What is this whole Edcamp thing anyway?

Over the past few months, I started hearing more and more about this phenomenon called edcamp, the supposed UNconference for educators.  As more of my Twitter PLN started participating and sharing their thoughts about them, I became more curious to experience one myself, but I couldn't find one in my area.  Fast Forward to 2 weeks ago when I get an invite to #edcampsc in Rock Hill, the first edcamp being held in South Carolina.  Here was my chance; I was signed up and ready...for what exactly, I didn't know.  I didn't even invite others to go, even though edcamps are free simply because I didn't know how to explain it.  NOW i know! Here's my experience:

We walked into the school and there's a registration table with our name tags, a welcome letter with a blank planning calendar on the back, and volunteers ready to check us in.  Smooth sailing--no queue, no confusion, and a much easier process than any training I've been to.

First activity of the morning, go into the cafeteria, get some breakfast, and pitch possible session topics for the conference.  Wait, I didn't tell you that there is no program, no agenda, no vendor sessions?  Well, there aren't any of those things.  What there are is a group of educators from all levels, various districts, across multiple states, looking to learn from each other and willing to facilitate discussions on topics they think are important. One tweet I read after getting home from the conference said that the participant has "signed up to facilitate the session because he (she?) knew NOTHING about it."  The day is built around professional learning!  So, the pitch? Poster paper at each end of the cafeteria tables where you write your topic and if you'll facilitate it.  About 15 minutes before the official welcome, students come through and give us each 3 stickers to vote for the sessions we would like to see (What? We get a choice of what will happen in a conference?).  These votes were magically tallied and the schedule set while we got a fantastic welcome via Skype from Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal) to tell us how our entire mindset about professional development would be shattered and rebuilt from this experience.  He wasn't kidding!

After some logistical information and a couple of great door prizes, we were set free to head to our first chosen session.  Oh, yeah, and guess what...I'm facilitating one of the first sessions.  Good thing I like to hear myself talk, huh?  Except it wasn't necessary for me to be ready to talk because everyone was ready to talk, I just got it started.  What were we talking about? Parent engagement...How do we get our parents more and authentically involved in our schools and their children's education.  So many great idea, and while we started by throwing out all of the negative thoughts about parents, there was a group mindset that we focus on possible solutions.  Some of the suggestions...

• Use remind101 to send text messages to parents about assignments and class needs.
• Offer various meeting times to meet the needs of parents' schedules.
• Create parent/teacher focus groups around specific concerns at the school.
• Use tools like Padlet and Survey Monkey to receive feedback from parents about what they see is working or not working in school/classrooms.
• (My favorite) Create an unconference experience for parents where we actually SHOW them how to help their children with our materials/behavior/resources rather than just TELL them about it.

By the end of this session, where I did NOT have to most of the talking, I was sure that I had learned more here, without a designated presenter, than I have in most PD sessions I've been to over the years. Thanks to George Champlin (@GChamplinAP) for setting up our backchannel on Today's Meet, so we could share notes from the session.  (Backchanneling is a way for participants/learners to make comments, ask questions, etc during a lesson/session that can then be referred to later. Great teaching tool!)

Irony of the day was the title for sessions 2: "Why does PD Suck?"  Of course we talked about the negative, but again we quickly moved to "What do we want PD to look like?" Overwhelmingly, the response was for it to be much like the experience we were having at that moment.  One of the best questions was "Why do we still call it PD and not just learning?" (credit to Chris Craft @crafty184 for asking DURING the session).  I know I learned a lot!

Session 3 was one I wasn't sure I was going to attend because I'm so tired of of hearing the complaint that we "can't" do something because our kids don't have technology, but I'm so glad that I went.  As we all sat around the room with out smart phone and tablets, we talked about how 21st Learning is NOT about the device; it's NOT about the Internet; it IS about the skills the students learn and practice while using these tools.  One key take away: "Don't design lessons around technology; use technology to support the lesson."  That way you don't get stuck if the technology doesn't work, or the student doesn't have immediate access.  We have to get away from the idea of "technology for technology's sake." Another point made is that if we rethink homework and project, giving time and choice, students will find access or choose another method to demonstrate mastery of the content.  But I will not stay on this topic right now because my soapbox is not the point of this post.

Now, I didn't mention the fabulous lunch we had because not every edcamp location provides lunch, but I have to say thank you to the leaders who put this together: Mike Waiksnis (@mwaiksnis) and Latoya Dixon (@latoyadixon5).  They had a vision, without ever having had the experience, and they ran with it rather than running from it! 

So, my biggest take away from the day.  If you can get people together, appreciate their expertise in knowing the learning they need, and offer them the choice to be learner and leader, great things happen.  I know I'm already bouncing ideas in my head about what this could look like in classrooms for students, on PD days for educators, and in schools for parents.  Heck, I would even venture to open the opportunity to our elected officials, and let them see what we really do think and talk about when we get together.  We don't stop being educators when the school bell rings or the weekend comes, or the summer starts.  We took our Saturday and traveled to a school to sit with other educators (and pre-service educators) to talk about what WE need to learn and improve as professionals to do the best job for our students.  There is nothing more beautiful than that!