TTF Reflection

As I reflect on my 3 months as a Teaching and Technology Fellow, I realize that, at the start, I was half expecting to learn about some fabulous new technology that would completely revolutionize my teaching and create an atmosphere in which my students were always engaged in Jewish learning. The truth, however, is that there is not a technology that can solve all of our problems, only tools to help us as educators.

I believe that there are 2 primary ways that we can use technology in our classrooms. The first is as a tool that can help us create interactive content. Students will respond more positively and openly to content that is delivered to them in a “language” that they speak. To this end, I have included a training with the teachers during our upcoming orientation and made the school’s iPads available for their use outside of school hours.

The second way that we can use technology in our classrooms is as a tools for students to create projects of their own. However, the technology needs to be seamlessly woven into the curriculum, rather than tacked on as a “special event.” To this end, I have hired a technology specialist to work with all of our classroom teachers to develop age-appropriate projects that enhance the learning students are already doing. My goal is to help the classroom teachers to become more comfortable with using technology in their classrooms to enhance learning.

Israeli Spies

For my final project, I used many of the resources that we acquired during the fellowship to create a wikispace for a class on Israeli spies for my 7th grade class.

The iPad platform seems especially suited to the subject matter. Students begin with a webquest to introduce themselves to the topic, trying to ferret out information just as a real spy has to do. I have pages on the different topics that I plan to cover (some of them are still a work in progress), including videos and documents. Finally, I created a final project/spy mission for the students for the last day of class. New clues can be air dropped to the students as they successfully figure out and complete previous clues.

The page can be found here. I hope that you have fun exploring it. Please let me know what you think!

New Reel/Movie Trailer Assignment Idea

One of my ideas for an assignment for my class this coming year is to have the students make news broadcasts or movie trailers on the iPads about significant topics in the history portion of our sixth grade curriculum. I plan to divide them into groups and allow them to choose their topics. Once they have chosen a topic I will allow them class time and homework time to do research into the event, movement, etc.
Hoping most of the reading and research will be done at home (utilizing a flipped classroom set up) and the students can use class time to interact and create their videos I would allot a fair amount of time for them to get to know the apps in the iPads and allow them time to edit their footage together. I would encourage them to utilize videos found online to splice into the footage they are shooting of their group members for added interest.  I would have the students use iMovie or Green Screen to create the news reels or movie trailers.

Once the videos were completed I would have the students share each group's work with the class and present a lesson on their topic to teach the other class members about their topic. After this work is shared with the class I would post the students work on our class' website Popplet.
The Popplet will be utilized to share the ever evolving and expanding curriculum with the students and parents. By posting the work on the website the students will be able to share their hard work with family members at home to instill a sense of pride. By consistently showcasing the work the students have done in this manner it will encourage them to put more effort into their classwork and constantly encourage them to strive to do better.

Bringing Technology Into The Classroom

During my time in the CJP TTF Cohort, I have gain so much knowledge of not only the applications on the iPads to bring into my classroom, but knowledge on ways to entirely change my classroom set up for better learning. Discussing the concept of the Flipped Classroom in our Cohort gave me wonderful ideas on ways I could entirely change my approach to the curriculum in the upcoming school year.
As an educator who has always learned best through kinetic education, finding new ways to engage my students not just through aural, oral, and visual lesson plans is always inspiring. My students are in the sixth grade and by the time they arrive at religious school have spent long days sitting at desks. Being able to offer them time to learn while still getting to expel energy is like a gold mine to me as their teacher!
I would like to design my program next year utilizing a website that will be host to a number of links and projects, but will begin with a Popplet highlighting our curriculum. On the Popplet I would like to showcase the main ideas we are discussing in class and springboard from there. On the website parents should be able to access articles to discuss with their children, students should be able to access review materials and watch videos with their families.
I would also include homework assignments and future in class assignments to help get the children excited about what is to come and allow them to collect materials beforehand while helping them develop time management skills. I would also like to include on this Popplet photos of the students in class and the work they complete. Link to the videos they make would be a very enticing way to get parents to continue to check in on the website and remain engaged with their childrens' education.

My Project

Final Project
For my final project, I have decided to create a page to be put on the class page, as a review of the Hebrew letters learned in class. First, I will review how we learn Hebrew letters, using doodle and tellagami. I will introduce the letter that we learned in class, using ExplainEverything. Then I will post a utube video of the AlephBet song. After, I will post a video of what we did in the workbook, exactly how we did it. Lastly, I will post a link to an app that will allow the students to review the letter in between classes, asking parents to only add the letters that we worked on so far, along with a picture of the letters that we reviewed, in book form, so they can use the book as flash cards to review, as they learn more letters.

In this way, I hope to encourage parents to engage in their children’s Hebrew learning, as well as allowing students who are not able to attend class regularly, to be able to keep up with the curriculum, at home. During the school year, I also plan to use videos or books to help review other aspects of the curriculum, by posting them on class page as well. This will also serve as visual newsletter of what lessons were learned in class. These will also be great takeaways for families to have during the summer, in order to help students retain the information they learned throughout the year in my class.

Reflections

Reflections
This has been quite educational. I have learned so much during these sessions. I began the cohort feeling unsure of my technology abilities, but I soon began to overcome my fears with practice. I don't propose to say that I feel like an expert now, but I definitely feel that I am no longer afraid to try. I understand, and have always been aware, that technology can be a great asset to any classroom. Students can learn better with technology, since it hits on different teaching styles, that other ways just can't. It allows students to see the rest of the world, which is very important when trying to teach abstract theories.

I can say that the use of the technology will help enhance the way I teach in the classroom. I can use it to show videos of Israel, or to create a movie about Passover. We can also use it to help the students review lessons at home. I am very excited to begin the new school year, so I can try out all that I have learned in this class! I'm sure my students will be happy to do more than watch videos from YouTube, now that I many more technology tools in my toolbox.


I plan to use many of the apps that I have learned throughout my time here. My students are young, so many of the videos and creation of books, etc. that I have learned will need to me done by myself. But I’m sure that they will enjoy viewing the results of the videos, movies, and pictures we take in class. Also, they will definitely enjoy using the apps to help them learn their Hebrew letters, as well as reviewing biblical stories that they have learned. The other way I plan to use all that I have learned during these sessions is to create movies and books to post to my class’ page on the school’s website. In this way, families will be able to share information learned in my class together, as well as using it as a review or to catch up on a missed lesson. This could work as the flipped classroom model, just in reverse. Where students are introduced to a lesson in the classroom and then review it at home.

Technology Ideas for Teaching the Alef Bet (by Jessica)

My final project is focused on teaching the Alef Bet. 

My goal is to have my first graders end the year being able to do the following:

— be able to recognize the shape of each letter, and say the letter’s name and sound

— explain that Hebrew is read from right to left

— be able to match simple Hebrew words (no vowels) to words in English by sounding out the letters.

— be able to recall the Marion Green mnemonics for each letter

I will use technology in three ways:

 At the beginning of class, I introduce a Letter of the Day and invite students to explore the letter’s shape. In the past, I set up stations for students arriving in class. Students might build a letter out of play dough or Lego. Next year, I will have students use the iPad to record short videos sharing their Lego/playdough creations and explaining the letter’s sound and mnemonic.

During class, students practice writing the letter of the day (in workbooks) and play games to review previous letters. Next year, I will use iPad apps to customize these experiences for students at different levels. For example, I will have different Quizlet practice games (basic = recognizing letters, advanced = reading simple words) or vocabulary apps or block-letter-writing apps so that students can practice material at their own level.

After class (at home), students practice what they’ve learned. Next year, I will create a website where students can review the Letter of the Day (even if he/she missed class), practice Quizlet flashcards/games,  and maybe even take quizzes. My hope is that kids will be doing more practicing at home, which should free up more time at school. My website will also include short videos that I create to bring the Marion Green mnemonics to life. (These will be made using Explain Everything, Tellagami, PuppetPals, Green Screen, iMovie, etc.) In addition, I’ll showcase videos and drawings that they students made during class. 

Here’s a link to my prototype:  http://jakuznick.wix.com/alef-bet-grade-1

Reflections on Teaching and Learning with Technology (by Jessica)

I’ve worked as an educational technology designer for 15+ years, so I’ve spent lots of time thinking about using technology for learning. On the other hand, using iPads for learning is something I’ve just started exploring! This CJP Technology fellowship was a great way to dive in. 

What ideas have you taken away about using technology for learning?

The biggest idea I’ve taken away is the power of putting creativity and control in students’ hands. In my early years in the Ed Tech field, a team of experts (designers, programmers, teachers) created software; kids used it.  Now, kids can be directly involved in the creation — creating blogs, movies, animations, web sites, flashcards, etc.  

This has many advantages!  Above all, it’s extremely motivating for kids. I discovered this a few years ago when I had a student who never wanted to participate in lessons. One day he brought in a Noah’s ark toy and I lent him my digital camera to photograph it. Pretty soon, he and another boy were building a whole “stage set” to dramatize the Noah’s ark story, and taking movies with my camera. He was engaged like never before!  This is the kind of thing kids can do easily now with the iPad apps. They get to be the designers/creators/teachers instead of passive recipients. Another benefit is that teachers don’t always have to spend hours creating materials (like flashcards, just say) because the kids can do it for them! 

Of course, a challenge, as a teacher, is that you need to learn to let go and give the kids room to take off in their own directions (esp. if, like me, you love doing the creative stuff yourself)! I think another challenge is learning how to construct a really good activity/prompt, so that kids use the technology in a focused way that promotes learning and don’t just play around with it.  

How will your new insights change your approach to teaching?

In the past, many of my lessons involved imparting information. I might teach the kids about the different objects used to celebrate Shabbat (kiddush cup, challah cover, candlesticks, etc.).  Then we would do a craft —for example, making our own challah covers.  Kids used their creativity to make a beautiful challah cover, but not to think deeply about the meaning of Shabbat or to internalize the information we’d learned/discussed.

I believe that some of these technologies will make it easier to create a more integrated experience — one where students use their creativity to make the educational content their own. This year, a central question in my class will be  “How do we make Shabbat special?”  The class will create an online book together, exploring this question throughout the year.  When students make challah covers, they can also make videos/photos of their creations, and include text, audio explaining how these ritual objects make Shabbat feel special or different from the rest of the week, and why this is valuable. Throughout the year, we can build on this idea in discussions and projects, and our class book will be a creative and collaborative record of our learning together. 

What are your goals for applying what you learned in the Fellowship to your teaching in the future?

My goal for this year is to use technology to improve lessons that didn’t work so well in the past (or need improvement). Below are some of my plans for integrating technology, and my reasons for doing so.

 Jerusalem. 

I will create a web quest in which students can watch videos of people walking through different landmarks in the old and new city. They will answer questions about the places they visit (a sort of “scavenger hunt”). At the end, each will create a Tellagami or Explain Everything travelogue, in which they describe one or two places they visited and share what they learned, noticed, liked, were curious about (or perhaps they will pretend to be a tour guide and create a Tellagami introducing the site to others).

Benefit:  Students will get a better sense of Jerusalem by watching videos (vs. reading a pamphlet or book). They will feel more like they are actually there.

2)  Alef Bet

I will use Quizlet (and maybe Quia) to make it easy for students to practice the letters they’ve learned at home. I will also have them make their own animations/videos to teach the mnemonics for the letters.

Benefit: More of the learning will take place at home, so we can make the most of school hours! (Plus if I use Quia, this at-home practice will also give me data on each student’s progress.) Making and sharing their own animations should help them learn the mnemonics.

3) Shabbat

Every year, I have kids create a Shabbat Box full of special items for Shabbat. This year, I will also have them create an online book or blog exploring the question “How is Shabbat special/different from other days? What can we do to make it special/different?” (See above for more information.)

Benefit:  The online book will allow students both to share their own personal experiences (including home experiences), and also to build a collaborative, shared document. I believe it will invite deeper discussion and sharing. I also think it will enhance home-school connections, since parents can view the book as it evolves.

a continued reflection on technologies

I think technology is great tool that children need to be exposed to. I am concerned at a preschool level that its mostly looking up pictures, music and showing videos. I know many of the children I work with are exposed to computers at home and worry the the screen time is not needed at school. Which is mostly why i look to use to send things home for the children to look at.
I also find that many of they apps and websites we learned about are great for grade school, and I look forward to seeing Rena use it with her 2nd and 3rd graders who will understand how the apps work and will be able to make some beautiful videos, movies and documentations.
This has been an amazing opportunity though and I intend to use many of the technologies I have learned about to connect learning in the classroom and extend it to learning at home. It has also given me insight in to new ways to use the blogging system that we already use in the school.
In reading some of the past fellow preschool blog post their are many suggestion that I also look to explore with the Ipad such as timeline and documenting the year in more then just a blog.

 

The Goal - A Proposal for Hebrew Practice  /Waky

 

When I moved from teaching 2nd grade to 3rd grade, I was amazed how much more could be done in 4 hours than two (K- 2 come only on Sundays at our school, and 3-6 twice a week).  But, of course, my excitement was short lived, because there is NEVER enough time.

 

Over the years, I have tried to "add" more hours by pushing some of the learning into the home and the community. I encourage kids to participate in many out of class congregational activities, such as family services, jr. Choir, Purim Shpiel, Shabbat retreats, student council, Klezmer band, because, as one of the educators we read about wrote, “…often we ask students to learn about something that they can make no personal connection which makes it very challenging to be engaged”.  I want them to have a relationship to the Jewish people, not to learn a bunch of facts which are not in a context of who they are.

 

And, in addition, I want to draw the parents in to the learning, both for their own edification, and as a model to the children of the importance of Jewish study.  Aside from one morning a year when they come in to do Family Ed, my hope was that they would partner with me to enhance the children’s Hebrew school experience.  And I wanted the parents to be accountable for their piece of the partnership. 

 

That being said, there were two specific functions that I wanted to push into the home.  One was homework.  I didn’t know it was a “flipped classroom” then.  I have always asked the children to prepare the work at home, so they could join me engaging in the material once we were together.  And, for all the reasons above, I ask them to do this with a parent.  For the most part, this involves reading a lesson on Torah or a holiday, and doing a very small exercise.  I told the parents that I hoped this would spark a discussion at home that could be shared in class.

 

The other activity that I hoped I could push out to the home, was the practice of Hebrew reading.  I introduce key letters and vowels and their sounds, as well as vocabulary, in class, and do a bit of practice, but hope that there will be more practice at home.  Language acquisition can only happen with use and reuse.  Repetition bring confidence and fluidity.  But the reality is that the parents are, for the most part, not able to provide help in this area because they may not have the skills, and I never want them to be embarrassed about this.

 

So I have been on a quest to create tools to help.  Let me start with one restriction that I find few people understand: the practice of content in Hebrew sounds must match the progression of a curriculum.  If we know 6 letters, the practice cannot include letter # 7 or 8; it has to be specific in this way, so store bought, or even misc. online Hebrew practice pages will not work. Now I am a very practical teacher, and don’t think out of the box well, but this has been my experience. 

 

I have a Hebrew textbook and like it pretty well.  Early on, I simply asked the kids to practice reading from the book at home, and the parents would initial a page indicating that their child had read “5 minutes a day”.  Then the publisher of my book came out with a CD that matched the book.  It was funny, and engaging and had games.  The kids loved it.  The administration of acquiring the CDs, initializing them per student and using them was a nightmare.  And lots of parents were very frustrated with their “only worked sometimes” mechanics. And they only worked on PCs, not Macs…  And as more families acquired tablets, the use of CDs was no longer viable.  So my director changed textbooks, and publishers so that the practice could be online, rather than physically inserted.  But as we are learning in this class, engaging a product without playing with it is ill advised.  The textbook was horrible, and the software, though delightfully focused on Israel, was not an ideal practicing tool at all.  So I went back to the textbook I liked, but “Hebrew 5 minutes a day” went back to paper…

 

At a faculty meeting several months ago, the principal asked us how we used technology in our classrooms.  The answers ranged from parent communication to “not at all”.  She had us try and think of something we’d like to use it for, and I timidly mentioned “Hebrew reading practice” once again.

 

And here we are, almost graduates of the 6^th CJP cohort on technology, learning to use the iPad, with 8 shiny new tablets waiting at school.  I’ve seen a lot of very slick and exciting products and plans.  My partner, Maya, created a lovely and simple Havdallah lesson.  But I’ve stuck to my plan; I want to create a tool to help my students supplement what they are learning about Hebrew reading at home, in a way that doesn’t suck up all my classroom time, so we can do the many, many other parts of our curriculum in the time that is freed up. 

 

Of course, I don’t want to throw them in the deep end without a life vest, so I want to make some of the tools we have in class available to them at home.  I can use pictures of their actual textbook, so the letter progression is not an issue.  And I want two specific references at their finger tips.  One is a Letter Lookalike helper, with little ditties we have learned which I have found helps distinctions (and maybe the students can participate and can add to them!), such as Bet has a bellybutton and with Vet, the dot is Vacuumed out.  I have lots of these, and the kids find them helpful.  The other tool is for vowels; we have a chart in the room which has all our vowels on backdrops of colors which have that vowel sound in them.

 

I would like them to be able to read along, perhaps even with my voice helping or repeating, but with the ability to call up these two help charts as resources…

 

It sounds so easy, and I’ll bet with the right “programmer”, it could even be made to be fun.  What a time I have had of it… I will review in class what I tried, how I stumbled and that I do not have a product to show you. I spent a lot of effort to make a new Wikispace, but was not successful.  My partner suggested I try Explain Everything, and I did end up being able to work in that app better, but was not able to create links, per se.  The Hebrew program I bought for iPad is limited, but seems to be the only thing out there with vowels, so I did make up some of the tools there.  I have spent a lot of time playing and learning, and I will continue to work on making this happen.  I found some awesome iPad tools for all kinds of things while I was struggling and am already passing them along to my colleagues in school.  My hope is that we, in this CJP cohort will continue to be able to share and discover.  I am blown away by all the posts of your projects and I’m looking forward to seeing you test drive them on Sunday.

 

 

Waky’s big ideas…

• Firstly, I have been exposed to some awesome technology from which to draw and excite my students.  I have seen that these programs and apps are not magic and mirrors, but things I can learn.  Maybe I can’t learn them as fast as the youngins, but you can teach an old dog new tricks.  I’ve been frustrated at times, but I’ve also had fun. 

• I’ve thought a lot about making sure the education uses the technology, rather than the technology driving the education.  I think we lose sight of this when we hold a shiny new toy.  I am someone who still listens to records and has rotary phones, because they meet my needs for listening to music and calling people to talk.  On the other hand, I fully embraced inventions like video recording devices (ok, so I still use my VCR, but I also have TiVo!) because they met a need I had to time shift viewing television and movies.  This all makes me sound very old, but the point is that I do not use “new” because it’s “new” but when it works in my life.  I want to approach the use of the iPad capabilities in that way; use what  works for me and my kids.  On the other hand, I fully recognize that for the students, this is their “normal”. 

• I am very mindful that moving new technology in my school involves change management in the environment.  All the players must be aware of the change, decide how they will support it and keep in constant communication how to it affects our community.  The Board and School Committee need to be ready to plan for some expenses; the director has to lead the faculty in strategic plans and administrative procedures; the technical support folks need to be identified and brought on board to the team; the children will lead us with their knowledge and imaginations; the parents should expect activities to enter their homes and work with their children, as needed.  As one article noted, this is not the same as a new package of markers being delivered.

• I was a bit discouraged to realize that I have no idea of knowing what the quality control “out there” is.  The nature and speed of technical tool development and the open configuration of the internet mean that no one is necessarily watching the store.  I know that my own knowledge is so shallow, that I don’t even know when something doesn’t work the way it should because I’m not doing it right, or it’s just a little broken, or has a major flaw.  I’m going to have to depend on those more knowledgeable.  I hope we will continue to be connected through our Wiki, etc. to support each other and make useful recommendations.

• This has been a terrific adventure.

Chesed Curriculum 2.0

In the course of the Fellowship, I have been writing a Chesed curriculum for my next year’s second- and third-graders. The first four months of the year will be designated as Research, and during the rest of the year, the students will actually perform a significant Chesed Exploration (project). The groundwork for the curriculum, and the Exploration, itself, will be greatly enhanced by the use of technology at all levels.

The skills I am learning in the CJPTTFellowship have allowed me to create a curriculum that uses technology in a variety of ways. I am now better able to:

• Launch lessons in an exciting way
• Give students an opportunity to catch up with lessons they’ve missed either in class or at home
• Provide easy access to Torah text – and have the students manipulate it
• Play a game with to increase their familiarity with Jewish customs
• Survey parents about their ideas, to inform our choice of project
• Allow students to edit their writing over a period of weeks
• Involve the students in teaching each other
• Teach students particular apps and show them examples of how to use them
• Encourage students to correspond with others electronically
• Show students the power of video to make social connections to the elderly
• Help kids make a budget and map out ideas for a project
• Communicate with students and parents through a class wiki
• Share a planning document with my co-teacher
• Streamline both my planning and documentation

I’m confident that the it will be an exciting and fulfilling year for both my students and me!

Valuable Lessons

I’m glad to have learned so much during the Teaching and Technology Fellowship. Here are some of my take-aways:

• ·      Teaching through Technology is very well suited to managing multiple groups of students that are working through the same curriculum, as happens in my program. 
• ·      The richness of the online environment opens up many opportunities for me to share the richness of Jewish life and literature.
• ·      Students can always maintain access to lessons, media, and projects for later review or to share with others.
• ·      Technology is the students’ language – not using it may even be difficult for them.
• ·      Technology can help in modifying lessons according to students’ individual needs (for example, using more visual, auditory cues, etc.).
• ·      Technology provides the learners with greater opportunities to collaborate and problem-solve -- even with students that they may never meet. 

As I implement more technology into my teaching, I will try to keep in mind the SAMR model, which defines four ways in which technology affects learning, and try to use them all with my students. Using technology to substitute or augment an existing format are more limited uses of technology, but modifying and redefining lessons through technology are thought to actually improve student learning.

More importantly, I will keep in mind the reflections I had about my own learning during the weeks of the TTF. I had no prior experience with the ipad, and no facility (never mind fluency!) with the language. The new information came very quickly, and I was at a loss to even describe what I didn’t understand. I had no muscle memory in this game. In the weeks of the Fellowship, I’ve thought about several of my students with renewed understanding and empathy. I also came to appreciate the format for the Fellowship -- the transparency of the curriculum, the vast scaffolding of information and examples, the flipped lessons, and the opportunities to help each other experiment with the technology. I am looking forward to a deeper and richer way of guiding my students in their learning next year.

Next Year in My Classroom

I have a few big ideas and many small ones in terms of implementation of technology in the classroom. My final project entails a tour of Havdalah, so that parents and students who do not practice it at home might become familiarized and comfortable with the service. Rather than simply sending out links for this area of teaching (or any other for that matter) I can now create a wiki page with interactive aspects to it.

One of the elements most helpful to me in the workshop was the idea that I now can send things home in much more effective and creative ways. When parents will be asked to turn to my wiki page, I will include a fun and creative collection of ditties about Havdalah. But in conclusion they might have to fill out a fun Quizlet to test their knowledge. This type of interactive and engaging way to create curriculum and also make it apply at home is very exciting.

The above example is only one of many I plan to implement and experiment with in the classroom. For example I will be teaching a Fifth Grade class about Israel and I am now able to peek into the work of so many teachers who have also taught on this. My resource pool has grown immensely and I feel like I will be able to gain inspiration from many more sources and teachers out there. I am one of those people that still tends to feel a bit overwhelmed by technology, but I now feel more comfortable with the concept of searching certain forums for sharing ideas.

Art and creative outlet are a fun aspect of what I do in the classroom to enhance certain areas of study. I will now be able to think of many more creative apps to present the work we carry out in the classroom. I am not yet certain about exactly how this will play out but I know I will incorporate many more fun apps in the classroom.

Last, I can say with certainty that eight iPads will allow for much more Hebrew reading practice that is fun and engaging to kids and also varied. Books are no longer the single medium for leaning and we can now provide an analogous experience to the education kids are receiving to practice skills in the home and at school.

I am excited for all these ideas to come to play int eh coming year and I am grateful to CJP for this opportunity.

My Reflections About the Seminar

I have learned so much these past weeks about technology in the classroom. I came in feeling unpolished in my tech skills and ideas. I feel like I am now armed with many more resources and ideas about how to have more fun, variety and creativity in my classroom. I teach second, fifth and high school classes at our school. I will be able to create many more projects that are relevant to our learning and to the students. I am looking forward to the Fall when I can proceed with some of my new ideas.

At the workshop I was introduced to many more iPad applications which will undoubtedly enhance the classroom project sphere. Also in terms of content for teaching a variety of subjects, I left with more resources. I am still unsure of how all of this will all play out the in classroom next year and which age students will best respond to certain apps and projects. However I know for certain that I can now better engage parents and families to interact with the classroom material from home. The level of presentation that can now summarize our classwork will undoubtedly be more impressive. I can 'wrap up' our work and display it for families and students to enjoy in meaningful and creative ways.


I am grateful to CJP for the iPads to my school and for all the training. I think it would be great to have a check-in towards the middle of the year and see how we've applied what we've learned. I am eager to enter the classroom with such a wider breadth of tools at my disposal!

My thoughts and reflections

I have learned so much from the teaching and technology fellowship and I am very excited to bring them in to my classroom.  I mostly intend to use the information for a flipped classroom, Sending home videos and stories that are created through what we are teaching in the classroom. 

An example of this is as we talk about a holiday like Passover and look through the different part of the story and interact with them we are able to create our own stories or videos with these explorations. These are some of our explorations that we will later turn in to An Ebook that we will then be able to send home for the children the share at their Seders. 

We would also like to be able to use the book creation to produce social stories for the children to help guide them through different situations like using their words to help tell another child they don't like what they are doing. Here is an example

Technology Plans

In regard to my final project for the seminar, I've prepared a flipped classroom lesson.  It would be a segment in a series on Biblical cantillation aimed at an audience of grades 6+.  It is a video-lecture that was prepared by smashing the following apps:

• iMovie
• Green Screen by Do Ink
• DavkaWriter
• Explain Everything
• Garage Band
• Drawing Pad
• Tellagami
• Action Movie

After viewing the "lecture," students would be directed to an activity such as:

• Blogging observations and questions.
• Practicing skills using auditory feedback.

For this coming school year, I hope to utilize the flipped classroom approach frequently for instruction, demonstration, and modeling in a variety of subject areas.  Then, depending on the subject, the learning objective(s), and the need for accommodation and scaffolding, I have the choice of many tools for:

·      Guided Practice – helping students start practicing new skills and applying new knowledge (Google  Docs (recording/audio feedback, project based learning, webquests, Google Docs self-grading quizzes, Quizzlet, and more).

·      Independent Practice — turning them loose to work on their own and in collaboration (digital storytelling, blogging, et al.).

I also look forward to the innumerable benefits of encouraging students’ creativity and providing opportunities to publish and share their individual and collaborative work with one another and the school community.

3rd grade project at tbs

My project is a vocabulary lesson for our Hebrew in Movement class. I am teaching them the words large and small with vocabulary words they already know. They are to watch the video at home so that when they come into class they can use these words in games.

Materials: 1) The class will be emailed the link to the u tube video and told to learn the vocabulary http://youtu.be/bazixkc-UiQ

                2) 2 large balls, 2 small balls,   2 small candles, 2 large candles,  2 small horses, 2 large horses,  2 small apples 2 large apples

In class: the students will be in two teams they will be in a line at one end of room there will be two tables at the other end of the room with all the objects on it.  The first students in each line will hear the command large horse and has to run to the table take the correct object run back to the team passing the object over under till the last person inline has the object. They will run to head of line and wait to hear the name of the object to retrieve. This continues until each person inline has a turn.

They will compleat the game by each student says. " I have " the object they have correctly to the teacher. 

home work or class work depending on time: each student will create a short video with iPads of large and small lesson.

Thank you TTF

What I have gotten out of TTF is a new excitement to my third grade class. I have been teaching third grade for the past 12 years and never have there been two years the same but it. Is the basic curriculum . This workshop has given me a new concept in teaching. I am going to try flipped class room in many of my topics, homework will no longer going to be boring reding and practicing prayers they will be interactive computer games and skill building! this is going to be the busiest summer for me building a web site videos for Hebrew in movement and so many new projects for the students to use. I am so excited to start in September my brain hasn't stopped thinking about class. the old teacher has been recreated!

Hazzan Devin Goldenberg
5th and 6th Grade
B'nei Mitzvah Tutoring
Temple Beth Sholom
Framingham, MA

Big Ideas from TTF Seminars

One of the strongest ideas I’m taking away from the TTF is the potential for a collaborative dynamic that’s infused in the classroom utilization of the iPad.  Before taking the seminar, I was wary of the potential for students becoming locked in to their own “zones” with iPad.   I’m so happy and thrilled to say that I could not have been more mistaken.

What do I mean by collaborative learning?  It’s learning in which collaboration, teamwork, and the collective talents of all participants are an integral part of the learning process.

This means not just publishing ideas (iBook, iMovie, etc.), but publishing them in ways in which creators can receive feedback, reflect and revise their own output and that of others.  This feedback and revision process is not merely an add-on but at the heart of the learning process.  This blog is itself a good example of this as we post our thoughts and plans with the primary intention of promoting feedback and interaction.

And it also means working together in real-time to accomplish collectively forged and monitored goals, whether we’re smashing apps in workgroups to create an audio-visual guide to holiday observance  or communicating and working with experts outside of the classroom on a presentation using Google Drive.

I’m excited about using technology in my classes to create and enhance such a collaborative learning process.  One in which all participants are learners/teachers – one in which I can spend more class time functioning as a guide and facilitator.

As my actual group class and individual tutoring time is very limited, I’m especially intrigued by the possibilities of the flipped classroom approach.  I hope to use what I’ve learned in the TTF to more successfully engage students from home.  The knowledge and skills I’ve gained will allow me to produce entertaining presentations of curriculum content that I feel confident students will enjoy watching.  Who knows? – their parents might get involved in the learning as well.  This will hopefully save valuable class time which can be better used for hands-on work, project based learning, and differentiated instruction that will benefit both the advanced and less advanced learners.

Initial Technology Ideas

by Lauren Lichtel

Beth El Temple Center, Belmont, MA

Sunday School 2nd grade teacher
Hebrew School 3rd grade teacher
CJP TTF: Cohort 6

My second grade class studies many different subjects over the course of the year. Some of them include Israel, mitzvot, holidays/calendar, Hebrew, God, prayers, and much more. 


For this blog, I will be describing my plan for my plan for the Israel project. After my students finish learning all about Israel from the book, I want them to be able to create something. Create a video or some kind. They will be able to use one or all of the apps that we've used here in this class. 

For example, they can use the Puppet Pals and have a couple of characters take a trip through Israel as they explain what it is they see. They could use the app Garage Band and create a song about Israel. They can use Explain Everything to create a lesson for their classmates about something they've learned. Really, the possibilities are endless. 

After the students are done with these projects, which may take a couple weeks to complete, I will post them on our class website for the parents to check out! I really think this is going to be a wonderful project! I cannot wait to begin!

The Big Ideas

The Big Ideas

by Lauren Lichtel
Beth El Temple Center, Belmont, MA
Sunday School 2nd grade teacher
Hebrew School 3rd grade teacher
CJP TTF: Cohort 6

I thought I knew how to use an iPad in the classroom before I walked into the CJP Technology Fellowship. I have used my iPad in the classroom for two years. I put my agenda on it, I had by lessons on it, and I took tons of pictures. I made a video to show at the end of the year.

After being a fellow for the last couple of months, I am so excited to be able to take these apps and tips/tricks into the classroom next year. Due to the fact that I only have these kids in the classroom for a couple of hours once a week, I need to figure out a way to engage them from home as well. So many of the tools I have learned will allow me to do this in a way that they will love. The parents will be able to watch their kids' progress throughout the year. The students will be able to see the progress they have made year after year. It will be so incredible!

I have always been a creative person and I love to take that approach in the classroom. Before, it has been poems, maybe a video, etc.. With these new apps and websites, I will be able to make the material come alive for these kids!

I want to be able to use the Flipped Classroom method in order to make the most of the time in the classroom that we do have. In addition, an added benefit could possibly be the parents learning along with their children. 

The Flipped Classroom

A project by Lauren, Jess, Devin, and Geri

Our instructions were to take one of the models of the new classroom and to use one of our new apps to put together a piece about it. Our model was the flipped classroom. This is where students actually do the typical learning at home before coming into the classroom. Once in the classroom, the students collaborate on projects and dig a little deeper into the material. Enjoy our iMovie trailer! 

Had-Gadya

Hallie Chandler  had-gadya.wikispaces.com

For my final project of the teaching and technology fellowship run by CJP I created the start-up for a 4^th Grade Passover Curriculum online. It is still very much in “edit” form with only one introduction page and one lesson (the four questions). So far it really shows the depth of what is needed for this kind of curriculum as well as the usefulness of an online curriculum in the long run. Wikispaces (what I used for the curriculum) are comparable to Wikipedia where people can change content material, leave blogs, and upload documents. You have to be invited to edit information though on the pages so as a teacher you can have multiple wikis of the same curriculum so you never loose any of your original information. On each Wiki Space you are able to upload music, videos, documents. Because of this there will be a vast array of different technology methods being used in the classroom and outside of the classroom. For example, if a student creates a movie inside the classroom they can upload it to YouTube then share it on the wikispace.   

How the project originated: Temple Emunah Religious School shows pride in the amount of services and Hebrew that our students are able to lead and learn at the end of their experiences and education provided to them at Emunah. After much contemplation and dialogue within our community the Religious School has decided to move from 3 days to 2 days per week of Religious school classes. Because of this there will be a lack of time being spent in the classroom, so much more concentration will be placed in classrooms on principle subject material that we believe every Jewish students needs to know rather then secondary experienced learning like leading a Passover Seder. Instead of dropping this project based learning in class all together I have decided to maximize the interaction that the teacher can have even outside of the classroom and allow students to do project based learning in class that will flow over into home projects. This will allow our students to be successful by the end of the year in original projects like leading the Passover Seder.
End Goal: 
To have successful skills, knowledge, material, and experience required of leading a Passover Seder while using new technology methods inside and outside of the classroom.

Structure: 

The structure of the wiki space will be in the order of the Haggadah. Each new page will be a new section of the Haggadah and a new lesson in class in the order of the Seder. Students will be aware of what is ahead of them and what has already been taught in the class. 
Notes: Each lesson will have notes, either in written, PowerPoint, or video format. This will be the material that supports the lesson that was introduced in the class, what information was went over and discussions that were had. This will help kids to have supportive references to the information when they are at home or when they are working through the assignments.
Assignments in Class: this will be assigned tasks that need to be accomplished during the class period time. If students are absent from class then they will be required to accomplish them at home and post them to be reviewed by the teacher. Assignments may include group or individual work. Assignments will mainly be seen as "completed" after students have uploaded their assignments by video, music, blog, or project onto the wiki sight. 
At home assignments: "Homework" - this will really help to increase the amount of outside learning that a student is doing. Better follow up with the student can be had, no loss of papers, no "I never got the assignments," and more learning being done by the student to help further the learning inside the classroom so success of the goal can be had.

Pros:
~Having an entire curriculum online is a very powerful and exciting potential. Students, parents and teachers can access it anywhere they are, you can make adaptations to it each year or even as the class is in session, and there are so many projects that can be preserved year to year. 
~This really benefits outside of the class learning. It provides material to be carried over outside of the class. ~Wiki provides students with the opportunity to take leads on projects. 
~This will be extremely beneficial to students and teachers who are absent from class for extracurricular reasons. 
~By using technology and online resources we minimize the amount of Ganeza usage that we would previously have to. We do not have to worry about throwing out documents, printouts, or passages with Gods name on it. Students will be able to use online resources to learn prayers and songs while reading the Hebrew on the same page as the music clips.
~Having discussion with peers even outside of the classroom with strengthen students comfort level in sharing their opinions. 
~Being able to change things up year to year: Delete projects that were not so successful
~This will provide students with a local site to show off the work that they have accomplished in class with their friends, parents, and will allow them to refresh their memories later on. 
~This will provide students with the opportunity to use all different types of apps within the classroom and publicize them to everyone.
~things can be printed if needed! 

Cons:
~It is very hard to change and format text, change and picture location when you are focusing on the aesthetics of the page
~The idea of allowing students to access the page does not seam very comforting. It is great to allow them to blog post however, allowing them the "edit" bottom makes it very nerve wrecking when all of your lessons and information can be gone in the push of a bottom. (they can be blacked from editing the page if they have to) 
~"Copying" - this could potentially be an issue or very helpful for preventing copying since everyone can see the work that you are doing. 


Materials needed: 
The only real material required will be the Haggadah. However, I am hoping that it will get to a point where everything they need will be online. 

Please take a look at the WikiSpace!  had-gadya.wikispaces.com It is not completed to any extent but you can see the introduction page and a possible lesson plan. Online learning can be very beneficial. Just remember that face to face communication and relationship building is always key so trying to maximize that while in the classroom and build more connection with peers and the teacher even when students are at home.  

Reflections

It’s time to bring the world into the classroom, and bring what we do in the classroom outside into the world! I am extremely thankful for the teaching and technology fellowship that was provided to my co-worker and me through CJP. There is an idea that incorporating more technology into our classrooms and lives provides for greater connection with the world around us. Through the fellowship I have found it more possible to produce projects, gain knowledge, answer questions, and share information more efficiently and creatively.

The use of media, online resources, apps, ipads, etc have enabled new approaches beneficial to the learning of my students, the success of my curriculum, and the productivity of the classroom environment. The new imminent expectations are that using this technology will provide me with the support in the classroom to increase my one on one attention with students while other students continue to be productive in the class. It will enable me to clone myself so that I can be in more places at once. It will excuse the “I forgot my homework at home,” “my dog ate my homework,” “I was sick and didn’t have the assignment” excuses, which push students back in their work and success within the classroom and with the curriculum. In addition, technology will and has provided me with the ability to be creative with the learning that we do. There is such a huge push for experiential education now and using technology provides us with that greater ability to get yourself “outside” of the classroom and into real life situations. It allows students to create projects that can be accessible anywhere, giving them the ability to always find it to use as a future resource, something to share with others, or something to just reflect on.   

These are just a few of the many benefits that come from using reliable and educational technology methods in the classroom. I hope to continue to strengthen my liking of these unique methods and aim for the following goals. I hope to allow my students to recognize that anyone can help someone else get better at something. Connections can develop between students and a wide range of experts in dispersed fields using technology. I want students to recognize that they have more resources accessible to them and more creative opportunities. I want students to feel more confident in their work because they know it is going to be shared. Lastly, I want my students to find passion, purpose and have the desire to learn. By increasing the amount of teaching methods through technology, I believe students will be more successful in engaging and finding connections through the content that they are required and have desire to learn.

Hallie Chandler 

Temple Emunah 

Synagogue Educator 

Research an Israeli innovation

Reflections and lessons learned from doing a lesson with technology. (If you’re not teaching the lesson right away, you may need to do this part at a later date.)

I used the technology with the 5th and 6th grade students this Spring.The 5th grade students were asked to research (using the Ipads) an Israeli innovation. (Example: Sodastream, instant messaging, etc). and create a media presentation on these innovations. The students used a variety of applications to create their presentations: Tellagami, Greenscreen, Imovie, Tiltshift, etc. and were excited to research and work together! When all the assignments were completed, I combined al of their presentations into an IMOVIE to view all at once. Below is an example of one project that was competed.

There was definitely a learning curve attached with this project. Initially, some students required a lot of guidance and support in using the IPADS, and with the assignment. It was difficult as the educator to help the students, while still learning to use the Ipads at the same time. However, the students picked up the information quickly, and were able to produce some wonderful work! One student emailed me, and was so excited about learning to use Imovie that he had created his own Imovie at home!

In addition to this project with the 5th grade students, the 6th grade students worked with the Ipads to create informational videos for the Walk For Hunger that they are participating in on May 4 as the final component of the B'nai Telem curriculum.
I found that the 6th graders were extremely confident in the use of the Ipads, and required little-no guidance in completing this assignment.


Below are some of their videos that they created!

Integrating technology into the classroom was an extremely positive experience for myself, as well as the students! I am hopeful that the technology can be continued in the walls of the classroom to enhance the learning of the students in the religious school.