Edcamp Foundation #GivingTuesday Campaign

The Edcamp Foundation is organizing a campaign for #GivingTuesday, which will begin on the Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It is a day to encourage people to give to their favorite nonprofits, so they are hoping to connect with Edcamp folks around the world.

It is a very simple campaign: $5 to celebrate 5 years of Edcamp! #IsupportEdcamp5 and #Edcamp5Challenge

Click here to participate in the $5 for 5 years of Edcamp. The Donate button on the website is all that you need!

Here is an explanation of the campaign from Hadley Ferguson, the Director of the Edcamp Foundation:

"While it will raise money, the primary purpose is to show the tremendous reach of the Edcamp movement. Because every Edcamp is independently run, there is no master list of organizers or participants, so when we talk to funders, it is all very general. It would be wonderful to be able to point to this campaign and show how enthusiastic Edcamp folks are and how widespread we are.

It would be great to be able to light up a map with every $5 donation that we receive.

The funds will go into the Discovery grants program that we are rolling out next year. Through it, teachers will be able to apply to the Edcamp Foundation for funds to implement an idea with their students that they learned at an Edcamp."

Please donate $5.00 on Tuesday, 12/1 or at anytime between now and the end of 2015.
I already did!

The Way Education Should Be!

In July of this year I started a new job. I am now the Assistant Head of School for Synapse School in Menlo Park, CA. The past few months have been a whirlwind of getting to know the school, the administration, the faculty and the kids. Synapse is a very young school (it is in its 7th year) with a progressive approach to learning and a mission to educate change makers. I am so happy to finally be at a school that truly aligns with my educational philosophy. Alfie Kohn wrote a wonderful article defining progressive education, I am so happy to say, Synapse fits his definition to a T.

This week culminated in a "Portfolio Day" that showcased students' first trimester learning. Each child guided their parents through the many artifacts of their understandings, becoming the teacher and showing their family members evidence of what they had learned. As I went through the day both as an administrator and as a parent (my children are in 6th and 7th grade at Synapse), I was struck by the "rightness" of this school. This is how education should be, focused on the learner, not on the grade, experiential, constructivist and project based.

If you have been reading my blog over the years, I'm sure you can identify with my feelings. I have been looking for a school like this ever since I wrote my Common Principles for 21st Century Schools. I feel I have finally found my educational home.

If you are planning a visit to Northern California, please reach out if you would like to visit.