JETS (Jerusalem EdTech Solutions) ^Featured

JETS (Jerusalem EdTech Solutions) was founded by former North American Jewish educators currently living in Israel who combine to bring a wealth of experience in Jewish studies instruction, curriculum development, and staff development, along with a deep understanding of North American Jewish and general education. In addition, the Jerusalem location of JETS provides access to educational materials and methodologies developed in the vast Jewish educational infrastructure in Israel, the opportunity for on-site development to bring Israel into Diaspora classrooms and communities, and contact with a significant pool of capable former Diaspora Jewish educators who have moved to Israel.

Jewish Virtual Learning Networks: A mapping of online ‘Communities of Practice’ in the North American Jewish institutional world ^Featured

Learning in the 21st Century: 2011 Trends Update ^Featured

Since 2007, Project Tomorrow has collaborated with Blackboard Inc. on a series of annual reports that focus on how online learning is changing the classroom paradigm within our nation's schools. In this latest update, we examine the Speak Up 2010 survey data collected from 379,285 K-12 students, parents and educators to highlight not only the continuing growth of online learning opportunities for both students and teachers, but also the new challenges that must be addressed to realize the students' vision for enabled, engaged and empowered learning through technology.

Download the report here:
Learning in the 21st Century: 2011 Trends Update (699.43 k ...

Mishna & Media Literacy: a Webinar with G-dcast's Sarah Lefton ^Featured

In January 2012, memebrs of the Jewish Education Change Network participated in a webinar with G-dcast's Sarah Lefton, exploring the interweaving of Mishna learning and media literacy. Click on the link above to view the full recording of this session (total running time: 60 minutes). 

PROFILE OF TEACHERS IN THE U.S. 2011 ^Featured

There are 3.2 million public school teachers educating the nation's 49.4 million children
attending public PK-12 schools, according to the U.S. Department's National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES).

NCES Schools and Staffing Surveys also show that, in 2007-08 (the latest year for which these
data are published), about 146,500 of these teachers (4.3 percent) were new hires who had never
taught before - 92,500 were new college graduates and 54,000 were "delayed entrants (people who
had a college degree but had not entered teaching right out of college). 

Who teachers are, where they are coming from and what they think are of great interest to every
segment of society. The National Center for Education Information (NCEI) has been studying
teachers since 1979. It has conducted five national surveys of teachers -- in 1 ...

Teaching 9/11 | Why? How? ^Featured

This guest post in the New York Times Learning blog discusses the importance of teaching 9/11 in schools, particularly as the 10th anniversary of the attacks approaches. The post is authored by two educators explaining why they believe 9/11 should be taught in school.

Pamela Moran is the superintendent of Albemarle County Public Schools in Virginia and president of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. Ira David Socol, a graduate student in the College of Education at Michigan State University, consults on curriculum and use of space in schools.

Technology Integration in the Jewish Classroom ^Featured

In January 2012, Grsinpoon-Steinhardt Awards winners participated on a webinar with The Jewish Education Project's Miriam Brosseau discussing technology integration in Jewish educational settings. Miriam Brosseau hails from the great state of Wisconsin; at Madison she earned her undergraduate degree in Jewish Studies and Modern Hebrew. She later went on to get a master's in Jewish Professional Studies from the Spertus Institute, where she focused on educational vision, new Jewish culture, and technology. Miriam has worked in educational and programmatic positions with the World Zionist Organization, Shorashim, Hillel, and the BJE of Chicago. Jewish professional by day, Jewish musician by night, Miriam is currently the social media coalitions manager at the Jewish Education Project and half of the "biblegum pop" duo Stereo Sinai....

Torah Trek: The Center for Jewish Wilderness Spirituality ^Featured

The TorahTrek Center for Jewish Wilderness Spirituality contributes to vibrant Jewish communities, living in balance with their neighbors and environs, by exposing Judaism’s roots in wilderness, facilitating direct experience of the Divine in nature, demonstrating the effectiveness of Judaism as a spiritual practice, and fostering the spiritual growth of individual Jews and Jewish communities.  Through leadership training and curriculum development, TorahTrek envisions a Jewish community that takes full advantage of the natural world in mainstream Jewish education for children, youth and adults.

The website includes program listings, links to relevant resources, and an online journal.

Using Wikis for Communicating and Collaborating in Your School ^Featured

The use of a wiki can lead to better use of time, improved communication, and increased adult learning, which in turn will contribute to improved student learning. In this white paper from Eye on Education, author Stephanie Sandifer lays out some basic strategies and uses of wikis for teachers in a variety of school settings, both in the classroom and for professional development purposes. 

Download the white paper here:
Using Wikis for Communicating and Collaborating in Your School (649.89 kB)

Webinar: The Teacher Parent Relationship: Using Professional Development to Improve Family and Community Engagement ^Featured

Strong parent–teacher relationships are invaluable. They contribute to a positive school climate, family engagement in student learning, improved student performance, and the retention of high quality teachers. Providing teachers with the resources they need to effectively connect learning in the classroom to learning at home is a challenge that many districts are struggling to address.

This webinar will examine practical examples of how states can embed family engagement into their professional development systems and how teacher education programs can systematically include family engagement in teaching and learning. The webinar will also discuss promising practices in higher education, including partnerships with Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs) to build the capacity of family coordinators.

YouTube Teachers' Channel ^Featured

YouTube's new teacher channel is a guide for K-12 educators for using video in the classroom. Teachers can follow tips that show everything from organizing videos to sparking lively discussions to help struggling students through videos. Teachers can also sign up to become part of the YouTube Teachers Community, a mailing list that allows them to share ideas and best practices.