Shelby County Schools was the site of the annual Tennessee Digital Curriculum Tactics Discussion. Schools and districts from across the state and even into Arkansas, representing hundreds of thousands of students, arrived to hear from the Learning Counsel executives on the state of the education market and what is happening in districts in every corner of the U.S. as they shift to digital curriculum and devices.

The packed room included many teams who attended together to be able to collaborate and ensure all stayed on the same page as they gathered information for their transition. Teams included Shelby County Schools, Bartlett City Schools,  and Germantown Municiple School District from Tennessee and Little Rock School District, the Arkansas Virtual School, and Arkansas Department of Education from Arkansas.

Photo Gallery: Memphis Discussion

Speaking from a panel on transition stories, Corey Kelly, the Principal of Sherwood Middle School in Shelby County gave a sense of the day’s discussions, “As we know, with anything, there are also going to be some hard times, some bumps in the road. I’m one of the schools where I didn’t have enough devices at roll out. My attendance just kept increasing beyond what I was allocated. But, luckily, with additional support, we received all of the devices. And another key to us making it, once we had started, was PD. Along with devices and curriculum we had a whole PD support system for the principals and teachers. They coached us and challenged us. That was a new feeling. As a principal for 12 years ‘I knew what I was doing’ so I wasn’t use to getting challenged to change. But it was a vital piece.”

Near the close of the day Mr. Cleon Franklin from Shelby County provided closing remarks and thoughts: “Have a curriculum plan before you even consider buying devices.  We had courses in place, we bought curriculum for Mathematics, English Language Arts, Reading. Our administrators and teachers worked together and created outstanding plans for how they would make the transition. And we’re still in it.”

The Learning Counsel looks forward to seeing our friends in Tennessee and Arkansas again next year and hearing about your successes and outcomes as we traverse the new education landscape.