Links You’ll Love
Can you show Netflix in class? Read this article and learn about this complex copyright issue.
If you’re looking for a fun winter activity, check out this winter-themed “magnetic” poetry activity using Google Draw.
We purchased Hapara this year for our 5th through 8th grade students. Primarily, Hapara is student management software that allows teachers to view (and control) what’s happening on student Chromebooks, but it offers much more than mere management tools. If you’re interested in how it can be used to support student learning, here is a resource.
Happy Hanukkah! Check out Six13’s adaptation of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody
For another Bohemian Rhapsody-inspired song, check out this one about social media
Need some zen activities? Here are some fun websites with no value except they’re well, pretty zen to work with:
Links You’ll Love
This article has some great tips for using Google extensions in the classroom.
The Chrome music lab has all sorts of fun music experiments. You can explore rhythm, melodies, soundwaves and more.
We do a lot of prototyping in the innovation studio: creating, critiquing and revising are a natural part of what happens when you’re creating for the 3D printer or Silhouette cutter. For more on design thinking in the classroom, see this article.
Links You’ll Love
Tizmos is a site that’s similar to Symbaloo, where you can create a visual landing page for your students with easy-to-use links to often-used websites.
Jewish Learning Matters is a website with tons of resources for educators. It’s a project from the Miami School of Education and Social Work. Check it out!
Links You’ll Love
Dogo is a website that supports kids and teachers “engaging positively with current events, books, and movies.”
We Are Teachers has some great Pi Day activities – and they’re not all just for math class!
Google Arts & Culture has partnered with the British Library to bring the magic of Harry Potter to the classroom. This online version of a Harry Potter exhibit includes the series’ original illustrations, a history of witchcraft and wizardry, fantastical beasts, and much more. You can view over 190 items and 10 exhibits right on the Google Arts & Culture site. Step aboard the Hogwarts Express here.
Links You’ll Love
The Librarians’ Internet Index is amazing! This is a searchable, free, curated list of websites maintained by, well, librarians. The site has links to a number of reliable databases as well.
Links You’ll Love
What do you want to discover today? Check out the Smithsonian Learning Lab where you can search from over 1,000,000 resources from among the Smithsonian museums, research center and the national zoo. You can also create collections of your own and share your work.
Want to create educational games? Blended Play lets you create fun games from your own content. There are also some existing games you can use. This is a nice change from Kahoot!
Links You’ll Love
Fake news! Here’s a great article about the future of fake news (spoiler alert: it isn’t going away!) and how to encourage your students to develop the skills they need to ferret it out.
Chrome extension of the week: I know there are a lot of you (you know who you are!) who keep waaaaaaay too many tabs open because you just haven’t had time to get to read all those articles you’re saving. Check out OneTab, which takes all those open tabs and pops them into a list of links. Very handy!
The concept of “extreme learners” is quite fascinating and author Milton Chen does a nice job of summing up what an extreme learner looks like and how to grow them in your classroom.
Links You’ll Love
Check out this acapella rendition of “Rise Up” (no, not the one from Hamilton). Very nice!
Wait! You wanted Hamilton? Ok – check out this one.
Do this now: go to Google and search for סביבון סוב סוב סוב
You know you want a Hanukkah word search! This is very cool. I might have, um, tested it on both a laptop and an iPad.
I know a lot of you are using YouTube in class and wanted to remind you about ViewPure. This website allows you to show YouTube videos without distractions, comments and suggested videos.
Links You’ll Love
Here’s a terrific article about a young woman who came up with an app to address social isolation. Check out her TED Talk!
This is so fun – now you can play 20 questions with Google! This would be a great class activity.
Links You’ll Love
Hour of Code is coming! Okay, it’s not coming until the week of December 4th, but we need to get ready! How awesome would it be if every student spend some time learning about coding that week? Check out these resources about Hour of Code.
If you use your phone or iPad as a scanner – the app CamScanner is invaluable. Try it out!
If you want to step up your presentations or classroom graphics, check out Piktochart. You can start with a snazzy template or create your own.
About
Debbie Harris is the director of educational technology at the Sager Solomon Schechter Day School in Northbrook, IL. Involved in Jewish education for over thirty years, she has an education degree from Northwestern University with a concentration in instructional media and a master’s degree in professional Jewish studies from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. 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, 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 sketchnote and craft. She likes to knit, do calligraphy, sew, watercolor, paint fabric and just generally play with fun toys like scrapbooking supplies and anything with texture. Debbie travels to California every summer to paint tallitot with high school aged campers. Finally, she is incredibly proud of her two daughters; Lori, who teaches English at a community college; and Allie, who is the director of the URJ’s Camp Newman in California.
Look for her at:
Debbie Does Desktop
Flickr
Twitter
Diigo
YouTube
Ravelry
Email Debbie here
MuseForJews 