#Edcampnyc and what I learned
This past weekend I attended my very first EdCamp right here in NYC. The event, held at The School at Columbia University, was put on as an alternative and innovative professional development unconference for educators. It was refreshing to attend an event organized by teachers, to help teachers, also, that there are no rules at an unconference except to learn as much as possible!
Photo by SpecialKRB via Flickr
I attended three sessions: iPads in elementary education; Facebook “friends” and face-to-face learning; and iPads, iPhones, and iPods in special education. Although the conversations in each of these sessions was very different, the same message came through in each discussion. To all of these innovative educators, if we are consistently meeting students where they are (mentally, socially, emotionally, physically) and continue to challenge them while thinking of their needs and capabilities, we can ensure that we are effectively teaching our students and preparing them for the world. This is also to say that we should be learning from our students as well! Teachers and students have the responsibility to play both roles.
I attended the conference as a passionate educator who hopes to make a difference and to investigate how ShowMe can play a role in the innovative classroom. Already there are so many ways it is helping students; from being used in assessments, to homework help exchanges on Edmodo, to being a tool to flip a classroom, to helping a student who was absent catch up in class. At EdCamp, I was exposed to even more ways ShowMe can be used as a tool and inspired to investigate more features we could implement as well as more possible ideas for us to be an effective learning opportunity.
EdCampNYC reinforced the idea that educators are well on their way to changing education and making a difference in students’ lives but there is still a long road ahead. It was an event that reinvigorated our spirits to go forth and make a difference where we can and commit to supporting educators 100% however possible.
