Edcamp Savannah

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I had an opportunity to attend Edcamp Savannah this past Saturday (early Saturday morning I might add).  The whole purpose of my attendance is because I'm educational nosy and I had seen quite a few posts on twitter where edcamps were taking place all over.  People were posting pictures and stating they were having a good time and learning a lot.  Of course, I needed to see what the hoopla was all about.  Before sharing my experience, here is a brief history about edcamp:

  • 1st Edcamp May 2010 in Philadelphia 
  • Over 200 edcamps worldwide 
  • Edcamp Foundation formed 2011  

The Edcamp Foundation vision is to "promote organic, participant-driven professional development for K-12 educators worldwide.  

When they say organic they mean organic.  As a newbie this was a little daunting.  Let me explain. Sessions were created by participants giving suggestions on what should be discussed for the day (If topics were around the same they were meshed together).  Topics ranged from how to run centers to incorporating activities for gamers to use during instruction.  Facilitators were the participants!  If you were well versed in a topic you lead the session or contributed to it.  What I loved about the sessions is you were not married to the session.  If a session did not meet your needs you left unlike traditional professional development one-size fit all and NO LEAVING!

A few interesting resources I learned (you may know about these already):



I would definitely suggest attending an edcamp if and when you get some time.  The EXPERIENCE is valuable and the NETWORKING was classic.  I met other educators who are willing to be a resource to me.  How AWESOME is that!

By the way, if you happen to be in the Savannah area April 23rd. Georgia Southern University will be hosting their first edcamp.  

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 11, 2016 at 7:59 AM

    Hello,

    Our high school, Eagle's landing High School in McDonough, GA has been sponsoring Edcamp for over a year now. Our principal has been very instrumental in developing Edcamp for the south side metro Atlanta area. I would also suggest to teachers and administrators alike to please attend an Edcamp event in the near future

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 11, 2016 at 8:16 AM

    Thanks Chris for replying. I agree this is an event educators should participate in at least once.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownFebruary 21, 2016 at 6:43 AM

    I LOVE this idea. It ties right into the idea of being a multiplier and gives the experts, teachers, a voice to share what works IN THE FIELD and to build their leadership capacity.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownFebruary 21, 2016 at 6:44 AM

    Oh and thank you for all the links. I am going to look into the Edcamp in Savannah!!

    ReplyDelete

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