Why edcamp? Because. That’s why.

One day. 7 hours. People from all over arrive.  Saturday morning, coffees in hand. Sessions happen.  It’s an Edcamp.  What is that you say?

Honest conversations. Nothing’s personal. Collaboration. New ideas. Technology in action. In the teacher’s hands. In the kids hands.  Thinking about what works, changing what doesn’t. Learning is the focus. Kids are the reason we are there. Searching to improve our teaching. Our learning. Their education. Their experiences. Their lives.  How to make every day their best day of learning and how to use the tools we have available to make that happen.

#edcamp is never about bulky handouts. Long, extensive bullet point filled Powerpoints. Expensive PD bills.  Fancy books filled with billions of sessions. Getting a sub for the classroom. Complaining about things we cannot change. Talking endlessly about the things we have no control over.  Listening to someone talk about their program that your district can purchase for $865,000.  It’s never about any of that.

It’s like PD, uncut, not just “Professional Development,” but “Passion Development.”    The kind where you leave not just wishing to make changes, but you start making those changes, immediately, starting the very next school day.  The kind where you do a cartwheel on the way into school the next morning and shout “I loooovvvveeee teaching!” and everyone goes “Oh, no, she’s been to an edcamp again… watch out.”

Want to be inspired?  edcampDallas, September 29, 2012, edcampChicago on October 20, 2012,  edcampKC on November 10, 2012, edcampSTL on February 9, 2013, edcampOmaha on March 23, 2013.  Want to see if one is in your area?  Check out edcamp’s Wiki. Just go, sooner, rather than later. You’ll be so glad you did.