Here it is… the post about the wonderfully amazing incredible experience I had at #edcampqc in Charlotte, NC.  With a session board like this, how could I not be excited?!

Upon arrival at Hawk Ridge Elementary School (who has some incredible personalized learning going on, by the way), I knew the day would be amazing!  My first clue – a spirit rock painted to look like a Minecraft block.  Seriously – a Minecraft block… awesome!  At EdCamp, the participants are in charge of the learning.  We create the session from scratch when we get there.  This EdCamp had large poster paper and sticky notes to jot down our ideas.  I suggested a topic where I felt like an expert, a topic where I knew nothing, and a topic where I felt my knowledge was enough to be helpful for someone else and learn more ideas myself.  When the sessions were posted a few minutes later, I was very excited to see all the choices for professional growth at this EdCamp.  The first session I went to was Twitter, and I felt confident enough in my knowledge of Twitter (thanks to a little PD in August & a lot of time exploring the possibilities of Twitter) that I stepped up to become a co-facilitator.  Twitter has been a game-changer for me professionally, so I wanted to share that with others.

The second session I attended was Gamification where I was finally able to sort in my mind the difference between Game-Based Learning and Gaming in Education.  We discussed the use of MinecraftEdu in schools and I am looking forward to continuing the implementation of MinecraftEdu into my elementary school setting.  From there, I headed into Things That Rock.  I enjoyed hearing about personalized learning in the various schools around NC, especially elementary schools.  Metacognition was evident, even in the elementary setting, where students could explain what they know and how they know that they know it, then move on to the next concept.  It put me in mind of the EPIC Academy for Professional Development in which I am currently participating.  Hearing of elementary students who can learn at their own pace is amazing and something I’d like to explore more in the media center of my school.

Lunch was the best!  I got to enjoy lunch with some awesome people from around the state.  Side note: The Pig and Cow Food Truck fries were one of the highlights to my day! YUM!

After lunch it was on to our last session.  There were so many great sessions to choose from that I had to use the Rule of Two Feet to move from session to session.  The App Smackdown at the end of the day included awesome ideas, such as Kahoot! (which I was already in love with), Action Movie FX app, Dremel 3-D Idea Printing website.  I knew the day would be all of those great superlatives suggested earlier, and it was all of that and more.  I look forward to my next EdCamp in two weeks – EdCampRowan.  Can I just become an EdCamp Groupie?