Judy's Big Ideas from TTF

The primary ideas that I have taken away are that technology is indispensable for capturing attention in today’s classroom.  Students are so used to being able to find information for themselves that the teacher as a source of information has lost most of his/her value.  The teacher need to become a coach for the students self -motivated discovery. Also students’ attention span for screens is greater than their attention span for in-person presentations.  I believe that there is a real place here for collaboration between younger and more experienced teachers.  The younger teachers have  technological experience that is invaluable and the experienced teachers have the longer perspective and  more realistic approach  which is also invaluable.  Putting them together can make some wonderful things happen.

I am both a teacher and a director of education so the change in my approach to teaching applies to the whole school , rather than just my classroom.  I believe that the teacher’s role is changing from conveyer of information to coach in students’   learning to direct their own learning.  This is best utilized in project based learning which I plan to bring into the school in a more systematic way next year. I am also moving to a model where every class communicates on a Wiki, although I plan to initiate it only in two classes next year.

My goal is to move quickly but not too quickly in this direction.  I am cautious about too much change in a school where the students are actually happy and relatively engaged.  On the other hand, I am cognizant of being behind the curve compared to what is happening in public school and eager to try new things. The movie making retreat was a big success with the staff so I think I have a team that is excited about making this change happen. Tonight we had a teachers' meeting to discuss Project Based Learning  for next year.  Things are moving forward!

Heroes/Heroines of American Jewish History

Are you a Jewish American or an American Jew?  You might take for granted the freedom to be both American and Jewish, without having to choose between the two.  Ever since Jews have lived in America, there have been people who have struggled to find their place as Jews and Americans.  Many of them have made contributions to American history in the military, science, politics, religion, the arts, social service, sports, and just about every field that exists.  How many famous Jewish Americans can you name?  What were their contributions?  What qualities did they possess that guided thier choices?  You, our panel of judges, will delve into the lives and legacies of a myriad famous American Jews and choose the heroes worthy of our American Jewish Hall of Fame.

This is the introduction to "Heroes and Heroines of American Jewish History," an eight-week class for eighth grade students.  Students will be introduced to the wiki site from which they can navigate to sources for finding the candidates for our Hall of Fame.

Each student will be assigned to a group and a time period and will need to choose a hero/heroine.  They will then organize each candidate in a poplet and post it to the wiki, including the following criteria: name, when the person lived, important life events, concurrent important events in America and the world, accomplishment(s) and its effects on the lives of Jews and people in general. 

The class will then give feedback on each entry according to the inclusion of all criteria.  When every entry has satisfied the requirements, the class will create a media presentation of the  "American Jewish Hall of Fame"  using voki that they create.  We will make it public through social media, such as the Temple Facebook group.

The technologies are: wikis, poplets, vokis, social media (i.e. Facebook).  The curriculum is modeled on project-based learning.

This class will be taught in the fall.

Shabbat With Moses - A retreat

Shabbat with Moses: A retreat for Grades 3-6

One of our projects for the Teaching Technology Fellowship  at Beth El was a movie making retreat during which our students created a video of the life of Moses.  The retreat lasted from Friday evening until Saturday evening and the goal was to shoot the footage on the retreat and edit it when we got home so that we could show it to the students and their parents on the last day of school, which is also our Fiftieth Anniversary Birthday Party.

We shot the video in three separate sessions, working around the usual Shabbat retreat activities (dinner, Maariv prayer,  Breakfast, morning prayer, sports, Havdallah).  We used the new video camera we got at the last session on a tripod, and a second camera for close up shots We knew we would not have time to make the scenery so we shot against a green screen (a trick we learned from the Cameron video).

We began the first session by teaching them three songs that were written for the movie. Then the students heard the script and recommended people for parts (We allowed students to reject the part if they chose, but we did not allow them to volunteer.  They had to be volunteered by someone else).  Then the students in the act went off to rehearse while the rest of the students worked on making props (They made the Nile River,and  a doorway) We shot the scene before lunch.

At the second session the teen volunteers shot a funny scene of their own making (a video within the video about Moses killing the taskmaster) to the "live audience" of the students interacting with the teens.  Then we shot the three songs they had rehearsed in the morning. 

At the final session, which was held after free time, we incorporated our traditional retreat talent show into the video by presenting the short talent skits as performances that were done before Pharaoh's throne.  While they were presenting these, another group rehearsed a second scene (the burning bush) , and we shot that scene as well. 

The final scene was shot on the Sunday following the retreat , when we were back at  Beth El.  The final movie is still being edited.  When it is done we will upload it to the wiki.

The retreat was a huge success.  It was wonderful to see the students of different ages cooperating on the project, and the combination of music,drama, and art allowed everyone to find their strength.  The students are excited about seeing the final result.

Judy and Mark

big Ideas

      You know that dream when you show up for class in your pj's (or worse, with no clothes!) or you have forgotten to study for the test or learn your lines for the play?  Well, I thought I was going to live that dream in this seminar.  Ok, technology is still somewhat of a foreign language, but at least it's one that I can understand.  I have learned so many new things, even though I still have to return to some of the basic tutorials from time to time.
      The most important lesson I have learned is that there are so many interesting ways to use technology in education and it isn't that hard to find them.  Just being exposed to a variety of applications has opened a new world for me.  Having the confidence and courage to just mess around and actually try to figure out how to make something work was a major accomplishment.  When I emailed my coach to say, "You know that question we had that we didn't know how to answer?  Well, I figured out how to make it work!" That was when I realized I could actually do this.  I'm no expert, and I have a lot to learn, but I know enough to get started and I will continue to learn along the way.
      I don't think I will actually change my approach to teaching.  My orientation has always been to put the students at the center and make them responsible for their own learning.  Technology just gives me more opportunities to make this happen, and will allow the lesson to meet the students where they are, since this is definitely their world.  As Charlie told us, "You don't really need this."  But it does make things more engaging and interesting.  I am also reminded that I don't always have to know how to implement the technology that I am using.  The students can figure that out.  They are much better at it anyway.  I just have to be able to lay the foundation, to know where we are going, and to lead them in that direction.  Their natural abilities and creativity will take over from there.
      I am excited to apply the lessons that I have created to my eighth grade class, as well as to introduce some of the technologies to my staff.  We are beginning to implement project based learning in our school, and the ideas I have gathered from TTF will inform our learning and apply to the project based curriculum.  This will be the basis of our professional development in the next year.

Presenting on EdTech at Jewish Learning Connections Showcase

This past Sunday I had the pleasure of presenting about my work at Temple Ohabei Shalom, and the planning and research we all do through the Teaching and Technology fellowship. In the Prezi above, I touch on maximizing instructional time, using resources fully, and figuring out answers to the question

How can the Divine rest between two people when they are miles apart, connecting through satellites?

While this presentation is mostly images, check out the screen captures of students at the Ansin Religious School connecting on Schoology and discussing a midrash, and a video of our 7th grade students discussing their b'not mitzvah projects and coming to really insightful conclusions.

We are teaching a unit on Passover. Students will learn about the Seder Plate and Passover Songs.

• Students will learn the parts of a Seder Plate by going to a website that will describe the Seder Plate.
• In teams, they will be given a section of the Seder Plate. Then they will google an image, write a definition about it and print this information on posters.
• The teams will then practice saying their definitions and will be video taped.
• The videos will be uploaded into a "choose your own adventure" Seder Plate.
• The students will make Pharoah hats and learn the song Pharoah, Pharoah.
• Using video Star app on the iphone, they will be videoed singing and dancing to this song. It will be a music video.
• The key technologies: Computers, Video camera, iphone 
• Students will be be using digital storytelling that will be uploaded to You Tube

I think the hardest part is realizing how time consuming using technology can me.  It is also difficult when students is absent to keep them still involved when they missed the week before.  I do think the students are more engaged and just loving using technology.

Reflection on teaching and learning with technology

I have taken away all these amazing tools that now will enhance my teaching and my students' learning.  It may take some set up but the final project is worth it.  The students are so engaged when using technology.  I now feel more comfortable taking lessons to the next level.

Our teaching in our school is now project base learning and we will use these new insights to teach.  We have already used digital storytelling and the class make a wiki.

My personal goals was to learn new technology approaches and then how to apply it to my class.  I feel that I have attained this goal but would love to keep learning new ideas (if there is a Step 2 class with Svetlana, then count me in).  This class has excited me and I can't wait to think of more ways to mesh my teaching with technology.