#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?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I have always been a proponent of the philosophy, "change is good."  Having said that, I was much
more open to change in my own life and career when I was younger.  I pursued my Masters in Educational Leadership in my twenties and willingly sought out and took on the challenges of leadership positions.  It was exciting and new and fresh.

For the past 11+ years I have been the principal and lead learner of Bear Tavern Elementary School, a wonderful community that is dedicated to education.  Recently, I had the opportunity to make a change.  It was frightening to contemplate.  My superintendent and I discussed the need for assistance on some of the district's critical technology related projects.  With my passion for technology and its appropriate use for teaching and learning, I was intrigued.  But, how could I move on from my position as principal to work in a role that is so different and may or may not be there in the future?  That took some real reflection.

After considering the options, I came to the conclusion that I needed to take a risk. I thought back to those early years in my career when I was eager for a new challenge and willing to take those leaps.  I decided to go for it.  So now, my title is "Principal on Assignment."  I am working on projects including implementation of PARCC assessments district-wide, development of a plan for the district to transition to a new student information system, and supporting and actualizing the expansion of our 8th grade 1:1 Chromebook initiative to grades 9 and 7. Those are some of the major responsibilities among other things.

I was unsure if I would be comfortable working out of our central office and not being based in a school; however, this position has afforded me the opportunity to interact with teachers and students in all six of our schools from preschool through 12th grade. Every day is something new and different. Additionally, I am involved in educating students (and teachers) in an entirely different way.

So, I guess the point of my post is more of a personal revelation. I have been professing the virtues of change to the teachers and students with whom I have worked over the years, but while doing so, I slipped into a position that provided me with the opportunity to engage in what I can only describe as "comfortable change." I firmly believe that the work we have done at Bear Tavern during my time there was positive, good for children, and affirms the reasons that I went into education all those years ago.  But, now I have taken one of those leaps into something less defined and less secure.  It is exciting and invigorating!

What does the future hold?  Who knows?  I am ready for it. I feel like I am truly living the advice I have given others so often over the years.

What changes do you need to make?  It is worth some thought.

#ISTE2014 Newbie: With A Little Help From My Friends

image from https://www.isteconference.org/2014/

I just attended my first ISTE Conference & Expo!  Did you hear me? I just attended my first ISTE Conference & Expo! Sorry, I'm just very excited and energized after my time in Atlanta. So much so that I wrote this post in the airport as I waited for my flight home and on the plane. If it rambles a little, bear with me.

Over the past few years, since I started building a PLN via Twitter, I have been watching the stream of tweets with the #ISTE conference hashtag as my school year would come to an end.  As I read all of the tweets going by with links to amazing resources and nuggets from thoughtful sessions, I knew that eventually I would have to go myself. This year, I was able to attend in Atlanta and it was an exhausting, rewarding, learning, connecting, type of experience.

image courtesy of clker.com

Fortunately, I got by with a little help from my friends. I was able to hook up with members of my PLN from the moment I got there and they helped show me the ropes. A big thanks to Billy Krakower (@wkrakower), Kyle Calderwood (@kcalderw), Liz Calderwood (@liz1544), Kate Baker (@KtBkr4), and, of course, Jerry Blumengarten(@cybraryman1).  There were many people that I met and had the opportunity to talk with because the folks above took me under their wing and mentored me during my time at #ISTE2014.

Everyone told me that the informal conversations are as valuable as the sessions themselves and I truly understand what they meant now. The learning and connecting can take many forms; a brief chat with Nathan Stevens (@nathan_stevens) and Jenny Grabiac (@techgirljenny) at a social event, a conversation with Jessica Allen (@jessievaz12) over dinner, a dialogue about a project from one of the poster session presenters (they are GREAT) in the Galleria, a warm, wonderful hug and words of encouragement in the Blogger's Cafe from Paula Naugle (@plnaugle), a

me and Paula Naugle

great opportunity to go to lunch with Jerry, Billy, and Kathy Bloomfield from Readworks, or a quick conversation in the conference hallway with Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers) to remind that "You Matter!"  These real life connections are part of what make the virtual connections via social media so valuable. 

#ISTE2014 was also filled with fantastic sessions. The biggest problem was deciding which ones to choose because there were often several sessions of interest to me at the same time. I came away with some great ideas from Kyle Pace (@kylepace) and Michelle Baldwin's (@michellek107) session "Full STEAM ahead: Cultivating connections with the arts." I learned that I can start a maker space in my school and classrooms and I don't have to break the bank from the folks at Digital Harbor Foundation's (@DHFBaltimore) session: "Classroom Makerspace: Your Guidebook to Inexpensive Making in the Classroom". I was inspired by the session

Levar Burton speaking to a packed room.

with Levar Burton (@levarburton) whose Reading Rainbow has helped so many children over the past decades. That barely scratches the surface of what I have learned (fodder for more posts).

You never know what opportunities will present themselves at #ISTE2014. I arrived on Saturday and that evening received a message asking if I would help out in a session as a Twitter Mentor. So my first professional development opportunity at the convention was actually working with Elana Leoni (@elanaleoni) from Edutopia and Kyle Calderwood in their session "Saved by Twitter: 10 ways to use Twitter to Connect" (#savedbytwitter) as they worked with a room of 150 new Twitter users to show the power of the social media platform for connecting and professional development. Awesome! The next night I went in to support Jerry Blumengarten and Susan Bearden (@s_bearden) in their session "Twitter 101: Build Your Personal Learning Network" and was asked to do something similar. 

I'm going to stop now because now that I have my initial thoughts down I need to process them a bit more. I am sure there are more posts coming when I collect my thoughts.  Stay tuned...

So, a few takeaways from this post....

1. Go to #ISTE2015 in Philadelphia if you can

While there:

2. Talk to people, they will talk back

3. Take a risk and leave your comfort zone

4. Take the time to explore the Expo floor. There are some wonderful things there and a great deal to learn (I didn't even mention that above!)

But, Right now:

4. Get on Twitter and start to connect with the amazing folks out in our education community.

5. Follow all of the people I mention in this post, you won't regret it!

6. Leave a comment and let's start a conversation here or on Twitter

P.S. Thanks to all of the educators with whom I've interacted during the last several days. It has been wonderful.

Me, Nathan, Kate, Aaron, Liz, & Kyle

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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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