Introducing the #edcamp model to a district
Yesterday at #edcampnyc I attended an excellent session on how to set up an #edcamp. At the end, we had a #smackdown of less than 10 minutes, where a whole lot of useful information was shared by about 8 different participants.
For several months we've been having some discussion in my district about having an #edcamp. After yesterday's session, I realized that it might simpler to introduce the model in pieces. We have a required monthly PD hour after school. I'm going to see if we can have a smackdown during that hour. Our district is always looking for good ways to use the hour. A smackdown is the whole edcamp experience, compressed into a short time frame:
- Participant led and driven
- It's free
- What is shared, arises out of the group's needs and interests
- Even if the current speaker doesn't seem to have anything that connects to you, they've only got a couple of minutes. And you never know if what they say might connect to something later on.
I think an advantage at my school will be that some of us have attended edcamps. Those people people can prime the pump, modeling what a smackdown minute or two looks like. I might even show a YouTube clip if I can find one.
The smackdown yesterday ran out of time but I found myself composing one in my thoughts while it was happening. Then by a series of coincidences, I met a group traveling back on the same train to NJ. While we were waiting for our train in Penn Station, we continued to share information, as teachers often do. I explained how to sync Google Chrome to a group of computers (see link below), and heard about some good resources from the other teachers.
Syncing Google Chrome to a group of computers: http://goo.gl/FGWQ1 send any suggestions or feedback to davezirk@gmail.com
