School-based Edcamps- Redefining Professional Development

In November, I blogged about the great experience I had at EdCampBmore at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland:

https://christopherwooleyhand.edublogs.org/2013/11/10/extending-the-edcamp-philosophy-to-school-based-pd/

I ended my post with this statement:

“The edcamp approach to professional development could be a great way to inject excitement back into the profession. How much stronger could our schools become if the teachers in the building were given the chance to share their knowledge with their peers in deep and meaningful ways? I don’t know the exact answer, but I plan to find out. Don’t tell my teachers, but we’re about to plan our first school-based edcamp. Now I’ll never get to sleep!”

Well, I did tell my teachers and last week we held our first ever school-based edcamp, EdCampRHLee!  It was a very successful event (see the teacher comments below) and it’s the kind of PD that all schools should consider trying.  Here are some tips that may help you plan your own school-based edcamp:

Sow Seeds

The idea of an edcamp can be hard to explain to others, so start talking about it well in advance of the day.  If you can attend an edcamp before you host your own, do it.  It’s not essential, but it will help you share a clear message.  In the weeks leading up to your edcamp, touch base with staff members and encourage them to share what they are working on or passionate about.

Build Momentum

Once the idea has been shared, you need to keep it out there.  I posted signs everywhere a staff member might travel (even in the restroom stalls).  The signs simply said, “#EdCampRHLee is coming! Professional Development Redefined, What will you share?”  This created interest and reminded the staff that edcamps are inclusive, anyone can share or present.

The Twitter Connection

This tip is not a must do, but it is a critical part of most edcamps.  In the past year, we have been encouraging teachers to sign up for Twitter as a PLN tool.  By the time we held our edcamp, over 90% percent of our teachers had joined.  Regional edcamps use Twitter as a promotional tool and for backchanneling the event.  Backchanneling gives others a chance to follow your conference in real-time.  It is a great way to share links and resources with others.  If you search for #EdCampRHLee on Twitter you will get an idea of what this looks like.

The Schedule

Creating the edcamp schedule is exciting and scary.  Until it starts to come together, you have no idea what will happen.  Our edcamp was held on an early dismissal day and was three hours long.  When staff members proposed sessions, they used post-it notes with the title of their session, their name, and the room they would use.  As the proposal ideas came in, it was helpful to have one person looking for duplication (similar sessions could be combined into one timeslot).

Our schedule looked like this:

1:30   Schedule creation, brainstorming, discussion, proposals
2:00 iPad for beginners Conferring   with writers Morning   Meeting Teach Like a Pirate Multi-cult Music
2:35 Yoga for teachers SLO writing Math Sign Language Mentor Text Websites
3:10 Math   Rotation/NumTalk New ideas for using novels Common   Core/ DiscoveryEd Social   Thinking Haiku Deck
3:45 iPad advanced Math Work Stations KidBlog Twitter for beginners STEM Night ideas
4:15   Resources Smackdown

 

Once we got underway, I traveled to every session and tweeted out pics of our staff members in action.  I also used the PA system to keep everyone on schedule.  The day ended with a resources smackdown.  The smackdown is an opportunity for staff members to share ideas that may have not fit into the schedule for a whole session.  Our teachers shared popular apps, websites, and resources.

What did the teachers think?

This was a great opportunity to connect colleagues with a shared interest.  As students like to choose what they are doing in the Daily 5, we also like to choose our professional development.  I came away impressed at the talent and knowledge of our community of learners.  Thanks for providing this awesome opportunity.”
Linda, kindergarten teacher

I was skeptical at first, but really enjoyed the whole afternoon.  I enjoyed both teaching and being an active participant.  The staff came up with a wide selection of topics.  Edcamp provided variety.  In some of the sessions, we could be “taught” something WE wanted to know about.  Other sessions really allowed us to dialogue on something we were interested in.  It wasn’t just a “turn and talk” time, but was really a chance to actually TALK with peers to get their feedback and ideas.”
Brenda, special education teacher

EdCampRHLee was a great opportunity to meet with our peers to share information.  Knowing the presenters made it a lot easier to ask questions.”
Kerri, fourth grade teacher

I really appreciated having a choice in what I learned today at #EdCampRHLee. It was also impressive to see the knowledge our staff has about so many diverse topics.”
Lindsey, second grade teacher

At first, I was very skeptical about today’s professional development.  I loved the idea of edcamps in theory. What is there not to love with all of the choices, opportunities to learn from peers, and short, flexible mini sessions?  However, with it being new to so many of us, I thought that the sessions would be very simplistic.  I was pleasantly surprised with how much information I was able to gather from my colleagues.  I have always been impressed with their wealth of knowledge, but I assumed that our first attempt would present our staff with a huge learning curve.  I was amazed with the high level of engagement, support, and choice when participating in my first edcamp experience.”
Michael, fifth grade teacher

I loved having the freedom to move around to things I was most interested in. I loved being able to “move on” if it didn’t hold my interest and find something that did. I thought it was great that we had such diverse topics, including yoga. I learned so much about Social Thinking just listening to everyone. It was great being able to discuss as opposed to just being “talked to.”  I liked sharing our book study informally as well.”
Lisa, kindergarten teacher

Edcamp is a great way to differentiate staff development and collaborate with other staff based on individual teacher needs and interests.  I enjoyed sharing ideas and learning from other teachers that I may not normally have the opportunity or time to chat with.  Little planning was needed ahead of time and I received ideas I can use immediately in my classroom.”
Julie, third grade teacher

Final Thoughts

Edcamps should be a natural extension of the professional development that schools offer.  Teachers need to connect with their colleagues.  With the pace of change in education, our teachers have been taking on more and more.  The concept of collective intelligence should not be ignored by school leaders.

School-based edcamps celebrate the knowledge of teachers.  When we tap into the creativity of our teachers, we open up avenues for student learning.  If our schools are to be successful, we must include teachers in decisions related to their professional development.  Edcamps are a great way to start in that direction.  Give it a try, there is much to gain!

6 thoughts on “School-based Edcamps- Redefining Professional Development

  1. As an edtech presenter and teacher, I think the idea of an EdCamp is a fabulous and transformative idea! I’m eager to try one, but since a Google search shows nothing in my area in the near future, it might be time to start one up myself, but on a very small scale. Thanks for the post! (By the way, I referred to this post in my own blog: http://bit.ly/1misxem.)

  2. What a great new idea to connect us together it is! We are not alone working with students by ourselves any more. Thank you. I will spread your word on Facebook.

  3. Hi,

    This is my third year as a casual teacher. This means that I and other casual teachers are in a disadvantage position to gain Professional learning unless we have extra money to pay for our professional development training.

    At the beginning of this year I asked two schools if I could attend the first day of professional learning (unpaid). One school principal replied by saying that I could not attend due to the Education Department Policy guidelines. The second school principal did not even bother to reply.

    Reading about the idea of a Edcamp might be a new new way for us casual teachers to be included for training to be updated and better prepared when we do casual work and hopefully get the opportunity to become permanent teachers.

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