#edcamp Detroit An unconference for educators

What a great year! We had a lot of difficult discussions, shared a lot of resources and experiences, and I personally feel a lot more empowered, connected, and validated than I did before Edcamp.

I know I’ve gained new connections and friends that I’ll continue to learn from over the next year. It doesn’t have to end at the event though. One our most passionate participants, Brad Wilson, has put together a VoiceThread Media Mashup where we can continue the conversation and more deeply reflect on what we’ve learned and where we plan to go from here.

It already includes some great videos, pictures, and audio – the kind that make your skin tingle as you remember the passion, innovation, and sometimes even tears that these educators poured from themselves, in order to make Edcamp Detroit 2012 unforgettable. I definitely encourage you to participate and lend your own thoughts!

Edudemic is a proud sponsor of EdCamp Detroit, and they’re giving each of our attendees free copies of their new iMagazines.  They currently have four editions with a special featured edition on iPads in Education.  Be sure to get your free access code at the registration/sign-in table when you arrive.  These iMagazines are beautifully put together with such rich content.  The team at Edudemic is innovative, creative, and generous.  We thank you so much for sharing your work and ideas with our practice as educators.

- Erin Klein

EdCamp would like to thank MasteryConnect for sponsoring our event.  I’ve been using the MasteryConnect App for a few months now, and I just found out they also have a website!  This is so cool because now I can sign up (for free – or upgrade) and start immediately connecting with teachers around the country to find ‘just-right’ activities and assessments that are already aligned to the common core. You can also upgrade your account and have premium access to truly amazing features.  Thank you again, MasteryConnect for supporting teachers and helping to enhance our time with our students.

- Erin Klein

A sincere thank you to Mark and his team at Storybird for supporting EdCamp in its second year. Storybird is a free platform for users to create beautiful digital stories to publish and share with the world. Of course, you have the option to keep your stories private too. I’ve used Storybird for three years. I think I love it just as much as my students enjoy using it. There are no ads on the site, its super user-friendly, and Storybird is very engaging. Thank you Storybird for developing great products for teachers and students.

- Erin Klein

EdCamp Detroit would like to recognize ESGI, Education Software for Guided Instruction, for sponsoring our May 5, 2012 event.

As a second grade teacher myself, I’m often assessing my students to guide my instruction.  I’ve used Rigby, M.L.P.P, DRA, Accellerated Reader, NWEA, LLI, AIMSweb, QRI, Fountas and Pinnell, and more.  I found myself creating massive spreadsheets either by hand or on the computer to track growth from beginning, middle, and end of the year – even every two weeks for those I had to progress monitor.  I can’t believe I wasn’t using ESGI sooner.

You’ll love what ESGI has to offer.  We look forward to sharing this great resource with you at EdCamp.

- Erin Klein

EdCamp would like to extend a big thank you to TenMarks Education for sponsoring our upcoming event.

TenMarks Education is an educational technology company that provides supplemental, on-demand math education through web-based freemium software. Through their cloud-based product, TenMarks provides curriculum-aligned, differentiated learning with video instruction, built-in lesson hints, intelligent worksheets and real-time dashboard to monitor student progress in students from grades 2-12. Founded by successful entrepreneurs, backed by passionate investors and advised by educators, policy makers, parents, and students, TenMarks is passionate about helping children build a strong educational foundation that will lead them into an even stronger future.

- Erin Klein

Thank you so much to Rich at VR ID Cards for sponsoring Edcamp Detroit 2012. When I first saw their tweet badges at MACUL 2012 I fell in love and immediately wanted one. This year, all the organizers have a custom badge with our names and twitter handles, so that participants can identify us and get in touch after the conference!

We owe another huge thank you to Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning (MACUL). We are so thankful that we have such an amazing organization in Michigan that supports educators in so many ways.

Next year’s MACUL conference is in Detroit in March. Be sure to check it out. You won’t be disappointed!If you haven’t attending their annual conference I highly recommend it. After my first conference three years ago, I swore I would never miss another. Not only was I inspired by the high quality sessions, I connected with many of the outstanding teachers I follow on twitter!

- Melanie Gray

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the great team at Citelighter for sponsoring EdCamp Detroit 2012.  We appreciate the hard work your team has devoted to transform the educational landscape of tomorrow.  With great innovators like Citelighter, our students are getting the best tools.

Last year, when I taught middle school language arts, I worked with the students to understand the importance of maintaining organization throughout the research process – especially when it came to remembering which source went with which piece of information.  I only wish that I had Citelighter as a tool last year.

Citelighter is an intuitive online research platform that enables students and professionals to quickly find and record facts, cite sources, automatically create the bibliography and write better papers/documents all in the cloud.  Citelighter is a free productivity tool designed to help anyone who does internet research.  After students highlight and grab the information they’d like to use, they can add personal comments below their pasted material they just grabbed.  I especially believe in this feature because students can add their thoughts as they’re working.  Reading is thinking.  Thus, as they’re brainstorming and pulling information together, they’re able to include personal reflections along the way.  All of this information is safely placed into the Citelighter website.  Now, you never have to hear “I left my flashdrive at home” or “I know I emailed it to you….”  Everything is accessible in the cloud!

- Erin Klein

We wanted to take a moment and thank Discovery Education for their amazing support of Edcamp Detroit. Discovery Education has been leading the way in providing high quality, dynamic, digital content to school districts large and small, rural and suburban and everything in between. As well as providing digital content, Discovery Education also transforms and inspires classrooms with interactive lessons, techbooks, real-time assessment, quality professional development, and virtual experiences.

As someone who actively uses Discovery Education products, I have personally seen the difference that is made when using interactive and engaging content throughout my daily lessons. The professional development that I have had an opportunity to take part in, as well as being a part of a close network of educators from all over the world known as the DEN, (Discovery Educator Network) has allowed me to grow exponentially as an educator.

I highly suggest you check out Discovery Education and see all of the amazing things they have to offer.

- Cheryl Lykowski

We wanted to thank Simple K12 for being a sponsor of Edcamp Detroit for a 2nd year. We would not be able to bring the Professional Development to teachers with the support of groups like Simple K12. Please make sure to stop by their site and see all of the great online PD they offer to teachers. Thanks again Simple K12!