Lessons from EdCamp

I attended my first EdCamp last week. The best way I can describe it is as a big learning love-fest where people (teachers, librarians, administrators, tech coordinators, etc.) show up to share, collaborate, problem-solve, listen, and discuss.

I wasn't sure why I attended other than I heard this was the coolest thing to hit professional development since people began fashionably calling it "PD." After attending three sessions (and the informal BBC get together after), I walked away with 3 major lessons that I can use in my classroom:

1. Take ownership of your learning.

The major premise of EdCamp is that there are no lectures/presentations set up in advance. I was greeted in the morning by a table filled with fabulous goodies, a gigantic whiteboard with session times and room numbers blocked in a table, and huge neon post-it's. 

Participants decided if there was a session they wanted to lead, or a problem they wanted to discuss, and put it up on the board. Hitting my magic bravery button, I placed a post-it on the board inviting people to a technology in the classroom discussion during session 3. Then I picked out two additional sessions to attend (created by other participants).

Take-away: Wouldn't it be cool to test out this concept with a unit? Have students create topics they wish to research further and let the groups sort themselves out by interest.

2. Be open to learning unexpected lessons.

The first two sessions I attended - Flipping the Classroom and Blogging in the Classroom - did not meet my preconceived notions for what I expected to learn. However, they were both packed with great information. So I took notes on applications and techniques which might prove useful in my classroom sometime down the road.

Take-away: As teachers, we plan our units with specific goals in mind. However, there are times when the actual application of the lesson goes in a different direction. Learning is not always a linear process, so be open to opportunities to adjust your unit expectations to meet the real learning happening with your students.

3. Be brave enough to lead the discussion AND to ask questions about what you don't know

Although I walked into EdCamp intending to be a passive participant, I led a session in the afternoon on technology in the classroom. Surrounded by fabulous professionals who had been in this profession longer than me, it was a nerve-wracking standing up and offering my so-called expertise on the topic. What if they laughed? What if everyone already knew everything I knew, thus making my presentation useless? Turns out, my fears were unfounded!

As I shared, it was exciting to realize how much I had learned about this topic in the past few years. Furthermore, as I posed questions to the group, I learned about new resources, and how to use some existing ones in new or better ways. Being open to sharing what I didn't know allowed me the opportunity to meet awesome people who offered best practices too. One very cool teacher spent an hour of her time after the session answering my questions and sharing her resources. (I think we are becoming besties for life!) If I hadn't been brave enough to lead the discussion, these opportunities might not have presented themselves.

Take-away: Students should be given opportunities to become experts and share with their classes. People always say that you learn the material best when you teach it to someone else. So why aren't we helping students to have this same opportunity for learning?

I plan to attend more EdCamps. Fun, innovative, and collaborative, they are great models for the future of classroom experiences.