@nesticos

What is your role in education:  Suzie Nestico is a Flat Classroom Certified public high school teacher and teaches 12th Grade Social Studies at Mount Carmel Area High School in Northeast Pennsylvania in the USA. Named one of Pennsylvania’s Keystone Technology Integrators in 2009, she thrives on bringing cutting-edge techniques and technologies to her students to open them up to the world. In addition to her classroom duties, she coaches Football cheerleading, serves as the school’s Homebound Instruction Coordinator, participates in her school’s faculty based data analysis team, serves as a faculty member on the Student Assistance Program (SAP) team to help at-risk youth, and serves as advisor for the school’s Student Government, amongst other extracurriculars, such as Ultimate Frisbee program coordinator.   Outside of school, Suzie is kept busy with her seven-year-old son’s school, soccer, baseball, and basketball schedules.

She holds a BA in Political Science & Pre-Law from Bloomsburg University, PA teaching certification from Susquehanna University, MSEd in 21st Century Teaching from Wilkes University and is currently pursuing a second MSEd in Educational Leadership.

Suzie and her students thrive on global connection through technology use. Involvement in projects such as Flat Classroom and Digiteen afforded some of her students to travel to Mumbai, India for the 2010 Global Flat Classroom Conference. She and her students were also featured by Microsoft Online Safety  for their work thus far with the promotion of responsible digital citizenship.

Suzie blogs at Coal Cracker Classroom and can be found tweeting from@nesticos.

Briefly describe your ideal conference: My ideal conference is hands-on, participatory and inspirational alongside like-minded education professionals who believe our children and our future deserve so very much more than a standardized test.  Period.

@scfuhs

What is your role in education: I am a 2nd grade teacher in Hartford, CT! I’m also a co-organizer of EdCampCT and helped to get #2ndchat up and running this summer!

Briefly highlight your ideal conference: I love conferences that get me thinking. I also love learning new things and getting to meet other educators just as passionate about teaching as myself.

edcamp Boston

Tomorrow marks the third new teacher camp (ntcamp) and it will be held at WHYY studios in Philadelphia. I had no idea that we, the ntcamp organizers, would be putting on another show, let alone our third event. Nor did I ever imagine the unconference movement erupting into what has become today. It is now possible to attend an edcamp nearly every month of the year. Plus, edcamps are starting to focus their attention on specific groups such as an edcamp for administrators and an edcamp for superintendents. I have also heard about edcamp models being used in school PDs throughout the summer and school year. There is no denying, the edcamp model is catching on.

For years, the education world has operated, in many cases, in isolation. Teachers and Administrators (not all) plan behind closed doors and most never cross district lines to see what others are doing. edcamps have torn down these walls (Reagan in 2012 plug) and broadened the conversation. If you leave an edcamp with one thing, it will be that the scope of your network is limitless (Limitless plug).

Most question the appeal of an edcamp and ask “What’s the deal with all the “sizzle” showing up in twitter columns followed by the edcamp hashtag?” The answer is rooted in the conversations happening at edcamps across the country. I don’t organize or attend edcamps because of the technology or to gain more attention on Twitter, I attend edcamps because of the people and the conversations they bring with them. edcamps get right what many big, vendor-driven conferences get wrong. They allow everyone to have a voice. For many educators, their first edcamp is the first time they have encountered professional development in which they have a voice.  A voice that is being heard, debated, and questioned.

edcamp Philly

So why do I camp, and why should you camp? The answer is in everyone who has ever stepped inside a classroom full of students. If we want to produce inquiry-driven, dynamic learners, then we must leave our comfort zone and become this type of learner as well. Not for just one day, but every day we wake up. Educators (This includes Administrators, Superintendents, etc.) should be eager to learn and comfortable with not knowing the answer. Educators should be ecstatic about trying something new and open to experimenting, not resistant. An edcamp may not be your cup of tea, but I implore you to at least try it before you dismiss the value.

I often wonder what the medical field would be like if Doctors didn’t take a risk and try something new. I imagine we would still have some awful diseases lingering around and maybe a plague or two. The simple point is that there is no downside to getting out to your local (this is now possible) edcamp and trying something outside of your comfort zone. And who knows, maybe you’ll discover something great. Or maybe it will suck. Either way, you made an attempt to get out there among your peers and place yourself in the role of

the learner. And that alone, is a step in the right direction.

photo via flickr by @oneelevenimages

We encourage all attendees to take photos throughout the event and post on our posterous site and you can also post in our flickr pool. However, don’t limit your photos to the event. Take photos of your travels, interesting characters you meet along the way, and funny observations. The site for uploading photos to the ntcamp 2011: Philly can be found here. If you want to see images from previous ntcamps you can visit our media page or check us out on flickr.

image via Posterous.com

This year ntcamp Philly will be using Posterous to archive and connect attendees throughout the day and beyond. The idea came about via the edcamp Boston organizers this past May. Posterous is a micro-blogging site that allows multiple users to contribute to a single site. Users can contribute notes, presentations, pictures, video, etc. If you registered through ticketleap.com on our site, I added your email to Posterous. This allows you to contribute content directly through the site or you can simply email your post. To email your post, use the address ntcamp@posterous.com. Post your image, video, text in the body of the email, hit send, and your message will post to the ntcamp Posterous website. You will be notified each time someone posts to the site and you will have access to the site after the event, as well.

This platform allows us to have a consistent forum for all the happenings at ntcamp throughout the day and view reflection blog posts after the event. We look forward to seeing everyone’s contributions throughout the day and beyond. If you have any questions about Posterous, please contact one of the organizers. Also, feel free to begin posting before the event. If you are writing a post before ntcamp or have ideas for sessions that you’d like to promote, please post.

Then after our last session is over, we invite all participants to join us at National Mechanics for extended networking and connection time during happy hour from 4:30 to 6:00. The restaurant is a pleasant ten-minute walk from WHYY through Independence Mall and Old City. We hope to see you all there!

Finally, just a reminder that we can still use donations to help fund the event. Click on the Donate button to the right if you would like to help us out. Thanks!

But we need your help to make this event happen. As you know, ntcamp is built on the unconference model. One of the principles of that model is that the event is free for participants. Due to the generosity of WHYY, our costs for the day are minimal. We were not able to secure sponsors to fund the costs we do have, however, and so we are appealing to our supporters and attendees to help out.

This event will be taking place on Saturday regardless, and it will still be free to attend. If you are able to donate to help defray the costs, however, we would very much appreciate your support. Even a contribution of $5 or $10 will go a long way towards making the event successful. You can click on the “Donate” button to the right to give through our secure PayPal link. Thank you for your support and your generosity!

Socrative: A catalyst for higher order thinking through formative assessment

The ntcamp Philly organizers are excited to have the Socrative team on board for ntcamp Philly 2011! The Socrative team will be running sessions throughout the day and we encourage you to check them out. NOTE: Socrative is not a vendor and will not be trying to sell you anything. The Socrative platform is completely free for all teachers and students.

Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms with a series of real time educational exercises and games.  The web application is super simple to navigate, takes seconds to login and runs on all tablets, smart phones and laptops.  Any web-enabled devices can utilize Socrative. And Socrative automatically grades for you, saving you time.

Socrative Beta is completely free.  Watch the Demo Video and Register at Socrative.com 

NOTE: Socrative is not a vendor and will not be trying to sell you anything. The Socrative platform is completely free for all teachers and students. 

@devenkblack

Role in education: Middle school teacher-librarian in the Bronx, NYC.

Briefly highlight your ideal conference: My ideal conference is one where I can learn from everyone and teach everyone. Wait, that sounds like NT Camp.

@cybraryman1

Role in Education: Twitterbrarian.  Retired NYC teacher. Educational writer and consultant.  Classroom teacher for 20 years who taught most subject areas primarily Social Studies and last 12 as teacher-librarian. Proud member of the #edchat team.  There to help all teachers especially new ones.

Briefly highlight your ideal conference: Ideal conference is of the educators, by the educators, for the educators with a Smackdown session.