Reform is Happening

On a crisp, sunny Saturday morning in October, approximately 400 passionate educators congregated at New Milford High School for the Tri-State Educational Technology Conference (TSETC).  The brainchild of Schoology and myself, we set out in mid-August to plan an unprecedented free conference that would provide educators of varying experience with practical strategies to successfully integrate technology in the classroom.  We didn’t know what to expect, but were committed to planning and delivering an event that would have a positive impact on all who attended.  Little did we know that by the end of the day, after countless hours of planning, that the conference would not only be a success, but would greatly exceed our expectations.

Around 9:10 AM I walked into my auditorium to kick off TSETC.  This was an incredibly emotional moment for me as I became so humbled to see the NMHS auditorium at capacity.  Particularly gratifying for me was to see so many stakeholders from my District present on a Saturday including teachers, administrators, central office personnel, parents, and Board of Education members.  During my brief statements I explained that the main objective of the conference was for participants to leave inspired and motivated to pursue innovative practices while becoming agents of change (thanks for capturing this in a quote Lisa).  The keynote then began and the conference was officially underway.

I didn’t see many sessions as I was running around like a lunatic.  Between popping into sessions I was setting up AVA equipment, moving extra chairs into rooms, printing out PD certificates, and exchanging business cards.  What I did hear though from educator after educator was how phenomenal the conference was. Conversations were taking place all over my school - in the hallways, Blogger’s Cafe, and in the cafeteria during lunch. The common theme of all of these informal discussions was the cultivation of student-centered learning opportunities.  Anyone that was following the #TSETC hashtag could feel the outside of the box thinking that was taking place in a little NJ town. Just check out these thoughts from Meg Wilson.

Here are just a few of the highlights:

• Adam Bellow electrified the crowd with his presentation 10 Webtools to make your classroom rock!  I learned at TSETC that Adam runs a 100% free website called eduTecher that reviews and catalogs over 1,100 free web tools as well as offering short videos explaining how to use them in the classroom.  In the near future he will have free iPhone and Droid apps.  From now until November 25th, Adam is running a social media charity drive and when anyone clicks on this link he will donate a penny to charity.  Right after Thanksgiving he will donate all the money to the charity that his website audience (Twitter-folk, and Facebook friends) vote on. The idea is to show students (and everyone else too) that small things do make a difference and that by doing something small we can "Change the World".
• New Milford High School alumnus Erica Hartman covered over 20 free tools that any teacher could easily use in the classroom.  As a Google Certified teacher, she appropriately organized her presentation by superbly using Google Sites. 
• Karen Blumberg took fabulous notes on many of the presentations, which you can find here.  Additionally she facilitated a session on grassroots PD. Any highlights I missed can be found here.
• Matt Ray provided updates on the conference and posted them to his blog.
• Mary Beth Hertz facilitated a session where the attendees created their own presentation describing 21st Century learners.
• Shelly Terrell Skyped in from Germany and dazzled educators on how to effectively extend learning beyond classroom walls. My students that were volunteering made it clear after her presentation that NMHS has to Skype more often.
• EdSocialMedia and William Stites did a fabulous job running the the Blogger’s Cafe.  You can check out his session here. The Blogger's Cafe was definitely the place to be during the extended lunch break.
• Mark Moran not only presented a comprehensive session on conducting better web research, but went out of his way to speak with educators the entire day to share his knowledge and expertise. The book marks were also a nice touch. 
• I had met George Bengel at the NYSCATE Leadership Symposium this summer and personally reached out to him about presenting at TSETC.  He provided educators with a great deal of food for thought on using mobile technology for student-centered learning. 
• Lisa Nielsen was absolutely fabulous.  I was fortunate to meet Lisa this past April at the 140 Characters Conference in NYC.  During her keynote she emphasized the need to take risks in the classroom and shared examples detailing the trials and tribulations of her journey to effectively integrate technology.  Read her post conference thoughts and discover how to think outside the ban.
• The Virtual Learning Lab provided an engaging experience for all attendees as well as my students who volunteered to help out with the conference (they were awesome). They were blown away by the interactive learning experience shown off by Tequipment and wanted to "Glog" in class thanks to Glogster. Teachers from my District were really intrigued by the Schoology platform. The fact that Glogster and Dell traveled from MA and TX respectively to be a part of this experience was so exciting.
• The Record did this story, which appeared in the paper today.
• Google Doc of resources from TSETC courtesy of Chuck Poole.
• Listen to my entire session on Leading With Social Media here.

We are currently experiencing a critical time in the field of education. First there were the budget cuts followed by what now seems like relentless attacks on teachers and administrators. The accountability movement being heralded by so-called reformers is being embraced by more and more stakeholders across the country. Throwing gasoline on the fire has been the documentary "Waiting for Superman" and the sham called Education Nation (which, by the way, had no respected educators present at the Summit because they were not invited). The systems that they are proposing, such as those based on merit or performance pay, will ultimately create schools that are stagnant, teach to the test, and crush any desire for innovative practices.

Reform is happening. It is happening at free conferences like TSETC where passionate educators come together on a Saturday for a full day of learning about practical strategies and sharing ideas to engage all learners in order to improve achievement. It is happening virtually in the form of Personal Learning Networks through discussion, resource sharing, and collaboration through social networking sites like Twitter and The Educator's PLN. What I learned on Saturday in my conversations with educators from many different districts is that we need to work together, learn from each other, and cultivate learning environments that are innovative, supportive, embrace risk-taking, and, most importantly, put the students first. This is the kind of real reform of which I want to be a part.

Building Momentum

Yesterday was a particularly busy day for me.  In the midst of interviewing candidates for an open vice principal position, calling prospective teachers, and going through mounds of paperwork I managed to make the time to video conference with administrators and educational stakeholders in Virginia, Iowa, New York, and Florida.  Let me begin by saying that I was absolutely honored that various members of my Professional Learning Network (PLN) and the greater educational community reached out to me to address administrators looking to embrace social media, plan an educational technology conference at my school, and discuss leadership in the digital age.

Speaking to administrators who are skeptical about utilizing social media is something that I am extremely passionate about.  A little over a year ago I was in their shoes, but worse.  I blocked sites and banned mobile devices to such an extreme.  The scary part about this is that I really thought I was doing what was best for my students and staff.  Boy was I wrong!

Obviously my views and actions have changed dramatically.  After becoming educated and seeing the error in my ways, I have now become an advocate of empowering educators to effectively integrate technology combined with best instructional practices.  This being said, each chance I get to discuss my transformation in this area with skeptical administrators I jump on the opportunity.  Why I do this is simple.  I now have the confidence to clearly articulate how social media has enabled me to become a more effective and efficient administrator in many areas.  I stress the fact that this phenomenon is not going away and is a major component in the lives of today’s society.  As educational leaders we should be modeling, supporting, and collaborating with our respective staffs to create a vibrant school culture that fosters risk-taking and innovation.  Learning environments that are structured in such a way will not only help students think critically, problem solve, and master the content, but also teach them how to be digitally responsible. 

There is another important reason why I make time to speak with other administrators who are considering harnessing the power of social media tools.  I NEED THEM TOO!!!!  It is depressing when I look around in my own state and others and notice the lack of an administrative presence in the world of social media and other areas of educational technology leadership for that matter.  What can I do to help change this? Maybe my fellow principal buddies such as George Couros, Patrick Larkin, Chris Lehmann, Deron Durflinger, or Dave Meister can help me out with this one? There are all doing their part to build momentum in this area.

I have so much to learn about educational leadership and facilitating sustainable change.  What better way to learn than from experienced leaders in the trenches that can share their knowledge, strategies, successes, and failures?  This is how I learn best.  I need their help, support, ideas, and advice on all aspects of educational leadership, not educational technology.  I want and need to become better.  Together we can all collaborate to grow, lead more effectively, and move towards substantive reform.  Does this make sense?

In my discussions with administrators I discuss what I have found to be the five facets of social media that truly assist educational leaders to become more effective and efficient.  I have blogged about these over the past couple months and will either provide brief descriptions or links to past posts.  They are as follows:

1.   1. Communication: Effective communication is one of the most important characteristics associated with successful leaders.  Social media provides free tools to enhance public relations, celebrate student/staff accomplishments, and keep all stakeholders informed 24/7. Blogging is one of the best tools available to aid in communication.  Here are some other ideas.  Twitter has been a phenomenal tool to improve school communications.  Within minutes of creating a school Twitter account (@NewMilfordHS) I began sending out information "tweets".  The ease of getting information out quickly out there has been quite convincing.  To get that same information on our traditional website would have taken a week’s worth of emails and action by two or three different staff members. 

2.   2. Branding:   When updating our school Facebook page or sending out a message on Twitter I often include a direct link back to our school’s main website and our school’s colors, mascot and logo.  This makes our pages stand out to viewers and establishes a brand presence.  People know who we are because I took the time to fill out that basic information.

3.   3. Professional Development/Growth: Educators now have access to relevant, meaningful resources that are available as needed.  We can now connect with experts in a variety of fields of study, pick their brains, strategize, and receive feedback like never before.  The best of all is that we can do this from our office, home, or on the go with mobile devices during times that are convenient for us.                              

      

      4. Opportunity: Social media has allowed me to forge strategic partnerships where my school has received free technology, all-expense paid travel for my on my teachers to visit schools in Israel, and multiple opportunities to extensively promote the happenings at my school.  THere is some more detailed information in this post.

5.   5.  Collaboration: This is such an exciting time to be in education as we now have the ability to connect on a global scale.  This not only does wonders for our own learning but also really sets the stage for developing authentic experiences for our students.

Doing my part to encourage other administrators to embrace social media in ways that will work for them is one way I try to build momentum for leadership in the digital age.  I’ll save my thoughts on organizing a major EdTech event at my school for another day.  

Thank you to Lisa Nielsen for motivating me to write this post!

We Have Got to do and Be Better

The other day I was reading an article in the New York Times entitled "In Reassessing Schools, a Lot of Bad News to Break".  The following comment in the article stuck out to me and others on Twitter:

“There are two reactions those of us in this business can have,” said Geoffrey Canada, the chief executive of the Harlem Children’s Zone, which operates the school. “One is to complain, and it’s human nature to do that. The other is to say we need to do something dramatically more intensive and powerful to prepare our kids. We are going to look at the mirror and say we have got to do better.”

Geoffrey Canada hits on something that all schools and educators need to reflect upon and that is the need and desire to be better.  My comments are not meant as a call to arms in support of better standardized test prep, but rather a holistic metamorphosis of teaching and learning practices.  Much to often educators reach a saturation point where doing what it takes to get by is the prime choice of many.  Tenure adds to this problem and is frequently used as an internal excuse to not work hard, take risks, collaborate, or pursue professional growth opportunities outside of the school day.  Utilizing free time in the summer to learn and get better has also gone by the wayside and been frowned upon.  


Personally, I get offended every time someone says how great teachers have it because they have the summers off.  This is a much deserved reward in my mind.  Dedicated educators know that the summer break is needed for all of the extensive hours spent planning, grading, and helping each and every kid succeed for 180 days.   The summer months also represent an opportunity for all educators to get better.  More educators need to take advantage of this time.  Excuses such as money are now a non-factor as numerous free professional development opportunities have arisen.  Just check out NTCAMP and The Reform Symposium as two fantastic examples.  I am even sending four of my teachers to a free training session provided by Discovery Streaming this week. Getting better does not have to involve educational technology.  It could simply be developing an authentic-based unit of instruction in collaboration with a teacher from another department, attending graduate classes, or reading the latest research in the field. My point is there are so many opportunities to get better.


There has been so much talk lately about education reform, change, and innovation.  None of this will occur if educators don't find it necessary to get better.  Take Twitter for example.  While becoming a major part of our school’s communication plan, Twitter has also become a major part of my own professional learning patterns. I use this tool on my own time! How each one decides to accomplish this is up to them.  My challenge to all of you is to empower, support, encourage, and assist your fellow colleagues in their improvement pursuits. Here are some professional development resources to help you and your colleagues get started.