Last weekend, I went to my first EdCamp. For months, I've read about this grassroots trend in professional development that has no pre-set agenda and is as much social as educational. I had to check one out. So, Saturday morning, I drove 140 miles one way to attend @edcampesc5. Having no idea what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised to enter a room populated by about 150 fellow educators all milling about with blue slips of paper. These slips were for writing down what we wanted to learn about that day. We were also offered yellow slips if we felt we could teach something. As the all volunteer organizing team used the slips to create the day's sessions, everyone else milled about visiting, eating pancakes, and tweeting about the event. As I didn't know anyone, I used this time to meet new people and, since the name tags had our Twitter IDs, put names with faces. I also had the chance to help a teacher get signed up on Twitter and start getting followers. It was surprising the number of people from around the country who were following the event via Twitter and offering to follow new tweeps. It was, as one person commented, the most organized chaos they had ever seen.
Once the session board was created, the learning simply continued. One of the key rules for edcamp is that you "vote with your feet." That is, if you don't find a session helpful, just get up and leave. No one will mind. Fortunately, I never felt the need to leave any sessions. Instead, I found myself being motivated by the learning and interaction that took place in each session. Todd Nesloney (@techninjatodd) and a partner (whose Twitter name I unfortunately didn't get) shared their expertise on Google apps and their use in the classroom. Just the discussion on Google Hangouts was worth the entire time. During Admin Training on Social Networking, I was challenged by Brad McEachern (@bradmceachern) to step out of my box and lead others to become connected as well as got great ideas from Tom Connelly (@SJE_Rocks). One of these was to start and moderate a campus/district Twitter chat. I've thought of that before but now I know it needs to be done. After lunch, which student clubs used as a fundraiser, the discussion on RtI led by Jeffrey Farley (@farleyjeffrey) opened my eyes to some things I'd been missing about the process. We later had a private discussion about using the RtI model with behavior. I chose the final session on Edmodo because my campus is moving to 1-to-1 next year and this free application would be helpful to teachers. What I didn't expect was to learn ways that I can use Edmodo for CPE, flipped staff meetings, and more. Great ideas!
At the closing session, what seemed like a thousand door prizes were presented as people whooped and hollered when their names were called. It was like being on the Price is Right and a perfect way to end the day.
What really impressed me about edcamp is that it was put on by volunteers and the participants drove the learning. Truly, the experts are in the building! It also made me realize that educators who are willing to take a Saturday to spend time learning with others are the kind of people I want to hang out with. This may have been my first edcamp, but after the experience I had, it definitely won't be my last.
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