Ring the Belle
Ring the Belle, Bellevue Public Schools first un-conference, was a success. Educators, including K-12 teachers and administrators, met at the Welcome Center at 8:30 am to kick off an enjoyable morning of learning and sharing. This unique type of professional development did not provide an agenda ahead of time. The sessions and topics were created by educators in attendance based on what they wanted to discuss and learn.
Kim Bodensteiner started the day off with a brief overview of how an un-conference works. Then, attendees were given time to write their topics on the boards. After topics were shared, everyone moved to the room of their choice. Instead of one person standing and delivering a session, there was collaboration among all participants. Educators were heard asking for help, sharing their own strategies, and planning for activities to use in their classroom right away. There were nine total topics for the morning split into three short sessions. Some of topics that morning were Bringing Back the Fun in the Classroom, Hour of Code, Global Classroom, Twitter and the Connected Educator, and Using Video in the Classroom. At the end of the sessions, participants did a quick sharing activity to discuss their ah-ha moments from the morning. Overall, the morning provided educators the opportunity to create their own agenda, guide their own learning, and collaborate with fellow BPS educators.
