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#EdcampUNY: An educational hangover

A day that was 13 months in the making finally arrived -- yesterday. It was an incredible day for me, professionally, due in large part to two groups of people. The first group includes the organizers of the event. Peter DeWitt, Tim Dawkins, Patti Siano, Christina Luce, and Vicki Day are people I consider to be more than PLN members. They've become friends and working through this event was what brought us together.

We said we were going to do it and we did! It was Peter's idea to start and we all jumped on board to help. We did it! It. Actually. Happened. Were we nervous at the last minute? Yep. (I am pretty sure I am not supposed to admit that.) But, thanks to the collective work of our team and the additional help from Matt Hladun, Doug Manion, and Jon Harper, we pulled it off! This was a day of PD designed for our participants by our participants. As a team, there were no power struggles over who would do what. We just did what we had to do....with a bunch of laughs thrown in. Truth be told only one of us had even attended an Edcamp prior to this day.

The second group brought the magic to the day. The second group was made up our participants. You were patient with us. You accepted last minute format changes. You participated! You stretched our thinking. You brought your mojo. I'm awake with an educational hangover and it's due to what I learned from so many new people! Check out the #EdcampUNY hashtag to see what I mean.

When we planned the event, we thought our participants would all be from this region. Yet, that's not what happened. We had many from our region but we also participants from Eastern NY, Albany, Pennsylvania (Ross Cooper) and Maryland (Jon Harper)! With all the negative press that abounds about schools, there ought to be a story written about the dedication to professional practice that Ross, Jon, and all of our participants exhibited this weekend. They made a big investment coming our way and participating in our day. They participated because they are passionate about instruction and leadership. That's the story that ought to be heard and written.

In fact, each of our participants gave up a beautiful Saturday and took money out of their own pocket (gas, lodging, etc.) to attend the first EdcampUNY. No one forced them to do it. They were there because they wanted to learn -- together. THAT's what has caused my educational hangover. The synergetic spirit of the group was intoxicating. I am 100 times smarter today than I was yesterday. I learned so much from so many.

Here's to the completion of the first EdcampUNY.
http://edcampuny.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/samson-edcamp1-page-001.jpg


We'll see you next year.



One additional note:
I'd be remiss in not putting into print here that the second group also included my colleagues. These are the people that work with me every day and still found a way to make time to attend this event. Many would say talking to me five days a week is enough. Finding time on a Saturday? It's certainly above and beyond. Thank you Karen Jones, Pam Leonardi, Lisa Frinton, Dianna Lum, Drew McEvoy, Richard Starace, Mike DeCaprio, Katie Jones, Shawn Hunziker, and Kathleen Chaucer for attending. My thanks to Dr. Starr for stopping by as well.

  
EdcampUNY Schedule, Notes


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