10 Reasons Why You Should Come to nErDcamp

Posted by Colby Sharp on May 25, 2013 in Nerdy Site News | 19 Comments

I (Colby Sharp) love the Nerdy Book Club for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that Nerdy Book Club members don’t look at the summer as a time to separate ourselves from our jobs. We look to the summer as a time to grow.

 

Do we relax? Sure. We sit by the pool…and read. We go on road trips…with books. We spend time with friends and family…and end up adding to our list of books to read.

 

What we don’t do is go back to school in the fall as the same teacher who left school at the start of summer. We do things like participate in Donalyn Miller’s Book-A-Day Challenge. We participate in Twitter chats like #engchat and #titletalk. Some of us are lucky enough to attend conferences like American Library Association or All Write.

 

Nerdy Book Club members are always: growing, learning, collaborating, and, of course, reading.

 

After chatting with a few Nerdy friends, we decided to throw a literacy version of Ed Camp. Not familiar with the Ed Camp model? Check out the video below.

 

 

We are not really sure if this crazy little idea is going to work, but after seeing Nerds from eight states register in the first week, we feel like we might have something special on our hands. I know that any time I get together with my Nerdy Book Club friends, I learn all kinds of great things.

Click here to check out the nErDcamp registration page.

The nErDcamp team came up with 10 great reasons as to why you should consider coming to nErDcamp Battle Creek.

1. Keeps you energized during the summer months. – Brian

(As you anticipate next school year, nErDcamp is a chance to ramp up your energy and excitement about all things literacy during the summer months. – Jen)

2. Michigan is BEAUTIFUL in July. – Brian

3. You’ve been learning and making connections with your Nerdy Book Club friends on Twitter. NOW you get to learn together and make connections in PERSON! Beware – spontaneous read alouds may occur. -Niki

4. You are surrounded by people that LOVE books as much as you do! You are with your tribe! It is the best feeling in the world! – Niki

5. This is a fantastic way to get great ideas about reading and writing from really smart people. – Suzanne

6. This is a fantastic way to share your great ideas about reading and writing with other really smart people. – Suzanne

7. Paying it forward is underrated — you have something special to share with other teachers that can help make them better.  – Alaina

8. We promise we won’t make you clean anything or do any chores (mow the lawn? drive your kids around town…).  We can’t guarantee that if you choose to stay home. – Alaina

9. There is nothing like the smell of cereal in the morning! Battle Creek, Michigan is THE cereal capital! Tony the Tiger says, “nErDcamp BC is GRRREAT!” – Niki

10. The entire Ed Camp experience is all about you taking charge of your own learning. At nErDcamp, you choose which topics you want to learn about…and if you get to a session and decide you want to switch it up, it’s totally up to you. Go where your heart leads you! – Jen

11. ***It’s FREE! – Jen

I know that many of you don’t live anywhere near Battle Creek, Michigan, so you might not be able to join us for nErDcamp.  BUT YOU CAN FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE HASHTAG #nErDcampBC

Please leave a comment and let us know how you plan to develop your inner Nerdiness this summer.

For more information visit the nErDcamp website.

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BIOS

 

Niki Barnes is a 2nd grade teacher in Michigan. Her secret inner book nerd was released when she was introduced to Twitter by Donalyn Miller. She is a proud (library) card carrying member of the Nerdy Book Club. She feels very blessed to share ideas and her love of books with so many amazing authors, teachers and librarians. You can find her on Twitter @daydreamreader or writing about books on her blog www.daydreamreader.com.

 

Brian Wyzlic is a 7th and 8th grade teacher in Michigan. He has a secret love for author bios, so he’s going to get out of the way so others may have room to tell of themselves. Follow him on Twitter at @brianwyzlic if you’d like. He doesn’t [usually] bite.

 

Suzanne is a fourth grade teacher in Michigan. She has been teaching a while now, but is a first-year Nerdy member (and so happy to be part of this team). She has loved seeing how a classroom library transforms kids’ concepts of reading, how technology can bring authors and readers together, and how kids who are readers and writers feel about themselves as learners and as people.

 

Alaina Sharp teaches high school chemistry, probably has ADD, and reads just for fun.  She’d really love to share this enthusiasm with her students and is actively searching for creative ways to do this as a science teacher.  You can find her (if you dare) at @sharpsgalore or westernchemistry.blogspot.com or sharpchemlove.blogspot.com or…no that’s it.

 

Colby Sharp teaches fourth grade in Battle Creek, Michigan. He helps out with #nerdbery, #titletalk, #nerdybookclub, and #SharpSchu. He really loves reading. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aiu6ujRmal0

 

Jen Vincent is a Teacher Leader supporting new teachers through the Teacher Mentor Program in the suburbs of Chicago. She caught the Edcamp fever after organizing Edcamp Chicago in April and is honored to be working with this amazingly nerdy team to bring nErDcamp to Battle Creek this summer. She is on Twitter as @mentortexts and blogs at www.teachmentortexts.com.

 

 

 

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