My First Edcamp, but Not My Last

INITIAL THOUGHTS

The open ended, flexible format of edcamp enabled me to follow my curiosities in both a private, reflective, as well as a public, collaborative manner, simultaneously.

My goals for the day were to become comfortable with something out of my comfort zone; explore an area of passion; find out more about something that intrigues me.

SESSIONS

You can find the schedule here and click on the links to review the notes in each Google doc.

15 Minute Film School – this was my choice to push me “out of my comfort zone,” I am very uncomfortable with video. @matthewfrattali provided great planning pointers; then I worked with 2 edcamp participants who introduced me to You Tube Editing. I now have what I need to attempt my first short video. I even have a topic. So readers out there, you may want to ask me in a month or so if got it done, because, this is something I will, can, may avoid – I am still out of my comfort zone.

Formative Assessment With or Without the Tech – Apart from the many shared resources, and an introduction to polleverywhere.com, what made this session special was knowing you were surrounded by educators who value, support and work on formative assessment. Personally, I know it is important but I don’t find it easy. Reviewing the importance of clear learning targets in student friendly language, and engaging in dialog about strategies to use for effective descriptive feedback was helpful.

Connecting to Each Other Globally – this was my choice to explore an area of passion. I am on a mission to incorporate more global initiatives into the curriculum for elementary aged students. I made a few contacts, and have a few more ideas. Check out the notes! The ideas fall like raindrops: Skype, shared wikis, simulations, shared virtual spaces, service learning. Dot Day, Read Around the World… However, I would like some feedback on how to ensure that this rainstorm of ideas does not turn into a disruptive storm. How difficult/important is it to interweave these initiatives into a curriculum. Would love some thoughts on that?

Mindfulness, Building an Empathetic Community - This was my find out more about what intrigues me session. And now mindfulness intrigues me even more! Here are a few things many participants seemed to agree upon:

Teaching Mindfulness skills will facilitate students’ ability to self-regulate and initiate a learning task.

Mindfulness is not a technique to be used to manage behavior, but a skill to learn to improve ones ability to be fully present for a learning/social experience.

Mindfulness techniques can be incorporated into the Responsive Classroom Approach.

As professionals, parents and in general adults who interact with students, families (our own and school), and colleagues, we need to model the importance of “unplugging,” downtime, and the importance of the non-digital moment!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I enjoyed this personalized professional development. I ended the day with 4 follow up goals:

Complete my short film.

Explore the global connections resources.

Fully embrace Evernote.

Look into Mindfulness training.

Well that’s a lot for one day of self-directed, collaborative professional development. Now I just need to reach my goals before I stumble upon another Edcamp!