One of the best parts of being an instructional coach for me, has been breaking out of my classroom walls. Don’t get me wrong, I worked hard to connect my classroom with others, and powerful learning opportunities happened as a result. But this year I’ve broken out of those classroom walls in a way I never would have imagined. The time I used to spend lesson planning at home, has been replaced with growing my PLN and connecting with others that have similar roles so I can support teachers and students. My passion for teaching and learning has been fueled as a result.
Today I attended my first edcamp. Isn’t it funny how your PLN can your own little celebrity circle? Seeing people that I see in my Twitter feed in real life, is amazing in a totally geeky way. And we thought social media is killing face to face interaction…I’m pretty sure seeing a Twitter connection in real life is like a kid seeing their teacher in the grocery store. The philosophy of edcamp is almost like the Gettysburg Address, ‘by the people for the people.’ Notes are shared, because good teaching and ideas should be shared. So basically all that babble was to say here are the notes from EdCamp Chicago 2016!
I met some really great people that I follow on Twitter in real life, and they are just as great in real life as they are on social media! If you haven’t had the chance to experience an edcamp, I highly recommend it. And if you can’t be there in person, there’s always Twitter!
Which way is up? 