Tales of the #PirateLibrarian

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Reflection on EdcampELON

April 19, 2014


Wow! What a day!
Let me back up and say, that I spent the last Saturday of my Spring Break attending EdcampElon. What a great experience that was!  


I found Edcamp in the Twitterverse. EdCamp is an UNconference that is for educators.  There is not a direct theme of an Edcamp; it is decided on by the attendees what the breakout sessions will be, once they arrive.  That is done basically by proclamation. In this case, it was via a padlet.  There are no real formal presenters, just people willing to become facilitators of the discussions.  


Also, they use the ‘rule of two feet’, which is to say if a sessions is not what you wanted, use your two feet and leave for another session instead.  No hurt feelings. And I did use that rule-more on that later.


My first goal upon arriving was to find and actually meet in person my #nctlchat buddies.  That happened very quickly, while I was in line at the check-in!  @sedley1  was right there in front of me! She then introduced me to @caneslibrarian and @tutteltweets.  After grabbing coffee, we were off to the general session.  


It seemed rather crazy and chaotic at first for me, but I soon fell into the rhythm. I think we even trended on Twitter for a bit, as the excitement took hold.  


My first session was on Makerspaces, and because I had never seen what a 3D printer could do, I was blown away! Lots of talk about what can be in a makerspace- to me almost anything goes! From hi-tech to basics of knitting as well as everything in-between and beyond. Glad to hear I was on track with my Lego, K’nex and puzzles! Thanks Nathan Stevens for bringing in the 3D goodies!


My next session was Digital Leadership.  It became clear very quickly that this was not the session I wanted and I used the two feet rule to take me to a session on Twitter Chats.  Yup, much more what I needed.  Sedley was there, and we gained some information that was going to help with our #nctlchat (North Carolina Teacher Librarian Chat).


My final session was Tech Innovations.  Lots of helpful information, again.  Thanks Jen for being the facilitator!  


Our final general session featured an App Smackdown where even more ideas were shared. Door prizes were given, including an iPad (Which I didn’t win).  I did walk away with information overload (almost), and a Target gift card!


After the Edcamp, Chris, Jen, Sedley and I made our way to the Acorn coffee shop to discuss our #nctlchat.  More on that in another blog.  So glad to have met these great Teacher-Librarians in person. They are awesome, and I am not worthy!  

Peace,

Lisa

No comments:

Post a Comment