This is the second summer in a row that I've been involved in a professional development project that has me traveling to schools throughout the United States to help teacher figure out how to use mobile devices more effectively in their content areas. The schools are partially chosen based on socio-economic factors and many of them are struggling academically. When the teachers start telling stories about their lives and those of their students, it can be downright depressing. It would be easy for them to despair, and yet, here they are, giving up precious summer vacation days to explore and reflect and learn, excited by the possibilities of engaging their students in ways they couldn't before and of providing them with the kind of access that other, more affluent schools might take for granted.

So, why am I am fighting cynicism? Because even as we cluster together in our learning community, the world outside seems so dysfunctional that it threatens to keep them from making anything of their opportunities. Whether it's the poor quality of the networks and the lack of technical support, the central administration that spews out new initiatives in the hopes that something will stick, the government official that somehow think high stakes testing and accountability can force schools mired in poverty and violence to work miracles even as funding is reduced…oh dear, can you see why I might get a bit cynical? And why I am amazed that the teachers can continue to not only show up every day but believe that if they work just a bit harder, they can help their students achieve and succeed despite all these odds?

I have to leave it at that…time to head out for another day of learning and sharing with the door shut against the rest of it. I can't solve it, I can only work with what I've got and try to make it a bit better.