This weekend I will be heading down to Kansas City to attend Edcamp KC on Saturday.  I am spending 3.5 hours on the road Friday so I can spend a large chunk of my Saturday with other teachers, learning together and not getting paid for this.  Many would be asking why I would be doing this on my own time and my own dime, but it is because I love to learn and I wanted to get outside of my own bubble.  (I am also visiting some friends in KC and bring my family but this date was set a while back solely for Edcamp KC.)

Back to the bubble I referenced, if I am going to make sure I keep growing as a learner, I have to make sure I interact and connect with those that I have not yet connected with.  I have connected with a large group of educators in Iowa but we tend to think along the same lines and have the same ideas and goals.  I am constantly looking for those who may view things differently as they will challenge me to check my own ideas and see if they can stand up to other ideas out there.  There are going to be a lot of educators at this event and I only have connected with a small few of them so far, which means there could be a ton of new ideas and perspectives that I get introduced to this weekend.  This is a learning experience and one that could help me find new ways to improve or grow as a learner.

I have written about the Edcamps I have already attended, such as the ones in Iowa and Edcamp Twin Cities earlier this year, but this will be one I have wanted to attend for awhile.  There are always a lot of great ideas and conversations that happen online that originate from those that attend this Edcamp that I want to be there, interacting with others as to become part of the conversation myself.  While my focus is always on how I can better help teachers in the classroom, there are a lot of topics I am interested in and am curious to see what others have done or think.  These different perspectives are what I am driving down there for.  (Although a side trip to Lego Land on Sunday may be fun too as I am sure my son will love that.)

And if you need another reason to use social media as an educator, I would have never known about this Edcamp if it wasn’t for Twitter and I would not be able to connect with as many while there and after.  Follow #edcampKC on Saturday, and after, to see what ideas and thoughts come out of this great learning experience.  Hopefully I will even be tweeting something profound and interesting, although that is never a certainty.