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Kate Narita

Projects, Pimps, Presentations and More

By Kate Narita

A day of free learning? Sign me up. Since I attended nErD Camp Maine this past fall, I had an idea of what would happen at Edcamp Boston; however, I also knew it would be a different experience. While the primary attendees at nErD Camps are elementary literary buffs, the primary attendees at Edcamp Boston are middle school and high school techies. I put myself squarely in the first camp, pun intended, but am happy to say that because of your courses, I was able to hold my own and learn something new from every session at Edcamp Boston.

The first session I attended, Voice and Choice--End of the Year Technology Projects for Upper Elementary Students, surprised me. Anytime something surprises me, I know I am growing as a learner simply because I’m processing something unexpected. As I mentioned in our debriefing session, the organizer had very little information about the above topic. She mostly wanted answers. In the beginning, I didn’t feel as though I had many answers. But it turned out that in addition to wanting to discuss technology, she needed help with classroom management. I am skilled in classroom management and was able to help her brainstorm solutions.

Even more exciting was that a super fun idea originated organically from the participants who stayed in the first session. I shared that I had recently read a blog post by Melissa Stewart where she suggested that instead of teachers asking students to write personal narratives at the beginning of the year, teachers should ask students to write a personal narrative reflecting on their non-fiction writing process. Meanwhile; another participant had mentioned she used One Note as a means for students to keep a process journal. Those two ideas merged to a discussion about students using Flipgrid to reflect on their process. I’ll definitely be incorporating a similar activity into my classroom.

As you know, the second session I attended was Pimp My Slides--great name by the way! The day before I had almost attended the Pear Deck session in my district but opted out of it to attend one of George Couros’s, the keynote speaker, smaller sessions. I should have attended the Pear Deck session instead. But thanks to you, I had the best of both worlds. Not only did I see George Couros one more time, I now know how to use Pear Deck. In my slideshow presentation, I show two ways I intend to use Pear Deck in my writer’s workshop. I’m excited about this new way of sharing out with the class.

For my final session, I decided to present. I hadn’t decided ahead of time or I would have brought my hard drive. But, I had a slide presentation which I felt was good enough to put out there. Once again I was surprised. Based on the first session which was all discussion, I figured I would present for twenty-five minutes and then we could all share ideas the last twenty minutes. But, most people didn’t have literacy resources to share. So, I shared mine. In hindsight, I wish I would have pulled up the various resources on my computer since it was already hooked up to the screen. That would have been smart and it would have enticed people even more to check out the resources. Lastly, I’m glad I presented because I think it was useful for my FSU classmate, Joanna, who teaches preschool.

All in all, I learned a ton, and I’m glad I attended. The only drawback… I left my new down coat there and had to drive back to Burlington Monday evening to pick it up!

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