Topic 9 Reflection

This week’s topic was about EdCamps! EdCamps were an unfamiliar concept to me before this class so I’m glad I got to learn about a new concept and will now be on the lookout for EdCamp opportunities that I can attend.

In class, we all put suggestions up on Padlet to brainstorm what kind of topics we might want to explore. Here is a screenshot I took after class of some of the ideas we submitted:

I ended up joining group 5 which was about student skills. We talked about some specific skills such as typing and writing that some students seem to need work on. We eventually narrowed our focus to be around students giving presentations. We thought that because this isn’t a specific skill tied to one subject, it would be good to do something like this that will apply to all subjects.

Here is what we decided out objective would be for a student workshop:

Objective: Our goal is to teach students how to prepare for a presentation, and practice public speaking skills. We have observed that a lot of teachers are shying away from getting students to do presentations, and students are incredibly anxious about speaking in front of all their peers. We view public speaking as a critical life skill, and we aim to scaffold and model this skill for students so they feel more confident, and less anxious in public speaking contexts. 

I think that the concept itself of an EdCamp could apply to different teaching contexts. As a teacher you could use a Padlet or sticky notes to have students generate ideas for maybe a unit topic or assignment idea. This gives students some agency and allows them to be heard in the classroom. It is quite similar to an inquiry model as they essentially get to choose what to learn about. It also encourages students to think creatively and abstractly about things they might not yet know about.

One thing that could be an issue when doing an EdCamp with students would be getting them started. It almost seems like you already have to know a bit about them topic to begin collaborating and exchanging ideas with others. Perhaps it could be a good introduction or first step into a larger project or assignment. It could also help as scaffolding confidence towards a presentation, maybe in groups, partners, or individually.