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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

Problem Finders, Problem Solvers



The above quote comes from George Couros's Innovator's Mindset.  This is my second round with the #IMMOOC.  The greatest thing about the MOOC was that it provided me the space to reflect and connect with others using a common language and understanding.

So, what change am I looking at now?  Over the past year, my administration has embraced the idea that professional development does not have to look the same for everyone. During our PD time, educators are often given the space to choose their own path and attend staff led sessions that meet their needs. This PD has been some of the best of my career.  It was with this in mind that, I choose to take a risk as a professional.

In late 2016, I sent out an open invitation to staff in my district to see if any would be willing to come together to host an EdCamp in our district. I was amazed when over 25 peers asked to be a part of the team.  Even more impressive is that only a couple had actually attended an EdCamp.  So we have educators who are willing to take a great risk and plan an event that they have never seen first hand. This is the innovator's mindset if there ever was one.

Over the past 4 months, the members of our team have been doing amazing work to find sponsors for our event and plan the logistics.  We've been able to get our breakfast and lunch paid for as well as some great prizes for our end of the day raffle.  These great prizes include a couple of copies of The Innovator's Mindset George so kindly donated to the cause. We look forward to getting those in some brave hands.

Our EdCamp is scheduled for March 25th.  When we opened registration on the first of 2017, I was afraid no one would come.  But, this risk is paying of in numbers that are higher that I would've expected. What has surprised me is that about 65% of our attendees come from outside of our district. This really speaks to the power of the EdCamp brand and the quality of PD educators find there.

I am happy that I took this risk.  But, I'm really proud of the educators I have on my team. We have staff from 9 of the 11 schools in our district K-12. These are change agents who are putting their time on the line to create learning opportunities for others. They want to create meaningful experiences for all learners staff and students. It is fun to see staff on our team who did not know each other come together and create this partnership based on a common goal. They all have unique talents that they are bringing to the team. It is a group that is centered on solutions not complaints.  We are problem finders and problem solvers.  But we don't do it alone.  We do it together.  We understand that the greatest changes and made when we have a team to increase our inertia. So, once the ball is rolling, it will keep on rolling and it will take a lot of force to slow us down.

If you are in the Wisconsin area, we would love to have you attend our EdCamp on March 25th. More info can be found on our site. Here's a direct link to the registration.




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