A special thanks to Kim Ritter, for co-writing this article and for co-organizing the edcamp.
On the Monday, October 8th In-Service
Day, Kettle Run High School teachers and administrators participated in their
first Edcamp or KRHS Unconference. After
beginning the day with a quick greeting and orientation, schedules for the day
were distributed. From this evolving menu, each staff member chose to go to 2 one-hour
long sessions and 3 thirty-minute sessions.
At the conclusion of the workshops, faculty gathered in their
departments for a focused discussion on the day followed by an entire staff
debriefing in the auditorium.
Signs that it was a great day of professional development:
· Teachers were actively
engaged, asking questions and taking notes as opposed to the traditional PD
where teachers are grading papers, reading books, playing on their cell phones,
crocheting, etc.
· Conversations continued past
the bell. Walking around the cafeteria, discussions regarding morning sessions
continued.
· The edcamp reflections
completed at the end of the day also reflected that each session offered
valuable insight and information.
Feedback received from teachers:
· “I was glad to see the faculty
members break out of their departments and attend workshops by other
disciplines. This helps to encourage cross curricular activities that can
incorporate today’s technology…It was also very helpful to have an end of the
day department meeting to exchange ideas and information.”
· “The day gave us a chance to
learn what innovative ideas other teachers are using in their classrooms.
We get so caught up in our own rooms that we forget to access all of the talent
that is around us every day.”
· “[The day] was a wonderful
opportunity for staff to engage in conversation about what is happening in
their classrooms and to share those resources with each other.”
· “Let’s make
sure we do this again next year. I’m definitely leading a session next year.”
· “It’s too bad
we don’t have the opportunity to do this more often.”
Changes for next year:
· Because there was no
pre-signing up for sessions, several facilitators/session leaders expressed
frustration with not knowing how many copies to run-off. Next year, we’ll make
better use of online storage options (Google drive, Dropbox, our course
management software). One of the problems I foresee, however, is teachers may
not have real-time access to these because many of our school provided laptops
don’t keep sufficient battery charge.
· Expanding and improving the
parent-teacher roundtable and student-teacher roundtable.
Science department chair Tammy Hagan led one of the
more popular sessions on creating foldables. Because of the session’s
popularity it was repeated in the afternoon.
Twenty-eight staff members led 33 sessions over
the course of the day. Truly a school-wide experience, one popular session
incorporated a parent/teacher roundtable and another a student/teacher roundtable.
