Saturday morning my alarm went off at 7 AM. I was headed to #EduCampWelly – and event I had been excitedly waiting for since probably I found out I was headed to NZ last April. This particular EduCamp had been reccomened to me by so many people I actually lost count, so that was a good sign, right? For my non-teacher friends, an EdCamp is a participant-driven professional learning conference, often labeled as an “unconference” because the sessions are lined up by the participants – that day – and you never know what the day will bring. This video kind of helps explain how it works:
Ed Camps are some of my favorite professional learning opportunities, because of the networking and conversations, and #EduCampWelly was no exception. From the moment I stepped foot on the Raroa Intermediate Campus, I was welcomed with the famous New Zealand Hospitality – in fact, when I walked in – immediately people knew my name – I felt like I was home, amongst my favorite, passionate educator friends as we discussed all of the “teacher shop talk”. I was able to finally meet some social media friends face to face, and make great connections and have fantastic conversations about my inquiry project, school visits and just general life in New Zealand.
I attended sessions on STEM and Math, Global Connections, Project Based Learning and a tour of the school.
The day ended with Pizza and Prizes. We closed the event, and I even received a traditional kiwi prize of a Cadbury Chocolate Fish, for traveling from the furthest away! 🙂
Then we had pizza, and refreshments. (for my US friends you will not believe that one of the beverages served to us with our pizza, at a school event, was beer. I was beyond shocked (and pretty excited, if truth be told).
Great Day, Great People, Great Connections, all for a small Koha (gift/donation)?
Totally worth the early alarm on a Saturday!
Merry Adventures 