Using Technology in Course Planning

The Teaching and Technology Fellowship really allowed me to think about how I want to teach for the upcoming year.  Because the school year for the courses I teach ended during the Fellowship, I focused myself on planning for the next school year. 

As some background information, I teach at a Reform synagogue, a Pre-Confirmation class made up of 7th, 8th and 9th grade students.  The structure of the curriculum is flexible and as a faculty we look for opportunities to engage students in Jewish Learning that interests them.

Teaching two courses each year allowed me to consider many different methods.  The first course I planned out was Jews in the News which was focusing more on the content creating aspect of the iPad technology.  Students would access a webquest for the instructions on their task to create a newscast each class about a current event item in Israel or an issue that effects Jewish people.  By using articles found on the internet they would produce a newscast using Tellagmi, iMovie or the green screen application.  The newscasts would be shared on the Temple webpage.

The second course focused on technology as a way of presenting and organizing class materials.  Using Jews on television to explore stereotypes of Jews, students would view select television episodes and through class discussion look for the different ways in which Jews are portrayed.  The introductory lesson, which is linked below, provides several short YouTube clips of some of the shows we would view. Students would be asked to use those clips to brainstorm some of the stereotypes that we might be exploring.

Introductory Lesson Prezi - still in progress but a GREAT start!

During each class discussion we would take notes using Popplet so that at the end of the seven-week course we would have a web of all the sterotryes discussed and examples from more than one television show for each.

Using technology to plan out the courses was in some ways easier than I had expected.  Creating a Prezi was more challenging than I had anticipated and it took me at least 3 tries to be satisfied with what I had created. This could be due to my status as a novice Prezi user.  Its a good thing I have a few more months before class starts to make improvements!

Technology Ideas for a Bible Unit

Studying the Tanakh is an integral part of the curriculum at Kehillath Israel Religious School. In the 4th and 5th grade class, which I teach, the students study the books of Judges and Samuel. While these are interesting books with multi-dimenstional characters and exciting events, there are some challenges to studying them. Most fundamentally, it is difficult for students to imagine living in a world so different from our own. This extends beyond imagining a world with no computers or cars--the students must put themselves in the minds of characters whose worldview, thought processes, goals, and priorities differ vastly from our own. It is for this reason that I developed an introductory unit for Bible study, which can be adapted and used for almost any age group. 

The unit centers around a WebQuest I created called "Discovering the World of the Bible." Its goal is to introduce the students to the ancient world in which our ancestors lived through the study of artifacts from that time period. The students' task is to create a museum exhibit featuring five artifacts from ancient times that they find compelling.  

The WebQuest incorporates the following technologies:

• It is built on a Wikispace platform
• Tellagami is used to introduce the project
• Websites such as that of the Jewish Museum in New York are the main resources the students use to find artifacts
• The students have a variety of options for presenting their final exhibits: Book Creator, Explain Everything, Tellagami, and Popplet. All of these apps can be accessed via the iPad.

The unit is designed to take several class periods. The exact amount of time will likely depend on the students' familiarity with the various technologies that are involved. Before each step, I will need to model the use of various technologies and allow the students ample time to practice with them. The most fundamental skills the students will need in order to complete the project successfully are as follows:

• searching and browsing on the Internet
• saving images to Camera Roll
• recording and playing back voice and other audio
• other app-specific skills

I am very excited about using this WebQuest with my class. I hope that it will be both engaging and educational for them. Please try it out and let me know what you think!

Sample lesson plan for the beginning of the unit:

Context:

This lesson is designed to take 1-2 class periods. It is the first in a 5-10 class series, of which the ultimate goal is to complete the webquest “Discovering the World of the Bible.” Ideally, it would be done at the beginning of the school year, in order to engage and ground students in the historical context of the biblical stories they will study.

Objective:

SWBAT articulate goals of webquest “Discovering the World of the Bible”

SWBAT collect information about historical artifacts for their presentation

Introduction to New Material/I Do:

Teacher	Student
Ask: What do you already know about the world of the Bible? Teacher records answers as students share them.	Students share answers in whole-group discussion.
Distribute iPads and direct students to http://cjpttfipad.wikispaces.com/Discovering+the+World+of+the+Bible	Watch “Introduction” Tellagami video Read “Task” and “Process” sections
Lead discussion	Explain in their own words the goals of the webquest

Guided Practice/Activity/We Do:

Teacher	Student
Direct students to visit “Resources” section to explore various websites containing information about different ancient artifacts. Instruct them to complete “Artifact Graphic Organizer,” found in the same section. Keep time, circulate, and give feedback to students.	Explore websites provided in “Resources” section. Complete “Artifact Graphic Organizer” on 5 artifacts of their choice. These will become the artifacts about which they will create a “museum exhibit.”

Independent Practice/You Do/Assessment/Closure:

Teacher	Student
Ask students to share out what they have found and lead discussion.	Share out the different artifacts that they have chosen for their “museum exhibits.”