Leap Of Faith

It isn’t a revolutionary idea; in fact, many schools have attempted and succeeded facilitating an unconference during a faculty meeting or perhaps even in-service. But for my district, it was the first of its kind.

During our scheduled April faculty meetings, our Department took a leap of faith and organized EdCamp Edison - an unconference opportunity for teachers in our district to share ideas, resources, and strategies. No pre-planned topics; no dictated agenda. Just the room for our elementary teachers to collaborate and grow.

As a connected educator, I am blessed to be surrounded by innovative thinkers and even better people. Leaning on my PLN to learn from their experience is invaluable. Their generosity - with both their resources and time - continues to astonish me. Specifically, I want to thank Kristen Swanson, the EdCamp Co-Founder (@KristenSwanson), Glenn Robbins, principal of Northfield Community School (@Glennr1809) and Jay Eitner, Superintendent of the Lower Alloways Creek School District (@iSuperEit) for their support. Consider the fact that a principal, superintendent, and the EdCamp co-founder took time out of their day to assist; not for recognition - but in the name of learning. Because in a PLN, titles are irrelevant. It’s about the greater good. We’re better together.

And so we, as a Department, coordinated the logistics and went for it. Stepped out on a ledge, created a Google Doc, and hoped sessions would generate. And they did… slowly at first, but they did! What was most encouraging wasn’t simply that folks were actually interested in leading a conversation...it was who volunteered. A good majority of teachers were non-tenured - even a few first years. It was truly inspiring to see so many teachers just starting their career share what they do in the classroom with educators from other buildings!

The feedback from our staff on the day was unbelievably positive. There were smiles on faces at 4:54pm during a Tuesday afternoon faculty meeting! Doesn’t get much better than that! If we, as a Department, expect to see a truly student-driven experience in the classroom, it is incumbent on us model a completely teacher-driven professional development opportunity. I believe people left EdCamp Edison empowered, invigorated, and renewed. A few dozen even left connected! You can read the Storify of our event HERE.  

One of the highlights of the experience that I was most excited about was that we were able to arrange for high school students to lead a session at each of the EdCamp locations. I’m very outspoken on the importance of infusing student voice into all our educational conversations, so to actually have the students share their experience was mind blowing. The poise and thoughtful way they articulated their perspectives on teaching and learning was incredibly powerful - for both our staff and the students themselves. In fact, at the conclusion of the event, one student shook my hand and said, “Thank you so much for having us. It was an amazing feeling that someone wanted to hear our voice and was listening.” Chills.

I’m proud to be part of a team that was willing to take a leap of faith with me during our first EdCamp faculty meeting. I’m proud to be part of a team that is beginning to turn the page on the past and instead look with focused eyes towards the future. But mostly I’m proud of our teachers and students - for stepping out of their comfort zone, sharing their story, and growing together.