Prior to this class I had never heard of EdCamp before. I had heard of Professional Development days but this was a completely new experience for me. The idea of not having a set structure or someone who would be leading the group through each discussion confused me. I saw the videos of past Edcamps that seemed to work well, but was hesitate that it would be as successful in our own classroom. The people in the videos were real educators who had years of classroom experience and therefore had experience they could bring with them into the discussions. For us, we didn’t have that type of experience under our belts so how could something like this even work?

To my surprise, every discussion I went to everyone had something of value to contribute. Even though we weren’t “experienced teachers” we all still brought with us the experience that we have had so far in our short time of being education students. The first EdCamp meeting I attended was on the topic of mental health. For those of you who have been reading my blog you know that mental health is something that I am very passionate about. I was able to share some of the things that I have found through doing my inquiry project as well as observing in the classroom. At the same time, I was also able to listen to my peers about some of the mental health strategies they have noticed in their classroom that worked really well or methods they use to deal with their own mental health as a university student.

Another one of the discussions I attended was on the topic of classroom management. We were able to listen to and get some advice from our professor (who also happens to be a middle school teacher) on some of the ways to help set boundaries and expectations in a classroom. We also talked about how to be in control of the classroom and what to expect as a TOC when there might not be a lesson plan ready for you. I learned how to be prepared for any class by having a tote bag with a book, videos, get to know you activities, etc. which allows you to be a bit more ready when things go south or there isn’t a “to-do” list to follow. Being a teacher both in your own classroom and as a TOC means that you have to be flexible as things won’t always go as you planned. While this can be difficult, having backup plans, alternative games and activities, and setting expectations, will make your life a little bit easier.

Overall EdCamp was a really cool way to get connected with peers and learn from one another. I walked away learning a lot more than I thought I would and would definitely be interested in doing another one sometime in the near future 🙂