Last Friday, I had the opportunity to spend time with other educators from across the state of Michigan. It was at an event called a PLAYDATE. PLAYDATE is an acronym for People Learning and Asking Y: Digital Age Teacher Exploration. The event started in Chicago and has spread to other parts of the US rapidly. This particular event was hosted at the Kalamazoo RESA and was put on by the REMC Association of Michigan.
The event started with a Breakout EDU game to get to the agenda document (although it was eventually shared with all). Then, a few of the event's organizers went over how the day works. The objective was to get some hands-on time with some of the tools that we hear about and have facilitated discussions on how we can use these with our students.
The morning started with me learning about coding in the classroom. I was able to connect with other coding instructors and teachers from across the state as we talked about our favorite tools, techniques, and challenges of working with our students as they learn how to code. Being able to identify and understand the struggles of other teachers, it was beneficial my learning. I was also able to help some other teachers as they were in the process of getting started.
Next, we had a facilitated discussion about blending learning in our classrooms. It was unique because there were many teachers in the room with many different backgrounds and they were all able to offer their opinion on how it works or how to get started.
Then, I went to one that was focused on Makerspaces in schools. This was the most fun as it was all hands on. I was able to fly a drone around the room using my cell phone and play a drum machine by using play-doh. It was an incredible opportunity to have hands-on time and discuss the classroom application of these tools.
Overall, the PLAYDATE was an excellent opportunity to connect with other educators and get the necessary time to explore classroom applications. It was a very useful morning in Kalamazoo.
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