Links You’ll Love
Design Thinking is an approach to problem solving that can be implemented in any setting. Here are some awesome resources if you’re thinking about trying it with your students:
Five Chairs Exercise we used in January (I do this with the third and fourth graders)
Links You’ll Love
If you’re interested in using Google Slides for formative assessment, check out this post about using the Pear Deck add-on.
If you’re a Google Classroom user, you might be interested in integrating materials into your Classroom. Check this post out for more info.
I tripped across ReadWorks while looking for student-friendly articles. This is a great resource; teachers can use it for free, and it offers articles, questions sets, vocabulary and more.
Links You’ll Love
StoryboardThat is an awesome website where you can create storyboards and comics. You can create two storyboards a week with the free edition. The site includes background images, graphics, thought bubbles are more.
Don’t know what to write about? Check out StoryStarter for Kids. Students get a random starter sentence to copy and paste into a Google Docs.
Webjets is a very cool digital curation platform. It’s basically a space for you to compile all your resources in one place. You can sign up using your Google credentials.
If you’re a fan of Kahoot! Or Quizlet, check out Gimkit. It’s easy to set up, fast-paced, and you can use Quizlets that you’ve already created.
I introduced Flipgrid last year. For those of you who’d like to explore using it for formative assessment, this blog post explains a nice way to integrate PearDeck.
Links You’ll Love
If you’re looking to integrate STEM into K-2, check out the PictureSTEM Project which offers units that use an engineering challenge and picture books as supports for learning science, mathematics, engineering, computational thinking, and reading.
If you’re looking for free sound effects, visit FreeSound. Everything is creative commons licensed, which means you and your students can use any sound in any project without getting permission from the creator.
If you need a common whitespace that everyone in a class can access, try Twiddla. Basically you create a space, invite others, and anything anyone puts on the screen can be seen by everyone.
If you’re a Google Slides user, you might want to check the Slides Toolbox add-on. It’s got some nice tools, gets great reviews, and is free to install.
BioInteractive is a very nice science site, with loads of resources including posters, videos and articles.
Links You’ll Love
If you’re looking for a way your students can create newspapers online, check out Printing Press. It is Flash-based, so I’m not sure it’ll work on an iPad, but it should be fine on a Chromebook.
ProjectPals is a task-management website that will support your students who are working on independent projects.
WriteReader is a very cool website where students can write books and include photos and narration. You can log in with your Google credentials and it will coordinate with classes that you’ve already set up in Google Classroom. It supports Hebrew text input. The website features images, or you can upload from the computer or search for them on the Internet. Books can be viewed online or downloaded and printed.
If you want to create games that your students can play, check out PurposeGames. It’s free to use, and you can create games like matching games, multiple choice quiz, and type-the-answer. You can also search from games that others have created.
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:
Shadow Puppet Edu
This free iOS App makes it easy for even very young students to create videos in the classroom. They can use it to tell stories or explain ideas. It’s also a great way for them to demonstrate their understanding of a concept that they’ve learned.
First, invite them to begin a new project by tapping the plus sign and then giving the app permission to access the camera roll. Then, ask them to select and add the photos they want their presentation to include. They can choose photos from their own camera roll or choose others by searching among the vetted resources that are included within the app, such as Flickr, Wikimedia, the Library of Congress and NASA. (Don’t worry about the credits; Shadow Puppet Edu will create the image credit citations at the end.)
Once students have chosen and added their images, they can then add a voice over narration. They can also choose to zoom in and out of photos as a story telling technique, or add fun animations to their presentation, such as shooting stars and flying hearts.
Your students can share their finished projects via social media, through email, or just save it their own camera roll.
To use Shadow Puppet Edu, download the free iOS app from the App Store. You do not need to create an account to use the app.
In Your Classroom
- Ask students to demonstrate their Hebrew proficiency by showing a picture of an object along with a voice over recording themselves saying the Hebrew word for it.
- Ask students to create an end-of-the-year slideshow that highlights their favorite projects and experiences from the year.
This is a “Technology Tuesday” post via Behrman House, edited by Ann D. Koffsky . You can find more Behrman House Technology Tuesdays here.
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.
Free Images and Fonts
Check out these free resources for images and fonts:
Stockio
Stockio is a free website featuring photos, fonts and videos that you can use for personal or commercial use with no citation necessary. Just sign up for a free account and search by keyword.
OpenClipArt
OpenClipArt offers free clip art that can be used for personal or commercial projects.
Dafont and 1001 Free Fonts
Dafont has one of the largest selections (over 33,000!) of free fonts that I’ve every seen. You can search for fonts by category or by name, alphabetically. All are free for personal use. Some charge nominal fees for commercial use. 1001FreeFonts offers a similar service.
In Your Classroom
- Teach students about using copyright-free images rather than images without permission straight from Google. You might use it as an opportunity to discuss what Jewish values says about using intellectual property.
- It can be a lot of fun to download new fonts to your computer, but be aware that they can often take up a lot of hard drive space.
This is a “Technology Tuesday” post via Behrman House, edited by Ann D. Koffsky . You can find more Behrman House Technology Tuesdays here.
Links You’ll Love
My friend Peter Eckstein has created a website with digital resources for the Jewish educator. Check it out here.
If you’re teaching about citations, this is a great video.
Are you teaching your students to write for a digital audience? Here are some great tips. Let me know if you want to explore more.
Lots of my colleagues are raving about Mystery Doug. Doug posts short videos about things about which students are asking.
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 