EdCamp Beach 2017

EdCamp Beach 2017 was on Saturday. I’ll be honest… I was a little afraid.

Last year’s event was my very first EdCamp. And it was amazing.

The people. The ideas. The energy. It was magical.

Then I went to EdCamp Wake and EdCamp Myrtle this past fall.

I really liked EdCamp Wake because there are so many amazing people in Wake County and the school buildings where it was held were inspiring. EdCamp Myrtle was pretty small and seemed to be a pretty tight knit group of teachers who sort of chatted about what was going on with each other, and then us outliers who were just sort of there. EdCamp Beach was still my favorite.

I worried that last year’s event couldn’t be topped. I worried that it wouldn’t be as awesome. I worried that maybe I just thought it was so awesome because I’d never experienced anything like it before.

I needn’t have worried. It was EVEN BETTER than last year.

The people. The ideas. The energy. It was even more magical than last year.

Part of it was me. I tend to hide behind the notes in each session and be way more of a listener than a talker. This time, I was more present in the conversations.

Part of it was being connected already. I’ve connected with many of the fabulous folks on Twitter and some of them at EdCamp Wake. It was like hanging out with friends…really smart, fun, inspiring friends.

I could’ve spent my day at the pool or doing mom stuff, but then I wouldn’t have gotten to learn alongside such amazing people. #edcampbeach pic.twitter.com/tJ4J8gGOjP

— Jodi Hebert (@mrshebert313) April 22, 2017

If you’ve never been to an EdCamp, then you must. I’d love to tell you all about it so that you’ll understand, but I can’t. Describing it doesn’t do it justice. You have to be there.

Check out #EdCampBeach and/or @EdCampBeach on Twitter to check out what happened over the course of the day. Or you can visit the website to see the sessions and what it’s all about.

And then I’ll see you next year.