classroom ideas
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Improv games are a captivating way to focus students’ energy and attention, and bring students to the present moment. Here are some ideas to try with your students as you begin the new year.Read more » -
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We've got a sample of a lesson from Make, Create, Celebrate about Rosh Hashanah and its key theme of reflection.Read more »
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Posted: October 03, 2018||
Written by Debbie Harris, Tech Tools brings you excellent technology tips to inspire you and add creativity to your teaching.Read more »
The Technology
Classroom Screen is a free website that provides several really handy tools for you to use in your classroom. Some require that you have a projector or interactive whiteboard, but others are useful even without one. To use Classroom Screen, simply open the website, wait a couple of seconds for it to load, and get to work. There is no account for which to register, and no money to pay (although the author does invite contributions). Classroom Screen works on a computer or tablet.
My favorite Classroom Screen tools are:
- Work symbols. This allows you to post an icon on screen that tells students what their voice level should be during your lesson (whisper, working together, silence, or ask a neighbor)
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The most important part of classroom management is building respectful relationships with and between your students, according to Batsheva Frankel, author of The Jewish Educator's Companion.Read more » -
Posted: August 15, 2018||Read more »
Children love listening to stories. Whether they’re family stories told around the table, or books read aloud before bedtime or in a group with peers, stories are powerful ways of communication for young people.
Ann Koffsky, an editor at Apples & Honey Press, points out that “our Jewish tradition is full of stories. It starts with the Torah and continues with the Aggadah and Midrashim in the Talmud.” Storytelling is also part of our more modern tradition with the Haggadah on Passover and the stories of Chassidic masters, like the Baal Shem Tov and Rebbe Nachman.
In The Secret of Happy Families, author Bruce Feiler describes research findings that “knowing stories of their family and the history of their family is best single predictor of children’s emotional health and happiness.” When we tell our children the traditional stories that have been handed down to us from generation to generation, we are not just transmitting a code of behavior,
