BYOD Model Lessons

Over the past two years, Green Brook has been developing a Bring Your Own Device policy for our students to bring in their personal devices to use for learning. Part of the process of implementing this policy is to give sustained, professional development to our teachers so that they can see what BYOD is all about and how to use it in their classrooms. 

Mrs. +Sarah Diczok - Vajtay  and Mrs. Laura Philip, two amazing educators at GBTPS, became our model teachers and educators during this PD process. Laura and Sarah created model lessons in their classes. We then used a peer-to-peer observation model to invite small groups of teachers in to view the lesson LIVE and in person. The first groups were based off of content areas but the second groups were mixed. The small groups were also invited to participate in a group reflection period right after the lesson to talk about what they saw, issues with BYOD, and how to overcome the pitfalls of using devices in your teaching. 

The road to a BYOD pilot has not been easy and it has come with many challenges, some of which we have not even faced yet but so far since the pilot started in March, our network hasn't imploded, our classrooms are still buzzing, and our teachers are using BYOD ideas to help deliverer great lessons.

The results have been more than what anyone could have hoped for!! During the last two lessons, our educators learned about using devices as great learning and teaching tools in a variety of ways. 

1. Using Socrative or a QR code to start off a lesson or Do Now. 
2. Implementing a short video to provide notes. 
3. Device management using similar terms such as "show me" or "devices down."
4. Large and small group assessment 
5. Lesson closures via collaborative tools such as NearPod

The purpose of these types of lessons is to give our educators a chance to see what BYOD looks like to give a picture of what it can look like in theirs. While the pilot is just starting to finish up for our 8th grade students, the hope is to expand the pilot to other grades in our schools so that even more teachers and students can use these powerful devices as learning/teaching tools and to help their classrooms knock down walls and engage in true, 21st century learning models. 

Mrs. Diczok-Vajtay talking about Socrative with her students. 

Eager Listeners Pt. I 

Eager Listeners Pt. II

Engaged students. 

Devices down procedure. 

Listening to a video and taking notes. 

NJASA Techspo 2014 - A look back and forwards

I had the upmost pleasure of presenting with Jay Eitner (@isupereit) and with OnCourse at this years annual Techspo! The #edtech convention was fantastic and I think that it truly helped to reshape some thinking of major stakeholders in our schools. 

The conference had its ups and downs, as all do, but it was fantastic to meet up with fellow like-minded educators. These folks are true #agentsofchange in education. 

While I was happy to present, I was unhappy to note that the organizers doubled booked me and I wasn't able to present again with Jay and Sandi Paul (@SPaul6414) about Bring Your Own Learning and devices. I heard it was a great session with questions flying back and forth. That is exactly what this sort of conference should have, CONVERSATIONS. Not just a few people talking at the front and other listening but active participants who want to make a difference in the lives of our students and how our schools are run. 

This was my second year going to this conference. Since last year, I have been to about five "unconferences" and EdCamps and I have to say, it is a world of difference. Not that this type of conference isn't worth your time. It is. But there is a time and place for both. No matter what though, as long as you come out of these with some great connections and deeper thinking about what you are doing, then they had done their jobs. 


Here is the presentation that Jay and I gave:

Breaking Down Barriers 


Here is the one Jay and Sandi gave:

BYO Learning 


For more pictures and testimonials, check out my Twitter page and the hash tag #techspo14.
Also check out the session page! 

Join us for a great session at Techspo! - Breaking Down Barriers

What a year! 2013 in Review

What a year it has been, huh? From going to my first #edcamps to wearing a pair of Glass, this year in edtech has been something of a whirlwind. It all started last January at the annual Techspo presentation, where I was able to present and meet some great folks, including +Jeffrey Bradbury. I will be presenting again this year and I can't wait to see how that helps me kick off 2014 with a bang. 

I want to thank all of those who made a difference in my life this year and helped me grow as a educator and a person. Even though I was on Twitter for a few years, this year took it to a whole other level. Never in my life did I think that I could make friends, colleagues, and compatriots on the twitter-verse, but I did and many of them I can truly call friends now. Heck, I even ran a 5K with some of my #njed friends, most of whom I had never met face-to-face before. 

To cap off the year, I was promoted to Supervisor of Instruction in my district! A honor and one that is certainly humbling. While my primary mission to serve our district with the best technology will not change, my aim and focus will become more precise. I will work even more with my teachers and students! That is something I can't wait for! I will be able to visit even MORE classrooms. 2014 is shaping up to be a pretty good year so far. 

As for resolutions, I resolve to follow my mantra:

Be attentive, vocal, and present. Be willing to be there for those who need you. Help in any way you can. 

Be an #agentofchange in anything that you do. 

BYOD and a tale of being connected...

Last night, I held my first summit meeting for the Bring Your Own Device initiative at my school district, Green Brook Township Public Schools. The summit was created to invite parents, students, staff, and community members in to learn more about what BYOD was, why we wanted to go to it, and what it could do for our students and teachers. It was also a chance for people to ask questions, give their thoughts, and express their hopes, fears, and joys. The summit was the first in a series of meetings that are dedicated to the BYOD push. 

I have been planning BYOD for over a year now and our pilot only encompasses the 8th grade to start with. I am going SLOW for a reason. I want people to truly understand what we are doing. I want them to be a part of it. I want to be able to plan, plan, and plan. I want this to succeed. 

When I created the event, I knew in my mind that I wanted some help from people who have blazed the trails already. From Twitter and other social media sites, I have connected with so many of those educators. These are people who I consider colleagues but there is a stronger bond that connects us. While I have never met some of these people in person, I trust them, respect them, and would do anything at the drop of the hat for them if they needed it. 

I let the public know about what our plans were and I then I turned it over to some great educators:

+Alex Podchaski 

+Sharon Plante 

+Elissa Malespina 

+JD Ferries-Rowe 

+Sandra Paul 

They gave their testimonials, answered questions, and debated why BYOD is the right push for their schools. They were awesome! +Alex Podchaski even showed up IN PERSON to help me out. I was floored. Shocked even. 

Driving home that night, telling my wife how the event went, I told her I couldn't have been happier. These people stepped up, some on short notice, the others with wrong Google Hangout invites (that one's on me!), and helped me out. 

One thing I learned from doing this - don't stop because of fear. Just because some people may have opposition to what you want to accomplish doesn't mean you shouldn't go out and try. I WANT to bring in those naysayers and have a conversation with them. I WANT them to engage in discussion. The only way to do that is to bring them in.

#edcampNJ: Why I love Education.

Education has a bright future.

If November 23rd, 2013 is any indication of the state of education, we are in excellent hands. It was a day I won't forget anytime soon. #edcampNJ rocked Central Jersey, with nearly 300 educators. I have been fortunate to attend a few edcamps before (#edcampSTEAM and #edcampLeadership being two of them) but yesterday was something special. Yesterday, I felt what I #Ehad known for quite some time, that there isn't something wrong with education and that there doesn't need to be major overhaul in what educators do. Yesterday, I felt PASSION. I felt it as soon as I walked in. 

Opening remarks of #edcampnj from Linwood MS in North Brunswick, New Jersey.

When I walked in, I was greeted by +Cassie Gorombey and a few others, who gave us some free swag and let us know how the day would go. Then it was over to the Big Board and the photobooth (yeah, they pulled out all the stops!) to see what sessions were coming and what I could look forward to. To be 100% honest, there could have been nothing put on that board and I would have been fine. Not to say the sessions were terrible but my primary goal yesterday was to meet and talk, face-to-face, with some people in my PLN who I had established these online relationships. It was a strange feeling, looking for people based on a 150x150 picture, but I was determined.

Learning about Standards Based Grading.

After the opening remarks, which were awesome and led by +Bill Krakower, +Scott Rocco, +Dana Sirotiak, +Jeffrey Bradbury and a few others, it was off to the first session. What is always great about the Edcamp model is that if the doesn't pertain to you or it wasn't what you thought, you can leave! (The rule of two feet, thank you very much!) I didn't find myself leaving because the sessions were not what I thought but I wanted to see SO MANY great educators that I found myself walking from session to session just to get a feel of what was going on.

The morning went by in a blur. By the time the second session had come to a close, my head was spinning (and that is a good thing.) Another great thing about #edcamp is that if you are sitting in on a session and the people in the room are on a device, that is a POSITIVE sign that they are engaged. Just like I was, there were many people who were tweeting, taking pictures, and writing down notes. Of course, I had my trusty analog tablet along for the ride (yellow legal pad, anyone?) but most participants had a digital device of choice. WiFi was free and abundant, as was the breakfast and coffee. As +Jay Eitner always says, if you feed them, they will come!

(Another thing I noticed? That some of the best conversations happened AFTER the sessions ended. After one session led by +Bruce Arcurio, a few of us stayed behind to talk about where education was going and the differences some states have. There was someone there all the way from Virginia. We continued the conversation right into the lunchroom!)

An emphatic Jay Eitner speaking passionately about education and new teachers.

After lunch, I have made sure to meet up with all of my fellow twitter tweeps that I had formed professional relationships with. Whether it was the #edtechchat crew of +Tom Murray, +Alex Podchaski, and +Sharon Plante, or it was finally talking to and meeting +Sandra Paul, I was happy to extend a hand, or outstretched arms, to these people I hold in such high regards.

I mean, I talk to these people a few times a week, lean on them for some advice and truly consider them colleagues. I think out of all of the things I will take from #edcampnj, it will be the impact that these people have on me and the continued relationships I will have with my #PLN. 

Overall, I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that yesterday was about the best professional development I have ever attended. And do you know what made it even better? That it was FREE and I got to choose what I did. I would gladly give up another Saturday every month if there was something like this. It was unlike any conference I have ever attended. It was authentic, passionate and organic.

When you hear people talk or write about the negative state of education and how we are lagging behind and blah, blah, blah... do yourself a favor and ask them come out to one of these unconferences. I KNOW that their tune will change and that they will see and feel exactly how I do:


Education has a bright, bright future.

Some of my fellow edheroes - Tom Murray and Sharon Plante, along with Alex Podchaski, make up some of the #edtechchat team. Alex and Sharon met Tom for the first time yesterday as well!

Check up time - First two weeks

Well. That was a whirlwind. 

The fact that two weeks of school are already over is mind boggling. I feel as if I just read 10000 books back to back to back. 

In any event, it has been an up and down few weeks. While the students and teachers are learning, we are hard at work, keeping the infrastructure up-to-date and making sure everyone has what they need. Even when we do room checks over the summer, there are always a bunch of little things that we need to fix - and that is okay with us. 

The media centers are bustling with students at all times of the day. Since our office resides right in one of the media centers, we get to hear and listen to the learning and excitement that is going on. We have over 50 iPads in the Media Center and students are always using them. They are using them to take Accelerated Reader quizzes, access their Ebackpacks, check out information, or just play a game or two. It is really quite something and it makes me feel great that we are going to embark on a BYOD initiative pilot program later on this year (but more on that later).

We held two, really great training's this week for our staff as well. One for OnCourse and the other for E-Backpack, which has been in our district for now going on three years. 

I love the team over at https://www.ebackpack.com/ . They are helpful and always willing to lend a hand when it comes to how to use the program. 

Our students love using the iPads with eBackpack and the integration with Google Drive and Dropbox make it so that students can truly access their items anywhere, at anytime. 

Finally, there are some really good conferences (or unconferences) coming up. One such is:

This PD event will be held on October 12th - more information can be found at http://www.edtechnj.com/

Check it out! Really great keynotes by +Jeffrey Bradbury of Teachercast and +Angela Maiers of the Passion Driven classroom are planned, so make it a priority to come!

The return of the blog! (2013 Edition)

After taking the summer off to relax and work on other projects (such as grad courses, raising baby, and you know, going to the beach), the blog is back and better than ever.

School started two weeks ago now (wow, where did the time go) and thinks have gotten off to a heinous pace. After a rocky start in which some things went down the night before the first day of school - because really, why wouldn't they - we rebounded and are making sure the students, teachers, and classrooms have what they need to succeed.

Another year under the belt means something else to me though - knowledge. Last year, we were working in new territory. We understood what needed to get done but not necessarily the best way to do it. Somethings we got it done quickly, other times it was a pain. But we learned. We failed. We grew.

I am happy to report that we have grown a lot. So much so, that we are rolling out a lot of new projects and products this year. Not only are we going to pilot a Bring your own Device initiative at our 5-8 Middle School, but we are also going to prepare for a PARCC test pilot, 1:1 pilot at the lower grades, and an expanded network to handle the load. It is going to be a crazy year.

That is why I came up with the GBTPS Technology Institute for the 2013-2014 school year.
I will be running, with hopefully many special guests from within and outside our district, a bunch of great workshops that are aimed at truly bridging the gap for EDTECH in our schools.

GBTPS Technology Institute 2013-2014

Take a look and let me know what you all think! If you want to be a part of a day, I would love to have you be a part of it and share what you do in your classrooms or schools. Please hit me up here or on twitter @MrCsays

Until next time, Carpe Diem folks.