#edcampSWOK

Februaary 6, 2016

Day 224 & 225 as an Oklahoma Teacher

     Today, the first  Edcamp in Southwest Oklahoma happened at Cameron University in Lawton. Ninety-nine teachers registered, and fifty-seven teachers came to this event. I attended the ELA standards, blogging, and education sessions. Instead of discussing what I learned about in each session, I want to discuss some observations that I made. One teacher mentioned in the blogging section that teachers in Arizona are required to keep a blog as part of their evaluation process. Parents even read the blogs to find out about the class and the teacher and use it as a way to request teachers for their children. I thought that it was a very interesting idea; instead of having students fill out surveys, why not have teachers keep a class blog? It has reflecting, connecting, and expressing opinions, just what is needed to complete a TLE. I know some of you will disagree with this idea, but I think it would work.
       Another idea that I thought about was using the edcamp format as a way for students to teach the teachers about technology. Last week, I had a student show us a presentation using Keynote. We all wanted to know how to use Keynote, and she showed us. Students could even learn something new and present the information to other students. This format can be easily manipulated to fit any classroom and any school event. There could be a parent edcamp, a new student edcamp, a writing edcamp, or a literary character edcamp. The ideas are endless.
     Finally, get involved with educational issues. Just sitting around and griping about something is not going to solve problems. We need to discuss, to collaborate, and to share with other teachers across the state. Sometimes, I feel that teachers in this part of the state get left out, but I think it's more that we don't get involved. Write letters, send emails, make a Facebook page, or join a twitter chat group. If we are going to make a difference in education, we need to take that first steps now. We can't wait for other people to tell us what to do.
     I can't wait until next year's edCamp Southwest Oklahoma.