#EDnado: The Breakfast Club?

This past Saturday I attended #EDnado at Middletown High School South in Central New Jersey. Here is the description of the event from their website: "Ednado is about promoting innovation and inspiring educators to try new things in their classrooms.  At Ednado, educators from Monmouth County and beyond will be able to learn and share what WORKS in their schools." A unique characteristic of #EDnado was the inclusion of parents and students.

This was a wonderful event! I was not intending to go until a friend, @nataliefranzi, mentioned it to me and "volunteered" me to be a part of an administrators panel discussion on the topic of innovation.  I am so glad that I went because I am a huge proponent of #edcamp, so much so that I have been on the organizing team for #edcampNJ for the past 4 years. This was a chance to be a part of a Saturday professional development opportunity that was different than the traditional unconference model.

One thing is very clear to me... Educators who choose to use a Saturday to participate in professional development without pay or compensation are some of the finest educators out there. It is so

Universal Pictures (1985)

interesting to me to think that when I was in High School, it was quite a stigma to get assigned to Saturday School detention and something to be avoided at all cost.  However, now I eagerly seek out school on Saturday!  I feel like we've developed a new Breakfast Club.  Just like those characters (a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal) we are all different and bring our varied experiences and points of view to these days of learning. Additionally, we too, are misunderstood. Some in our schools and districts can't fathom "giving up" a Saturday to go to a conference; but we know better. We've found something that is too valuable to pass up. The connections that we make on these days can't be quantified. Whether it is connecting with people from Twitter, Google+, etc. who are in our PLNs or meeting colleagues for the first time, we share a common desire to continually improve our craft.

#EDnado is another fine example of one of these opportunities for connections. I connected with many familiar faces on Saturday and met some new ones. I learned about Classroom Blogging for beginners from Stephany Hesslein (@MissHesslein) and Marla Weinstein (@Miss_Weinstein). Their excitement and enthusiasm regarding blogging, and something I had never heard of called "quadblogging," was contagious!  Their presentation can be found here.  This was a wonderful way to start the day.  There were participants in the room who had classroom blogs and those who had never blogged before. It was clear at the end when the presenters took a pulse of the room that most were eager and ready to dip their toes in the blogging waters.

After this session, I was part of an administrator group that discussed innovation in education. This session was led by Middletown Superintendent, Dr. William George (@DrGeorge_MTPS). Once again, this was a room filled with positive people who wanted to learn from one another about how to move schools and districts forward. I encourage everyone to take a look at the crowd-source notes document from this session. There are great resources and people listed there.  If you are in a district that is resistant to innovation, I encourage you to contact any of the people in this session for advice. 

#EDnado offered two lunch sessions so that people could choose to eat when they wished and go to

sessions when they wished. In fact, the lunch even offered some choices for learning. Of course, there was the opportunity to connect and talk with other educators. There was also a "Student Tech Team" set up at a table in the cafeteria.  Each student had a sign by their laptop indicating a tech tool that they could teach.  All you had to do was sit down and the students were eager to demonstrate and explain! This was a fantastic way to get students involved in the event. There was also a makerspace set up in the cafeteria that offered opportunities for educators to engage with the concept, see a 3d printer at work, and discuss ways of setting up such a space in schools/classrooms back home.

After a learning lunch, I attended a session run by Dan Alston (@dalston411) and Natalie Franzi (@NatalieFranzi) on Google Extensions for Efficient Administrators. You must look at the notes document from this session. There are so many extensions for Google that I never knew existed.  I am excited to try them out. Don't be fooled by the title; you do not need to be an administrator to find helpful and time-saving tools on the list.

I culminated my day of learning in a session conducted by Melissa Luell (@bayview_luell) entitled "The Power of Podcasts." This is an area that I have often thought about, but never actually tried. After this session, it is very possible that you may find a podcast or two on The PrincipalArc in the future.  You can check out the notes here. 

I cannot stress enough how important these days of learning are for me. They remind me that my school, my district, my county, and even my state are artificial boundaries that don't really exist when it comes to personal learning. Connecting with educators is universal and if you have not done so, do it soon! Here is a link to the schedule for the day. If you see a session title that you like, click on it to see the notes from that session.

"So, you may see us in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a principal...and a third grade teacher...and a superintendent...and a math teacher...and a parent...and a student.  Does that answer your question?"

Thank you to the #EDnado Organizing Team!

NJASCD/MSU New Teacher Bootcamp Presentation

Below are my slides from the NJASCD North/Montclair State University New Teacher Bootcamp Keynote.  It was a wonderful morning and the prospective teachers at MSU were a great audience with some thought provoking questions.  I truly enjoyed my visit.

Leading - The Power of Why

This TedTalk is about 6 years old and many of you have probably seen it before; however, it is one of those talks that I go back to periodically and re-watch because of its powerful message.  It is absolutely worth the 18.5 minutes.  Please take some time to watch it.



I am generally very skeptical of relating to education, books or talks that are business oriented.  This is one of those talks that I connect with as an educator.  Simon Sinek lays out for us the power of "WHY?"  He demonstrates how leaders who are successful understand and use that power to their benefit while those who don't, fail or simply get by.

If you are in a position of leadership or aspire to be, I encourage you to think about why you do what you do and how you share those ideas, as opposed to focusing simply on what you want to do and how you want to do it.

I find this notion very powerful. What are your thoughts?

Learner Appreciation Week?

May 5th through May 9th is Teacher Appreciation Week, with May 6th being Teacher Appreciation Day. As a school leader, my thinking on Teacher Appreciation Week has evolved over time. Don't get me wrong the teachers with whom I work are dedicated, amazing professionals who should be recognized for their important work during this week (and every week). However, I feel as though the focus may be slightly askew.

I have found that Bear Tavern Elementary School's teachers are some of the most voracious and excited learners that I have ever met. During this school year our teachers have inundated me with conversations, comments, tweets, emails, and observations that demonstrate a dedication to learning, changing, improving, and never being satisfied. This is what makes them a truly special group of professionals.

Our Kindergarten through Second Grade teachers embarked on a journey to relearn how they teach Reading and Writing through the Workshop model. As a district, we did it correctly by providing continuous professional development and our teachers responded by taking the leap, trying new things, collaborating with one another constantly, and understanding the power of making an attempt and tweaking lessons (continuously). At the beginning of the year, the entire LA block was turned upside down and the teachers had to trust that these changes would benefit the children. Nine months later (yesterday), I stood in the cafeteria with members of the first grade team who were marveling at how far their students have come and the quality of the writing that they are producing. AND... the joy with which the students have embraced this work. Similar conversations are happening in Kindergarten and Second Grade. Why? Because our teachers have embraced the idea of learning a new curriculum and new strategies. I believe the best teachers are avid learners and it is clear that I work with many of those. I look forward to rolling this up to third grade next year!

Our entire school has embarked on developing a true understanding of "transfer of learning." Particularly in our 3rd grade through 5th grade (the testing grades), this has become a theme for the year. Last January I wrote a post after we had a faculty meeting with Grant Wiggins (read it here).  Here is an excerpt from that post:

It seems simple to say that we want our students to understand what we teach; however, our discussion of this topic was truly enlightening.  We explored the things that "a student who understands" can do and the things that "one who knows a lot, but doesn't understand" can do.  Take a step back and think about that for a moment.  It is a powerful distinction.  The examples that Grant Wiggins provided and the vibrant discussion of the staff helped to flesh out this concept.  I have to say that the level of interest, thought, and participation on the part of the faculty was inspiring; especially after teaching a full day!

This led to a discussion of the importance of transfer and what that means for children and assessment.  It is one thing to make sure things get covered and standards get checked off, but it is another to have proof that students understand what has been taught and can transfer that understanding to a variety of situations.  In particular, it is important to ensure that they can do this without the supports provided by the teacher or the scaffolding of a question that provides all of the information to answer the question.

This meeting sparked a discussion about how we design instruction to assist children in transferring their learning from the skills and concepts we teach, to application in a "real world" or at least more realistic environment. The work that our PLCs have done this year is reflective of a collaborative culture that has truly made inroads with this concept. Students are better able to understand their learning in a greater context. I mentioned that these are the testing grades earlier because often it becomes tempting to teach to the test; however, a teaching for transfer mindset is more likely to produce real learning that will ALSO be reflected on the test rather than narrow learning that is MAINLY reflected on the test.

Again, this work in the upper elementary grades is reflective of a culture of learning that consistently gives me a sense of pride to be a part of this community of learners. Additionally, the entire staff has done this while learning a very involved new teacher evaluation system throughout the year AND working to integrate our technology resources into the classroom AND working to share our story with the community via social media and other avenues AND...

I guess the point of this post is to recognize the importance of teachers as learners. The only way to continually improve and be the best at what we do is to continue to learn! I feel as though the highest compliment that I can pay the teachers with whom I work during the upcoming Teacher Appreciation Week is that I am honored to be a part of such an active community of learners.

So,

Happy Learner Appreciation Week!

#NJED Chat - Grading and Grading Practices

This week's #njed chat was a lively discussion of grading. In this post I've included some of the thoughts of the participants as well as the resources that were shared during the chat. If you haven't participated in #njed chat, be sure to check it out at 8:30pm EST every Tuesday on Twitter. The seven questions asked were:

Q1: What do you believe is the purpose of grades? #njed

Q2: How do you grade students'  - individual Work? #njed

Q3: How do you grade students' work when it is done collaboratively? #njed

Q4: How do you grade late work? Why? #njed

Q5: Do you have experience with Standards Based Grading? If so, your thoughts? #njed

Q6: What is your favorite formative assessment tool and why? #njed

Q7: (How) Does effort/homework/behavior fit into your grading #njed

These led to some great discussions about why we grade students. It is interesting to see that many educators are grading students based upon district practices that pre-date their employment and don't necessarily jive with their educational beliefs or philosophy. Another salient point that was raised is the idea of Standards Based Grading as a best practice as opposed to traditional grading.  Following are some thought-provoking tweets from the chat:

These 12 tweets only give you a taste of the wonderful conversation that took place. I encourage you to check out the archive of the entire chat!

Here are some resources that were shared during the chat:

Ed. Leadership - Starting the Conversation About Grades - 
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov11/vol69/num03/Starting-the-Conversation-About-Grading.aspx

Best Practices in Grading - 
http://www.shaker.k12.nh.us/files/ResearchBriefGradingPractices%20(1).pdf

Grading Practices: The 3rd Rail -
http://www.leadandlearn.com/sites/default/files/articles/1003-pl-grading-practices-the-third-rail.pdf

ASCD - 7 Reasons for Standards Based Grading - http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/Seven_Reasons_for_Standards-Based_Grading.aspx

TOOLKIT for Evaluating Alignment of Instructional and Assessment Materials to the Common Core State Standards
http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2013/Toolkit%20for%20Evaluating%20Alignment%20of%20Instructional%20and%20Assessment%20Materials.pdf

PARCC Condensed Scoring Rubric for Prose Constructed Response Items (DRAFT)
http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/Grade6-11-ELACondensedRubricFORANALYTICANDNARRATIVEWRITING.pdf

Grades That Show What Students Know (Marzano) https://www.ocps.net/lc/southwest/mso/parents/Documents/Grades%20That%20Show%20What%20Students%20Know.pdf

Standards Based Grading - @RickWormeli YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-QF9Q4gxVM

Joe Bower posts on Grading/Abolishing Grading 
http://www.joebower.org/p/abolishing-grading.html

Why Schools are Ditching Traditional Grading 
http://us.cnn.com/2014/04/07/living/report-card-changes-standards-based-grading-schools/index.html?sr=sharebar_twitter

Doug Reeves on Toxic Grading Practices (YouTube) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jduiAnm-O3w

Doug Reeves - The Case Against Zero http://www.leadandlearn.com/sites/default/files/articles/caseagainstzero.pdf


If you feel moved to do so, please provide your thoughts on grading and grading practices in the comments. Also, please join us each Tuesday at 8:30pm EST on Twitter using the hashtag "#njed" as we discuss topics that are important to New Jersey educators and educators from around the world. We enjoy and welcome participants from near and far. Join us!

Telling Our Story on Social Media

Recently I have challenged the staff at Bear Tavern Elementary School to engage in a variety of technology related activities to help expand the idea of technology as a curricular tool. The specifics of that challenge are fodder for another post; however, I would like to highlight a fantastic by-product of the challenge that has been playing out over the last several weeks.

One of the things that I asked the staff to consider is using Twitter for either personal professional development or to share the amazing things that are happening in their classrooms and the school. I offered several "sessions" on setting up a twitter account and following educators of interest. These sessions were well attended and various staff members who could not attend set up individual times to sit down and learn. For me, personally, this has been very rewarding because it has helped to provide an additional opportunity for me to teach and learn with my colleagues.

One of the major points that I have made in discussions with the staff is the idea of writing our own story. Our school has had the experience of reacting when others have written our story. Often these stories are negative ones relayed by those who are unhappy with something. While there are always going to be these types of stories, if they are the only ones out there, then that is the reality of what the world knows about your school. With this in mind, I have been encouraging the staff to tell the story of the amazing things that are happening inside our walls each day, one tweet at a time. It only takes seconds to post a note or a picture and a caption to relay the magic that happens constantly within our school. This message truly hit home for me after reading  Digital Leadership by Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal) and hearing him speak on the subject this winter. We want to be the authors of our own story!

As of today the following Bear Tavern teachers are on Twitter and many are actively sharing the things that they are doing in their classrooms.

Jill Leestma - @MrsLeestma

Ana Lopez: @atlc_a

Joslyn Johnson: @artrocksbt

Image via CrunchBase

Liz Machado: @lizmachado68

Phyllis Bernard: @BernardALRALMEA

Lori Ayres: @MrsAyresClass

Paula Muhlbauer: @IheartDewey

Lori Drake: @lbdteach

Janiene Baxter: @baxtersbuds

Shannon Mann: @SM_TeachBT

Kim Niefer: @MrsNiefersClass

Breanne Scullin: @MsScullin_BT

Connie McCann: @cmccannbt1

Jill Novak @jillnovakBT

Mandi Perez: @letsgo2lbi

Britt Dominick: @brittmariemusic

Bruce Arcurio: @PrincipalArc

Bear Tavern: @beartavernes

Not all of the above are actively tweeting on a regular basis; however, they are easing into it and I applaud them all. There are also several of the above mentioned teachers who have joined the Bear Tavern Twitter Team. This is a group who also have access to the Bear Tavern twitter account (the last one listed above) and help me tweet out things happening all over the school.

Twitter is not the main communication mode for our school. We still use the traditional channels for that (email blast, virtual backpack, online calendar, etc.); however, Twitter is becoming a way that parents and the community can get a real time glimpse into the day to day learning that is happening at our amazing school. For those who have not jumped into the the Twitter stream YET, we have also placed the school's twitter feed on our school webpage. I encourage you to follow any and all of the Twitter accounts above!

Now I look forward each day to see what amazing things get tweeted, because I can't be in all places at all times either!

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Integrating STEM in the Classroom: Resources

This past Tuesday, February 25th, we held our weekly #NJED Chat at 8:30pm EST. Our topic was: Integrating STEM in the Classroom. I was very excited about this topic because we are in the planning stages of opening a 4th Grade STEM Magnet Class for our district at Bear Tavern Elementary School.  I will be writing various posts about our progress as we continue to move forward; however, after the chat I received this tweet:

The easiest method seemed to be on my blog. So here is a list of the hyperlinks that were shared during our chat. It is a pretty good list of resources for anyone interested in STEM Education; HOWEVER, if you have others, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE share them in the comments below so that we can all benefit.

Why Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy went MAD!
Framework for 21st Century Learning
Don't Squelch the Creativity #SAVMP
Falling isn't Failing
Infographic: The Value of STEM Education
12 Steps to Great STEM Lessons
If school is supposed to prepare students for real life, then why doesn’t it look more like real life?

4 TED Talks for Educators Interested in STEAM

National Girls Collaborative Project

STEM Curriculum/Resources from the NV STEM Coalition

Goldie Blox and Rube Goldberg YouTube Video

Maryland K-5 STEM Resources Page

NEA 10 Best STEM Resources

Technology & Children: STEM, It's Elementary! (Entire Journal Issue)
Engineering for All

PBS Teachers: STEM Education Resource Center

NASA Explorer Schools


Also, here is a link to the entire chat archive. I encourage readers to peruse the chat because the interaction between the participants was rich with insight, suggestions, and ideas.

"Integrating STEM in the classroom" #njed Chat 2-25-14

Please join us each Tuesday evening for our weekly chat. Our topics are varied and focused on what we do as practitioners. We welcome participants from all over the country and all over the world!

#DLDay: The Verdict is...

I know, Digital Learning Day was February 5th, but on the 6th I got to be involved in a fantastic example of technology tools being used effectively to break down the walls of the classroom and allow students to learn and connect with students and teachers beyond their school.  I was fortunate to be asked to judge a Virtual Debate! South Orange Middle School sixth graders debated with Lower Alloways Creek sixth graders about the merits of homework.

Before I talk about the technology, let me first say that these boys and girls were wonderful. They were prepared with strong arguments, they formed coherent rebuttals, and they presented convincingly. I was impressed with the amount of support that was cited on the subject from people like Alfie Kohn, Robert Marzano, Harris Cooper and other researchers in the field. The students understood that presentation is an important part of debate and they worked to put forth a compelling and convincing argument for their given side. The only part that was unfortunate was that I had to fill out my rubric and decide on a winning team. They both did such a remarkable job. If you don't believe me and you have about an hour, you can check out the debate here sfy.co/aZxd .


I was invited to be a judge by Melissa Butler, one of the teachers involved in the project. Here is the first instance of technology playing a role. Melissa (@AngelinaShy) is a member of my PLN. We connected through twitter and are both part of the planning team for #edcampNJ. Using twitter as an avenue for professional learning, growth, and connection has afforded me various wonderful opportunities (like this debate) and introduced me to some of the most amazing and passionate educators. Melissa co-teaches with Elissa Malespina (@SOMSlibrary) (another #edcampNJ organizer), who is also the media specialist at South Orange Middle School. They were connected with Ruth Williams' and Kristen Ayling's students in Lower Alloways Creek, NJ through another twitter connection, Jay Eitner (@iSuperEit) (you guessed it, #edcampNJ organizer), who is the Superintendent of the district and a strong proponent of technology as a tool for learning.

The students used various methods to research their arguments. It was clear during the debate that the boys and girls were using laptops and desktops to quickly get information to use in their rebuttals. I can only assume that with their teachers facilitating the process throughout, the students utilized resources in the schools' classrooms and media centers, including books and web based tools.

The debate, itself was held using Google Hangout. This is a personal favorite tool of mine. We use it often to hold meetings in the evenings to plan. However, the debate illustrates an amazing use of the tool to allow students to interact with people from other locations. Of course, there were their adversaries in the debate who were several hours away in another part of the state. In addition, the judges consisted of:

Tim Charleston @MrCsays - District Technology Coordinator of Green Brook Twp Public Schools - NJ

Tom Murray @thomascmurray - Director of Technology and Cyber Education for the Quakertown Community School District - Bucks County, PA

Annie Taranto @tarantoannie - Literacy Consultant for the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, Columbia University, NY

Frances Ann Squire @FASquire - Jr. High Technology and LA teacher - Prince Edward Island, Canada
******Her entire class viewed and served as judges!

Bruce Arcurio (me) @PrincipalArc - Principal of Bear Tavern Elementary School, Hopewell Twp., NJ

As you can see by my highlighting above, the Google Hangout allowed these two schools to debate with judging from 3 states and a Canadian province! This was a wonderful example of

how technology serves as a means and not an end.  The tech was NOT the ultimate goal. The goal was to allow the students to research and conduct a debate using persuasive techniques. Technology served them in their research and presentation. It allowed for a connection between schools.  In addition, it provided an authentic audience with judges bringing their expertise to the process. It is unlikely that these students would have been able to debate for a similar judging panel live. However, in my case, I was able to close my office door for an hour and participate fully without the time and schedule juggling of going to one of the schools.

I was thrilled that technology allowed me to be a part of this experience and hope to participate next year. As far as I am concerned, the verdict is... Everybody wins in this situation!


What did you do to celebrate Digital Learning Day (#DLDay)?

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