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!

Related articles

• #DLDay: The Verdict is...
• "I Dream a World"
• Inspiration from a Child

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)?

Related articles

• Happy Digital Learning Day!
• 7 Tuesday Top Topics #DLDay #CommonCore
• Digital Learning Day 2014: K-12 Kids, Tech and You
• Happy Digital Learning Day #DLDay

Evernote, Backchanneling, and Tabs, Oh My!

George Couros

I just read a short post entitled, Stating the Obvious, by George Couros on his blog, The Principal of Change. Basically, the post is about the penchant of adults to complain about how kids are so distracted by their devices, yet when it comes down to it, they are simply doing what adults do when they are bored. I agree with the sentiment that this is stating the obvious; however, it is amazing how many people complain about this phenomenon and don't realize the hypocrisy of it. I guess my post is just expanding upon the idea in Stating the Obvious. By the way, if you don't follow The Principal of Change blog, you should start. I have learned a great deal from reading it.


All of our minds have wandered at meetings and we've opened up our email on our handheld device, tablet, or laptop. When I do that I am generally not engaged in the content of the meeting or session. But, I also want to note that I often use a device and may look as though I am distracted or not paying attention when, in fact, I am actually more engaged than others who may appear to be listening and attending to the teacher or presenter.

First, there is simply using an electronic device to take notes. I hate writing with a pen or pencil. After about the third word, my hand cramps up (likely psychosomatic) and I stop. So, when I am typing on a device, there is an excellent chance I am taking notes in Evernote. This is evident from the blog posts that I have written from my notes after sitting in sessions at Teachers College during their Saturday Reunions. (#TCRWP Saturday Reunion - March 2013 - Laurie Pessah's Workshop, #TCRWP - Cornelius Minor Session on the BYOT Movement, or Depths of Knowledge (DOK) is More Than an Acronym!)


Second, there is backchanneling! Generally, when I am at an #edcamp or #TCRWP session (or any other for that matter) I look for others who are having a conversation about the topic behind the scenes. I find that backchanneling  has provided me with a renewed ability to focus on the points that a presenter is making. When I can tweet out or use some other backchannel to converse about the topic as it is being presented, I am able to better digest the material, wrestle with it, and ultimately engage with it in a deeper way.


Third, I am often finding resources that a presenter is mentioning. There are sessions that I have attended where I have actually ordered a book from Amazon as the presenter had it up on the projector screen. When presenters mention other thought leaders, bloggers, and researchers on the topic being presented, I generally like to pull up a tab in my web browser immediately with the blog or connection so that I can easily find them when I get home.

While I realize that our students in school may not be doing the things I mention above. I think that we should find out what they are doing before we get upset. If they are productively engaging in their own digital way, then we should probably let them keep doing what they are doing. If they are just playing around and doing other things, we should probably try to figure out if it is our instruction that is lacking before we blame the devices.

How do you "pay attention" at meetings and conferences?

Reflections - Post #1

Last year on Super Bowl Sunday I decided that the following day was going to be a new start for me. I was
mainly referring to my health, weight and other related things. However, in making that decision last February, I have found that the past year has provided me with an amazing "refreshed" outlook on life, work, and family.

I wrote a post on December 2nd that gives some detail about my decision to make some changes in my health entitled, HATS,Goals, and Me. This post is a reflection upon the ten months or so leading up to running a 5k on Thanksgiving morning, the satisfaction of reaching that goal, and how it fit in with our school theme this year. The process of the last year has truly made me assess my goals and priorities throughout all aspects of my life.

By Everaldo Coelho and YellowIcon  via Wikimedia Commons

I had to sit down and take a look at all of the things that are on my plate and decide what things are vital to me and what things need to fall by the wayside or need to be postponed.  As I reflected upon this and made a list (I love lists, especially digital lists!); here is what I came up with:

Vital (these are not in order after the first two)
Family
Health
Friends
Work/Educator
Personal Learning and Growth
My PLN
Inner Peace/Faith
New Experiences
Time
Change


Postponed/Wayside (these are not in order at all)
Doctoral Work
Some Home Improvements
Toxic People
Sweating the Small Stuff
Stuff, in general - clutter



Please note that these are fairly broad categories and each has more specific subtopics on my personal list. This post is an introduction to a series of posts I am going to write about the items on the lists above. As I have always said, this blog is a place for me to learn with others by reflecting upon my life and work. So, this may get personal, but I hope that working through these topics here will provide greater clarity for me in the year ahead and maybe ignite a spark for someone else to look at things differently or make a change. As I work through these posts over the coming weeks/months I reserve the right to add to or modify the list as any evolving, reflective thinker might.

On some level this post and those that follow are inspired by @DrSpikeCook. This year he committed to writing a post a day for 365 days. I am not ready for that challenge (maybe next year); however, I wanted to commit to at least a series of posts that would provide direction and focus this year. This is my start. I am sure I will have posts about other things in between, but look for the title, "Reflections" and the post number for the ones in this series.

Please join me and comment along the way. I would greatly appreciate it.

Unannounced Observations

A strange phenomenon is occurring in my school at the moment surrounding unannounced observations. This year, the NJDOE has instituted a new teacher evaluation system for all teachers. One component requires at least one unannounced observation of the three required for tenured staff. This is a departure from past practice in our district. We have generally scheduled our visits. There was never a real sense of urgency to do unannounced observations because administrators work to be in classrooms for walkthroughs anyway, so "unannounced" informal observations were happening fairly regularly.

Our first round of observations completed before the New Year were all announced, but our second round of tenured observations have all been unannounced. This has created a different vibe in the building than I have been used to for the last 11 years. I remember back when I started teaching 20 years ago in a different district where all observations were unannounced; the principal would walk out of his office with his leather portfolio and news would spread like wildfire through the building that he was on the move. It was crazy because usually when he came to your room, you were already teaching and never got the message in time anyway, so you just did your thing and got observed.

Now, I am the principal and over the past several weeks every time I leave my office, I notice people looking to see if I have my iPad in my hands. It has actually become somewhat of a joke where I either hold up my hands to show that I am not "carrying" or I politely remind the teacher looking at my hands that, "my eyes are up here:-)"

Here is the crazy part, I am seeing some great lessons!! I am beginning to think that when teachers have advanced notice of observations they tend to over-think it. I have a wonderful staff who are dedicated to student learning and success every day. Conducting unannounced formal observations has only served to reinforce my belief that our staff "gets it" and that our children are being served well through their efforts. Can all of us improve in some areas? Yes, and that goes for me, the teachers, and anyone reading this post; however, I think that the shift to including an unannounced component to our observation system has been a positive one. I realize this may not be a revelation for those who have always conducted unannounced observations, but it was a wonderful reminder for me!

What do you think? Are your observations announced or unannounced? Which do you prefer? Why?

Inspiration from a Child

Earlier this month Bear Tavern Elementary School held its annual Winter Concert in our district's performing arts center. It is always a wonderful evening of music! The children practice from September to December to showcase their hard work and musical talent. I always enjoy the event because the children are so proud of themselves and what they have accomplished. This year there was a non-musical incident that made the concert very special for me.

As the band finished playing its numbers, the Early Morning Ensemble Choral group gathered in the hallway to enter the stage door and go on next. This year the group is fairly large and they decided to get t-shirts with their name, The Treble Makers, printed on them. Here is where the magic happens...

When the students came out into the hall, all of the children had their shirts on except one young lady. At that moment she realized that she had forgotten the shirt. Clearly the young lady was getting upset because she was going to go out on stage and be the only one without her choral shirt. I watched as the music teacher's wheels were turning and knew she was about to tell the group that they needed to support their friend by taking off all of their shirts and singing in the very nice dress clothes that they had on underneath. However, just as she was about to speak, John, one of our 5th grade boys, spoke up and said, "she can have mine." The entire group looked at him, including the teacher and me. Without a thought he took off the shirt and gave it to the young lady and said, "I'll be fine, you wear it."

This may not seem like a big deal, but for me it was a reminder that our parents and our teachers are doing something right. Hey, anyone of us could have forgotten our shirt, but it took a big heart and caring soul to be willing to sacrifice to help out a friend. This little incident truly made my night. At the end of the evening, I shook John's hand and told him that he was a rock-star tonight and I didn't just mean because of his singing. He smiled.

The news often points out the less than kind things that students do in schools; however, it is little stories of kindness, courage, and compassion that truly make up what happens in schools. This young man's actions were inspiring to me and I hope that they bring a little joy to your holiday season. Sometimes we need children to remind us of what is really important in life.