This article was contributed by Teresa Dixon, teacher at Saint Catherine’s High School in Racine, WI.
Walking into Divine Savior Holy Angels High School early Friday morning, I could feel the anticipation of something about to start. I checked in with my peers and got to work setting up raffle items and making sure my laptop was hooked up to the Wifi system. On the surface it looked like the start of a typical educator seminar: the coffee perked, bagels and lanyards waited, and committee members fussed over details awaiting the arrival of participants.
However, unlike similar events, no one knew what the topics of discussion would be. There was a schedule, but no agenda. Even the sole slideshow communicated just a model for what was to come at the first Catholic EdCamp Milwaukee.
Edcamps are free, participatory events organized by educators for educators. They have been around since 2009 and have grown worldwide as a way for educators to connect, share ideas and learn from each other. Here in Milwaukee, I’ve been working with a group of fellow educators to create professional development for the archdiocese. While much of our work has been school sponsored events with a targeted purpose, we felt that the EdCamp model would provide a voice and opportunity for educators in the area to talk about the things that matter most to them.
As participants arrived we worked to identify topics of discussion for the day. Typical to other EdCamps, our agenda was shared through Google Apps and our Tweets went out using the hashtag #CathEdCampMKE. Conversations centered on everything from assessment to the innovator’s mindset, and in every session the rooms were filled with educators talking, talking and still more talking.
We actually get to talk about what we want to talk about. It wasn’t just what someone decided for us, reflected Sheila Daniels from St. Mary’s Hales Corner.
Asking a few others what they thought, Gary Newman from St. Mary’s Visitation agreed saying, “I found it very valuable because not only did it give me new ideas for new things to do with my students, but it also helped me build on things I’m already doing to make those projects and assessments more engaging, current and academically challenging. I also felt the use of Google Docs was fantastic, because I didn’t have to constantly take notes. I could hear about books and they were being logged in ways that I can access, as well as the contacts for other educators.”
Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of an EdCamp are the ideas that are built upon and generated by the participating educators. For example, Sue Schmidt, from St. Mary’s in Menomonee Falls, shared, “The most awesome take away for me is a way to manage service hours using Google Forms. It automatically puts it into a Google Sheet. I just can’t wait; it gets rid of tons of paperwork I don’t even have to handle.”
Other educators were energized by new connections and conversations they had including Dawn Wester from St. Charles Borromeo, “My most awesome take away is all the different people, levels, discussions, and new ideas for actually working with students. Practical ideas that I can utilize in the classroom.”
Rose Lange, from Waukesha Catholic agreed, “I’m just thrilled that there are so many other educators interested in innovation and really doing something for our students that is going to help them in the long run. It’s just really invigorating and makes me really hopeful for our kids.”
While others spoke about the importance of educators choosing to be there in order to build engagement and enthusiasm for the day, I was truly inspired by Mary Gentile from Catholic Memorial High School who left with a powerful observation, “This is an excellent model for me to replicate and use with my own students in the classroom. That’s a direction I think all of education needs to go.”
