J.P. Prezzavento - The Bits and Bytes of Education:

 http://goo.gl/16Zut  The past few days, @wmchamberlain   has been tweeting reasons to attend #EdcampSTL , a participant driven unconference.  As I have been reading and retweeting, I started thinking about why I can't wait for Edcamp to get here in19 days. Here is my list of ten reasons I'm excited about #EdcampSTL.   1.  Edcamp is a day of FREE learning.   Many educators are attracted to edcamps instead of traditional conferences for many reasons, but in my opinion, one of the most attractive aspects of #EdcampSTL is that it is totally free.  Edcamps do not advertise world-renowned speakers but sessions and professional discussions led and facilitated by the participants.  2.  A chance to reconnect with educators I met at #METC_CSD and #EdcampKC .   Professional discussions and Twitter chats are a great way to stay connected with members of my PLN throughout the year, but it's always great to get to meet with lik...

http://goo.gl/OS0V2 During passing time today I was making small talk with a colleague I typically don't see or talk to much throughout a normal work day.  The topic of lesson planning came up during our 3 minute chat.  This person told me in no uncertain terms that it has been about 15 years since he has updated his lesson plans because his content doesn't change and he has found what he believes to be the best way to teach students his curriculum. http://goo.gl/JJMnB I didn't have much to say in response to this person partly because I didn't want to start screaming at a colleague in the middle of the hallway and partly because I was dumbfounded that an educator could feel that he or she is doing students, parents, and our profession justice by not changing or modifying lessons year after year.  Personally, I rarely reuse lessons from year to year.  I regularly tweak lessons to make them apply to my current group of students. ...