Mrs. Lunemann has lead the charge to create a 21st century classroom within a welcoming, student-centered learning space

After everyone cleared out from another successful Back to School night, I sat in my office in amazement. Maybe it was part exhaustion, part reflection, but never mind all that. This had nothing to do with me. It had everything to do with my family.

See, when I started at RM Bacon Elementary about a year and half ago I was told of this theme: “Then, Now, Always Family.” I like themes, and see their importance played out on a daily basis. But there is something very different happening at my school. It’s not just a theme, its reality.

Everyone does Back To School Night, and so does our school, but we do it very differently. Well, I have to be honest, we do EVERYTHING differently! No matter if our teachers have one parent, or they have standing room only, they embody the principles of solid classroom instruction. Each session I went into last night had technology at the forefront. Smart boards, videos, blogs, interactive math and LAL lesson, sign ups for remind101.com, anything that is used during the day was on display last night! Not to mention the traditional “All About Me” posters, artwork, and messages to parents. Our teachers do it all!

A united front in 3rd grade!

Another thing that struck me, and I will go on record that I had nothing to do with, was the collaboration. Two of the grades decided to scrap the individual presentations, and worked collaboratively on grade level presentations. As a parent, I would have thought… united front! As a principal, I beamed.

Special area teachers, resource, and basic skills interventionists, were not to be outdone. They milled about the school talking with parents, assisting with anything that was needed, and made the parents feel welcome.

I received so many well wishes from excited parents. I can honestly say that they trust us with educating their children. We do not take that responsibility lightly. They asked about the upcoming activities, and many signed up for our Home and School Association.

Here was our Back To School Trailer:

This IS what I signed up for!

Using the Imovie trailer app on my ipad has allowed me to create an easy to use medium to document the amazing events happening at RM Bacon. As you may have seen from previous posts, we have had a lot of fun making  trailers this summer. The Extravaganza, This just in became internet sensations, and were completed in less time than it takes to watch a theatrical release (and a lot cheaper).

During my first staff meeting, I invited the teachers to make a trailer for Opening Day 2012. The first in this series (many more to be released soon) was from our 5th grade team. Here is their spoof on how they were paired together this summer with only 2 weeks before school was to begin.

During the second day of staff development, we simply ran out of time to do another trailer. So, we challenged ourselves. I met with my literacy coach, Celese Nolan, and we mapped out an idea for a “real/reel time” trailer. Our idea was to film the parents and students arriving for Opening Day, and then play it minutes later at the assembly. Since our “Red Carpet Welcome Back Theme” fit so well with the trailers, and we were able to get a real red carpet, we gave it a try. Here is what we were able to show the parents just minutes after “making” the trailer. Truly amazing!

I plan to do a whole separate post about the Opening Day 2012, and to thank everyone who assisted with making it a reality. I would like to specially thank my music teacher, Leigh Simpson, who’s creativity and determination to make the red carpet a reality for our students!

Ipad movie trailers are easy, fun, and allow you the ability to put something of professional quality in a matter of minutes.

Tags: imovie, ipad

 As I sit here, alone in my school on the eve of the 2012-13 school year I had a thought, a connection, and I was inspired! (If you want to hear the song I was listening to, go to the end of the post)

Bright colors, appealing environment

I took one more walk around the building and something hit me – like a ton of bricks….

A chair, a storage container, a really great idea!

RM Bacon is really doing the impossible! (Our theme this year is Impossible is Nothing!)

Student desks are so last century!

I am not sure where it started, or when, but there has been a transformation in the learning spaces of the school.

Bloom’s Pyramid

Some teachers had to give up their space, some had to update because of changes in enrollment, and all of the teachers maintained a positive outlook!

Resource Room teachers completely redesigned their learning space

Teachers, armed with fresh ideas gathered from facebook, pintrest, and twitter have redesigned their learning spaces, and paid attention to the most special detail – our message!

Love how the painted on chalckboard compliments the traditional wooden closet

After my walk, I felt the emergence of 3 major themes: Classroom Instruction that Works Strategies along with Bloom’s Taxonomy, Positive Behavioral Intervention Support (PBIS), and the Daily 5.

Who has focus on CITWS?

Wow, as if they all collaborated with each other?

Self taught Daily 5

This newness spread throughout the school in a collective fashion that is sending the students messages of hope, understanding, and accountability.

We are World Class!

A place where they will do the impossible, in a purposeful, collaborative environment.

Gandy’s pond with critters inside

I was so impressed! I had to blog about how awesome the teachers are here at RM Bacon Elementary.

Who wouldn’t want to go to read with the teacher?

This is truly a world-class school, in a world class district!

Are you going to sink or swim?

These are just some of the many examples that I found on the eve of 2012-13 school year… Where Impossible is Nothing!

You Matter at #RMBACON!

 Thank you teachers!

Lots of movement, new second grade class!

This was the song I was listening to when I thought about this post:

Follow 3 administrators as they search for clues, agendas, anything that can explain what the Opening Day Extravaganza is all about. Help us! They are blocking our internet, taking devices away, anything to stop us from knowing.

September 4, 2012 @8:00 AM is when it all….

Tags: Back To School, Funny

#NJED Tweeps

I had the opportunity of attending Pad Camp on August 16, 2012. This “un-conference” was held at Galloway Township Middle School, in Galloway, NJ. I want to start out by thanking Kevin Jarrett for his work in organizing the event!

The first session I attended was hosted by Jeff Bradbury. He had educators engaged, and involved throughout his session on imovie. After a brief introduction, he got us working right away in small groups on a film project. Within 45 minutes, educators who hadn’t necessarily worked with each other before, or with imovie, were able to produce projects.He connected this session to how you can have students, and or teachers develop back to school videos for the upcoming school year.

Here is the video we made:

 

sharing, learning, and improving

During the second session, I caught up with my tweeps Danielle Hartman, Dana Sirotiak, and Celese Nolan. Normally, we are only able to collaborate through twitter, so this gave us a chance to share best practices for student engagement. I think I learned about 20 new apps for my ipad!

At lunch I was able to catch up with Jeff Bradbury, and learn about how teachercast.net has grown. He shared with me his recent experiences at ISTE12, and his pod cast project. I highly recommend to follow him on twitter, and to stay tuned to his podcasts!

After lunch, the #njed tweeps attended a session on nearpod presented by Hannah Walden. She did an excellent job of walking us (there must have been 50+ people in the session!) through the nearpod app, and how it can assist students and teachers in the classroom. Great job, Hannah!

@Teachercast hosting a podcast for #njed tweeps

For the last session, we requested that Jeff discuss pod casting, and to record an actual podcast. We grilled him with questions for about 15 minutes on how our classrooms, schools, and districts can utilize pod casting (For more information on this, I recommend to check out his 1st and 2nd pod casts). Once you get the equipment (basically an ipod, ipad or iphone will do, a microphone, and an itunes account, you will be set) pod casting can be an excellent way to have students interview/report/present on various school activities such as parents, teachers, administrators, guests, field trips, commercials, events, announcements, etc. I know that RM Bacon Elementary will be producing pod casts as a result of this session!

Today was a very inspiring day. I really enjoyed hanging with my #njed tweeps, learning, laughing, and continuing to become a 21st century leader.

Let me know about your experiences with un-conferences…..

This is the fourth in a series of educators making a difference in education.

Dwight Carter

When Dwight Carter thinks back to the days when he entered into social media, he can’t help but remember how difficult and skeptical he was. In fact, he wasn’t even thinking of social media; he was focused on building an additional wing onto his high school. All the signs for Clark Hall were pointing to the 21^st century in terms of technology, learning spaces, and even scheduling. Before Dwight could fully engage in the planning process, and truly understand 21^st century learning spaces, he had to become a 21^st century school leader.  So he did what any other person who is seeking a change would do … He went to Boot Camp (now referred to as fastforward camp).

About 3 years ago Dwight Carter, and other administrators from his district, went to fastforward camp. At the fastforward camp, Dwight learned about twitter, and blogging, as well as personalities such as Shelly Terrell, Patrick Larkin, and Eric Sheninger. He read Shelly’s The 30 Goals Challenge. When he reflects on that process, Dwight feels that it was a mindset shift. He admits that the eventual success of Clark Hall would not have been possible without the help of his participation in social media.

Be great!

Blogging was scary at first for Dwight. He understood the 21^st century mindset shift that occurred during his days in fastforward camp, but he still had difficulty with putting his words into cyberspace. Eventually, he started blogging because, as he says, “Reflection is at the heart of my leadership, and blogging provides a platform for me to do that.” Dwight quickly became a “rock star” on twitter, and through his blog, began to attract a lot of followers. During this time, the learning space across the street was being built, so was Dwight’s passion for 21^st century learning.

Clark Hall opened as a multi-use learning space. From the floor to the ceiling, from the chairs to the tables, the paint, the

Clark Hall

space, everything was designed to foster collaboration, creativity, and technology. When I asked him about a typical day in Clark Hall, he said, “Students check in for the first 15 to 20 minutes. Then they decide how they are going to spend their time for the rest of the day. They continue to check in with their teachers throughout the day. There are no bells, no lockers, no remnants of 19^th century learning.” There is even a new type of library at the high school, an “un quiet” library that allows students to talk, connect, and collaborate.

Clark Hall – Government Room

Social Media, as I am learning, can be a double-edged sword. After reading, “Disconnect to Reconnect” you really get a chance to understand what was recently going on with Dwight for the past few months. One of the perils of 21^st century learning, and participating in social media is the toll it takes on the individual. As we discussed in our conversation, it was evident that Dwight had to take a break. He told me he went through a time where everything was a potential blog, or tweet, and he was losing focus. He sees the role of the principal as the chief communicator for their students, and with that comes a lot of responsibility to be true to yourself. Dwight absolutely loves being a principal, but he had to take a break from Social Media to eventually reconnect!

As for the future of Mr. Carter, he is looking forward to being a principal for as long as the district will have him. He is excited for the beginning of the second full year of Clark Hall. In fact, he will be presenting the Clark Hall story at The Jostens Renaissance National Conference in Orlando, FL.  According to Dwight, “It’s one of the most uplifting and inspirational conferences for educators. They treat all educators that attend like first class citizens! The speaker lineup is powerful including speakers such as Todd Whitaker and Kevin Carroll.” Dwight wrote about the conference in his post Something to Believe In!

As Dwight would say, “Be great!”

Look for upcoming posts on other educators making a difference such as  Chris Wejr, Erin Klein, Todd Whitaker, Curt Rees, Jessica Johnson, Shelly Terrell, Kelly Tenkley, and many more….

Previous posts dedicated to educators making a difference: George Couros, Justin Tarte, The Nerdy Teacher

Resources:

Clark Hall

Dwight Carter

The Physical Environment Matters 

“Social Media, Consumerism, and Gadgetry” Dwight discusses social media

Tags: Dwight Carter

This is my third post in the summer series about educators who are making a difference.

The #edubros with Moby

When the Skype conversation started, and being the aspiring comedian, I asked, “So, do I call you Nerdy? Nerdy Teacher? Nick?” He laughed, and I knew that he had a sense of humor!

It was January 2010, and while most people made New Year’s Resolutions that lasted a few minutes, hours, days, or maybe weeks, Nicholas Provenzano began his foray into social media. Fast forward two and half years, and he is still going strong! The Nerdy Teacher began as a goal for Nick to write more. He was in the process of earning an educational technology degree, and heard some chatter about blogging, twitter, etc. His first post, The Nerdy Teacher, had about 4 reads. To date it probably has 20. To those who are just starting out, doesn’t this sound familiar?

The Nerdy Teacher 2.0?

The Nerdy Teacher credits his social media god-parents Kelly Tenkly (@ktenkely) and Shelly Terrell (@shellterrell) for giving him the early encouragement. They began to take an interest in The Nerdy Teacher by re-tweeting, commenting, and showing a general interest in his pursuit of storytelling. Later that year, he attended ISTE10, and he met so many people who were “connected.” His global perspective broadened, and he saw the importance of being connected.

For a long time, The Nerdy Teacher was the only person in his district using social media. He had a supportive principal and department chair who allowed him to explore ways to use social media to teach, instruct, and assist students. Slowly, more teachers got on board, but he admits, there is more work to be done. The students he teaches, he says, totally get it!

The Nerdy Teacher is a writer at heart, and his blog provides the venue to convey his message. He doesn’t follow any traditional rules with his writing. His blog process is informal. He sits down, writes, gives it a once over, and posts. Although, he does have some ideas that are “slow cookers” and he waits to write, then post. He doesn’t like schedules or deadlines because he feels it hampers his creativity. There are times that he may post 4 days in a row, or may take 10 days in between posts. To the Nerdy Teacher, his blog is a reflective place, and he wants it to stay that way.

Nick talked about his series about watching TV shows, and connecting it to education. These posts were popular with readers because, as he says, “A lot of us grew up watching the same things. We had a shared experience that impacts our views on teaching, learning, and even blogging.” He finds making a personal connection to something a form of inspiration for his blog. The Nerdy Teacher also credits his father who had some foresight, and purchased a Macintosh computer when Nick was young. “My Dad was so right,” he said. Yes he was right!

Classic vacation picture

The Nerdy Teacher sees the future of education being a place where learning is individualized, using growth models, and more technology – all of this, he says, won’t be cheap. As for the future of The Nerdy Teacher, according to his Dr. Nerdy? post, he is considering pursuing a Ph.D. or a school administration degree. Tough choices that he allows, you the reader, to help him with. Send him your opinion, as of now he already has 21 comments! Tell him what think!

Look for upcoming posts on other educators making a difference such as Dwight Carter, Chris Wejr, Erin Klein, Todd Whitaker, Curt Rees, Jessica Johnson, Shelly Terrell, Kelly Tenkley, and many more….

Resources:

The Nerdy Teacher

 This is the second in my summer series on educators who are making a difference.

Mr. and Mrs. Tarte

I Skyped with Justin Tarte on Thursday, July 5 fresh off of the Fourth of July holiday. We started at 9AM my time, which for Justin was a little earlier. Justin, who was recently named Director of Curriculum & Support Services in the Union R-XI School District in Union, Missouri, and I sat down in his living room(and I was in an office) for a discussion on all things education. 

Justin’s rise in administration has been quick. Prior to becoming the Director of Curriculum and Support Services, he was an assistant principal at Poplar Bluff Junior High School in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. He taught German at Seckman High School in the Fox C-6 School District in Arnold, Missouri. He loved being a teacher, and he put a lot of time into building connections for his students, and expanding their horizons for a global perspective. He began his pursuit of graduate studies to grow both personally, and professionally. It was through the connections he made in graduate school that he learned about this new-fangled thing, social media.

The Tarte’s dog

Upon learning the power of social media, Justin began to integrate it into his German classroom. He created a facebook page, twitter account, and a blog. He felt that being a German teacher easily lent itself to using social media as a tool to help his student gain a global prospective. They did, and so did Justin. Through social media, he began to see a whole new perspective on learning, professional development, and global connections. As Justin transitioned into administration, he continued developing his digital footprint, and those around him.

When I asked Justin about the age old question (how do you have the time?) he said, “Right now, this saves time. I am actually more available, resourceful and knowledgeable as a result of using social media. It actually makes my job easier.” Justin is passionate about the power of social media. He continued by adding, “I have evolved as an educational leader through the use of social media. I am learning as much, or at times more, then when I was in my doctoral program.” That is powerful!

Justin believes we are on the cusp of a new age in education, but we have a long way to go. He feels we have to celebrate our accomplishments, tell our school’s story, and not be overly critical  of our mistakes. He sees the future of education as a transition that will combine new, and old ideas alike. Justin feels that the way education will transition best is through the human resources departments. “The human resource departments in schools need to be held to higher importance. We need to attract top tier candidates, and also go out and recruit.”

In his new position, Justin is spending a lot of time getting familiar with the trends in curriculum, instruction along with best practices in professional development. He sees the future of instruction and the integration of technology as one in the same. Ideas such as on- to-one, and BYOD are “no brainers.” He would like to see teachers painting their walls with white board paint to spurn creativity. When asked if technology will put educators out of business, Justin responded, “If it puts us out of business, then that’s our fault.”

We are all cheering on Justin because he plays an important role in cheering on members of the PLN. The Union R-XI School District is fortunate to have Justin as their new Curriculum Director, so they get a BOOM! (This is a common response Justin provides on tweets, and blogs that he supports) In addition, we will all benefit from his new position because we will continue to learn from his blog posts and tweets.

Check back for the following educators who will be featured in the series: The Nerdy Teacher, Dwight Carter, Chris Wejr, Todd Whitaker, and Erin Klein. In addition, later in the summer you will read about Patrick Larkin, Lisa Dabbs, Jessica Johnson, Curt Rees, and many more!

Resources:

Justin Tarte: Life of and Educator

What do you stand for?

 

IDEA Paint

Tags: Justin Tarte

With only a few days left in the 2011-2012, I would like to reflect on this school year. This was the year of firsts.

Here is a list of my firsts:

- First full year as a principal

- First year on Social Media: facebook, twitter, pintrest, google+, edmodo

- First ASCD conference!

- First school blog!

- First personal blog!

(And I am sure I forgetting some things!)

It is been such a rewarding year being principal here at RM Bacon Elementary. I could not have accomplished this without the symphony of musicians playing the beautiful music that is our learning.

Here are some things we have accomplished as a team:

- Successfully implemented the “Your Image is Our Image” theme

- Started an Edmodo group with a school in Wisconsin

- Redesigned our Basic Skills Instruction to mirror the RTI process

- Raised thousands of dollars for charities

- Implemented a new math series

- Increased teacher and student use of technology

- Hosted ASCD film crew for Classroom Instruction That Works 2nd edition

- Began an “un” professional development model on Fridays focusing on technology integration and application

- Updated our PBIS model

- Received approval for 21st Century Learning Program for next year

(And I am sure I forgetting some things!)

In addition to all of this, I had an amazing year working with parents, teachers and students on the ambitious goal of being the highest performing Elementary School in Millville within 3 years and  in the County within 5 years. We have established a process-centered approach to being world class.

I am already looking forward to next year…when “Impossible is Nothing!”

Dear Administrators,

I feel like I need to share some really good news with you. And I am not alone. See, I was just like you!

source: en.wikipedia.org

During these past few months I have opened myself up completely to the 21^st century. I went full board, having never created a blog, wiki, uploaded a video, nor participated in ANY social media prior to this year. I have never been a techie, or desired to acquire the newest gadgets (Honestly, I held out for a long time from buying compact discs).

I will admit it… I was scared. I had nothing good to say about facebook, twitter, google, blogging, and I too felt that I had learned all I needed to know about the computer (Hey, I was a wiz at the Microsoft office suite). As long as I could get on the internet, I was fine. I knew how to search for things. I could find articles, and resources, or so I thought. As an educator, my mind was made up: we are not allowed to participate in this new found social media stuff anyway. It was all “trouble” and the “devil’s playground.”

I was good. All good. I knew a lot more then my predecessors. I have worked with administrators in the past who didn’t know how to turn on a computer. They couldn’t text, or had no idea what a url was. They were just fine, and some almost reveled in their learned helplessness. Let’s face it, I thought, there were hundreds of thousands of effective principals since the beginning of time who never even wrote an email.

source: kerrywills.wordpress.com

Then a strange thing happened on my way to being comfortable. I found out that as a 38 year old first-year principal, who was a self-described progressive in education, that I was already a dinosaur (insert dinosaur sound). I have called educators dinosaurs before. Gulp. We all know how that story ended: Extinction! Well, I didn’t want to be extinct.  And I don’t want you to be either! I had ask myself some tough questions: Am I modeling 21^st century skills for my teachers and students? Am I really progressive? Do I really know where education was going? The answers were clearly, NO. So I DID something about it. I TOOK a LEAP. I got off of the comfortable road!

So, this is your homework assignment for the summer.  You need to start something. Depending on where you want to grow, there are plenty of resources. And I am willing to help, and so are all the connected educators near you, and thousands more are just a click away. Actually, we are all just a click away from you!

We are not trying to keep anything from you. We want EVERYBODY to be connected. This is not a competition. Rather, it is a privilege that you are in the position you are in. With the gift of being an administrator, there is a responsibility to your teachers, parents, students, and most of all, to yourself. Now, what are you going to do with this precious gift?

Ask yourself these questions….Here are some resources for you.

I want to know how to access the cutting edge information on education. Where do I start?

Twitter.com - It is free, and you will have access to Professional Development at your fingertips 24/7. I recommend to start with the following educators:

@NMHS_Principal, Eric Sheninger, High School Principal

@stumpteacher, Josh Stumpenhorst, Teacher

@PrincipalJ, Jessica Johnson, Elementary Principal

@web20classroom, Steven Anderson, Technology Supervisor

@gcouros, George Couros, Principal and founder of Connected Principals

I want to know how tell my classroom, district or school’s story? Start a school blog or a personal blog using (Blogger, edublogs, or Word Press).

Justin Tarte, Life of an Educator

Dave Gentile, The Road To Excellence is Always Under Construction

Pamm Moore, Learning to Lead

Spike Cook’s RM Bacon School Site, RM Bacon Weekly

Curt Rees, I know this much is true

How will I be able to do all this? You have to make time. Just like the teachers you are frustrated with, you can’t punch in and out. You have to be willing to put in the time, and be committed.  The more you are connected, the more you will become inspired by what folks are doing.

How can I learn all of this? Like the famous book by Anne Lamott Bird by Bird you have to start small and take it one bird at a time.

I guarantee that you have a teacher in your building or an administrator in another building that can help you out with your transition to being connected. You just have to open yourself up to the possibilities.

For those of you who are reading this because you are connected, my challenge to you is to print, email, forward, or even read this to another administrator that you feel could benefit.

Remember, I was just like you!

Resources:

My Prezi on Social Media in Administration:

http://prezi.com/thmleuo19vp2/copy-of-copy-of-social-media-for-administration/

Great Article on the Power of the Principal:

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/05/the_power_of_the_principal.html

Twitter accounts for Technology:

http://paper.li/DrSpikeCook/1333674940?edition_id=300ef930-a924-11e1-a2b7-00259071bfec