Mrs. Lowe's Trip to EdCamp

This Saturday I attended EdCampWpg. It's a wonderful free event that is planned by educators, for educators.

The morning started with some inspiring Ignite talks. Then we made the schedule. The greatest thing about EdCamps is that the participants get to be in charge of their own learning. Everyone is welcome to contribute ideas for what they want to learn or chat about and what they can teach others about.
From the contributions a schedule is made.  This was what we came up with.

Creating the Schedule

For my first session I attended "Plan a 2 Week Challenge." It was so great to meet with other educators and share our ideas and questions about getting our students outside for two weeks in June. I was the only teacher who had participated in the challenge before so I was able to share a lot of our experiences. It is so exciting to see so many classes participating in the challenge!

I actually missed the second session because I was talking with a teacher who I've known on Twitter for years but had never actually met in person. Mrs. Chopek also teaches kindergarten and has recently become a "Microsoft Innovative Educator." She taught me about Mystery Animal Skype. Students research an animal and then connect with another class and use questions to guess each others' animals. Students are motivated to learn about their animal, learn how to ask great questions, improve their public speaking skills, and make connections with students in other classes. We are hoping to do our first chat this coming Friday!

My third session was about Educational Leadership. This is an area of education that I have been interested in and pursuing recently. There were several educators and administrators from St. James school division who attended this session. It was interesting to have conversations about how to motivate and inspire staff, how to engage students, and how to be successful at making changes as a new administrator. I love learning from the great educators in our school division, we are so fortunate to have such strong and passionate leaders!

The final session of my day was on Inclusive Classroom Design. Ever since I decided to make-over my classroom in 2012, I have become very interested in classroom design and the role it plays on our daily learning. We talked about lighting, seating, where to find great deals, and how to make our classrooms more functional, comfortable, and inviting for all students. I'm excited to make some improvements based on our conversations!

Overall the day was extremely well organized and inspiring! Everything ran smoothly, the food was delicious, and the learning was exactly what I needed! The thing I love most about EdCamp is that you can learn about things you are interested in and take them back to your classroom the very next week!