From August 5 to 7th 2011 forty Canadian Educators got together to spend time talking about "Why ________ Matters!". It was a truly Canadian experience. Why had we gotten together and were would this be leading us too? These are questions I still wrestle with today when explaining to people what we accomplished that weekend. Perhaps the
Unplug'd website would help. Here is what it said:
UnPlug’d brings together Canadian educational change agents to share peer-reviewed success stories; to deepen relationships among participants; to publish the collective vision of the group. Grassroots educators will share their first-hand experiences, collectively considering modern approaches to learning. The summit will culminate with the release a publication that communicates a vision for the future of K-12 education in Canada.
Forty educators, 40 stories made for passionate discussions. It was the discussion that was so special about Unplugd. Most of us were familiar with each other from our online PLN. We had talked, chatted in 140 characters or less but never sat down and looked each other in the eyes and had conversations. It is always fascinating to meet people in our online network and family F2F. Things change and we start to hear the passion behind the words that we read so often. This is one of the reasons why Unplug'd worked. We did deepen relationships with other participants such a powerful experience.
cc licensed flickr photo shared by charbeck10
We were able to unhook ourselves from the network. Have a F2F network of people all gathered around a table, canoe, dock, lake, cabin, meal anywhere you could sit or be with someone conversations were happening. Real conversations. This was so rich.
All of us came with our homework completed. An essay of 250 to 400 words. Something you were passionate about. We were grouped into small pods or chapter groups with a loose connection between us. What was amazing is that when we all shared our stories and essays it was obvious that we were meant to be in that specific group. The Organizers had grouped us based on title alone. As we read, shared and became a team you could see the threads holding us together. As the organizers said in their introduction
to publish the collective vision of the group. Grassroots educators will share their first-hand experiences, collectively considering modern approaches to learning.
cc licensed flickr photo shared by charbeck10
When I walked into this project it would be fair that my batteries were on low. I had gotten through the year, had great students, used tech to capture their imagination and allow them to be producers of learning but still felt empty. I had not done something new, not found anything to push my envelope of learning. Unplug'd changed all of that. Personally I am recharged and have done 2 blog posts in a week. Reflecting, thinking and sharing thoughts. Wow! It is fun to write again. All of this would not have happened if it was not for that weekend.
cc licensed flickr photo shared by charbeck10
But where do we go. The book has been published. The
Introduction and
Chapter 1 are available now and the next chapters will be published every week. This allows for discussion, debate and conversations in manageable chunks. I hope you all read the book and soak in the messages that were shared. Something will resonate with you. Take that thought, that bit of knowledge and use it to recharge your batteries.
This was a bit of a rambling post but hey I got it done. There will be more posts to come. Just like a sunrise:)
cc licensed flickr photo shared by charbeck10
