WOW! Look what CJEL is Doing!
From The Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford:
The Commission on Jewish Education & Leadership recently convened rabbis, educators, and community leaders to learn about WOW!: a collaborative community initiative with Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA). WOW!'S goal is to engage greater numbers of children and families in satisfying and impactful complementary Jewish educational experiences by enhancing what exists and expanding the range of program options to meet the needs of 21st century Jewish learners. JESNA Vice President, Dr. Leora Isaacs, met with representatives from several synagogues and community institutions to describe the WOW! process which will help the community assess and appreciate what currently exists in the community and where there are growth opportunities (Discovery Phase); envision what might be (Dream Phase); co-construct what should be (Design Phase) and actualize, learn and improve (Destiny Phase).
Read the full post at jewishhartford.org...
Ed. Dept., FCC Unveil 'Digital Textbook Playbook'
From Education Week:
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski were on hand to unveil the new "Digital Textbook Playbook," a resource designed by the Digital Textbook Collaborative to help guide educators in their transition to electronic resources, as the pair headlined a national online town hall meeting for the inaugural Digital Learning Day.
Genachowski also challenged states and educational content suppliers to ensure that all students nationwide have access to digital educational resources within five years, and he announced he will be convening the chiefs of major digital education companies in March to create a plan to meet such a challenge.
Read the full article in Education Week...
Chicago Public Schools lift ban on YouTube
From the Chicago Tribune:
Chicago Public Schools' is lifting a ban on YouTube as part of its efforts to expand digital learning in the classroom.
Teachers will now be able to jump onto YouTube and find other teaching tools on that website and others to create playlists for lessons, individualize instruction and make learning fun. The announcement was made Wednesday as part of an effort to emphasize new technology initiatives at the district.
Read the full article in the Chicago Tribune...
From Math Helper to Community Organizer: New longitudinal studies identify key factors in leadership development
From the Harvard Education Letter:
Is the student who organizes tag during recess or chooses to help a classmate with math on track to be a senator, a CEO, or a community leader?
He—or she—may well be.
Behaviors like embracing novel experiences, supporting peers, even pestering parents for lessons can predict whether a child will emerge as a leader in adulthood, according to researchers who say they are the first to plot a pathway from childhood experiences to adult leadership. The research may also help educators encourage leadership—a commonly heralded "21st-century skill"—if teachers know what behaviors to look for and support, they say.
Read the full article in the Harvard Education Letter...
Co-Creation: The New Imperative
From Sh'ma, a Journal of Jewish Ideas:
A dozen New Jersey parents, reviewing a recent field trip, discuss their children's progress in an experiment in family-driven Jewish education. A California mother organizes a group of families to study traditional Jewish texts through storytelling. Local experts are hired to facilitate discussion. A group of Atlanta families participates in a home school Jewish learning collective emphasizing parent-child interaction. In Washington, D.C., a mother works with a group to establish a Hebrew charter school while a father coordinates efforts to develop a five-day-a week after school Jewish enrichment program. A group of parents in New York City also explores the after school model. In Phoenix, parents are creating a community-wide collaboration where families will choose from an array of educational programs offered by numerous local organizations. Philadelphia parents hire a rabbinical student to run a weekly Hebrew language immersion gathering for their children.
These efforts are a sampling of programs created by a small but growing vanguard of families addressing the Jewish educational needs of their children. Who are the parents behind these initiatives? What do they have in common? How might their actions inform the transformation of Jewish education?
Read the full article in Sh'ma: a Journal of Jeiwsh Ideas...
New Group Moving Jewish Family Education to the Forefront
From eJewishPhilanthropy:
Fourth-grade students at Temple Israel Center in White Plains, NY recently gathered for one of a series of Havdalah programs, splitting into groups and discussing the blessings and ritual objects and even making some of their own.
Not particularly unusual on its face. But what made it more notable was the fact that it occurred beyond the synagogue walls, in someone's home, and most importantly, that parents participated as well.
Read the full article in eJewishPhilanthropy...