- What would you like to share | teach?
- What would you like to learn?
- What would you like to discuss with other passionate learners?
Registration is still open. Invite a friend to register.
Hey Campers, only two more weeks to EdCampMSP 2015. Lisa has created the Google Doc that will contain your schedule, but it's up to all of you to create the sessions.
Registration is still open. Invite a friend to register.
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EdCampMSP would like to welcome Schoology as a Principal Financial sponsor of this year's event to be held on Saturday, October 10th at the Minnesota History Center from 9:00 to 3:30. Schoology is one of the country's fastest growing learning management systems. Schoology's mission is to give teachers the tools and connections to engage students more efficiently and improve educational effectiveness. Want to learn more about Schoology? Attend EdCampMSP on October 10th.
This year we decided to try something different and reached out to Education Minnesota Foundation. We are happy to report that Education Minnesota will become our newest partner. Their partnership (sponsorship) meets our goal and ensure that every attendee will be taken care of from start to finish. That means you are all going to get breakfast and lunch!
That also means that we are able to increase our number of attendees. We want to bring 250 educators to the Minnesota History Center on October 10th. We want you to invite your colleagues. We want this to be a day of learning like no other. Registration will open on August 10th. If you want to reminder you can enter your name on the form below. We will make sure you get a reminder right when the EdCampMSP registration opens. We will see you on October 10th. So it was a bit cold this past weekend and into Monday and Tuesday. So it was a great opportunity to help EdCamp Bemidji as they plan their inaugural event and also do some necessary updates EdCampMSP in preparation for EdCampMSP 2014. Well one thing lead to another and since we are trying something new by going to the museum, I figured a new look for our site would be pretty a good idea as well.
You probably noticed right away the new header. I chose the panoramic picture that Brad Hosack from the U of M took at EdCampMSP for our new menu. I love that picture and how it shows community and people so excited to learn, even on a Saturday. I kept our archives for those who wanted to reminisce back. Plus you can still watch the EdCampMSP video, listen to the rap that we collaborated with Flocabulary to develop, or follow EdCampMSP alumni via our UPDATED twitter roll call. Now for the fun stuff... Details about EdCampMSP 2014: Location: Minnesota History Center (MHC) Date: October 11, 2014 Time: 9:00 AM* - 4:30 PM Registration Opens: August 18th at 7:00 AM. Get a registration reminder here. *Note the time change, MHC doesn't open until 9 so we have to shift the day a bit, yet it will still be rocking and having a great day of learning on October 11th. Q: How much is it again?
Everything is provided 100% by sponsors allowing us to make this a free event and give you some small giveaways. Yay sponsors! Q: Do I need to bring a lunch or eat breakfast? We are currently securing breakfast and lunch sponsors; once that is done we will send an email to all attendees letting you know if we are able to provide. Q: What’s the conference about? Honestly, we don’t know yet. EdCampMSP is not your traditional conference. In fact, there is really nothing traditional about it at all. Our sessions for the day are not published, or even known ahead of time. The day is 100% driven by you, the attendees. That is where the session (conversation) ideas come from. What we do know is that you have the opportunity to get what you need, help others meet their needs, and make some great contacts in the process. You can get the conversation rolling by commenting on our blog post ‘What’s Your Passion?’ Q: I’m probably going to be late or leave early, is that a problem? Not at all - remember this day is about you. The session planning, which starts at 8:30am, is always important. We know it’s early, but this is where the magic happens. This is where we ask YOU what YOU want from the day. Creating an EdCamp agenda is a pretty awesome experience. If you are going to leave early, again no worries - this day is about YOU. Q: You mention ‘session planning’ what do you mean? To build the schedule, participants make invitations along these lines:
Q: What resources are available if I want to present something? There will be a projector in each room for anyone to use, if needed, to show supplemental materials and resources. EdCampMSP is not about full blown presentations with slides, handouts, and the like. It’s not that kind of conference, but if you have them, you’re welcome to bring them. The idea is for sessions to be conversational and participatory rather than sit-and-get. Q: There’s something I want to talk about but I don’t want to lead a session. What should I do? Just because you added the session/topic to the session board doesn’t mean you have to be the only voice during that entire time slot. In fact, we don’t want you to be. Sessions are meant to be learning conversation around the topic. Just facilitate and give focus; let everyone in on the conversation. Q: What if I start in one session and after a few minutes discover it’s not for me? If you realize that your mind is drifting off to another place, you need to take your two feet and catch your mind. This is called ‘the law of two feet’ - let your feet take you where your mind is drifting. Q: We’re really into our conversation but the session ended. Now what? This is completely normal. Move your conversation to the Bull Pen and continue on. This will happen with a lot of conversations. Again, EdCampMSP is really informal and non-traditional, and you know what... it is all acceptable. Q: What should I bring to EdCampMSP? Here are some things you might want to bring with you:
Q: How can I say thanks to the EdCampMSP sponsors? Tweet out your appreciation, like them on Facebook, and give them your business. Remember they helped make this day possible. Check out the EdCampMSP blog, camper profiles, and general information and we will see you on October 12th. EdCampMSP is your time to pursue what excites you about learning and teaching. It's your personal learning network on steroids. This requires that all of us come prepared to share our passions. Like the tried and true KWL, what you know and you want to know determines what you will learn.
EdCamp starts with invitations. What would you like to share? What would you like to discuss? What would you like to learn from others? We invite you to start crafting your invitations and sharing them with each other. Just comment on this post like this. I'm Tom Brandt. I work for the Osseo Area Schools as a technology integration specialist. I'm passionate about developing humane models of staff development and invite others to share what inspires them to be lifelong learners. Then take your "passion statement" and tweet it out to your network like this. I'm passionate about humane models of staff development and invite others to share what inspires them to be lifelong learners. #edcampmsp Also, the ConnectEd Space is back. This is where we connect with other knowledgeable educators from the region, country and world through Google Hangouts. We are scheduled to meet with EdCamp Dallas for one session, but would love to hear suggestions from you. Just comment on this post with any people, places or things you'd like us to contact. A few days prior to last year’s EdCamp event our friends at EdCampNJ (New Jersey) told us they were collecting school supplies for students affected by Hurricane Sandy. We thought this was an awesome idea and vowed to make giving to others a part of EdCampMSP 2013.
So this year EdCampMSP is partnering with our friends at Pilgrim Cleaners and joining the Coats for Kids Drive. We are asking all campers to bring your new or gently used coats, mittens, hats, scarves, boots, and snow pants for children or adults to the October 12th event. We will get them over to Pilgrim Cleaners, who will clean them and give them to families in need. This is the 27th year of this program and you can learn more information by reading this article from the Sun Post. Keep an eye out for another e-mail in the next few weeks regarding information about EdCampMSP. This information will address lunch the day of EdCamp and other logistics. We have been reaching out to individuals who will be traveling 2+ hours to EdCampMSP and sharing them information about accommodations. Finally, thanks for your consideration of helping Coats for Kids. In lieu of winter garb, you may give a cash or check donation, written out to Coats for Kids. The money raised will be used to purchase new coats. Yesterday, I was talking with an individual who was interested in attending #EdCampMSP and was curious if Twitter was a requirement for attendance. Let me just share with you... You do not need Twitter to come to EdCampMSP The only requirement is that we are looking for in our attendees is a commitment to try something new. This is not your sit and get professional development. You get to be the expert, because we believe that everyone has something to share. Our goal is to have you walk away and say - I learned so much. This is a day for personal learning and if you want to learn with a newfound network - this is where you should be on October 12th. In fact, as the registrations are rolling in - we have EdCampMSP Alumni coming back (many for their third time) and first time attendees. And in the rules of EdCampMSP - the right people will be there. Since we believe you are right for EdCamp, remember you don't need to have a Twitter account to come to join fellow EdCampMSP-ers. So if you haven't registered yet, click below and come join the fun! And if you have registered - invite your PLN!
EdCampMSP is a day of fun. It has to be, seeing that we are asking teachers to come on a Saturday. And in the instance of EdCampMSP June 2012 - it was an absolutely gorgeous Saturday. Needless to say obsessing about the weather is one of the things we do, we want rain and cold. Sunny and 70 is not a great day for EdCampMSP. That is besides the point. This year we are going to Osseo Junior High, we had a location selected although a construction project put a hamper on that plan. Instead they have agreed to be our host for EdCampMSP 2014, which is slated to take place again in October. I will tell you that it is going to be an awesome location. So why did we choose Osseo Junior High? We knew we had to get a bigger space - we were a bit crammed last year. We felt that at Osseo Junior High we could stretch our legs a bit and we could try new ideas and concepts. Last December Tom and I attended Open Space Technology training and we learned how to be better facilitators for EdCampMSP. There were ideas and concepts that they showed us that we could easily implement and in fact, we are looking forward to implementing those ideas - such as hopefully having our opening session in the gym. We are bringing back and expanding the staples which make EdCampMSP awesome. We will still have our #webbsupport station, we are putting the BullPen in the library, and the organizing team will be working diligently over this summer to secure different sponsorships so that we can provide you with breakfast/lunch/snacks. We are inviting you to join us on October 12th and we want you to leave with your mind full of new possibilities. Finally, we read the feedback of the EdCampMSP 2012 attendees, along with the EdCampMSP June 2012 attendees. We have taken every piece of feedback to heart, with the exception of one - sorry we are not going to help your waistlines, we will still have a ton of food. However, here is what we ask for you.. we want you to spread the EdCamp to other teachers, administrators, student teachers, teacher candidates who are volunteering in your classroom, and retired educators. The beauty of the Open Space Technology method is that we recognize that the 'right people are here' and we want all of the right people there. Like I said earlier, if we are having you give up a Saturday - we will make sure you are having fun and we look forward to having you join in the fun. |
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