Ed Camp 2017

            Just this past weekend I had the privilege of attending my first ever Ed Camp here in Brookings, SD. I had many people tell me that you won’t regret going and they were correct. For those of you that don’t know what Ed Camp is, Ed Camp is a day of self-driven, high-interest professional development. It is a day to collaborate with teachers and future teachers of all grade levels. The best part is that you as participators get to choose the topics that are discussed that day. After a short introduction, you are asked to write down on a piece of paper what topics and ideas you want to discuss with other teachers. All of the ideas are then collaborated and you as a teacher participate to facilitate the discussion within the room. There are no presenters or power points, it is simply just teachers wanting to learn more from other fellow teachers.

            I learned more than I thought I would while attending Ed Camp. While in attendance, I was able to attend four sessions. The first session was Learning Management System (LMS) Practices/ Google Classroom. I found this session extremely interesting because as a college student we don’t always get to see the full side of a LMS. We discussed the pros and cons of Google Classroom and Schoology. I learned how many of the systems interlink with each other including Google Classroom and Schoology. I learned everything from inviting parents into the systems to working with cable companies to find low cost internet for you students who don’t have internet available at home.

            The second session I attended was Breakout EDU’s. Breakout EDU’s are becoming more and more popular to use in the classroom. I learned affective ways to use them in the classroom for all grade levels. I also learned about many resources that can help with regular Breakouts and online Breakouts as well.

            The third session I attended was Rich Math Tasks. In this session we talked about what a “rich” math task really is. I became informed of all the different resources that I have a choice on. From textbooks to online activities, as a teacher I will more than likely get to choose what the best resources are for my classroom.

            The last session that I attended was Applying and Interviewing for Jobs. This session was by far my favorite because I will soon be interviewing for jobs. I recommend to any future teacher to attend a session like this. I was able to discuss with a principal on the proper way to apply and interview for a job. The principal reminded us that the people we are interviewing with want us to do well and they want to help us. He gave us many tips to help us become successful for our first interview.

            Overall, I recommend Ed Camp to all teachers, student teachers, future teachers, substitute teachers, and administration. You will not regret it. They also do drawings all day long so you may even go home with free materials for your classroom. It is a day filled with teachers who just want to improve their classrooms.

                                    Oh and did I forget to mention it’s FREE!!

By: Katie Murtha