Transformimg Jewish Lives
Bully, the Documentary: Painful film is a must-see for teachers and students alike
From the Harvard Education Letter:
Schools and bullies are so closely linked that even young kids who feel threatened know to avoid unsupervised areas: school yards, locker rooms, stairwells, cafeterias, the school bus. The only problem is, of course, they can't.
Now comes a documentary that will make even the most complacent adult feel the terror that school bullies can inspire. Bully, which opened nationally April 13, offers a hard look at the kind of violent and emotional abuse many children face daily when they leave for school in the morning.
Read the full article in The Harvard Education Letter...
‘Miss Amara’ helps second-graders learn geography through Skype
From The Hudson Star-Observer:
Today's second-graders aren't easy to fool.
"Wisconsin," a youngster named Luke said when the students in Mrs. Julie Warren's classroom were asked where in the world Miss Amara was.
Luke was the second to volunteer an answer, and he was right.
Read the full article in The Hudson Star-Observer...
Students at charter-run Locke do better than nearby peers
From The Los Angeles Times:
Students at Locke High School are faring better than their peers in nearby traditional schools, but achievement overall remains low at the charter-managed campus near Watts, according to a new study.
Still, the Locke students were more likely to graduate and to have taken courses needed to apply to a four-year state college, according to the UCLA-based National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing. The ongoing research has been funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Read the full article in The Los Angeles Times...
Required reading for online learning educators
From The Innovative Educator:
The International Association for K-12 Online Learning puts out many publications. Here is a list of some of their more recent publications that will be of interest to online learning educators.
See the full listing at The Innovative Educator...
Thinking about the Goals of Jewish Service-Learning
From eJewishPhilanthropy:
Jewish service-learning is a hot topic, and rightly so. Funders, policy makers and academics have noticed a groundswell of activism and energy in the Jewish world, especially among young people, and have hopped on board. This has led to an expansion of service-learning opportunities for young Jews. This is a good thing.
But what are the goals of service-learning? Service-learning is, obviously, related to service, and dependent on it, but they are not the same thing. The goal of service is to benefit the person or community served. The goal of service-learning is, in addition to the service performed, some kind of learning from the experience. The person who is doing the service ought to undergo some growth or beneficial development. What can we say about that growth?
Read the full article in eJewishPhilanthropy...
A Call for Jewish Innovation Month
From eJewishPhilanthropy:
In a seemingly parallel world to the political messes of recent months, a new world is being born right before our eyes: a world born out of the visions of young Jewish social entrepreneurs around the world, over a hundred of which will be launching their ventures this June. So I hereby propose: let us declare June Jewish Innovation Month. If the upcoming events in the month of June go smoothly, the reports of a disconnected, past-tense Federation and JCC system will prove to be unfounded.
Starting on May 31st in Boston, six communities across North America – and five others worldwide – will host a total of eleven Launch Nights to showcase the 117 new Jewish social ventures that PresenTense partners have catalyzed over the past year. These 117 social ventures, in fields as diverse as education, social action, environmental programs and Israel education, will join the 153 community oriented start-ups PresenTense (which, full disclosure, I'm proud to be an employee and founder of) has helped launch over the past five years – 113 (or 74%) of which are still going in the present day. Many of these Jewish social entrepreneurs past and present, and the volunteers who helped them, will meet at the Schusterman Foundation's ROI Summit in Israel – yet another reason that June is a natural for Jewish Innovation Month.
Read the full article in eJewishPhilanthropy...