High school students face significant challenges with social media use during instructional time, a concern shared by educators, including teachers, paraeducators, and administrators. With social media access unblocked or lenient smartphone policies, we are losing precious minutes meant for learning. Even when a smartphone or device is out of sight, the cognitive hook for a digital distraction, luring a student away from the lesson, can take 23 minutes to recover. In short, we must protect instructional time. Protecting instructional time requires establishing clear boundaries with students, which may involve implementing or adopting new policies on 1:1 programs, device filtering, and hard stops on device use at night (among many ideas). This could also include guidelines for parental communication, especially when parents encourage their children to use social media to connect. Read more…
When Passion Overcomplicates the Solution
Sometimes, when unraveling a concern and offering solutions, we lose the forest for the trees. It’s easy to get caught up in details, and I’m guilty of this. Too much context can obscure an issue’s seemingly obvious conclusion or solution. For leaders and problem-solvers, the key is to present clear, concise recommendations upfront. If the minutiae become overwhelming, simplicity is often the best path forward.
A guiding principle I often return to is: Don’t check your passions at the door. However, not everyone shares the same passion for a particular issue. Many may lack the interest or the bandwidth to dive deep into problem identification and solution design. Read more…
A Year in Review: Groton-Dunstable 2024 Report
In 2024, the Department of Technology & Digital Learning replaced over 80 teacher laptops across the district, ensuring educators have up-to-date devices to support digital instruction and streamline administrative tasks. Additionally, the highly anticipated opening of the new Florence Roche Elementary School was a significant milestone, bringing cutting-edge technology designed to enhance both learning and security. The new building features interactive TouchView teaching panels in every classroom, 115 security cameras to support a safe school environment, and a state-of-the-art Extreme Wireless and HPE/Aruba network to provide seamless connectivity for students and staff. Read more…
Sample Post: A Smooth Transition: Helping Your Child Adjust to Middle School Life
Transitions to new offices, positions, and working with new colleagues (and much more!) are complex for everyone. Transitions can also be difficult for students moving from one of our two elementary schools to our regional middle school. With this in mind, I wanted to highlight our fifth-grade teacher team, a dynamic group of teachers who work tirelessly to support our students. I asked some of our teachers to share essential tips for parents as they help their children transition to middle school. Read more…
Building the Future: Florence Roche Elementary School
I had the incredible opportunity to serve on the Florence Roche Elementary Building Committee, where I led the full technology buildout for a brand-new $80+ million elementary school. From vision to implementation, this project was a genuine team effort…one that required deep collaboration across departments, educators, architects, engineers, and multiple technology vendors. Read more…