Local Educators Spend Their Day Off Learning And Sharing

CONCORD, CA – Approximately 125 K-12 teachers, instructional coaches and education administrators from throughout Contra Costa County spend a recent Saturday day at the Second Annual Edcamp Contra Costa, a full day of learning and sharing about their chosen careers.

Held Jan. 27 at the CSU East Bay's Concord campus, the free conference was hosted by the Contra Costa County Office of Education.

“This education conference is not your typical ‘sit and get’ affair – it is participant-driven, professionally developed, and created by educators for educators,” said conference manager Nicholas Zefeldt, CCCOE’s Instructional Technology Coordinator. “Teaching is a deeply personal craft. And, there’s is no better time than January for educators to take a step back from their classrooms and reflect on why and how they teach.”

Following the conference’s theme, "Reflecting on our Educational Traditions,” Edcamp Contra Costa helped participants gain renewed inspiration for the second half of the school year.

Edcamp included a keynote address by Abby Van Muijen entitled, "Visual Notetaking for Educators," more than 15 teacher-designed and teacher-led breakout sessions with such topics as Google apps for training, teaching computer science using Code.org and funding classroom projects, with the day's conclusion of Sarah Landis’ plenary entitled, "Traditions: The Good, The Bad, The Innovative."

At the end of the conference, attendees left with new knowledge, inspiration and friends.

PHOTOS: Sarah Landis’ plenary entitled, "Traditions: The Good, The Bad, The Innovative,"; breakout session on classrooms using Code.org; lunch, fellowship, and sharing.

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--Images courtesy of the CCCOE