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EdCamp Still Rules

  Looking Back at 10 years of EdCamps Oh how the time flies, EdCamp Madison is turning 10 this year!  It will be held Saturday, February 3rd at Sun Prairie West High School. Which can be found at 2850 Ironwood Drive in Sun Prairie Wisconsin from 8:30 am - 3:00 pm.  Get more information and register here: https://sites.google.com/sunprairieschools.org/edcampmadwi/home   I will always remember sitting in my first EdCamp opening session at the very first EdCamp Madison and having no clue what I was in for. So, I’d like to take this space to go over some of the basic rules of EdCamp. No One Will Pitch It for You EdCamps are unconferences. By this I mean that they have a blank slate of sessions for the day. There may be a few predetermined sessions, but ultimately the session topics are determined by attendees during the pitch & plan session that opens the day. If an idea gets pitched there will be a session on it. If a topic doesn’t get pitched, there won’t be a session on it. So, it i

Mo Portfolios Mo Problems: Version 1.0



As we approach the school year, two big things have occurred that have made me realize that portfolios can be a place for literacy and learning to be reflected. The first is that we are going 1:1 with Chromebooks at the high school. The second event was our district being included in the Google Sites Beta.  The Beta represents a giant leap in accessibility for students who are able to use the core GAFE apps like Docs and Slides.

What these two changes mean is that we can access to the portfolio anytime (no need to sign up for computer lab) and with ease (it will be a much less intimidating process).  Students who are familiar with GAFE apps will be more able to provide peer support.  They don't need to know the complex menus of the traditional Google Sites (Classic Sites).

So, I'm calling this Version 1.0 because I'm really starting from scratch here guided by the work of George Couros and Vicki Davis with student portfolios. They have so many great resources that I had to use to think about when drawing up my first iteration I plan to implement in 14 days.

Couros asks a simple question about purpose of the portfolio format. Will the portfolio be used as a learning portfolio, a showcase portfolio, or both.  It is my intention that it be a place for both. The learning portion will be in the form of student narratives and the showcase will be presentation and defense of course artifacts.

The outline of version 1.0 is below for what will be in the portfolio. I'm currently deciding on the "visibility plan".  But, will make them live to myself and parents right away. Probably, live to the world after our first unit. And, promote to the world after the first 9 weeks.  I would love if you would provide me with any feedback, questions, concerns, or clarifications.  As my PLN, I'd love your help in clarifying and shaping my vision. I think it would be really cool if I was able to get enough feedback to draft Version 1.1 before school started.  Thank you!



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