From BLAH... to TAH-DAH! Go "EdCamping" for Your Staff's Next PD Day!

From THIS...

Inspired by Knapp Elementary Principal, Joe Mazza (@Joe_Mazza) and the increasing numbers of "edcamp un-conferences" happening around the world, we shifted the "professional learning paradigm" at our high school recently. True confession: I have not attended an EdCamp myself. I have followed several of them through the Twitter hash tag world, however, and I have officially registered for my first - #EdCampKC in November. For a traditional professional development junkie like myself, I consider it a substantial change for me and our school. It was strange to release the control for our staff's learning almost completely. I referred to Mr. Mazza's blog post about his school's experience multiple times, presented the concept to our teacher leadership team, and we went for it. We liked it so much, we plan to make it the mainstay format for all of our scheduled late-start professional development days for the school year (5, two-hour sessions). Here is what we did based on Knapp Elementary School's model by Principal Mazza.

1. Set the time. The district has five, two-hour late start days set aside for professional development each year. For the high school schedule, this is 7:10 am to 9:10 am with students arriving for a shortened day by 9:40 am. During my years as the principal, I have almost always planned and conducted those learning sessions. To not know exactly WHAT or WHO was going to be doing professional development was a little nerve racking for our administrative team.

2. Draft the Big Board. The one pictured below is our completed version that was projected at the beginning of the day for the entire staff after all of the sessions were confirmed. We utilized what was available, free, and effective - Mr. Mazza's google doc! Here is a copy of ours for anyone interested: Final Schedule Board

3. Make suggestions for session topics. Given this was my first real release of staff development control, I felt that we needed to provide some suggestions for topics to get the ball rolling. Together with the teacher leadership team, we proposed the following topics:

BYOT (more on this later)

Social Media

Web Tools

Learning Stations

Teacher Web Sites

Power of I (academic interventions)

Flipped Classrooms

As you will see from the final schedule board, not all of our suggestions made the cut. I was pleasantly surprised at some who offered up other topics and facilitated a session. This may not be exactly like the process the EdCamp creators originally designed, but the scheduling process became a lot like an NFL draft. Teachers would throw out a topic, chatter would ensue to gauge interest, then someone would volunteer to lead the session. Boom. It's on the board. 

Our completed schedule board projected for staff.

4. One unique session. Our school is launching a BYOT program. At the time of our first #EagleEdCamp, we were on the verge of ready to open up access to the wifi and begin the use of students' personal devices.The Assistant Principal led a session that was offered during both time slots for any teacher interested in piloting any kind of BYOT in their classroom. We decided to make this a requirement prior to launching the initiative in a way to make a teacher "BYOT certified." (This was not the first introduction to BYOT for these teachers, of course)

5. Once the schedule board was complete, teachers made their selections and headed out for their morning "un-conference." 

6. Build in reflection and more sharing. I created a basic google form to survey teachers' reactions to the #EagleEdCamp format and asked they complete it by the end of the day. Questions were short and simple such as 1)What will you begin or change in your classroom as a result of something you learned today? 2) How can we improve #EagleEdCamp for our next late start? 

TO THIS!

Some of the comments included: 

"I like the EdCamp format. Great to learn from our colleagues and grow together." 

"Great day. Inspiring!"

"I thought it was cool that we had teachers leading sessions and we all had input on our own PD topics. Can't wait until next time!"

We also encouraged teachers to "tweet" about it before, during, and after the process to ask questions, reflect, and share links and info for additional learning after the morning was over. We used the #EagleEdCamp hash tag. 

Overall, an outstanding day! Many thanks and credit to all of the EdCampers out there and especially to @Joe_Mazza! 

Champions Are Made In The Off-Season!

Ask any coach what it takes to be a champion and the answer will more than likely sound something similar to the title of this post - Champions Are Made In The Off-Season. The time to work on sport-specific skills and fundamentals is not in the heat of competition season. The time to improve skills and fundamentals is, yes you guessed it, the off-season.

Most educators work officially on the 185-day school year which runs something close to August through May or September through June. During my summer off-season, I have observed educators from around the world connecting, sharing, and learning from one another. Many others are attending workshops, reading professional books, and finding ways to improve their craft. 

We began a weekly tweet chat to stay connected over the summer using a unique hash tag (#10TuesTweets). We meet every Tuesday, at 10 am CST for ten weeks in the summer to discuss various initiatives and topics related to our school. The response has been very positive! I can't imagine a more convenient or powerful way to connect and learn with other professionals. Week 8 discussion will be a time for anyone who wants to join us to share and reflect on their own off-season preparation for the 2012-2013 school year. 

Just for fun, here are a few things I've learned during my own off-season:

1. Pinterest is not just for soccer moms. Not only can I get the latest crock pot recipe, I can learn about the best iPad apps for educators or read an educational article. It's another tool to connect and learn with and from other professionals.
2. I can attend national conferences "virtually" by following a unique hash tag on Twitter during the "live" conference.
3. I have found numerous web and social media resources to share with teachers.
4. Twitter is a "game changer" - try it - you'll be hooked too!

What did you do in your off-season? I would love to hear your comments!

5 Things Twitter Has Taught Me

1. Professional learning is available when you need it, 24/7.

After hearing Kevin Honeycutt (@kevinhoneycutt), I was convinced I needed a Twitter account. Although I signed up immediately, I didn't really use it for more than an avenue to track celebrity gossip and breaking news. Then, I discovered FlipBoard and began finding legitimate professionals to follow. I rarely forget to eat or sleep, but Twitter  for professional development has caught me wondering why my stomach is growling or I am yawning . Any time, anywhere. I can be reading professional journals from my iphone between innings of my son's ball game! If there's 12-step program for addicted Tweeters, I may need the contact information.

2. Tweet chatting and following hash tags are effective for collaboration.

During the school year, we constantly wish for more time to collaborate with teachers. Various structures and procedures to creatively design collaboration time are put in to place. But, it's never enough. Teachers visit other schools for specific peer observation opportunities and collaboration, but there is only so much in the substitute teacher pool for release time. Setting up a weekly summer tweet chat with our own hash tag (#10TuesTweets) has proven to be an effective way to have professional discussions and learning with each other, but also with others from around the world. And, these discussion can take place without hiring a babysitter, or from the checkout line at the grocery store!

3. Professionals from around the world are ready and willing to help.

Ask and you will receive. I have not found anyone who will not extend themselves to help a fellow colleague. Twitter is a network that gives us no excuse to claim we can't find answers or help from others. I try my best to pay it forward and share every chance I get. I consider my PLN to be a network of "virtual" friends and colleagues.

4. Tweets can be a "link" to unlimited resources in the form of blogs and web resources.


Tweets are a "link" or a window to professional blogs and web-based resources. It never occurred to me that 140 characters could lead to so much information and resources for professional learning. I now have a number of blogs that I follow regularly that I might never have found without my Twitter connections.

5. Social media is not a one-way ticket to disaster, but a gateway to self and organizational improvement.


I, like many parents and educators, lived in fear of social media. No way was anything positive coming as a result of my being involved. My own children forced the issue. So, I began my journey first as a watchdog mom. Little did I know, it would improve me as a professional and energize my passion as an educator. Thanks kids! And thanks to all of my colleagues and friends in my growing professional learning network!