Sunday, April 19, 2015

Ready for Edcamp Boston!

I originally wrote this post about a month ago. It's been a busy month and we're close to the end of the school year. I've revised the post tonight to match my current thoughts.

Tomorrow I will attend  edcamp Boston. I'm looking forward to the event as attending an edcamp, particularly edcamp Boston,  always serves to inspire my teaching/learning path.

It's a bit challenging to attend a school related event during a weekend in the final month of school since it's a time when you're getting weary and ready for summer time renewal, but I know that once I arrive and begin to listen to educator's enthusiasm, questions, and new ideas, I'll be glad I made the time to go. An edcamp day always translates to greater success and fulfillment at school.

Prior to going to any educational event, I like to think about my hopes and plans for the event.

First, I'd like to lead a conversation sometime during the day about education communication? I want to hear what colleagues have to say about the best ways to share ideas, collaborate, and communicate. I'll be interested in what other educators have to say about the following communication venues and topics:
  • email
  • text
  • websites
  • social media
  • blogging
  • books, articles
  • contribution
  • communication patterns
  • home-school communication
  • the role of communication
  • the words we use
  • communication and team building
  • teaching communication 
  • change in communication expectation, knowledge, use
  • teacher voice and choice
Next, I'm looking forward to studying the board and choosing other topics I want to discuss and learn about. I want to make the time to meet and listen to the educators from many different schools/organizations, assignments, and grade levels. I'm also curious about the types of topics that will emerge as that provides a glimpse of current/future education trends/focus. 

I always like the take-aways at the end-of-the-day smackdown, and getting an overall feel for where education thought and work are moving with regard to the year(s) ahead.

The edcamp experience gives you a great chance to connect with educators outside of your own organization. It's a chance to ally with one another to develop our individual and collective craft. 

Whether you're planning to attend edcamp Boston or not, this is also a good time to look over the edcamp schedule in order to choose a few summer edcamps to attend. I may attend and possibly participate in edcamp global too which looks like a wonderful learning experience, and I'll check the calendar  to see what New England edcamps match my summer schedule as well.

I'm sure I'll recap the day tomorrow night or Sunday. In the meantime, I'm ready for a terrific learning event!