From what I gathered from the provided resources, EdCamps seem like a really great way of spending a professional development day! Prior to this week, I did not know events like EdCamp were available to teachers. To my knowledge, professional development days were set days where teachers would watch a seminar on a topic of their choosing. Already I was beginning to dread the thought of going to these, as I have trouble retaining information in this traditional style of education. I’m glad to see now, that alternative approaches to professional development, like EdCamps, are available to teachers. It’s a super cool thing to see!
As to some aspects I enjoyed about EdCamps specifically, I loved how open they are! From the information provided in the video, they describe EdCamps as being completely open and free-flowing. Anyone may speak on a topic of their choosing and anyone may listen. I find this to be really cool as I can imagine all the great conversations this sparks. I bet many of these productive conversations would have never happened had it not been for EdCamps. Speaking further on the openness of it all, I really like how if you are listening to a speaker and for any reason, you feel you should leave for a new discussion, you’re more than welcome to do so! Personally, I love this, as the feeling of being stuck in something where it is considered rude to stand up and leave is not one I enjoy.
Overall, I think EdCamps are an amazing alternative to the traditional professional development day and I will definitely be attending one in my future!
Photo Credits: My photo