nErDcamp Battle Creek!

Anyone on Twitter and follow Colby Sharp?  He's a teacher from Michigan and co-founded the Nerdy Book Club with Donalyn Miller.  You know, The Book Whisperer.  Well, he and his wife have also founded the first (hopefully annual) nErDcamp, that is taking place this coming Thursday, July 11 in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Has anyone ever been to an EdCamp before?  I had never heard of them until recently.  Many teachers I follow on Twitter have been to them and tweet from them using a EdCamp location-specific hashtag.  From what I understand, EdCamps are FREE professional development organized by teachers for teachers.  They are sometimes referred to as "unconferences" because it is exactly the opposite of a conference your district or administrator requires you to attend.  There are also no scheduled presentations or topics.  The session topics are brainstormed on the day of the conference by conference participants.  

So what is nErDcamp?  nErDcamp is the first ever EdCamp organized by the Nerdy Book Club.  It is a literacy-specific EdCamp.  I was just checking out the Idea Board on the nErDcamp blog and there are lots of really neat topics cropping up!  Last I heard, there are over 200 participants registered!  

So why am I telling you about this?  Well, for starters, my good teaching buddy and I have decided we are GOING!  Less than four hours away from our homes?  We cannot pass this opportunity up! Neither one of us have ever attended an EdCamp before, so this will definitely be a learning process, but hopefully a very beneficial one.  I don't even know why I just said that.  It definitely will be a beneficial one.   Forget the fact that we are Buckeyes traveling into Wolverine country.  We can put our differences aside for a few days.  

If you live in the area (or within a driving distance of the area) you should definitely register to attend!  If I haven't convinced you enough, read Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Come to nErDcamp.  Anyone already planning on attending?  Hopefully we can meet up!