#educampcentralotago

Another MAGICAL educamp experience to blog about!
Up at 5.30am excited for an adventure and on the road before day break!  Jane, Claire and I enjoyed a very foggy drive through the majestic landscape...

The intrigue of the fog offered so many photo opportunities... all of these snapped on my iphone out the window of a travelling car!  Can you just imagine the photos Jane would have snapped... but as she was driving we gathered these shots of the MAGIC of the fog, the sunrise, the haze and the beauty of the dawn...

We were all the way to Alexandra before we found a cafe open for a coffee - The Tin Goose! Yummy muffin and latte to start the day and a spot of Christmas shopping... this recipe book for my amazing chef!

We arrived at Cromwell College and were welcomed into the buzz of educators gathering on a Saturday to learn, share, network, inspire! Karla welcomed us and the introductions and SMACKDOWN began.  The sheer range and diversity of learning tools, sites, apps, opportunities is what makes educamp gatherings soooo special.  I love the relaxed collaborative nature of the sharing facilitated by Karla. The use of Google Presestation for the SMACKDOWN allowed for collaboration, linking, note taking and sharing of possibilities.

A first round of breakouts saw discussions around movie-making, google apps/sites and ipad apps.  The sharing on the google doc allowed for the MAGIC of each session to be shared and enjoyed by all.  I was inspired by Kieran with his use of google sites and again I commit to making this work for us in our Room 6 learning journey.  I continue to be inspired by the sharing by amazing educators!  I am loving this Nayland site - I can see such potential for us as a staff to collaborate and create resources for our learners....
Time for another coffee, a chance to catch-up and network and off we went into another round of sessions.  I enjoyed an inspiring session on Movie Making with the amazing Laetitia!  I am empowered to engage my learners!  In fact I can't wait til Monday to get it up and running - I am linking it to our class wiki and blog tonight to allow the learners to get as excited about it as I am!!!

A link posted on Twitter during a break really inspired us and Claire and I are working on a Bingo board for our staff and one for our class... I think my class one will be around the making of our first news movie this week....

http://salwal.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/we-are-all-learning-ict-bingo.pdf

All too soon the educamp drew to a close... So much more to learn, share, discuss.... The learning will continue on the google doc!

Lunch in Cromwell in the sun before we began to meander our way home!  An early finish gave us plenty of time to enjoy the trip and catch up on a much needed caching fix...

The blue sky, the reflections, the beauty of our landscape...  I would love to know the story of the rock dweller on the laptop.....
We even detoured off the main road in search of a cache and met a beautiful Bambi....

She ate from my hand and really seemed to be pleading with me to free her from her enclosure! A coffee stop in Lawrence and the light glinting off the blades of the wind farm turbines drew us up the hill for a closer inspection and a cache with a travel bug!  The sheer magnitude of these austere giants has to be seen to be believed.  And as if by MAGIC the still statues whirred into life before our eyes...

And as the sun set we headed for home.  A mere 12 hours away from home... What a truly MAGICAL day.  - #centralotagoeducamp 

Batteries recharged, brain buzzing with new possibilities, new connections, new friends, New Zealand appreciated a little more for her beauty and contrast.....

A MAGICAL journey with two very special friends!