Links You’ll Love
Dr. Danah Boyd talks about her work studying teenagers and their online activity at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/fashion/danah-boyd-cracking-teenagers-online-codes.html. Dr. Boyd is a senior researcher at Microsoft, an assistant professor at New York University and a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. It’s fascinating stuff.
I know you’ve spent hours thinking about these questions:
- How will the evolving nature of belonging, membership, and affiliation influence Jewish communities of the future?
- How will Jewish life and learning be impacted as we move into an increasingly networked world?
Why don’t you make a four-minute video with your thoughts and submit it to the Jewish Futures Competition? Check out http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e5h3m2v44611a3f1&llr=hvaohecab for more information.
Anybody using Twitter? No? Well, you need to get yourself over there and check out the cool stuff our math classes are tweeting! One group is tweeting as math concepts and the other as famous mathematicians. What a great project! Using the hashtag #sssmsmath, they’re posting such nuggets (all in 140 characters or less) as:
(Charles Babbage) “created a calculator without human error, what have you done?”
(Planes2D) “Someone told me my wardrobe was limited. Little do they know, everything of mine goes on forever.”
(RtTriangle1) “Someone just said I’m kind of square, but I am cool! Right?”
Want to check out the math tweets? Go to https://twitter.com/#!/search-home and put in #sssmsmath.
Links You’ll Love – January 20, 2012
Boxing in Berlin, young Leonard Bernstein and Hank Greenberg… The 2012 Sidney Taylor Book Awards have been announced – check them out here.
You all know what a Google doodle is, right? It’s when Google turns their logo into a graphic in commemoration of something. I know you know some kids who would love to have their doodle on Google! Here’s where they can find out how their idea could end up a Google Doodle. The theme is “If I could travel in time, I’d visit…” and the winner gets a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for their school.
You may have visited Wikipedia on Wednesday and, well, not been able to get any info. Or noticed that Google had those strange blackout boxes on it. This was all in protest of SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. While those venerable sites are all for stopping online piracy, many Internet companies feel the act is too restrictive and would ultimately be an affront to our freedom. Here are several resources about the issue:
http://www.good.is/post/what-would-a-post-sopa-internet-look-like/
There has been for some time a cyber war between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian hacking groups, the latest of which occurred Wednesday as “Israeli hackers unveiled details of approximately 4,800 credit cards from various accounts held in Saudi Arabia.” Read the rest of the story here.
Links You’ll Love – January 6, 2012
Here’s a lovely blog post on doing lunch duty. Much of it goes for any kind of non-classroom situation like recess duty or supervising students on field trips.
Do you or your students use EasyBib for bibliographies? Did you know they have apps for the iPhone and Android phones? Creating a citation couldn’t be easier: just scan the bar code and it creates a citation.
Admongo.gov is a website designed to teach kids about advertising. Students participate in activities geared to answer questions like: Who is responsible for the ad? What is the ad actually saying? What does the ad want me to do?
One of my favorite education authors is Will Richardson. He has a new thought piece on District Administrator: Are you an old school or a bold school? Worth a read.
Here’s another website designed for teachers who rely on YouTube videos and want to present them in a safe environment.
I know you’ve all had that secret desire to learn how to code (as in programming for computers). No? Maybe you have a student or two who would like to… Check out codeacademy to get an idea of how learning to code can be fun. Really!
Links You’ll Love for 12-16-11
Want to know what everyone wanted to know last year? Google Zeitgeist sorted billions of Google searches for the answer :
The technology of storytelling, a map of the brain and more. Here’s a terrific list of the 10 best TED talks to share with your students.
Writing and need positive reinforcement? Do your typing at Written? Kitten!, and every 100 words (or whatever quantity you determine) you’ll be treated to picture of a cute fuzzy kitten. Prefer negative reinforcement? Go to Write or Die. (Hey – I don’t create these, I just find ‘em!)
Links You’ll Love for December 10, 2011
Here’s another Chanukah (or is it Hanukkah, or Hanuko?) video for you. The Los Angeles Jewish Home has a video out that is both a Chanukah greeting and a request for financial support. Whatever it is, it’s really lovely.
Sir Ken Robinson, in his talk on passion, states “… finding purpose in our work is essential to knowing who we really are.” Give yourself a 50-minute present and watch his sermon for The School of Life:
Many of us have casually mentioned that we’re happy we don’t have to take the standardized tests given students. A school board member in Florida decided to do just that. The blog post about his experience can be found here.
More and more libraries are putting content online, and the National Library of Israel is no exception. Their website is easy to navigate and feature-rich. The English website can be accessed here, and the Hebrew site is here.
National Geographic is developing a really stunning education website. It’s still in beta, which means there can be some glitches here and there, but you should check it out. There’s a phenomenal multimedia map about the attack on Pearl Harbor (which, incidentally, was 70 years ago this week). It really is worth a visit. Even if you’re not a history buff, this is an impressive example of what can be done with multimedia resources.
And, finally…gum or no gum? There have been some, shall we say… spirited…. conversations about whether or not students should be allowed to chomp their way through school. Wired magazine posts an intriguing science article worth chewing on (sorry….). Hmmmmm…could the benefits be worth the hassle?
Links You’ll Love for 12-02-11
The folks who bring us the TED Talks – those awesome, usually pretty short inspirational and educational talks I love so much – are counting down to 2012 in an unusual way. Teaming with the Huffington Post, TED is bringing us the 18 ideas (I wonder why it’s 18…) that they think will shape 2012. Ideas! Essays! World changing big thinking! The first entry is “How Algorithms Shape Our World.” Can it get much better? These videos and accompanying essays will be posted here.
Easybib, that venerable website that makes learning how to create bibliographies virtually obsolete, also has a student portal that includes writing and research guides, as well as extensive resources on citations. There is also a teachers’ portal with info on avoiding plagiarism and a signup for their educator newsletter.
Whatcha doin’ February 19th? Consider spending the day learning Jewish stuff at Limmud Chicago. And if you’re interested in a teensy taste of Limmud, come to the Chicago Board of Jewish Education next Sunday (December 11th) from 7:00 until 9:00 pm. I’m excited to be presenting that evening. Visit their website for more information and to register for Chicago Limmud.
Wanna rock out? Check out Jewish Rock Radio. This non-for-profit website endeavors to instill Jewish identity in Jewish youth and young adults through the power of music.
And…more Hanukkah preparation: groove to the little boy strumming the ukulele at the beginning of The Yeshiva Boys Choir doing “Those Were the Nights (of Chanukah):
and boogie down to Candlelight by the Maccabeats:
And lest we forget the venerable source of all things latke, don’t miss The Potato Song:
I apologize in advance for getting the tune stuck in your head.
Links You’ll Love for 11-23-11
Did you ever think you’d see “digital” and “Dead Sea” in the same post? How about the same website? The Israel Museum is digitizing the Dead Sea Scrolls and you can view the collection online. Here’s an interesting article in the New York Times about Google’s efforts to digitize artifacts from around the world.
And while we’re talking about ancient artifacts, check out this article in Haaretz about the Western Wall and what recent excavations have revealed.
Hanukkah resources:
Craig Taubman has generously made his Hanukkah sampler available FOR FREE. Download it here.
Hanukkah folk songs.
Links You’ll Love 11-18-11
Jewish? Reader? Well, then, you’re in luck! The Jewish Book Council has a nifty new website. “Promoting the reading, writing, publication, distribution, and public awareness of books that reflect the breadth of the Jewish experience.” You have to love that the blog is called the ProsenPeople.
Explore the land of the ancient Pharoahs at this PBS.org site. Witness an actual mummy preparation session and more. This site includes videos, 360° imagery (yes! You can walk AROUND a pyramid!) and my personal favorite, 10 ways to make a mymmy.
The Leo Baeck Institute, “a research library and archive that contains the most significant collection of source material relating to the history of German-speaking Jewry,” is working to make its materials available online. Search their database here.
Salman Khan of Khan Academy has turned the academic world on its head with his ideas about how to transform education. I featured his TED Talk last year – here it is if you missed it the first time:
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Links You’ll Love for 11-11-11
If you use YouTube videos in the classroom, you may want to check out Dragontape. Dragontape (which is drag-on-tape, not something that breathes fire…) allows you to essentially create your own YouTube mix tapes, combining bits and pieces of existing YouTube videos. This would be ideal for the times you want to show your classes a few minutes of a few different videos. A similar tool can be found at Veengle.
I’m a big believer in gaming in education. Here’s a fascinating article on how scientific discovery can benefit from gamers.
Consider asking questions. Here’s what happens when a sixth grader asks “How do you make an iPhone app?”
Do you celebrate questions in your class or do you just celebrate answers? Here’s an interesting blog post on the subject.
Chanukah is coming! Well, it’s not exactly around the corner yet, but it is out there. Jacob Richman has put together a nice video with 15 Chanukah-related Hebrew phrases.
Do you encourage inspiration? Want to learn more about inspiration and how to cultivate it? This blog post from the Harvard Business Review states, “…as recent research shows, inspiration can be activated, captured, and manipulated, and it has a major effect on important life outcomes.”
And one more from the HBR Blog about whether or not praise leads to cheating. While this is written for business organizations, I think there’s much we can gain from it about how to change mindset.
Links You’ll Love 11-4-11
Ever wonder about Jewish creativity? David Brooks believes it’s “our own experience of our minority culture clashing with whatever majority culture we’re living in—whether Christian or something else.” Brooks asked some very creative people for their thoughts for this article for Moment magazine.
Wikipedia…love it? Hate it? Scared of it? Haifa University is incorporating writing for Wikipedia in a pilot program where 20 university lecturers and their students will be contributing entries to the Hebrew Wikipedia to fulfill course requirements. Read more about it here.
Thinking about getting started with Twitter? Here’s a great way to begin. Every Wednesday night there’s a Twitter chat going on, using the hashtag #jedchat. Get yourself a Twitter account, log in at 8:00 pm on Wednesdays, search for #jedchat, and talk about Jewish education with educators from around the world. For a great resource on getting started with Twitter, check this out.
About
Debbie Harris is the technology coordinator at the Sager Solomon Schechter Middle School in Northbrook, IL and teaches religious school at Lakeside Congregation for Reform Judaism. Involved in Jewish education for over thirty years, she received an education degree from Northwestern University with a concentration in instructional media. She is skilled in using and teaching desktop publishing, video editing, presentation and animation software; and consults and presents regularly on integrating technology into Judaic studies. Her students podcast, blog, edit video and create claymations. She co-chaired the technology track for CAJE 33 in Vermont, is a SMART Certified Trainer for SMART Notebook version 10 for both Macintosh and Windows, and a 2011 recipient of the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.
When not learning, teaching or writing about technology, Debbie likes to craft. While not particularly highly skilled at anything, she likes to knit, do calligraphy, sew, paint fabric and just generally play with fun toys like scrapbooking supplies, watercolors, and anything with texture. She is incredibly proud of her two daughters; Lori, who teaches English at a community college; and Allie, who is a student at Hebrew Union College in LA.
Look for her at:
Her educational technology wiki
Debbie Does Desktop
Flickr
Twitter
Diigo
YouTube
Ravelry
Email Debbie here
