If you build it, they will camp!

Redcamp13...born out of a conversation about edcamps...  “Have you heard about the unconference, participant-driven idea for professional development called edcamp?” “Yeah, intriguing idea.”  “We should plan one!”  “Ok!”  

There really wasn’t any hesitation after that.  If you build it, they will camp.  That was our hope in planning Central Alberta’s first edcamp which was dubbed Redcamp (a play on words for our city of Red Deer from the creative mind of @EbertsR).  So we did build it, and on May 11, 2013 Redcamp13 happened!  People interested in conversations and learning about education came to Glendale Sciences & Technology School in Red Deer, Alberta.  Teachers, educational assistants, principals and vice-principals along with central office administrators were there.  Pre-service teachers and their professors from university were there. But that was not all, no that was not all.  There were speech/language pathologists, city counsellors and school board trustees too!  Wow!  The depth and breadth of knowledge and experience really did justice to the saying, “the expert is the room”.  

The buzz in the gym just prior to the opening remarks by the Redcamp team was palpable.  People were excited to be there even on a beautiful Saturday morning in May when they could easily have been doing other things.  I know I wasn’t the only one wondering how this would turn out but we were all eager to try it.  Sessions were added to the board, coffee was poured, conversations started over Twitter handles on nametags..."Hey! So nice to meet someone from my Twitter PLN face to face!"

Things got started with a short introduction by @EbertsR, @joe_bower and @graingered and then we were off to hour-long sessions which for some discussions could have been longer but there is only so much time in the day and so many topics to learn and talk about!

As one of the organizers of Redcamp, my intent was to pop into many sessions to get a flavour for what was going on and maybe snap a few photos for Twitter.  I started out this way but many of the sessions I intended to only pop in on, drew me in and I stayed.  Conversations around inclusion lead by @BeyondTheCrayon, engaging all students led by @JasTravers and whether math should be graded led by @d_martin05 were fascinating and inspiring.  Conversation and sharing about turning your classroom into a creativity lab and starting a creativity revolution led by @twnpenner got my brain jazzed UP!  I learned about purposeful questions and collaboration by actively participating in the process with businessman/city counsellor @harris4rd.  Every session I went to gave me something which either changed, deepened, challenged or furthered my thinking. And there were many other sessions that I didn't get a chance to go to but wish I would have had the time for as well. 

There were quite a few steps involved in planning our first Redcamp (which I will leave for another post in case anyone is thinking of planning one of their own) and with our busy professional and personal lives, at times I wondered if it was all going to be worth it.  All I can now say is YES, YES, YES!  It was worth it!  

Will there be a Redcamp14?  Absolutely!  Will there be other edcamps because those who came to ours are inspired to host one of their own?  I don’t doubt it at all.  The feedback we have had from Redcamp has been fantastic and very positive.  I’m looking forward not only to planning Redcamp14 but also to attending edcamps elsewhere.  If they build it, I will camp!

 

6 Excellent Reasons To Attend Redcamp13

photo from www.reddeerkiwanis.org

Redcamp13…Red Deer’s first #edcamp is set to happen on May 11, 2013 at Glendale Sciences and Technology School.  We are excited to see a number of people signed up and as we’ve been chatting with people about it, it is very clear the buzz is growing, kind of like that flashmob thing.

We know that there are more people out there who have never experienced an edcamp and are on the fence about registering.  This has inspired the following list of reasons why YOU should come to Redcamp13:

Why Twitter?

Back a couple of months ago, I presented to my staff on the glories of Twitter.  Some have since checked it out and have become true twitter fans, others not so much.  As someone who is a self-admitted twit-a-holic (My name is Diane, a.k.a. @robertsdrb and…I tweet…a lot) I find it difficult to understand why everyone has not jumped on the Twitter shuttle to the Twitterverse of enlightenment.

So in an attempt to convince more people to join and engage with Twitter, here is a list of reasons why I get so much out of it:

• Personal Learning Network – I create my PLN by choosing who I want to follow.  When someone posts something that is interesting or useful to me, I follow them.  Contrarily, if they are posting things that do not serve my learning purpose, I don’t follow them.  Simple.  In this way, Twitter becomes differentiated professional development for each individual.


• Twitter chats – This is where connections occur and my thinking is pushed to new places with people from all over.  Twitter chats such as #satchat (administrator chat on Saturday mornings) or #educoach (educational coaching chat on Wednesday evenings) connect me to people who are progressive thinkers and sharers within these domains.  I can also pose a question throughout the week with these hashtags and will get a response from someone else who follows these topics.


• Learning new things – every day I come across an article, list, blog post or quote that teaches me something new.  The word plethora does not begin to explain the wide variety and depth of “stuff” out there on Twitter for educators.


• Feedback – I can post a question or let people know that there is something I am searching for and someone will inevitably give me an answer.  When I post to my blog, people read it and respond...this blew my mind at first and it was nerve-wracking to have others read my thoughts but now I look forward to the comments - good and not so good.


• Inspiration for blog posts – The things I read about on Twitter not only get me thinking, they inspire me to write about my thoughts on educational topics in my blog which is proving to be another way to deepen my thinking and help me reflect on my practice.  By the way, I did not have a blog until after I joined Twitter and began reading all the amazing educator blogs out there which I connected to via Twitter.  It was only a matter of time before I found that 140 characters are great for communicating brief thoughts on various topics but if I want to really delve into something, the blog is where I can get it all out in one place.

The more I use Twitter, the more I WANT to keep coming back…addiction?  Maybe.  But it is getting me connected with other educators and thinking more about my practice as a teacher and as an administrator.  Other addicts go to meetings to talk about their addictions (e.g. AA), Twitter addicts just learn more, reflect more and connect more.  In the words of Amy Winehouse: If they try to make me go to rehab, I won’t go, go, go.


P.S.  I made the above Wordle with text from my Twitter feed.