work done at Belleville in the works.