Have a little patience!

I woke up Saturday morning with a little extra excitement - I was going to be a part of something new, something that had never happened before - #edcampHOME.  I follow +Karl Lindgren-Streicher  (@LS_Karl) and +David Theriault (@davidtedu) on Twitter, so when I saw they were planning an edcamp that you could participate in from your house - I wanted to be a part of it!

Over the course of a few weeks Karl and David introduced me to +Kelly Kermode  (@coachk) and +Shawn White (@swpax) - the other creators of #edcampHOME - and between these four awesome educators I felt more at ease and ready to help out!  I was impressed by the courage the #edcampHOME creators had in trying something brand new - with the world watching - not knowing for sure what would happen!

My biggest take away from the event was the patience everyone had during the day.  There were technical difficulties, a flood of Google Doc editors on one document, trying to get moderators to be in a session they wanted and even the "issue" of having eager non-registered' teachers who wanted to join!  Patience was a key to the success.  During the morning I was reminded once again of the power of a Twitter (and now Google+) PLN.  I was  It seems like everyday I "meet" someone who I wish I was more like...or wish I could do what they are doing - Twitter really is full of these amazing people!

I just hope that I can remember this when school starts back up in a few weeks.  Patience is the key!  We have three days to prep this year and I am someone who needs all three of those days - I usually end up talking to people more than prepping so I need all the time I can get :)  I will arrive at school and some things will be moved, missing, lost or stolen - and I'll have to be patient while I figure out how to fix/replace them.  I may be asked by some teachers to help set up their room or for an extra copy of this or that - I just need to remember to keep my patience.  When Friday at 3pm rolls around and I am not ready for Monday with students walking in the door - I will need to keep my patience (but also get my stuff ready fast!).

So while many have great apps or processes they learned about during #edcampHOME...and so did I - don't get me wrong.  But the thing that I was most amazed by and the thing I was most proud of during the event was the patience shown by all involved!

So my BIGGEST take away is that there is no reason to stress - just keep calm and have a little patience!

If you missed this event, all of the GHO's were recorded and posted to YouTube.  Check the Session 1 and 2 Links at #edcampHOME