Guest post by Meredith Johnson
Having taken the most wonderful journey during a forty-year span in education, I found myself wanting to find a way to continue to contribute to a profession I adore. Along the way, I had amazing learning experiences, met families, students, and educators that I hold dear. Then I found that Twitter was an amazing place for educators to learn together and began reflecting, "How could this be molded into something that would consistently share knowledge with others on topics they wanted to know more about in their careers?"
This graphic quickly flashed across the screen, and the idea of #BookCampPD began to take shape.
In May, 2004 Richard DuFour wrote about the importance of professional learning communities in an Educational Leadership article. He pointed out, “The rise or fall of the professional learning community concept depends not on the merits of the concept itself, but on the most important element in the improvement of any school—the commitment and persistence of the educators within it.” Whether it is in a school setting or in the personal learning network (PLN) of #BookCampPD, it is not the place but the commitment and participation that are valuable in our learning together! Our chat builds on this concept each week.
Schools and districts across our country have a variety of different professional learning opportunities for educators. Colleges and universities offer a myriad of courses for students preparing for careers that will guide young children for decades into the future. Between all of these, and throughout your life, will be books that will sustain your professional growth – they will nurture you, enlighten you and take you down paths the previously mentioned professional learning only touched upon. #BookCampPD simply wants to provide you with a place, once a week, to share and grow with other educators about what you are reading. Please join us!