Saturday, May 7, 2011

edCamp Detroit

Today I attended edcamp Detroit at Wayne State University. This is going to be a short post, just a quick reflection so I don't forget some of what I thought about on the way home.

Twitter is a GREAT tool. Not only is it a great way to network and "farm" for ideas, but it was a very useful bookmarking tool for all of the great sites that were shared today. Even if I wasn't in a session, somebody else from another session tweeted a link and I was able to retweet, thus saving it for later.

Why would I save it later and just not check it our at that moment? Well...unlike almost EVERYBODY there, I didn't have a netbook, tablet, iPad, iPhone, or Android phone. I don't like to say I am envious, but in this case I think the green eyed monster reared it's ugly head.

There were some very good presentations there. That being said, I think my co-worker, Sue, is right. I need to jump full force on the PD bandwagon.

Lots of great information gathered, and lots of good networking happened today. Nov. 5 is the Grand Rapids edcamp. I do plan on attending.

What I felt the best about today was all of us gathered together of our own free will with no monetary incentive. All we wanted out of the day was to learn from our peers. The attitude of the participants was refreshing - it was obvious this was a group of teachers that believe in our profession. We believe we can make a difference, we believe there are new things to learn and we're not afraid to seek out that information. All in all, it was a great day - thanks to all involved!!