Category: 21st Century Learning

A WORD in the Hand is Worth Two in the CLOUD

My last few blog posts have been long and heavy…so, let’s switch gears.

Readers of this blog know a few things…

…I will make bad puns.

…I will take 200 words to say something better said in 20.

…I will use a complicated word to say something better said simply.

…I love ellipses.

…I will worry aloud that only my mother and the people she shares with on Facebook read my blog.

…I will insert a punny Spotify playlist.

…and

…I love word clouds.

If you are unfamiliar with the idea, in a nutshell, word clouds (through an algorithm only they know) takes any piece of written text and represents it graphically in a way which highlights frequently-used words.  It is a fantastic device for visually summarizing the essence of a written text.  Another great feature is that, not only can you cut-and-paste in any written document, you can type in blogs, websites, etc., and it will go back and search them for content, add it all up, and spit out a word cloud representing the sum of all its written content.

For many years, I have used word clouds to visually summarize the content of this blog and compare it to years past in order to reflect on whether I am living up to its goals.

I will have to wait a bit longer to do a comparison on how things evolve here at OJCS, but even a quick glance at the current state of things is illuminating.

 

It is definitely not perfect, but it hits many of the high notes.  The two most important mission/vision issues under exploration?  Jewish mission/vision and French outcomes.   The most important paradigm shift?  Transparency. Digging deeper, you can see interesting patterns in what we are emphasizing (time, new, share, etc.) or what might be missing (innovation, technology, personalization, etc.).  Either way it really gets you thinking…

If you see something interesting in the OJCS word cloud..let us know in the comments!

Quick Pedagogy Epilogue:

Who is using word clouds in their schools, classrooms or organizations?  You can check classroom blogs, school websites, the Torah, your mission statement, a behavioral code of conduct and so on.

How fun!

So…let’s word cloud up!  Find a text that is meaningful to you, create a word cloud, and find a way to share it.  If I can write a post with less than 400 words, you can do it!

Les Fichiers de Transparence: Parlons français à OJCS

OK, I cheated.  My French has barely made it past, “Bonjour,” but I wanted to set the right tone for this conversation and asked for a translation.  You’ll forgive me for conducting this conversation about French in English, but this will sadly be one aspect of the job where I cannot lead by example.  At least not yet…

This blog post marks the third in a series of “Transparency Files” posts designed to lay out the significant conversations we are engaging in this year in order to become the best OJCS we can be. The first was about “transparency” itself and the kind of culture we are creating.  The second was about reimagining and clarifying our Jewish mission and vision.  [Quick update: We held our first Rabbinic Advisory Committee meeting this week.  Pulpit rabbis from across the spectrum participated.  The meeting was serious, engaging and meaningful.  I look forward to offering a more substantial update, including how other stakeholder groups will begin to launch their conversations, soon.)  Here, I want to lay out the beginning of a conversation about French so we can finally put to bed what either is or is not true about French at OJCS, its outcomes, and what it prepares you for, or not, for Grade Nine.

What I find most interesting about this conversation is how frustratingly frequent it has taken place in recent years despite how incredibly knowable the outcomes actually are.  Unlike our Hebrew and Judaic standards, which are entirely our own to determine and whose outcomes are entirely ours to assess, our French standards come from the Ontario Ministry of Education and the schools our graduates attend perform assessments.  So why is this so confusing and chronically debated?

I have spent some time learning a lot more about French education in Ottawa than I ever would have imagined and still have much more to do in order to be as authoritative as I will need to be as the conversation evolves.  But here is what I (think I) know…

Our current French studies program is built upon a public school model that increasingly no longer exists.  The majority of public schools in Ottawa used to operate three tracks for French: Core, Extended and Immersion. OJCS, as a Jewish day school with an entire Jewish Studies curriculum to manage – including a third language – reasonably adopted Core and Extended into its program. Over time, however, as public schools continued to feature greater and greater immersion, the middle track – Extended – began to be dropped.  More and more public schools (writ large) now only offer both a Core and an Immersion track, and there are more public schools who specialize in French immersion. “Extended” is ceasing to function as a meaningful distinction, at least in terms of how French functions in any of the next schools of choice. Graduates of OJCS’ Extended French program may soon only have two choices in high school – Core or Immersion.

And this leaves us with the critical question for families who view French fluency as defined by the ability to pass the bilingual exams in Grade Twelve: Does OJCS’ Extended French program prepare students to successfully transition into a high school’s French immersion track in Grade Nine?

And the answer to that question leaves us with the critical question for OJCS, if meeting the need for French fluency is non-negotiable for a critical mass of Jewish parents: What should OJCS do about it?

Let’s pause for a moment to name some things that feel important.

This is an important issue for the families for whom it is an important issue.  Without current survey data, it is hard to know exactly where to peg the number, but let’s assume it is significant enough to represent an existential threat to the school’s long-term viability.

Our current Core French program is exactly the same (at least in time allocated and curricular benchmarks) as all other schools, with the same outcomes, tracked in the same ways all the way through Grade Twelve.  Families for whom Core French is sufficient are presently having their needs met.

Our current Extended French program isn’t something to sneeze at! It is not an immersion program, but it is an immersive experience. Families for whom Extended French is sufficient are presently having their needs met.

The connection between Grade Four and French fluency is a function of the evolution of French immersion in Ottawa public schools. There are currently programs offering a “Middle Immersion” entry point at Grade Four.  [The other entry points are “Early” (Grade One) and “Late” (Grade Nine).]  There are no guarantees as educational pendulums continue to swing that those will continue to be the (only) entry points.  The fact that for some number of parents the Grade Four entry point has become their critical decision-making window is absolutely important, but not necessarily determinative.  Our responsibility is to be clear about our Grade Eight French outcomes to ensure our current and prospective families have all the options available for Grade Nine, including French immersion.

Our graduates begin their next schools of choice in the French program that we recommend them for.  If we recommend a student graduating out of our Extended French program for French immersion in Grade Nine, that student is in French immersion if they choose to.  That’s a fact.

Let’s return to our two critical questions.

Does OJCS’ Extended French program prepare students to successfully transition into a high school’s French Immersion track in Grade Nine?

Here is where data counts.  There is ample anecdotal evidence to suggest that the answer to this question is “yes”.  I have read years’ worth of testimonials from graduates and have spoken with numerous parents whose kids did, in fact, successfully transition from our Extended French program to high school’s French immersion, stuck with it through Grade Twelve, and earned their bilingual certificate.  And yet, there is a persistent narrative that this cannot be true.  I have spoken with many current parents who share this belief.  They genuinely believe that if we don’t offer an apples-to-apples French immersion program, then you cannot, by definition, successfully function in a high school French immersion program.

So how can we find out?

By doing some research – both quantitative and qualitative.  We are going to survey our graduates in both Grades Nine and Twelve to see how many of the students we recommend for French immersion…

…opt to stay in French immersion.

…feel prepared to be successful in French immersion.

…are successful in French immersion.

…earn their bilingual certificate in Grade Twelve.

We are going to explore whether there are other key variables which may impact a successful path from here to there such as…

…coming from a French-speaking home.

…participation in French-langauge extracurricular activities.

…use of a French tutor either during their time at OJCS or in high school.

We have also begun direct conversations with high schools.  I have met with the heads of Sir Robert Borden High School and Ashbury College (to begin with) and they are providing us with data about our French outcomes.  I have meetings scheduled with a variety of other schools as well.

The bottom line is that this question is eminently answerable.  Our graduates are either capable (with or without conditions) of transitioning into French immersion in high school or they are not. They are either successfully prepared or they are not.  We can and will answer the question.

If it turns out that the answer is, “yes,” then we have a serious responsibility to improve our marketing.  Schools are only as good as the stories they tell and the stories told about them.  And right now the story of OJCS is that it lacks adequate French to achieve fluency with all that that means in Ottawa.  If that isn’t the story, then we better start telling the true story as loudly and as often as possible.

If it turns out the answer is, “no,” then we have a serious responsibility to revisit our school’s mission and vision.  There are French immersion Jewish day schools in Montreal, I’ve been to see a few.  If it turns out that we actually cannot provide adequate French to achieve fluency, then we better figure out what that means so we can be transparent with families about what you can and cannot expect from your OJCS education.  And we’ll have to decide what kinds of French programs we need to have in order to remain viable.

This is an urgent issue and we are addressing it with due urgency.

The research is ongoing and the deliverable is intended to be shared out in writing when complete and discussed in a Town Hall setting that we are looking to schedule in January/February for current Grades Two-Three families and any Francophone family for whom this is an important discussion.  Stay tuned.

In the meanwhile, we have an incredibly talented French department who pour their hearts and souls into our Core and Extended French programs.  They take great pride in their work and in the accomplishments of their graduates, as should we all.

Can OJCS answer the critical questions about its French outcomes? Will OJCS effectively share the answers to those questions with all its stakeholders?  Are current, former and prospective families invited to share their feedback with us as we do our work?

As they say…J’en mettrai ma main au feu!

Shofar So Good!

It has been wonderful to walk the school, to feel the positive energy oozing through the walls and see the smiling faces of our students and parents.  As we say this time of year, “Shofar so good!”

Our newest faculty members are acquitting themselves with great aplomb and our returning teachers have plenty of new tricks up their sleeves to mix with their tried and true excellence.  Hopefully those of you who were able to join us for last night’s “Back to School” night saw evidence of that firsthand.  The focus of the evening was appropriately on the teachers, but we did break some news during the sweaty opening in the Gym that I want to make sure didn’t get lost in the mix and/or gets to all the parents who were unable to be with us.

New Parking Procedures for Morning Drop Off

We briefly described what our new parking procedures will be for morning drop-off and shared that they will begin as soon as we make a few adjustments to the parking lot to make things as clear and as simple as possible.  It should not be more than a week or so before we begin.  The new rules are not that much different than the old ones, but will require some adjustment from parents to ensure the safety of our children.  You will have two choices upon arrival to the lot in the morning.

You are welcome to park in a legal parking spot and spend as much time with your children (before the door opens) or your friends as you like.  You can then physically escort them (or they can escort themselves if old enough) through the crosswalk or on the back sidewalk onto school grounds as you like.

Or you can drop-off in the carpool lane.  There will be painted, designated spots (most likely four) at the front of the carpool lane where you may stop your car to let your child(ren) out on the school-facing side of your car (only).  Once the designated stops empty their carloads, we will wave the next cars down and so on until the carpool line is complete.  You may not turn your car off and park in the carpool lane.  You may not unload your car in the carpool lane unless you are in a designated spot.  The carpool lane is designed to give parents a safe and expeditious way to drop off children.  The parking lot is designed to give parents as much time and space to drop off children as they prefer.

You will be notified when the new rules will go into effect and there will be plenty of security and administrative staff outside to ensure a smooth launch.  Your cooperation with these new procedures is appreciated.

Hot Lunch Program

We are pleased to announce the launch of a hot lunch program at OJCS!  The food will be provided by Babi’s Restaurant and delivered each day directly to your child(ren)’s classroom.  This is a pilot so your feedback on any part of the program is welcome.  Please pick up a November menu from the Main Office and/or look for menus both coming home and soon online.

Google Classroom

So.  The good news is that our entire teaching faculty has embraced the use of Google Classroom in new and exciting ways that enhances our students’ experiences and engages our parents’ participation.  The bad news is that we totally bungled the roll out of new student email accounts making it extremely frustrating for parents to ensure their children’s and their subscriptions.  The good news is that we have largely fixed the problem.  The bad news is that we will likely need y’all to re-activate new accounts and re-subscribe.

What happened?

Our normal student formula for student emails is “first name.last [email protected]”.  But we mistakenly issued them in the same formula as our faculty emails, which is “first initial.last [email protected]”.  So each student in Grades K-3, plus each new student in Grades 4-7 was accidentally given the wrong email addresses.  Some succeeded in activating; others failed.  Some succeed in joining Google Classroom; others failed.

What have we done?

We have/are re-issuing correct student email addresses to each student in Grades K-3, plus each new student in Grades 4-7 with default passwords.  Please provide your child(ren)’s teacher(s) with new passwords, should you choose to change them, so that we can assist at school should a child forget his/her password.

OK, so my child has an active OJCS email account.  Now what?

From here it should be easy…

There are two ways families engage in Google Classroom.  Each child will be subscribed into the appropriate Google Classroom(s) as a student.  Each parent will be subscribed into their child(ren)’s Google Classroom(s) as a guardian.  [If a parent does not have a Gmail account, s/he will be prompted to create one.  You cannot subscribe to Google Classroom without a Gmail account.]

Here’s what it looks like from the guardian perspective…

If I click “Accept”…

If I have a Gmail account, I click “Sign In”…

…and select my preferences for the digest.

If I don’t have a Gmail account, I create a new account and it will then update and take you the page above.

What about class codes?

If you receive a prompt for a class code, something has gone amiss.  Each Google Classroom does have a class code, but if your child was correctly invited as a student with their correct and activated OJCS email address and you were correctly invited as a guardian, you will not need to enter a class code.

What does it all mean?

The student subscription provides you with full, unfettered access to the Google Classroom.  The guardian subscription provides you the choice of a daily or weekly digest of new postings (minus the bells and whistles of pictures/videos).  Therefore, if a parent wishes to see all that is there, that parent must either sit with their child who is logged on or must log on as their child.  Families can decide together what makes the best sense both to instill responsibility and accountability in our children.  As a rule of thumb, parents may want to begin sharing their children’s accounts at the K-3 level and begin to separate into student/guardian at the 4-8 level, but this decision is entirely up to each family.

Why are we doing all of this?

Our goal for this year is to really be sure Google Classroom is the best platform for all that we want to do at OJCS and the only way to be sure is to really use it.  So we are.  Once the technical issues are behind us and we are fully engaged in its use, we are going to transparently decide whether or not the future of OJCS will be on Google Classroom or not.  Regardless, the skills that our students, teachers and parents are learning to use Google Classroom will be easily transferred to any other kinds of online educational platforms, so this training will not be for naught!

I invite you to speak with your child(ren)’s teachers or me should you continue to have questions or issues with Google Classroom. We will be happy to individually troubleshoot what lingering issues we have until we are all 100% up to speed.

And now for something completely different…

unnamedThe Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins next week and is the most well-known of the Jewish “New Year’s” (we actually have four different ones, including Tu B’Shevat). Additionally, since most of us also follow the secular calendar, we have an extra one each year on the eve of December 31st.  And finally, the start of school provides yet another “new year”.  Putting it all together, suffice it to say, we have ample opportunities each year to pause and reflect on the year that was and to hope and dream about the year that is yet to be.

This is the time of year that schools engage in all sorts of creative ways to perform tashlikh – a ceremony in which we cast off the sins of the past with an eye towards improving our behavior for the future.  A common activity for our youngest students has them draw a picture and/or write about a behavior they want to avoid doing again – mistreating a sibling, being disobedient to a parent, not being a good friend. etc.  After they make their project, they crumble it into a ball and throw it into the trash. Bye-bye bad behaviors!

Were it only that easy!

All schools count “character education” as part of their mission. All educators consider it part of their already challenging jobs to help children grow and develop as human beings. Part of what I enjoy about Jewish day schools is that we get to make that part of our curriculum explicit.  We are in the business of making menschen and during the High Holiday season, business is good!

So who will we become this year?  Beyond all our academic hopes and dreams, will this be the year we become who we were meant to be?  Will we live up to our own lofty expectations?  Will we be better children, better students, better teachers, better siblings, better partners, better spouses, better colleagues, better friends – will we be a better “us”?

As the eve of a new Jewish Year approaches, it is my most sincerest hope that this is the year we’ve been waiting for.  To all the teachers, staff, parents, students, donors, supporters, and friends in this special school- thank you for your enthusiasm and your hard work.  5778 is shaping up to be a quite an amazing year! From our family to yours, “Shanah tovah!”

Trifurcation: Three Paths Forward From “Innovation Alley”

[Originally posted in my final Prizmah blog post in “Innovation Alley“.]

As I linger one last time in Innovation Alley, permit me the opportunity to bookend this blog post with a few, brief personal thoughts…

What a blessing these last four crazy years of professional life has been for me!  Truly.  From a headship I treasured at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, to an executive directorship I was just figuring out at the Schechter Day School Network, into a vice presidentship I never anticipated here at Prizmah – with overlapping timelines and characters, I feel like I’ve enjoyed an entire compressed career without a forwarding address.  It is dizzying to think about, but the feeling that best captures my attitude as I prepare (again!) to shift lanes is simply gratitude.  I am forever enriched for the experiences and relationships these last years have brought me.

“Gratitude” is also an appropriate word to describe how I feel about my year at Prizmah.  To have had a chance to dig deep in the world of innovation, if only for a year, has opened my eyes as to what is possible and has inspired me to play my part to help the possible become reality.  At the heart of things, that’s what this work is really about – helping Jewish day schools transform teaching and learning to the greater good of the Jewish People.  All the rest is commentary…

Do I wish we had accomplished more in Year One?  Yes.

It is certainly the case that the most obvious, externally-facing work we did this year was the “Playground” at Prizmah’s inaugural conference.  There were smaller successes in terms of edJEWcon (which I’ll discuss below) and there were/are a ton of internal conversations that have contributed to other of Prizmah’s work, but in terms of the larger catalyzing contributions that we described upon launch, it is perfectly fair to note that we simply didn’t get there…at least not yet.

Trifurcation

Since sharing back in January both Prizmah’s plan to reincorporate “Innovation” back into the corpus (instead of it remaining as a distinct department) and my plan to continue my career path elsewhere once my transition responsibilities were complete, we’ve been sorting through how (some of) the distinct components of the “Innovation Department” will move the work forward in the year to come.  I am pleased to share with you how three of these components are taking shape for the year to come: Prizmah, edJEWcon, and…well…me.

Prizmah

The story of innovation at Prizmah will no longer be mine to tell, but I can assure you that it will continue.  In addition to the innovative work which will now weave itself into the fabric of the whole, I am hopeful that three of the current vehicles for sharing and discussing innovation will not only continue, but grow and evolve in the hands of my current (and perhaps new) colleagues moving forward.  This includes the blog you are now reading, a standing column of the same name in HaYidion, and Reshet Innovation (for Prizmah members).  I look forwarding to seeing how these vehicles are improved (or changed/replaced) with new thinking and new leadership.  Furthermore, Prizmah plans to continue advancing the powerful insights framed by edJEWcon – notably the approach to active capturing, documenting, reflecting and sharing around use of technologies and innovation.  Finally, it is my hope and expectation that entirely new innovative ideas and opportunities for uplifting the field will come from the work Prizmah will share, launch, link, catalyze and support in the years to come.

edJEWcon

As you likely gathered from the last paragraph, edJEWcon itself will no longer continue as a branded program of Prizmah.  We are pleased that the work of edJEWcon has made a positive impact on Prizmah and will live on not only as described above, but also in the person of edJEWcon co-founder Andrea Hernandez who continues on as part of Prizmah’s team with “innovation” part of her ongoing portfolio.  This does not mean the end of edJEWcon!  As has been the case (more times than we could have guessed!) in the past, we (Andrea, co-founder Silvia Tolisano and I) will revisit edJEWcon’s value proposition with funders and the field and look forward to sharing our thoughts on edJEWcon’s future contributions to thought leadership, social media, and work in the field on its website soon.  We look forward to active collaboration with Prizmah when possible in future endeavors.

Me

As for me, I am preparing to take all that I have learned these last three years and apply it to my return to the headship as the incoming Head of the Ottawa Jewish Community School.  I don’t know how “innovative” I’ll be on Day One, but you can continue to follow my journey on my website or on social media.

As it says in the Mishnah: “Lo alecha ha’mlacha legmor…” – “It is not incumbent on you to finish the work, neither are you free to exempt yourself from it.”  (Mishnah: Avot, 2.16)  It has been an honor and a career highlight to have had the chance to help birth Prizmah and be part of its first year of life.  I look forward to watching it grow and succeed with, perhaps, a few more degrees of separation, but no less pride and joy.

Kol tuv and l’hitraot…

There is a Price to Pay for Having a Price to Pay: Where Should Innovation Live in the Jewish Day School Ecosystem?

[Originally posted in my Prizmah blog, “Innovation Alley“.]

When you live your life by the school calendar – as I have only ever done – you know that we are in the season for closings and openings.  The period of the omer in many Jewish day schools is not simply the counting up from Passover to Shavuot; it is often the mad rush to do all that needs to be done to close out the year in which we are in and to lay the foundation for the year to come.  What is true for Jewish day schools is also true for the organizations that serve them and Prizmah is no exception.  We, too, are in the process of assessing the year that (is) was and setting expectations for the year that is to come.  As I have indicated before, it will be my intent (in a May blog post) to clarify how Prizmah intends to engage with Jewish day schools in the innovation space.  And in the spirit of tying up loose ends, I have clarified and shared my post-Prizmah plans and how to follow my journey when a new (school) year begins.

Here, in my penultimate “Innovation Alley” blog post, I’d like to zoom in on how disruption and collaboration function – or don’t – in the Jewish educational ecosystem.

Fun fact.  JEDLAB, edJEWcon, and the I.D.E.A. Schools all began around the same time with folks who knew (and know) each other well.  They were each created to be disruptive, innovational forces in the Jewish educational world.  They were each dreamed up by practitioners unsupported and unconnected to the hierarchy (at least at the times of their launches).  They all generated a wave of positive Jewish press around the time of their launch and early work.  They then took different paths, received different amounts of funding and patronage, were (or weren’t) connected to larger organizations and foundations, engaged (or didn’t) in fee-for-service work, added/subtracted leadership, collaborated, shared, etc.  Each one evolved along its sui generis path.  I don’t speak for JEDLAB or the I.D.E.A. Schools.  They speak (wonderfully) for themselves.  What I’m interested in is what they (along with edJEWcon) represent – three different models for encouraging innovation in the Jewish educational ecosystem.

A largely democratic, leaderless, agenda-free, extremely popular Facebook group…

A clear set of ideas for how to transform teaching and learning in a Jewish day school through project-based learning, packaged with coaching and a small network of fellow travelers, at a price…

An ever-shifting collection of ideas about connecting schools interested in 21st century learning through conferences, thought-leadership, fee-for-service coaching, a website…

…what can we learn from these different attempts to encourage increased innovation in the Jewish education space and Jewish day schools?  How should Prizmah think about its role in supporting innovation in Jewish day schools in light of this learning?

Having had the unique experience of shepherding edJEWcon from a passion project of a small Jewish day school, to a signature program of a national organization, to a crossroads as that national organization became part of an even larger national organization, here’s what I presently believe to be true:

  • It is a much sexier story to disrupt from below or from the outside.
  • There is a price to pay for having a price to pay.  Whatever skin in the game you gain through fees you seem to lose in global enthusiasm and participation, especially true for folks who view themselves as innovators, entrepreneurs and disrupters.
  • People love to ask their questions and get answers.
  • You can transform teaching and learning in Jewish day schools.
  • There are truly inspiring educational leaders throughout the system doing amazing work.  And that work remains largely unconnected…

We have an abundance of networks to join, listservs to subscribe to, blogs to follow, etc., but we (edJEWcon, Prizmah, the field) have failed to create a vehicle for facilitating and supporting innovation that truly incorporates the kind of transparent sharing and active collaboration our schools and children deserve.  At least so far…

As Prizmah contemplates its role in this work moving forward, here are some of the guiding questions we’ll be contemplating:

  • Does the world need another network (reshet) for “innovation” or would a “network of networks” be more appropriate?
  • How can we inspire a field wide culture of meaningful sharing?
  • What really is “thought leadership” and does it matter?
  • Where will new ideas come from?  Who is doing R&D?  Who is funding it?

Feel free to add questions or suggestions of your own to the comments below or in any of the social media you used to get here.

10 Quotes to Inspire Innovation in Education

[Originally posted in my Prizmah blog, “Innovation Alley“.]

“In quoting others, we cite ourselves.”
― Julio Cortázar, Around the Day in Eighty Worlds

As we (Prizmah) continue to work on our plans for next year, which we look forward to sharing out upon readiness – and I look forward to discussing its connection to ongoing activity in the innovation space as discussed previously – I wanted to make sure that some of the learning that my team has done this year about innovation was captured and documented.  We have had the blessing to collectively read a variety of books, speak with a variety of folk and even visit a variety of places as part of our process.  I thought it might be fun (wee!) and possibly useful to those who like to keep quotes handy as triggers for meetings, blog posts, papers, etc., to share our learning through the quotes we actually collected and shared with each other during this year of learning.

So without further adieu and in no particular order, I hope you may be as inspired to think differently about teaching and learning, schooling, and leadership as we were…

“As leaders in education, our job is not to control those whom we serve, but to unleash their talent.  If innovation is going to be a priority in education, we need to create a culture where trust is the norm.” – George Couros, The Innovators Mindset

“The first step in teaching students to innovate is making sure that educators have opportunities to be innovators themselves.” – Suzie Boss, Bringing Innovation to School: Empowering Students to Thrive in a Changing World

“You cannot empower students to be self-directed, responsible, critical-thinking people if they can’t ask their own questions. At that point, you’re teaching compliance rather than responsibility.” – A.J. Juliani and John Spencer, LAUNCH: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student 

“What doesn’t work any longer is our education system’s stubborn focus on delivering a curriculum that’s growing increasingly irrelevant to today’s kids, the outmoded standardized assessments we use in an attempt to measure our success, and the command-and-control thinking that is wielded over the entire process. All of that must be rethought.” – Will Richardson, Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere

“Curiosity is, therefore, strongly correlated with intelligence. For instance, one longitudinal study of 1,795 kids measured intelligence and curiosity when they were three years old, and then again eight years later. Researchers found that kids who had been equally intelligent at age three were, at eleven, no longer equal. The ones who’d been more curious at three were now also more intelligent, which isn’t terribly surprising when you consider how curiosity drives the acquisition of knowledge. The more interested and alert and engaged you are, the more you’re likely to learn and retain. In fact, highly curious kids scored a full twelve points higher on IQ tests than less curious kids did.” – Amanda Lang, The Power Of Why: Simple Questions That Lead to Success

“One of the most important questions any school or teacher can ask is simple: ‘How can we be more thoughtful about what we do?’ Unfortunately, it’s not the question we ask most frequently. The question schools and teachers have fallen in love with—’What more should we be doing?'” – Chris Lehmann and Zac Chase, Building School 2.0: How to Create the Schools We Need

“What did they know? They knew that human qualities, such as intellectual skills, could be cultivated through effort. And that’s what they were doing—getting smarter. Not only weren’t they discouraged by failure, they didn’t even think they were failing. They thought they were learning.” – Carol Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

“You can lament the changes that are happening today—tomorrow’s history—convincing yourselves of the negatives and refusing to be a part of a constantly changing culture. Or you can shake off your technochondria and embrace and accept that the positive metamorphosis will continue to happen, as it has so many times before. Young people today are building a new language, not demolishing an old one. And as you will soon see, developments like these new words are helping create significant and meaningful new communities and new relationships that are an essential part of our changing culture and our wireless future.” – Nick Bilton, I Live in the Future & Here’s How It Works: Why Your World, Work & Brain Are Being Creatively Disrupted

“The new survival skills—effective communication, curiosity, and critical-thinking skills—“are no longer skills that only the elites in a society must muster; they are essential survival skills for all of us.” – Yong Zhao, World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students

“Establishing prototyping as a core competence for innovation, requires more than creating a research and development department or team.  It requires school wide value for innovation, understanding of innovation processes, and that the bumps and disruptions are worthwhile discomforts of relevant student learning and success.” – R&D Your School: How to Start, Grow, and Sustain Your School’s Innovation Engine

The Story of #Prizmah17 #Playground

[Cross-posted from my Prizmah blog, “Innovation Alley“.]

It has just been a few days since returning from Chicago, but I am still thinking and reflecting on all that took place…

There will be other reflections to be shared about the overall experience, but my piece of #Prizmah17 was the “Playground” and what I want to do first is use one of my favorite reflective apps, Storify, to summarize and share the story of what took place.

Coming soon?  Taking what we learned and applying it to the work Prizmah plans to do.  Stay tuned!

If you would like a brief tour:

 

 

If you would like a full tour:

10 Innovative Ideas for Any School or Grade Level

[Cross-posted from an interview I did for Prizmah’s December Newsletter.]

10 Innovative Ideas for Any School or Grade Level

by Dr. Jon Mitzmacher, Executive Director of the Schechter Day School Network and VP of Innovation, Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools

All schools have different capacities for incorporating innovation into their curricula; however, using new teaching methods and formats for teaching keep the classroom fresh, appeal to learners of all levels, and contribute to a sense of fun in the educational environment. So we quizzed Dr. Jon Mitzmacher about how all schools can infuse more innovation into their students’ daily experience.

Mitzmacher recommended these ten ideas, noting that almost all of them could be applied to any subject or grade level with minimal adjustment. He also pointed to the importance of having what educator George Couros refers to as “the innovator’s mindset” — that teachers and administrators are willing to take chances, learn from failure, have a growth mindset, and a culture that supports innovative approaches.

You may already be engaged in some of these strategies — others may seem like a stretch; but no matter where your school is in terms of innovation, you’ll find something on this list to inspire you. (And two of these ideas relate directly to content we are featuring at #Prizmah17: The Power of Story. So read on, and don’t forget to register today!

1) Escape the Room

Escape rooms are all the rage these days for adults, challenging groups to work together — and use their different skills — to complete the game. Mitzmacher says that schools are experimenting with a classroom version of the escape-the-room concept, designing the experience for the specific class and their curriculum, with clues based on the content they are learning. “It’s a fun way to get kids engaged in a subject,” said Mitzmacher, noting that the concept can be used either as an introduction to certain material, or as a final exam after students have studied it. (Conference fun fact: Breakout EDU (breakoutedu.com) designs escape-the-room kits for classrooms, and they will be at tjos year’s conference in Chicago! You can buy kits through them, or they will tell you all the tools you’ll need to buy to create your own kit. )

2) Visual Bingo

In a format created by master innovator Darren Kuropatwa, teachers can create their own bingo cards that ask students to photograph various things. In social-media-savvy classrooms, students can also use hashtags to tag related posts. This creates a “visual bingo,” which can be tailored to holidays, events or curricula, and which is a way to teach or expand digital skills. (Conference fun fact: Darren will be present in the Playground, so be sure to stop by for a round of hashtag/Twitter Bingo — make sure to join us there for a live experience of this innovative approach).

3) “Fakebook”

Available at Classtools.net/FB, “Fakebook” allows teachers and students to create imaginary profile pages for study purposes. This can teach students how to use Facebook responsibly, said Mitzmacher, and also permits teachers and students to create profiles for Biblical characters, like the ones in the Hanukkah story.

4) Skype-ortunities

Mitzmacher said that many schools are always on the lookout for new “Skypeortunities,” opportunities to connect with other schools and organizations via Skype. He further noted that this can be a great way to engage and give ownership to students, encouraging them to invite an author of a book they read, a scientist, or a sister school in Israel/or other Jewish community or organization to a Skype interaction.

5) Digital Learning Farm

Alan November, educational innovator, shares the idea of a digital learning farm: a model in which every student has a job to play. All jobs — whether it’s photographer, videographer, notetaker, IT coordinator, or others — are essential to the success of the classroom.

6) “Livestreaming Something….Anything”

Mitzmacher points to livestreaming as an invaluable opportunity “to show people what you want them to see” about the classroom, whether it’s parents who work, grandparents, or other relatives who don’t live in the area. He notes that it’s also an opportunity to engage in tikkun olam projects, like teaching how to be in relationship with people who are homebound.

7) Flipping the Classroom

In this concept — which is already in process in many schools, Mitzmacher notes — teachers send new material with students to learn at home, and then at school check for how well they understood the content. Instead of taking class time to introduce basic material, teachers and students can spend their classroom time going deeper into the material.

8) Mini Makers Space Challenge

Mitzmacher says that some schools have expensive Makers Spaces set up, but those who don’t can still create a smaller version in the classroom. Teachers can collect tools or stuff to play with and challenge students to solve a problem and to think about something in a different way. (For example, around Hanukkah, students could use tools to create the best possible Hanukkiyah prototype.)

9) Blogs and Blogging Challenges

If a classroom doesn’t have a blog, start one. Those who are already set up with blogs can participate in a blogging challenge (a sample is available on EdJewCon). Blogging challenges can include everything from “describe your classroom” to learning how to hyperlink or creating and uploading a 30-second video journal.

10) Speed Geeking

Mitzmacher pronounced this method a “great way for a class to showcase its skills to parents or to the school or other kids.” Children have ten-minute bursts to display their skills to visiting guests, then rotate around the room. Skills may include: how to use Google Docs for organization or using the iPad for photography.

The Storify of #edJEWcon Chicago

I know there are others, but until someone convinces me others, I’m sticking with Storify as my preferred method of documenting my learning from professional development conferences and experiences. I like how visual it is and I love how easy it is to preserve the links to all my learning.

We had a wonderful experience on Wednesday in Chicago and I am pleased to amplify the learning by inviting you into its story. I hope our learning inspires more learning, more reflection, and more sharing.

http://storify.com/Jon_Mitzmacher/a-storify-of-edjewcon-chicago

 

[If your browser isn’t letting you scroll through the whole thing, please follow this link.]

A Totally Unscientific, Crowdsourced and Inadequate JED Annotated Blogroll

paper-chain-in-the-dark-1215912-mDid that lower the bar enough?

In my ongoing attempt to stay current, to learn, to amplify, etc., etc., I have had an ambition to clean out my RSS feed and start over with which blogs I really ought to try to pay attention to…

…to accomplish this goal, I utilized all my networks – Twitter, Facebook, listservs, etc. asking not only for people to volunteer their own blogs, not only asking for people to share with me blogs they pay attention to, but to own this project with me by joining a GoogleDoc as a co-owner and editing to their heart’s content.

I sent out a variety of reminders and have reached a point where it is time to share this completely inadequate document!

I have let people describe their own blogs.  I have not personally vetted them all.  I did not add each one myself, although I did add a few.  You will surely find it lacking.

Good!

Shame on you for not helping!

How can we make this list more helpful, inclusive, exciting, diverse and meaningful?  By adding more (content) and more (categorizing)…

 

Which blogs did we leave out?

You can offer your suggestions as a comment to this blog (and I will carry them to the master document) OR you can email me ([email protected]) and I would be happy to add you as an owner to the master document and you can contribute directly.

“THANK YOU” to all the folk who did help.  Happy reading!

 

A Jewish Day School Annotated Blogroll

Julie Wohl: www.jewishlearningthruart.blogspot.com

“My goal is to share my own work on integrating Jewish learning with art creation, and to also share techniques and ideas for other educators to use the arts in their work.”

 

Amy Meltzer: lgagan.blogspot.com

“I keep a blog that is designed for parents, but does give a lot of information about the Gan program at Lander Grinspoon Academy.”

One of my go to blogs is investigatingchoicetime.com – it’s not a Jewish blog, however.

 

Rabbi Arnold Samlan: https://arnolddsamlan.wordpress.com/author/arnolddsamlan/

“Jewish Connectivity”

 

Rabbi Lee Buckman: http://thebuckstopshere.tanenbaumchat.org/?author=3

“Twice-monthly blog by Rabbi Lee Buckman, head of school of TanenbaumCHAT, a grade 9-12 Jewish day high school of over 1,000 students in Toronto.”

 

Ruth Schapira: http://ruthschapira.com

“I writ[e], with some candor, [about] the issues the Jewish community faces”

I read many blogs, but would be hard pressed to name those few that I read regularly. Some are on kveller.com, a few on wordpresss (Pitputim  http://pitputim.me/, Architect Guy http://architectguy.me/).  EJewishPhilanthropy is a blog I read often

 

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus: http://www.cesjds.org/page.cfm?p=9403

“Education Matters – One Head of School’s reflections on education, Jewish education and the Jewish world.”

 

National Association of Independent Schools –  Independent Ideas: The Independent School ​Magazine Blog 

“Engages educators, researchers, policy experts, and thought leaders in a spirited dialogue about the topics that matter most in education now and in the years to come.”

 

Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, Brandeis University: Learning about Learning

 

Ari Yares: www.ariyares.com

“Exploring the intersection of psychology, education, and technology.”

I’m following a fair number of blogs, but I’m also using a tool called nuzzel.com to help me stay on top of what’s being shared.

 

Jillian Lubow

“I write an #instructionalleadership blog for @TeachBoost: hubs.ly/H015-ss0. #Top5JDSBlogs”

 

Adam Tilove: http://jcdsri.org/category/head-of-school-blog/

 

Bill Zarch: https://butireallyliketodance.wordpress.com

 

Eddie Shostak: rEddieTalk

“Focused on Jewish life, education, and parenting.”

 

Jon Mitzmacher: “A Floor, But No Ceiling”

“Where the future of Jewish day school is debated, explored and celebrated”

 

Andrea Hernandez: “EdTech Workshop”

 

Silvia Tolisano: “Langwitches”

 

Rabbi Jim Rogozen: http://rabbijimlearning.blogspot.com/

“Observations and questions on Jewish education and the Conservative Movement”

 

Drew Frank @ugafrank http://drewfrank.edublogs.org/ Davis Academy AHOS

Micah Lapidus @rabbispen http://micahlapidus.com/ Davis Academy Rabbi

A few of my (Drew Frank) favorite blogs:

Massive resource for links to blogs, twitter, and all things education Jerry Blumengarten http://cybraryman.com/

 

From Melanie Waynik:

 

 

Dan Finkel: https://www.gesher-jds.org/default.aspx?RelId=646121

“A non-preachy weekly thought on how to think about Torah as a modern guide for both education and meaningful living.”

 

Beverly Socher-Lerner: www.makomcommunity.org/blog

“The adventures and explorations of an immersive, informal Jewish afterschool enrichment program in Center City Philadelphia for 15+ hours a week of text-based, experiential Jewish Education.”

 

AVI CHAI: The AVI CHAI BLOG

“The AVI CHAI Blog features issues important to day schools and summer camps, including sharing best practices, highlighting important trends, and dialoguing around big ideas.”

 

MOFET International’s Jewish Ed Portal

“…is a curated listing of academic articles, blog posts, online resources, conferences and PD sessions dealing with a wide spectrum of Jewish education around the world. The portal is updated weekly and posts a monthly collection of new items via email.”

 

Jeffrey Rothman: http://talklearning15.blogspot.ca

“Each blog post includes a discussion or short write up of some best educational practices as well as links to articles, tools and thoughtful quotes.”