Leading up to our November 9 event, Edcamp Baltimore organizers hope to share the voices of different edcamp stakeholders through our blog. These voices might be reflections on edcamp experiences or diving into discussion topics that might transfer into a session on the day of the event.
Special thanks to Jen Filosa (@jafilosa) who volunteered her blog post from her experience at Edcamp Baltimore last year for the first post. The original blog can be found here. Interested in contributing? Contact us.
Edcamp Bmore - The Baltimore Edcamp Experience
Yesterday I attended Edcamp Baltimore--Edcamp Bmore--Be More! Since it was my first true Edcamp experience, I was very excited to watch it all unfold (I went to Edscape last month in New Milford, NJ, which was amazing and had preplanned sessions, but I had never attended an Edcamp "unconference" before). I met some incredible local educators that I hope to stay connected to, and I also met some of my PLN face-to-face, which is always very exciting. The organizers of Edcamp Baltimore were nervous about whether the schedule would fill up with volunteers, but after just a few minutes, you could tell that would not be a problem - here's what their schedule ended up looking like after the planning phase. I was excited and nervous to "lead" a session, but the unconference model helps alleviate that pressure because the session ends up being a conversation among educators asking questions, offering suggestions, and problem solving. The energy at edcamps is truly contagious and invigorating, and it should be a model for our professional development days in school.
I took a lot away from the experience--I learned what it means to be a teacherprenuer (thanks to Andrew Coy, @andrewcoy, for the great discussion and opening my eyes to this concept). It was fascinating to hear about events where teachers and techies meet up on a weekend and try to problem-solve and create apps or tools for the classroom. I'm interested in trying out an EdTech meet-up soon in the Maryland region--maybe I'll create something really cool! My big drive lately has been to create my own open-source AP US History text for my classroom, especially with the new College Board curriculum design rolling out next year. Along with the teacherprenuer discussion, I was also able to participate in a discussion about how to take the Edcamp/unconference experience back to my school and help implement it in our school. We discussed the possibility of resistance from staff and colleagues and some ways to counter that resistance, and we also heard successful implementation models from Reed Gillespie,@rggillespie, and Phil Griffins, @philgriffins, both administrators in schools in Virginia. It was nice to see the example described from the top down, which I think can make the transistion easier. Hopefully, I can help convince some of my colleagues to see the benefit of an unconference model--it is more valuable, participants have a buy-in because some of them are leading disucssions, and the energy that comes from the collaboration can help us refocus potential negative energy and morale issues in order to re-invigorate our teaching. I think Mr. Gillespie said it best in his reflection on his edcamp-modeled professional development day--"Teachers were actively engaged, asking questions and taking notes as opposed to the traditional PD where teachers are grading papers, reading books, playing on their cell phones, crocheting, etc."
Thanks so much to the Edcamp Baltimore Co-Founders Shannon Montague, @montysays, and Chris Shriver, @ccshriver - it was a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to participate again next year!
Here's the wiki for Edcamps in the US--check it out!
Special thanks to Jen Filosa (@jafilosa) who volunteered her blog post from her experience at Edcamp Baltimore last year for the first post. The original blog can be found here. Interested in contributing? Contact us.
Edcamp Bmore - The Baltimore Edcamp Experience
Yesterday I attended Edcamp Baltimore--Edcamp Bmore--Be More! Since it was my first true Edcamp experience, I was very excited to watch it all unfold (I went to Edscape last month in New Milford, NJ, which was amazing and had preplanned sessions, but I had never attended an Edcamp "unconference" before). I met some incredible local educators that I hope to stay connected to, and I also met some of my PLN face-to-face, which is always very exciting. The organizers of Edcamp Baltimore were nervous about whether the schedule would fill up with volunteers, but after just a few minutes, you could tell that would not be a problem - here's what their schedule ended up looking like after the planning phase. I was excited and nervous to "lead" a session, but the unconference model helps alleviate that pressure because the session ends up being a conversation among educators asking questions, offering suggestions, and problem solving. The energy at edcamps is truly contagious and invigorating, and it should be a model for our professional development days in school.
I took a lot away from the experience--I learned what it means to be a teacherprenuer (thanks to Andrew Coy, @andrewcoy, for the great discussion and opening my eyes to this concept). It was fascinating to hear about events where teachers and techies meet up on a weekend and try to problem-solve and create apps or tools for the classroom. I'm interested in trying out an EdTech meet-up soon in the Maryland region--maybe I'll create something really cool! My big drive lately has been to create my own open-source AP US History text for my classroom, especially with the new College Board curriculum design rolling out next year. Along with the teacherprenuer discussion, I was also able to participate in a discussion about how to take the Edcamp/unconference experience back to my school and help implement it in our school. We discussed the possibility of resistance from staff and colleagues and some ways to counter that resistance, and we also heard successful implementation models from Reed Gillespie,@rggillespie, and Phil Griffins, @philgriffins, both administrators in schools in Virginia. It was nice to see the example described from the top down, which I think can make the transistion easier. Hopefully, I can help convince some of my colleagues to see the benefit of an unconference model--it is more valuable, participants have a buy-in because some of them are leading disucssions, and the energy that comes from the collaboration can help us refocus potential negative energy and morale issues in order to re-invigorate our teaching. I think Mr. Gillespie said it best in his reflection on his edcamp-modeled professional development day--"Teachers were actively engaged, asking questions and taking notes as opposed to the traditional PD where teachers are grading papers, reading books, playing on their cell phones, crocheting, etc."
Thanks so much to the Edcamp Baltimore Co-Founders Shannon Montague, @montysays, and Chris Shriver, @ccshriver - it was a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to participate again next year!
Here's the wiki for Edcamps in the US--check it out!
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