Links You’ll Love – 3/4/12
Here’s a great resource for some terrific websites for language arts teachers.
Have you noticed? Purim is coming! Here are some delightful links to get you in the Shushan mood:
Students at HUC’s Jerusalem campus put on The Book of Purim, their own parody of The Book of Mormon:
I’ve often wished I could see what Israel was really like in years past, before the car traffic and the fast food restaurants. Here’s a fascinating glimpse of Purim in Tel Aviv… in 1932:
Posted to YouTube by Jacob Gross, this is part of his larger project to pierce together archival footage to show Israel in the early 20th century. He has other videos on YouTube as well, including Jerusalem in 1925:
And, if you’re hankering for a “green Purim,” visit Hazon for their post on healthy, sustainable Purim resources. Don’t forget the fair trade chocolate for your mishoach manot!
Last week because I presented at the Illinois Computing Educators’ annual conference. I gave a half-day workshop on building your PLN (personal learning network). My resources for the workshop can be found here. And did you know that you could peruse lots of presenters’ materials, even if you didn’t attend the conference? Visit the wiki and click on the various links on the right, under Navigate Pages.
Links You’ll Love – 2/24/12
We often speak about the need for reflection in the learning process. Here’s a thought-provoking blog post that addresses it: http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/where-is-reflection-in-the-learning-process/
If you have an image that you’d like to print in a larger size, you might want to try http://www.blockposters.com. Block posters lets you upload an image, decide how large it should be, and then generates the appropriate number of pages. It’s like a puzzle: print them out, and tape them together.
“If day schools want to attract non-Orthodox families, they have to demonstrate that they are committed to passing on the progressive values the parents deeply cherish.” Get your attention? There’s an interesting post on the Avi Chai Foundation blog addressing the need for day schools to educate children to be mensches. To read more, visit http://avichai.org/2012/02/how-do-you-educate-my-child-to-be-a-mensch/
Links You’ll Love – 2/17/12
Explainer.net is a project of NYU’s School of Journalism designed to help people to become better explainers (the explainer is “a genre in journalism that provides the essential background knowledge necessary to follow events in the news,” per the website). It often features great information for those of us who explain lots and lots of things. Check out their feature on eight tools for effective explanation at http://explainer.net/2010/11/8-explanation-tools/. How many do you use? How about your students? I’d love to see an activity where each student chooses one modality.
I know I’ve mentioned Evernote before – check out their newly-designed website for educators at http://www.evernote.com/about/schools/resources/topics/one_to_one/. There are some case studies, a PDF library with information on how people are using Evernote in their classrooms, a discussion forum and more. Do take a moment to check it out!
Links You’ll Love – 2/10/12
It’s February…time to start shaking things up a little. Check out Mrs. Ripp’s blog for a cute post on 10 easy things you can change in your classroom. I think we’ll start taking a dance break in the computer lab! http://mrspripp.blogspot.com/2012/02/10-easy-things-you-can-change-in-your.html
Oprah (remember her?) just taped a two-part special on her visit to Chasidic Brooklyn and speaks a bit about her observations at this video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/09/oprah-hasidic-rabbi-interview-brooklyn-jewish-tour_n_1265684.html. It’s actually quite a nice interview. Having just taken a tour of Crown Heights, a lot of what she said resonated with me.
Fresh Ink for Teens at http://www.freshinkforteens.com, is a project of the Jewish Week, and, as you might guess, is a website written for Jewish teens. It’s very contemporary, featuring articles about the Hebrew Mamita, cheating on SATs and dating.
Sir Isaac Newton – he wasn’t just about gravity, y’know… Turns out he thought – and wrote – quite a bit about theology, mysticism and the like. And in a turn of events worthy of a Spielberg movie, Newton’s works on theology have found their way to the National Library of Israel. There’s an interesting Haaretz article about it at http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-national-library-uploads-trove-of-newton-s-theological-tracts-1.411811 and the collection can be viewed (what? You mean it’s digitized TOO?) at http://jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/mss/newton/. Newton thought a lot about the world to come (and about how it would end), but I bet he never figured we’d be reading his writings over the Internet!
Links You’ll Love
Mission US is an interactive adventure game designed to improve the understanding of American history by students in grades 5 through 8. This multimedia project includes student activities, an educator’s guide, and additional media sources.
Need copyright free images? Do your students need copyright free images? As educators, we really should encourage our students to use them – not every image found on the Internet is there for the using! Check out PhotoPin – it searches photos on Flickr with the Creative Commons designation (something the 8th graders know all about from searching for photos for their book trailers).
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.
Like this:
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 12-02-11
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 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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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
