Cohort 7 Reflections

I am so very grateful to the CJP-TTF for this extraordinary opportunity to explore the I-pad as a powerful tool to add to my education toolbox.  The CJP-TTF fellowship has taught me how to operate the I-Pad, how to execute some apps and has offered me hands-in experience with the I-pad and some apps. In the Fellowship I was introduced to dozens of apps and I was encouraged to start thinking creatively about utilizing technology in my teaching. It helped me to understand how technology may enhance the engagement of both students and parents. I am a ‘word person.’  This training has reinforced the importance of images and often moving images (videos.) As a participating educator in the TTF workshops, I was able to meet and work with other educators and to expand my professional community.  As a participating synagogue, it facilitated our formation of a Religious School Technology committee and a discussion about future planning (funding) for technology in our religious school.

Some challenges for me in this fellowship have included the introduction of too many apps with insufficient teaching/guidance about how to use them.  It also would be helpful to be exposed to (good) apps specific to Jewish education.  I would appreciate a significant discussion about the nuts and bolts of implementation and felt that the CJP-TTF should have recommended significantly more money allocated by synagogues to both inaugurate the technology and to plan for the future (sustain and enhance technology in their schools.)  It would be very helpful to learn strategies for teaching I-Pad use and apps to students.  As an educator with an awareness of developmental realities, I would appreciate a discussion about developmentally appropriate apps:  which apps are appropriate for K-1, 2-3, 4-5, Middle School, High School and Special Needs, etc.  And specific Pedagogy regarding I-Pad use in learning skills/knowledge and in assessment. 

Kitah Alef Year-long Technology Based Torah Project

I am excited to integrate a few different apps into my classroom next year. I am still working on each of the individual pieces, but the goal throughout the year is to capture the Torah stories, and all of the work my students do in learning about the stories, in a cohesive video to send home and share with parents in May.

We will start the year with an update to my usual parent/student activity of drawing Bereshit. Instead of having paper drawings I will ask each child and their parent to draw their day in the creation story on the iPad and narrate it. I can then link each of the stories together to create one cohesive Bereshit video from the class. I also plan to have my students draw their own versions of stories such as Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality or Jacob and Esau on the iPad and then have them narrate their pictures using Explain Everything. We can also integrate some of the stories using iMovie – for example a “breaking news story” about the Macabees, explaining what happened in the temple, and the steps the Macabees are taking to fix it. “They put the oil in for one day and prayed. I never thought it would work, but today is the 8th day that oil is burning!” Here is an example of what I plan to do for Pesach. There are 11 separate slides in this example because there are 11 students in my class. The ideas is for each child to create one slide and then I would merge them all. The 10 Plagues

At the end of the year I will have different videos for each Bible story and holiday that we covered in Kitah Alef. I will be able to merge all of the videos together and send them home with my final monthly newsletter so that my students will be able to relive the stories and work that they have done as well as share all of it with their parents.

Cohort 7 Reflections

After being part of the Teaching and Technology Fellowship cohort 7, I have a lot of takeaways that I am excited to integrate into my classroom. When I started the fellowship I was excited to learn about new technology, and looked forward to sharing it with my fellow teachers, but was also slightly worried about finding technology/apps that would fit into my young classroom. The projects that I do with my students now usually involve crayons and washable markers, so I wasn’t sure how to integrate an iPad into class. Through this year I have found that my class loves to tell stories, so I focused on this while in the fellowship, and found creative ways to use the apps – such as Explain Everything – to supplement the things my students love instead of trying to create something entirely new. I know that my students this year as well as in years to come will love to integrate iPad and technology into their learning all year long with me.