This week in class we talked about EdCamps and then went on to participate in our own. I had never heard of what an EdCamp was or what occurs during one, but after watching the videos provided in class I now understand their importance. EdCamps are unconference personalized learning opportunities where you can connect and collaborate with other educators about specific topics. You can choose the topics that interest you before each session is created. What I found really intriguing about EdCamps is that everyone is a facilitator so there is not one leader. There is also the “two feet rule” where you can move sessions and find sessions that meet your needs.

After learning a bit about professional development in my other classes, EdCamps seems to be a great tool to continue to learn and grow as an educator through collaboration. It also allows you to use your time efficiently and choose the topics that you want to elaborate on and learn from.

In our class today, we held our own EdCamp. We started by choosing topics that interested us individually on Jamboard, then combining ideas and voting on the topics that we would like to discuss with our classmates. We came up with the topics of Mental Health, Gender Identity, Outdoor Ed, Classroom management and Supporting ELL learners. There were three different sessions we could attend with each time slot being 20 minutes long.

Gender Identity: In this session, we discussed how we have observed certain teachers’ approaches to creating a safe place and speaking openly about gender identity. Some of my main takeaways from this session were:

  • Using gender-neutral language across all subjects for inclusivity and incorporating various pronouns, cultures and names in word problems
  • Providing a safe place in the classroom for students by facilitating open conversations when questions arise on the topic of identity or gender identity
  • Sharing sex education resources to the whole class instead of splitting them up (never singling students out)
  • Using stories to share important ideas and topics that can be complex

Classroom Management: I loved this session as I felt that through the questions my classmates asked and the answers given by Johanna I was able to feel a bit more comfortable about potentially trying to manage an unfamiliar classroom. My main takeaways were:

  • Reverting to elementary techniques when it comes to listening, rather than interrupting conversations wait for them to stop and respect you
  • Having consequences for actions that students agree and sign on to in your classroom
  • Having a safe space to calm down and giving the student and the teacher time to take a deep breath before a discussion on the behaviour occurs
  • Preparing a “Sub bag” for when you don’t get to prepare before entering an unfamiliar classroom
  • Leaving detailed notes on how the day went (successes and things that went wrong) as a substitute teacher

Supporting ELL learners: In this session, we had a discussion on the ways ELL learners are supported in our Link2Practice classrooms and tried to come up with different strategies for how they can be better supported. Some of my takeaways from this were:

  • Connecting with parents and providing extra resources for working and practicing english at home
  • Using technology to your advantage instead of having a full time helper (google translate and other speech to text apps)
  • Allowing time for them to leave class and connect with other ELL students, while also allowing them to connect with students in the class and build relationships

Overall, I found my EdCamp experience to be extremely beneficial as I got to learn from my classmate’s experiences and discover new tools and ideas to deal with these topics. I found the environment to be welcoming, and engaging and I felt comfortable sharing my ideas and being included in the conversation. I also loved watching people tell their stories and become passionate about these topics. I can’t wait to attend another one, and try and implement this concept into future classrooms.