We had a successful second PLAYDATE PD event today at John Marshall High School in Oklahoma City! Check out the saved links from our shared Google Doc, as well as the Storify archived tweets below. Photos are available in this Flickr set. Our next PLAYDATE will be Saturday, March 28, 2015, and will focus on coding. Both students and educators/parents are welcome to attend! (Get ready for Minecraft “show and tell” by students!) We are going to work on getting some sponsorships so we can meet in downtown OKC, possibly in the Boathouse District or at John Rex Elementary. Remember to plan to attend EdCampOKC on Saturday, February 28, 2015! FREE registration will be available soon via EventBrite when our location is confirmed. If you’re not familiar with PLAYDATE events, check out the “backstory” page on our PLAYDATE OKC Google Site.
Category: 2014
Reminders & Lunch Survey for PLAYDATE OKC Tomorrow!
Tomorrow is our 2nd PLAYDATE PD event in Oklahoma City and we’re looking forward to seeing you! We have 22 people registered as of 7:00pm Friday night. Here are a few last minute reminders.
1. Start Time & Schedule
We will start at 9 am in the morning (Sat Oct 4th) with a fun icebreaker activity. April and Wes will be there by 8:30, if you come early you can help staff our welcome table with nametags! Our schedule is available on:
http://playdate.edcampokc.org/schedule
We will be in rooms C100 – C105. We will have some light snacks available, but feel free to bring your own coffee if you want. Look for the PLAYDATE signs when you enter the building tomorrow, someone should be at the front desk to greet you and direct you to the C hall rooms.
2. Lunch Survey / Poll
We will wrap up by 1 pm and will adjourn to eat lunch together – we’ll decide that location via this electronic poll / Google Form! Please VOTE and help us decide where we eat tomorrow! After voting you can view the results so far.
3. Parking Map
Here’s a map showing where to park and enter John Marshall High School for PLAYDATE.
4. Charge Your Devices!
We’ll have power available, but the morning will be smoother if you bring charged devices. We will have iPads available for checkout, but you’re welcome to bring your own tablets and laptops. Bring your power supply / supplies too just in case. 🙂
5. WiFi Info
The wifi network name for PLAYDATE tomorrow is:
okcps-edcamp
There will NOT be a required password! Many thanks to OKCPS IT for setting this up for us again!
6. Photos
We are going to try and take more photos this time during the morning which we can share online later to let others know about PLAYDATE. If you would prefer to NOT be included in photos, please let us know by putting an asterik (*) on your nametag Saturday.
7. Invite Extra Folks
We will have room for more people to attend and participate, so if you know someone else who is interested in coming please invite them! Have them register via EventBrite before or at the event if possible so we can have their email and stay in touch.
SEE YOU TOMORROW FOR PLAYDATE OKC #2!
2nd PLAYDATE in OKC: Saturday, October 4th
Please plan to join in our 2nd FREE “PLAYDATE” professional development event in Oklahoma on Saturday, October 4th from 9 am to 2 pm at John Marshall High School in Oklahoma City. PLAYDATE is similar to EdCamp, but the focus is PLAYING with apps and websites you want to explore along with other educators. Free registration is available on EventBrite, and more details about PLAYDATE are available on playdate.edcampokc.org. A 1 page printable PDF flyer is available and linked to the image below: Please share this with other teachers, librarians, administrators, and educators you know!
PLAYDATE OKC Google+ Community & Organizer Meetings
Please join our PLAYDATE OKC Google+ Community! We will use that G+ space to share resources, links, and our learning during and after PLAYDATE OKC!
Also, if you are interested in helping us organize our first PLAYDATE OKC on Saturday, May 10th from 6 – 10 pm at John Marshall High School, please join our organizer team. We’ve had several initial meetings and are now expanding our group to include more people interested in helping.
Our next meeting is Wednesday, April 23rd via a Google Hangout from 7-8 pm. For future meetings we may move to Tuesday nights, but this week Wednesday will work best. Please RSVP to this event in our G+ community if you can or might be able to attend.
Thanks!
PLAYDATE OKC 2014: Saturday May 10th
You are formally invited to register and attend PLAYDATE OKC, coming to John Marshall High School in Oklahoma City on Saturday, May 10th from 6 pm to 10 pm. No presenters. No agendas. Just playing. That’s right, a FREE night of tinkering with apps, playing with technology tools, and collaborating with other innovative educators in and near Oklahoma City! More information is available on playdate.edcampOKC.org, including registration via EventBrite. Please help us spread the word! A PDF marketing flyer is available you can print and share!
Find out if PLAYDATE is a good for your professional development by watching the 52 second video, “Is PLAYDATE Right For You?”
More information is available about the “backstory” of PLAYDATE OKC 2014! We’d love for you to join our volunteer organizer team!
First PlayDateOKC Scheduling
One of the exciting ideas which emerged from EdCampOKC last Saturday was hosting a free “PLAYDATE” event in Oklahoma City later this semester. If you’re interested in this after reading this post, please complete this 1 question poll/survey also embedded below.
Saturday April Gustafson and I discussed hosting a PlayDate in the evening on an upcoming weekend at John Marshall High School where April teaches science in OKCPS. We’re thinking maybe a Saturday night from 6 – 10 pm. If you’re not familiar with the “PlayDate” concept, check out the official PlayDate Google Site. PlayDate conferences are a brainchild of the amazing #BurNTA teachers in Chicago. PlayDate events correspond very well with the ethos and philosophy of EdCamps. They explain PlayDate conferences this way on their site:
A new kind of conference.
No presenters. No agendas. Just playing.
Explore the things you’ve never had time to explore.This is a new kind of conference. Think about the last time you attended an EdTech PD, conference or other professional learning event. Oftentimes, we leave full of new knowledge and a list overflowing with new apps, programs and skills to try out. However, once we return to “the real world” many of us lack the time and support to actually try out all of these new tools.
PLAYDATE is a space for us to come together and collaboratively explore these tools we’ve always wanted to learn more about. The concept is to invite educators from around the area to join together on one day, sit in a room for a few hours and just play. They will collaborate to learn about EdTech apps, programs and tools with one another. There are no presenters in the room, no experts and no agenda. Simply time to play, tinker, and explore.
Like EdCamps, PlayDate conferences are now popping up around the United States. The key elements for a successful PlayDate are summarized in Carolyn Skibba’s tweet today: The time must be “collaborative, self-directed, presenter free, & hands on.”
For more background about PlayDate conferences, read Jenny Magiera‘s November 2012 post, “PlanePlanning: The Birth of #PLAYDATE13.” You can also check out this 30 min video “What’s a PlayDate?”
What do you think? Would you be interested in attending a FREE Saturday evening “PlayDate” conference later this semester in Oklahoma City? The Saturday evenings we’re considering are Sat March 29, or any of the Saturdays in April Please add your thoughts as comments to this post, and submit this poll (several times if desired) to let us know what date(s) are best for you.
EdCampOKC 2014 Session Grid
Our session grid is updated and available on our schedule page!
Meet Beth Richert, Director of Ed Tech
What’s your first and last name?
- Beth Richert
What do you teach / what is your ‘title’ at school?
- Director of Ed Tech
How are you involved in education?
- I am the district Education Technology Director, formerly a principal of five years and a teacher of nineteen….and always a teacher at heart
What does your ideal school or classroom look like?
- My ideal classroom would be something outside the box. An environment with no rows of desks but comfortable think stations. This could be comfy sofa’s, tables and chairs with built in plug in for mobile devices. The students would be working individually or in collaborative teams on real world, authentic projects that not only sparked their intellect but their passions. The teacher would be found milling around checking on student progress and possibly delivering mini-content lessons as needed. Students would be checked in, connected and self-motivated because they have ownership of their own learning.
If you were to lead a session at Edcamp, what would it be about?
- Google apps for education, tech integration matrix, iPads in the classroom, Chrome extensions, Google Templates
Do you have a website or blog?
Are you on Twitter?
If you are attending EdCampOKC, we’d love to feature your information here too! Please submit this contribution form, including a small photo we can use in your post.
Meet Najah Hylton, English 2 and 3 teacher
What’s your first and last name?
- Najah Hylton
What do you teach / what is your ‘title’ at school?
- English 2 and 3 teacher
How are you involved in education?
- I teach English 2 and 3 at US Grant. This is my first year to do so. Last year I subbed at Star Spencer. I want to continue teaching English (maybe to a different grade, or creative writing) for the foreseeable future. Maybe one day I’ll get a master’s and teach at the college level too.
What does your ideal school or classroom look like?
- The ideal classroom is collaborative. The students know I am the leader and they come to me with questions, but they also trust each other and work together to try to enhance their own learning. The students are problem solvers who practice using their resources before calling in reinforcements.
If you were to lead a session at Edcamp, what would it be about?
- Lead a session?! I wouldn’t! But if I HAD to, it would be about cultural relevance in the Language Arts classroom. Why do students have English class? Without using the standards, how would you summarize the objective of ELA learning? How has it changed in 10 years, in 20, in 40? Does our instruction reflect those changes?
Are you on Twitter?
If you are attending EdCampOKC, we’d love to feature your information here too! Please submit this contribution form, including a small photo we can use in your post.
Meet Howard Walker, ETS Coach
What’s your first and last name?
- Howard Walker
What do you teach / what is your ‘title’ at school?
- ETS Coach
How are you involved in education?
- I coach and train teachers. I’m a 26+year educator with 16+ of those years as an instructional technology coach or trainer in the largest school district in the state of Oklahoma.
What does your ideal school or classroom look like?
- My ideal school/classroom is one where the Almighty is acknowledged by all, instructional technology is pervasive and yet transparent, and one where students do lots of teaching (and of course lots of learning of the highest quality); and teachers do lots of learning (and directing and of course lots of teaching of the highest quality).
If you were to lead a session at Edcamp, what would it be about?
- “Using Google Apps for Student ePortfolio!”
Do you have a website or blog?
Are you on Twitter?
If you are attending EdCampOKC, we’d love to feature your information here too! Please submit this contribution form, including a small photo we can use in your post.