I am so thankful that my son's 3rd grade teacher gets it. She understands the power of social media and how it transforms the conversations families have at home about what happened in school on a particular day. The power of a tweet, Facebook post, or Instagram photo can go a long way in promoting the success of all students. It's imperative that teachers are able to tell their classrooms' story through available web tools and mobile devices. I speak to this very topic in my new book All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities. As a parent I expect this sort of communication quite frankly. It does not take much to whip out your mobile device snap a picture or post a message and tap send. Each time that I tell my school's story or happen to come across my son's classroom story (see above), I get so pumped up. 

Which is why in this day in age state and local board's of education should develop policies that promote this type of communication. I am truly appreciative that the school district I work for understands social media's impact on a positive culture. Believe me, I know that a few educators over the years have abused their power of social media. Does this mean a broad umbrella policy that prohibits transparency needs to be followed by the many educators who use it appropriately? I think not. I spoke to this very topic in a blog post called Stabbed with a Pencil. I am not aware of one school policy that prohibits the use of pencils. But if you google "pencil stabbings" the search result will show that this sort of inappropriate behavior does occur. Early on in childhood adults must show children how to appropriately hold a pencil in order to write neatly. The same must be done with social media. The more that schools, classrooms, and adults in general model the appropriate use of social media, the safer our students' will be. 

Brad Currie is the author of All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities. He is one of the founding partners of Evolving Educators LLC. Brad is a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader and Bammy Award Finalist. He currently serves as a K-8 Supervisor of Instruction and Middle School Vice Principal for the Chester School District in Chester, NJ. Learn more about Brad by following him on Twitter @bradmcurrie or visiting his website at www.bradcurrie.net.

I am incredibly humbled and quite frankly in disbelief that my new book is published. That's right, you heard it correctly. I am a published author. All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities by Corwin Press is now available to the public. To be honest, never in a million years did I think a book cover would have my name on it as the author. But the fact remains, the book can now be ordered and I truly hope people can be inspired by at least one of the many resources and stories I shared.

There is no doubt that we live in one of the most exciting times in education. Which is why it's incumbent upon us to leverage the power of avaiable technology and virtual tools to activate stakeholder engagement. Students, teachers, administrators, board members, parents, and community members must stay connected with the plethora of tools available. It's no longer an option to stand idly by and disregard the amazing things going on in and outside of our schools.

I truly hope that you can take the time to check out my new book. I also hope that you are touched by at least one of the stories I share and somehow put it into action in your own school. The more stakeholders are connected and contribute, the more students will thrive.

Brad Currie is the author of All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities. He is one of the founding partners of Evolving Educators LLC. Brad is a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader and Bammy Award Finalist. He currently serves as a K-8 Supervisor of Instruction and Middle School Vice Principal for the Chester School District in Chester, NJ. Learn more about Brad by following him on Twitter @bradmcurrie or visiting his website at www.bradcurrie.net.

This past week we welcomed back students and staff from their well deserved summer break. The organized chaos that comes along with starting a new school year is unexplainable. All in all the first two days of the 2014-2015 school year were a huge success. Here are some things that I was apart of to help ensure a tremendous opening......

• Leveraged the power of social media to tell our school's story via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
• Set up a Remind account to push out information to school stakeholders.
• Communicated with a university professor from the Netherlands in preparation for an October visit by a group of 15 educators.
• Prepared a Google Doc that will serve as a monthly report highlighting school happenings. This year staff members will crowd source the document.
• Made a Week in Review Animoto Video and played it through ChromeCast on our SmartTV in the hallway.
• Assisted several parents with signing up for our student information system called PowerSchool.
• Visited many classrooms and sent encouraging emails thanking staff for all that they do.
• Reconnected with many students as they strive to do great things this school year.
• Spoke to each class about the importance of respect and how bullying will not be tolerated.
• Trouble shooted several technical issues for students and staff.
• Continued preparing for our Chromebook roll out later this month.
• Spoke to John Fritzky via Voxer about helping his former student transition to our school
• Met with our new tech coaches to ensure a great start to the school year
• Spoke to our awesome art teacher as she begins integrating a class set of iPads into the curriculum.
• Checked our awesome Band Lab website as students continue to explore the endless possibilities when technology meets music.
• Welcomed back the 7th graders by visiting each of their homerooms and sharing one simple message: "Dare to succeed!"
• Participated in our Advisory Program meeting. Looking to bring in a speaker who has climbed Mt. Everest. Will go well with our school wide summer book read Peak.
• Prepared a Google Doc that will archive our Daily Announcements for all to see.
• Worked on our Google Calendar for the Fall Athletic Season.
• Got to take in the amazing condition of our middle school building made possible by the hard work of our custodial staff.
• Registered staff for workshops linked to STEM, Technology, and Best Practices.

I am sure that there are few things I am leaving out. All in all though it was an outstanding start to the school year. As our principal Bob Mullen always: "We are looking for kids to have a great day, every day. Another one of his quotes that rings true "Status quo is never an option, we can always can do better." There are just so many opportunities that lie ahead and I look forward to being apart of each and every one of them.