Below is what I wrote in my new personal blog using blogger:

I feel such conflict about posting on this blog.  On the one hand, I am terrified to put my thoughts out on the web for all to read, see and comment on.  On the other hand, I feel empowered by being able to share my thoughts with an audience that chooses to be interested in them.  I find myself thinking carefully about what I want to share, how I want to express it.  Since reading about blogs, seeing some teachers…

For some reason, everyone is going crazy over Google Docs.  Honestly, I do not share the same fascination.  Maybe I just have bad luck, but this is what happens whenever someone shares a document with me.  I try to click on the document and an error pops up on the screen.  When I finally am able to open the document, the format changes and it is very difficult to read with all the margins changing constantly. 

I also tried to use Google Docs in my classroom.  I was enthusiastic for…

As the world gets smaller due to technology the ability to tear down walls that distance used to create are disappearing at a very fast rate.  This has affected the business world as well as schools.  While in the past we have given our students pen pals to learn about different cultures and ways of life in other countries and areas in the world.  Now with the productivity tools we not only can have the students write to each other but we can have them actually collaborate on…

Blog Limudei Kodesh Teacher of the Week.doc

Limudei Kodesh Teacher of the Week

My blog over the next few months will focus on a different teacher in my school who has recently used technology as part of a lesson or assignment.  This one is from the 8^th grade boys navi…

While many have blogged already on this site about the power of twitter for teachers’ professional development and networking, I would like to share some ways in which twitter can serve as a powerful tool to use in the classroom.

(1) Formative Assessment:

Twitter is a great tool for formative assessment in class- asking students to pose questions or respond to them. By attaching a hashtag for the class, everyone can see each other’s tweets without following them. While…

I have always thought that blogging is another way for people to express their opinions and ideas. Often times the blogs that I stumble upon, in my opinion, are not educational or thought provoking. It’s usually a person who rants about (fill in the blank) in much sarcasm and anger.  I rarely read blogs. However, this week I read and researched about using a blog for a class and I didn't realize how effective blogging could be for students outside of the physical classroom. There are…

Have you ever used twitter for Gemara?  I teach Chumash and Gemara.  I find the social media tools such as twitter and blogging more easily applicable for Chumash.  But I struggle to find these applicable in a Gemara class.  Why does it seem so difficult to apply these tools? 

If you have any Gemara ideas, please share effective strategies for making social media useful and productive. 

The two main purposes of productivity tools seem to be to help ease the work flow and to be able to connect teams together around information. A great tool that I have discovered is http://www.instapaper.com. It is a tool that enables you to instantly save a link to a running file for later viewing or sharing. I have lots to read throughout my day and little time to read it at the moment that it comes across my desk. The ability to…

I barely knew about blogs before reading about them for my edtech class. I think that they can be an invaluable tool for expressing opinion, reflecting upon the ideas of other, and facilitating discussions in a time-convenient manner for students in large and small classes. I currently teach 9-12 Language Arts. I think that homework assignments can be give  in the form of  an open-ended question about the morality of a character's actions. Students can be assigned to give his/her opinion and…

This is my first ever blog post and I must admit that as I begin this I am finding it a bit antagonizing. I am however trying to figure out why. I have been a principal for many years now and have gotten up and spoken in front of large audiences numerous times and have gotten to the point where I don't usually even feel that I am making a speech but more or less just talking to a friend or telling over a story to a small group . So what could it be that even as I write these words is making…

There are many diverse ways Jewish learning and education is being transmitted today! As at Sinai they saw and heard, today that Mesorah continues in new methods. You can hear and visualize Torah in different languages, accents, perspectives all the 70 facets of Torah are represented.…

#EdTech Roundup: All The Hype About Pinterest

Lately, everyone seems to be talking about Pinterest, the graphic based social network that allows users to collect, or ‘pin’ images and links to virtual boards that are organized by topic, or however you’d like them to be set up. Pinterest takes the social bookmarking…

As I have begun to use Google Docs more regularly in my Judaic classes and as I have been posting daily notes from my math classes using Smart Notebook I am beginning to wonder if our students are being helped or hurt by these new technologies.  When I began to post notes using SMART notebook a few years ago the big debate was, "Are we hurting the students and their note-taking skills?"  I think most people have moved beyond this and recognize that note-taking is a much less critical…

Use Google Forms for Online Quizzes

As a computer teacher, I see students for a very short period of time, about 30 minutes a week per class. I have to get alot done, talk really fast and hope that the students understand what I am saying and teaching them. Since technology tools is one of my areas of…

As part of my EdTech class, I'm supposed to post about blogging and its potential benefits in Jewish education.  Taking a look around YU 2.0, it's clear that there are zillions of ways blogging can help, some of which I'm really interested in trying in my classroom.

However, there are some elements of education that go beyond instructional practice and professional development.  We may learn how to be the best teachers of Talmud or prepare our students for the digital era into which…

 Although I have had a twitter account for over 2 years already, I began actually using it this week. Perhaps it's my age, but I must admit, it is slightly overwhelming and fast paced for me. But I don't discourage easily and I have been fascinated by it's value as a resource and it's potential utilitiy for learning.

 Twitter is a powerful connector. While sometimes the tweets are silly, I enjoy reading about Rabbi Ross's excitement that his PBL students were sitting and doing their…

Blogs are often discussed as tools that can be utilized for benefit to a class. They can be useful in and/or out of the classroom, or so people say. I support blog usage out of the classroom, it can create conversation and dialogue after hours. It allows the teacher to bring up topics that there may not be time for and force the students to submit their opinion about it.

However, I do not think blogs are a tool for the classroom. Besides the fact that I think there is no use for…