Lesson

I have used my iPad in quite a few lesson plans however for the final presentations for the fellowship I am going to use my Passover lesson plan.

I created a movie in iMovie with a Passover story. I had a Tellegami that was telling the story and it breaks away into a U-tube cartoon I found on Passover. I interject Tellegami in between during the movie to explain what’s what and each time will usually change the backdrop to something relevant to Passover. Or screen shot the movie they are watching and interject that as a backdrop to the Tellegami so it looks connected. As they watch the story I also have slides created in Explain everything of questions or comments that I write for them – their “food for thought” and it is on a chalkboard with my handwriting. The kids like to read this aloud as the movie plays. I usually run this through Tiltshift to enhance speed of the writing to x4 or x8.

In iMovie I add some special affects that the kids will usually find funny and as they watched they were very engaged and when they were polled at the end of class they all said this was a great way to learn about Passover and they like the movie mixed in with the other apps it kept it interesting.

Along with this in Tiny Tap – I have created games for Passover for them to work on at home and practice the 4 questions.

To round the lesson out we build a Passover plate and discuss customs of Passover and I feel the kids have Listened – Seen and Touched using all sensor’s enhancing their understanding.

Reflections

Coming into this fellowship I was very excited and hopeful of expanding any knowledge I may have had or thought I had. I had been using my laptop in my classrooms and I thought that was fairly advanced, however not being part of the iPad or any pad type of technology I knew that I was still way behind.

As we met each week and learned some form of application, I would try the applications within the week in any class that I felt it could be applied. My goal was to see where – what application could fit.

My experience was amazing and this opened an entire world for me that I had been oblivious to.  I learned an abundance of information at times I felt it could be overwhelming in the sense that you want to use everything however that may not possible. The goal is to “right” fit the applications to the class.

I fortunately teach different ages and subjects so this provided me a platform to try different applications on different levels.  Even in a setting where Wi-Fi / Internet connection is not available. As I planned and executed lesson plans utilizing my iPad I would survey the kids to see what their take was and they had some really positive feedback for me and they definitely liked what I had brought into the lessons.

I found the fellowship very educational and I believe it will enhance my teaching methods and my curriculum. I notice that technology is still not as popular within the Jewish Educational system but it seems to be growing and I feel that the teachers participating in this fellowship are being awarded a great opportunity to be in the forefront of bringing technology into the classrooms.

This is a great tool to interweave within each curriculum and I sat and evaluated each grade, age and ability to use iPad in the class. This has created awesome opportunities not only for classwork but it has provided an opportunity for me to set up webpages the kids work on at home and they come to class prepared and more confident with themselves because they have a connection to me – their teacher at home and they practice with me using web pages set up for homework.

In summary I feel that I came in expecting to learn the basic concept of iPad usage and I feel I am walking away extremely confident in my capabilities with an iPad, I feel I can provide amazing lessons plans that are educational and engaging to my students and I feel a drive to continue on and learn more and expand on what we have done thus far to create stimulating an engaging lesson plans that take Jewish Education to that next level.

Some Preliminary Reflections: So What's the Big Deal?

When Svetlana came to visit (see my "In the Classroom" post), I shared my slightly ironic view that I found my choice for our class, "Pesach Karaoke," a bit perplexing.  Why, I asked - knowing full well that the students would immediately engage with the app - was iPad use so much more powerful than the traditional learning that I could have (and have) provided to the students:  a piano accompaniment, drums handed out to the students for fun accompaniment, and a list of lyrics?  What was it about the iPad experience that so fascinating and captivating?

The immediacy, according to Svetlana.  Students could receive instant gratification and experience learning directly through interactivity.  But couldn't I achieve the same thing by recording a "traditional" performance, I wondered?

As we sat with the iPad with the dancing figure, the words, the ability to turn the music on and off as well as controlling the voice, a thought started to occur to me.  Our subsequent GarageBand recording, with the students vying to give input, corrections and even control the editing themselves, confirmed my thought:  Empowerment.  The students were no longer subject to my whims as leader; they had control!  And they used that control wisely, to learn - even chiding an occaisional "outlier"  for not participating fully or seriously enough.  The balance between empowerment and responsibility had been struck!  Eureka!

P.S.  My next class involved an app that allowed for coloring pre-drawn scenes from the Exodus story.  Needless to say, it was way more fun on the iPad than with crayons, especially the ability to simply hit the "trash" button if the drawing was not 100% acceptable and start all over again from a fresh template.

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.