EdCamp Dallas

I had an amazing time this past Saturday at EdCamp Dallas! There were so many amazing ideas to take home and new teacher friends to make. I always leave an EdCamp feeling refreshed and excited for all the new possibilities. If your unfamiliar with EdCamp it's teacher led professional development. Anyone can sign up to share an idea and lead a discussion. If your sitting in a session and discover it doesn't meet your needs, you're free to move on to another session. Teacher friends, I strongly encourage you to join and be an active part of Twitter if you aren't already. There's such an amazing network of supportive, passionate teachers for you to connect with.
The first session I attended was led by the fabulous Martha Lackey. (@lackeymartha on Twitter) Martha took a brave step this year with learning spaces in her classroom; no student desks and chairs! She has a fabulous blog where you can follow her experience.
My coworker/techie partner in crime Kate May (@ktmom3) and I led a session geared for K,1, and 2 classrooms.

Say cheese! I was trying not to giggle while this picture was taken.

Primary teachers are eager to use these fabulous technology tools we hear about, but sometimes we only see examples of them being used in upper grade levels. Don't be afraid to try something new with your class! Our minis can surprise us with how capable they can be. You can view our presentation below and grab a copy to keep for yourself.

If you haven't used Doodle before for scheduling conferences it is a must. Doodle takes the headache out of double appointments booked by mistake and figuring out where to put people.
We were excited to share our ideas with other primary teachers; they're enthusiasm during our session was contagious, and they kept us laughing!
At the end of EdCamp was one of my favorite parts called the smackdown. The smackdown is where people who attended shared a favorite resource with everyone. There's a wiki with all the smackdown information that was shared.
My mind is overflowing with ideas and information I can't wait to take back to my classroom. Remember technology in the classroom isn't a one fix for everything, it's just another tool to use to best serve your students.  Happy Monday and sweet dreams from one tired teacher, zzzzzz.