Tuesday, January 7, 2014

FREEzing PD - EdcampHome

Half the US is in a deep freeze thanks to a record breaking Polar Vortex that is sweeping the nation. Highs are in the negatives, wind chills have reached as low as negative 70 and some cities have posted temperatures colder than the South Pole!  Many schools that should have gone back on Monday after the Christmas break, had "Freeze Days" instead of "Snow Days" because of the dangerously cold temperatures. If you have some extra time off this week because of the weather, you may want to use it to catch up on the incredible event that took place this past Saturday.

EdcampHome 2.0 was another huge success. The organizers impressed again as they were able to pull off another FREE PD event from the comfort of homes all over the world. So, if you missed out on this Free PD opportunity, and have time this week because of the weather, you may want to take part in some "FREEzingPD" :)

Here are screenshots from the sessions. Click on the screenshot and it will take you to the EdcampHome site where you can access the videos!

Session 1:
http://edcamphome.org/2-0/session-1/


Session 2
SLAM
*Short tips, suggestions, etc. from the participants! 


Thank you to everyone who participated and shared during EdcampHome and especially thanks to the organizers:
David Theriault (@davidtedu)
Karl Lindgren-Striecher (@LS_Karl)
Kelly Kermode (@coachk)
Shawn White (@swpax)

Not only is it a great source of PD, but it's also a great way to learn about new people to follow on Twitter. Thanks to EdcampHome 1.0, I have learned SO much from Joy Kirr (@joykirr), Garnet Hillman (@garnet_hillma), Victoria Olson (@MsVictoriaOlson), etc - all amazing educators that the first Edcamp introduced me to! I remember watching the different sessions and going straight to Twitter to follow these great minds! I hope you have the same experience this time around!  Here's my write up on EdcampHome 1.0 that has links to all the sessions and slams from the first EdcampHome in July 2013.

So grab a blanket, a hot chocolate and sit back and take in some amazing FREEzing PD. Stay warm!
.
.
.
Of course...I know the whole world is not experiencing temperatures like the US! My students and I always compare our weather to our partner class's weather in Perth, Australia......Here are the screenshots....

Yea, Perth's high on Saturday is 100......That's all.....

So, if you're in Perth, or some other place on Earth lucky enough to have warmer weather right now, feel free to still take advantage of the FREE PD above :)