The Connected Classroom

Guest blog post by Robert Dillon and Chris McGee, edcamptSTL organizers. Dillon is principal of Maplewood Richmond Heights Middle School in St. Louis County; McGee is a Curriculum Coordinator for Science and Social Studies for the Webster Groves School District,  also located in St. Louis County. Follow Bob and Chris on Twitter.

We have all experienced long-form, conference professional development, and we have probably all experienced individual professional development that had you with a book on your couch learning about something new to implement in the classroom, but it has only been a few years since the opportunity to receive just-in-time professional development has been widely available to educators. This is the type of support that you receive that is focused on your needs, in real-time that connects you with colleagues in your field.

Chris McGee

Just-in-time professional development is one of the goals of the the edcamp concept that is spreading across the globe. Edcamp allows educators to have conversations that they want, about the topics that they want, in a space that they want. Since the first edcamp just a few years ago, educators have been gathering on Saturdays with the hope of building learning allies with educators in their community and beyond. Just-in-time for Monday, teachers and leaders are receiving the resources, supports, tools, and energy that they need to make Monday better than Friday for their students.

Robert Dillon

The second edcampSTL will take place on February 9 at Hixson Middle School in Webster Groves. Even before this post, there are already 200 area educators signed up to participate in the event. There is a growing number of educators that are looking for ways to be more innovative, define their own success, and create new learning experiences for their kids. Many of them are growing and learning as connected educators on Twitter, and this group of learners and educational leaders have felt the power of Edcamp, and they are signed up and bringing colleagues to this just-in-time professional development experience.

Take the time to register today for edcampSTL. A day of handcrafted learning that is designed by the participants to meets your needs has been the elixir for so many educators around the country to propel them to a new level of passion in their classroom instruction. There is no greater time than now to receive your booster shot of just-in-time professional development courtesy of edcampSTL.

Tags: edcampSTL, professional development, Twitter