Thursday, February 7, 2008

Re: moving forward

Curt, Marti, and the rest of the ISED list--

I've been part of this list since pretty close to the beginning, and as
our school and my role in it have undergone transitions, the ISED group
has been my community. From this community I have gained ideas, support,
and advise, and I have tried to acknowledge this whenever I could. There
are days when the ISED list has felt like a lifeline.

To a degree any listserv of this nature is bound to be a place where a
certain amount of sensitive information is at least implied. How many
queries or threads have been sparked by a snafu or some vexing problem at
a particular school--only to find that others have faced the same issue?
Many of us have opinions, and at times I have probably been intemperate
about sharing some of mine on this list. But I think that for the most
part we all know where the lines are, and how to stay within them
regarding what we say here.

But I've been aware from the beginning that the internet is an open book
to the world, and whether our conversations take place by list, blog, RSS,
social networking site, or even when a print piece is unexpectedly
uploaded somewhere, they're pretty much available to everyone from my
bosses (and yours) to my students' families (and yours). That's the way it
is. Some things are harder to find than others, that's all.

This last flurry of posts regarding the blogging of ISED has actually been
pretty entertaining and enlightening, in the usual way of ISED content,
with sage commentary and a broad and thoughtful presentation of many
positions. I'd personally like to thank all the participants--happy,
neutral, and unhappy--as well as to once again take the opportunity to
thank Curt and Marti for doing an extraordinary job providing an
extraordinary resource.

Go, ISED!

Peter Gow, Director of College Counseling and Special Programs
Beaver Country Day School
791 Hammond Street
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
www.bcdschool.org
Tel. 617-738-2755
FAX 617-738-2701
Webmaster: www.IndependentEducator.org

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