I have had such a great experience with my Megillas Esther reading program this year that it merited an immediate blog post.
This year, I have been spending daily class time having the students read aloud using the DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) model explained here where they read to a friend and the friend checks them for errors and times them to improve their hebrew reading fluency. The class average is around 50 words a minute which is quite good. I have used the read for speed worksheets on the parsha and made my own for tefillos so that students develop sight words that they will use when davening and learning as they read to each other for 1 minute daily. We use Clock Buddies (sample Clock Buddies Worksheet) to make sure that there is a rotation of partners.
This year, I also taught rashi script in a fun and engaging way as described here . Homework involved copying over Rashi script into neat Hebrew script. I check letter formation to make sure that the 3rd graders aren't forming letters improperly (HUGE PET PEEVE) and that the students know the confusing letters in an unknown context.
So basically, my students have been reading a lot of hebrew and practicing a lot of Rashi script.
This time of the year we combine it all. On Monday, I sent home the megillah in Rashi script. The students have two weeks to read the megillah to their parents with no mistakes. The best part of this is that so many parents know the megillah by heart that the parents are actually letting the kids read to them for as long as they want. Students are reading 1, 2 or 3 perakim a night. Plus, they plan to bring their megillah to shul and follow along as the baal korei reads. What could be better???
The parents have been blown away by how well the students can read and that they are not afraid of Rashi. They also love that the kids can do their reading homework without the parent being tied next to them to follow along. The kids are loving that they have their parents undivided attention for extended periods of time and that their parents know everything because they can correct them without looking inside. Plus, they love reading in Rashi script because it is new and different.
If you are trying to improve students' reading in Rashi, I would definitely build up to this kind of program.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Chinuch Energy!: 8 things to learn from the internet: Part I
Featured Blog: Chinuch ENERGY!
Do you remember when you learned how to use the internet? I don't. Why not? If we can figure out the answer, we can create lessons that our students won't remember having to learn as well.
We don't remember how we learned to use the internet because companies designed websites so the process would be painless. Here is a blog post that has screenshots with comparisons of old and current websites. Take a look at a list of the most popular websites in 1998. The old websites that were harder to use disappeared or were changed to what we know today.
In 1998, I took a Cognitive Psychology course with Rabbi Dr. Aaron Hersch Fried as part of a BA-MS Program for Azrieli, graduated Stern College for Women, and got my first real job at a cutting edge web design shop.
My first assignment was web programming. As I programmed, I realized that my Cognitive Psychology course was very relevant to the design of the website functionality. I was quickly transferred to the Information Architecture department where I worked with executives to define how we would present information on their websites.
Soon, most websites started incorporating cognitive psychology principles into the design of their websites. Web designers discovered that if users needed to work hard, they would leave. So web designers used simple techniques to ensure that users could click on the right place without thinking.
So what does this have to do with teaching? Corporations used educational theory as a backbone for web design. As educators, we can look at websites and figure out how to help our students learn.
Like web designers, all teachers present information to users. We design smart board lessons, write on the board and hand out work sheets. We need to think about whether the way we present information is contributing to student learning or to their cognitive overload. We should use basic principles of design in our classroom so the working memory is available for processing and memory storage rather than being occupied wading through useless information.
There are two areas that we can learn from web design.
This is an extensive topic, so we will get our feet wet by discussing the first half this week.
Information architects define the people for whom they are designing a websites. I worked with one organization whose audience was defined as people undergoing life changes. Anything that was added to the site had to serve the needs of divorcees, college students or first time parents,
Sometimes it is better to leave things out.
Websites used to have a ton of links on the front page. Anything and everything a user could want was on the home page. Web designers soon found that this led to less clicks rather than more. Users felt overwhelmed by the choices and left.
When we think about our classrooms and our lessons, do we feel compelled to throw in the kitchen sink? Do we give the students all the information at once, or do we give them a little bit at a time so as not to overwhelm them?
If you are trying to teach an entire sefer in Tanach in one semester, OR are still teaching the same perek after 2 months, you are probably violating this principle. This applies to visual overload as well. Look around your classroom. Are the walls covered with posters? Do each of the wall hangings add to the instruction going on in the class?
Include only that which advances your purposes for the people sitting in your classroom.
Ever wonder why you can remember a 7 digit phone number, but have a hard time remembering your credit card number when you are doing online shopping? People can only memorize 7-8 digits unless the numbers are chunked into meaningful units.
For teachers, categorizing information helps students remember it. If you are teaching five commentaries, find a way to categorize them so students can remember them more easily. Help students organize their notebooks, and planners using categories so they know where to look for information.
Next time: How Gestalt Psychology, Navigation, Visual and Auditory Learning, Visual Writing, and Personalization will change your classroom learning for the better.
Do you remember when you learned how to use the internet? I don't. Why not? If we can figure out the answer, we can create lessons that our students won't remember having to learn as well.
We don't remember how we learned to use the internet because companies designed websites so the process would be painless. Here is a blog post that has screenshots with comparisons of old and current websites. Take a look at a list of the most popular websites in 1998. The old websites that were harder to use disappeared or were changed to what we know today.
In 1998, I took a Cognitive Psychology course with Rabbi Dr. Aaron Hersch Fried as part of a BA-MS Program for Azrieli, graduated Stern College for Women, and got my first real job at a cutting edge web design shop.
My first assignment was web programming. As I programmed, I realized that my Cognitive Psychology course was very relevant to the design of the website functionality. I was quickly transferred to the Information Architecture department where I worked with executives to define how we would present information on their websites.
Soon, most websites started incorporating cognitive psychology principles into the design of their websites. Web designers discovered that if users needed to work hard, they would leave. So web designers used simple techniques to ensure that users could click on the right place without thinking.
So what does this have to do with teaching? Corporations used educational theory as a backbone for web design. As educators, we can look at websites and figure out how to help our students learn.
Like web designers, all teachers present information to users. We design smart board lessons, write on the board and hand out work sheets. We need to think about whether the way we present information is contributing to student learning or to their cognitive overload. We should use basic principles of design in our classroom so the working memory is available for processing and memory storage rather than being occupied wading through useless information.
There are two areas that we can learn from web design.
1) What information we present (Audience, Scope, Categories)
and then
2) how we present it.
This is an extensive topic, so we will get our feet wet by discussing the first half this week.
What information to present
1. Know your audience |
| http://www.flickr.com/photos/terrapin_flyer |
For teachers, we need to tailor our lessons to the people in front of us.
Think about who will be sitting in your classroom tomorrow and how you will meet their needs.
- Is it really possible for curricular materials to meet the needs of both middle and high school students effectively?
- Do 9th and 12th graders have the same needs when we address them in one assembly?
- What are the skill levels in the class and how will I address the different needs of each of these levels.
Think about who will be sitting in your classroom tomorrow and how you will meet their needs.
2. Less is More
Websites used to have a ton of links on the front page. Anything and everything a user could want was on the home page. Web designers soon found that this led to less clicks rather than more. Users felt overwhelmed by the choices and left.
When we think about our classrooms and our lessons, do we feel compelled to throw in the kitchen sink? Do we give the students all the information at once, or do we give them a little bit at a time so as not to overwhelm them?
If you are trying to teach an entire sefer in Tanach in one semester, OR are still teaching the same perek after 2 months, you are probably violating this principle. This applies to visual overload as well. Look around your classroom. Are the walls covered with posters? Do each of the wall hangings add to the instruction going on in the class?
Include only that which advances your purposes for the people sitting in your classroom.
3. Categorize
People naturally want to categorize information to help them learn it. On websites, everything is categorized. These categories are the basis for the navigation on a website. Categorizing helps people instinctively guess where information will be. Websites use proximity, color and size to indicate the categories without being explicit.
For teachers, categorizing information helps students remember it. If you are teaching five commentaries, find a way to categorize them so students can remember them more easily. Help students organize their notebooks, and planners using categories so they know where to look for information.
Do you expect students to remember vocabulary and content? Make sure your students can easily differentiate between the different types of knowledge which you are presenting them. You can differentiate these two categories on the board using color or location so that students categorize them mentally and in their notes. Include headings and subheadings so information that can be chunked, is.
 |
| Example of categorizing content using color and space |
To sum up:
We have discussed three ways that web designers determine the content of their sites: By defining their audience, limiting their material and categorizing what they want to present.
Ideas for this week:
Take a look around the web.
- When you go to a website, can you spot the audience for which the site was designed?
- Can you find websites that are overly crowded and sites that have a few main areas of focus that they are trying to promote? Conversely, can you find sites that are too limited and feel manipulative in the limited options they give you?
- Finally, can you figure out how the information has been categorized on the website by looking at the navigation and main site elements?
Once you have done this, you will begin to look at your curricular materials and lessons with a new eye. Try to apply these ideas to your teaching and think critically about whether your materials are meeting the test of audience, scope and categories.
Next week:
Once we decide what information to present, we need to figure out how to present it. Web designers have come up with many ideas how to make information more memorable and accessible using some intuitive and easily copied techniques.Next time: How Gestalt Psychology, Navigation, Visual and Auditory Learning, Visual Writing, and Personalization will change your classroom learning for the better.
See you on March 6!
cross posted to Chinuch Energy! YU 2.0 and YUHS Chinuch Community
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Top 8 tips to becoming an innovator in your classroom
Cross-posted from YU 2.0
It is a great priviledge to be a guest blogger on YU 2.0. It is a great community, and I look forward to the conversations that these guest blogs will bring.
Innovation
The theme on YU 2.0 Wednesdays is Innovation. When I think of innovation,
I think of my grandmother who told me to reinvent myself every decade. She herself had learned to drive in her late 60s, volunteered on a kibbutz in her 70s, and became a hebrew tutor in her 80s. Innovating meant that her life was always fresh and fun and responsive to her needs and to the needs of those around her.
I have tried to take my grandmother's lesson to heart by constantly reinventing how I do things. Like many, my career has had many different stops. I have been a computer programmer, an information architect, a teacher, an administrator and an educational consultant. I've done graphic design and produced training videos. Each new experience has deepened my skill set and insights. Rather than being disjointed, all these experiences make me a better teacher.
We all want our classrooms to be places where we, the teachers, choose daily what will energize our students and ourselves to learn more. How do we do that? How do we stay fresh and focused on growth without getting overwhelmed? How do we come up with new ideas?
Here are some of the things I have done to innovate. In my subsequent posts, I will focus on some of the innovations that are out there for educators. In this post, I'd like to explain how to come up with your own ideas.
1) What can be improved?
from Clker.com
Getting better requires looking back at where we've been. In Mussar, it's called a cheshbon hanefesh; in the business world it's called a 360. Every once in a while, we need to think about our teaching from a 35,000 foot perspective.
Sometimes, just reflecting on my day is enough to pinpoint areas that I can work on. Other times, I need outside inspiration to prompt my reflection. For ideas, I like to read what good teaching looks like. I try to avoid articles about teaching in the general media and blogs. These tend to be very negative and focus on what teachers are doing wrong. Melodramatic descriptions of bad teaching technique or global criticism of chinuch drains all the energy out of me and makes me abandon all hope.
We all have problems in our schools and classrooms. When we identify a problem we must take care not to blame ourselves or others for the problem with a critical voice. This inhibits our ability to identify effective solutions because we are so busy loking at what should have been done that we don't have time to identify what could be done now.
Articulating what I want to accomplish has been vital. When my goals are spelled out, I see solutions when they present themselves. When outlining a goal, I don't worry how I will get there. It is enough to know that my goal exists.
The key to change is to think big but start small. As reflective teachers, we will identify multiple ares which we can improve. We can't correct all of them because we are human. To change and innovate, we need to take our goals and make them doable. If we get overwhelmed, our goals will not get done. So when we identify an area where we can use to make some changes, find one or two things to do.
We live in the age of information. The Mishna in pirkei avos says איזהו חכם הלומד מכל האדם. We need to be comfortable going outside our comfort zone to learn from the best. A lot of time, the answers are in places that have nothing to do with Jewish education. Applying new ideas from multiple sources to daily practice is when innovation begins and teaching becomes fresh again.
Sometimes you know what needs to be done. You won't get much approval because if it is truly innovative, most people won't understand why it will work which is why it wasn't done before. If you know that it will be successful - get ahead of the curve and get it done. Even then, it may not be successful because you are too ahead of the curve. That's okay too. You are laying the ground work for others to follow your trials and errors.
The עשה טוב, do good, after the סור מרע, leaving the bad
The next two questions are different from the previous 6 as they focus on increasing creative approaches to teaching rather than thinking of solutions for problems. They are the עשה טוב, do good, after the סור מרע, leaving the bad. Creativity leads to fun, freshness and energy
7) How can I use this to learn?
Since this is a Ed Tech site, this is a no brainer for most of us. So many technological innovations keep coming on the market. When I see something new I think - "how can I use this tool to promote learning?" Email led to divrei torah email lists, the internet led to torah.org and Aish.com. Every new technology can be used to learn and teach Torah. Technology doesn't need to be electronic. In the last 10 years, the colors of dry erase markers has exploded. Using them can help us teach even if I don't have to recharge batteries to do so. Browse the aisles in Walmart. Scan Pinterest. Creativity will strike when you least expect it.
8) How is the learning happening?
We need to be aware that our job as teachers is not to give over information but to make sure that students learn the content, skills and values we had planned. There are only 5 ways information can get into a student through vision, hearing, touch, taste and smell. We need to be conscous of how this process works and always think about the five senses in all we do.
So to sum up:
by asking these 8 questions of
In the next post:
we're going to jump into the innovating. As a former information architect and web designer, I'd like to explore how browsing the internet mindfully can improve the learning going on in the classroom.
See you on the 20th!
This post is cross-posted to <a href=
It is a great priviledge to be a guest blogger on YU 2.0. It is a great community, and I look forward to the conversations that these guest blogs will bring.
Innovation
The theme on YU 2.0 Wednesdays is Innovation. When I think of innovation,
I think of my grandmother who told me to reinvent myself every decade. She herself had learned to drive in her late 60s, volunteered on a kibbutz in her 70s, and became a hebrew tutor in her 80s. Innovating meant that her life was always fresh and fun and responsive to her needs and to the needs of those around her.
I have tried to take my grandmother's lesson to heart by constantly reinventing how I do things. Like many, my career has had many different stops. I have been a computer programmer, an information architect, a teacher, an administrator and an educational consultant. I've done graphic design and produced training videos. Each new experience has deepened my skill set and insights. Rather than being disjointed, all these experiences make me a better teacher.
We all want our classrooms to be places where we, the teachers, choose daily what will energize our students and ourselves to learn more. How do we do that? How do we stay fresh and focused on growth without getting overwhelmed? How do we come up with new ideas?
Here are some of the things I have done to innovate. In my subsequent posts, I will focus on some of the innovations that are out there for educators. In this post, I'd like to explain how to come up with your own ideas.
1) What can be improved?
from Clker.comSometimes, just reflecting on my day is enough to pinpoint areas that I can work on. Other times, I need outside inspiration to prompt my reflection. For ideas, I like to read what good teaching looks like. I try to avoid articles about teaching in the general media and blogs. These tend to be very negative and focus on what teachers are doing wrong. Melodramatic descriptions of bad teaching technique or global criticism of chinuch drains all the energy out of me and makes me abandon all hope.
I gravitate to professional, well researched literature like Charlotte danielson's rubric2)Am I judging or defining?
http://www.danielsongroup.org/article.aspx?page=FfTEvaluationInstrument and ascd.org for some positive ideas to try and go from there.
We all have problems in our schools and classrooms. When we identify a problem we must take care not to blame ourselves or others for the problem with a critical voice. This inhibits our ability to identify effective solutions because we are so busy loking at what should have been done that we don't have time to identify what could be done now.
For many years, ninth graders came into my class without the skills I expected. Complaining about their former teachers and schools ensured that they left my classroom with the same lack of skills as when they entered. Finally, I asked the right question. I began to think about what supports I could provide so that my students could learn Chumash effectively. The result was a system that has worked in high school, with adults and even in elementary school.3) What are my goals?
Articulating what I want to accomplish has been vital. When my goals are spelled out, I see solutions when they present themselves. When outlining a goal, I don't worry how I will get there. It is enough to know that my goal exists.
After seminary, I set a goal to share Torah with as many people as possible. I was a computer programmer and soon found myself starting divrei Torah email lists, creating Torah websites and even working for aish.com. When I started teaching, i began publishing my curricula online. I am now a rebbetzin in a small community and sharing Torah through classes and across my Shabbos table. My goal has remained the same over all these years. I was able to actualize my goals when opportunities arose because I had it defined so many years ago. Think big and the solutions will follow in unexpected ways.4) How do I get started?
The key to change is to think big but start small. As reflective teachers, we will identify multiple ares which we can improve. We can't correct all of them because we are human. To change and innovate, we need to take our goals and make them doable. If we get overwhelmed, our goals will not get done. So when we identify an area where we can use to make some changes, find one or two things to do.
My mornings in class were chaotic this year. My friend Rivky sent me a simple smart board lesson where students rehearsed the morning routine. That small change improved things a bit and I am ready to implement a new idea to make things even better.5) What do the experts say?
We live in the age of information. The Mishna in pirkei avos says איזהו חכם הלומד מכל האדם. We need to be comfortable going outside our comfort zone to learn from the best. A lot of time, the answers are in places that have nothing to do with Jewish education. Applying new ideas from multiple sources to daily practice is when innovation begins and teaching becomes fresh again.
6) What is my gut saying?
- This year, I was having an issue with the goofiness in my classroom. After a few days of kvetching, a friend asked me "have you googled it yet? I havent' seen you do much reading lately - are you looking for answers?" And so I read. I googled, I harassed some experts. The class is still goofy, but I have more of a handle on how I want to handle it
- My graduate school mentor was the principal of a Catholic high school and the assistant superintendent of the Diocese in Rochester. For me, she conceptualized the centrality of faith to the success of religious schools' missions in a way that has been more instructive to me that many other Jewish sources.
- When preparing a lesson on Jewish philosophy, I may ask myself how does Marzano's idea of graphic learning apply to teaching the 13 Principles of the Rambam?
Sometimes you know what needs to be done. You won't get much approval because if it is truly innovative, most people won't understand why it will work which is why it wasn't done before. If you know that it will be successful - get ahead of the curve and get it done. Even then, it may not be successful because you are too ahead of the curve. That's okay too. You are laying the ground work for others to follow your trials and errors.
Each week my father attended a shiur and came home and wrote up what the speaker had said. He began emailing the notes to friends when most people didn't yet know what email was.
The עשה טוב, do good, after the סור מרע, leaving the bad
The next two questions are different from the previous 6 as they focus on increasing creative approaches to teaching rather than thinking of solutions for problems. They are the עשה טוב, do good, after the סור מרע, leaving the bad. Creativity leads to fun, freshness and energy
7) How can I use this to learn?
Since this is a Ed Tech site, this is a no brainer for most of us. So many technological innovations keep coming on the market. When I see something new I think - "how can I use this tool to promote learning?" Email led to divrei torah email lists, the internet led to torah.org and Aish.com. Every new technology can be used to learn and teach Torah. Technology doesn't need to be electronic. In the last 10 years, the colors of dry erase markers has exploded. Using them can help us teach even if I don't have to recharge batteries to do so. Browse the aisles in Walmart. Scan Pinterest. Creativity will strike when you least expect it.
8) How is the learning happening?
We need to be aware that our job as teachers is not to give over information but to make sure that students learn the content, skills and values we had planned. There are only 5 ways information can get into a student through vision, hearing, touch, taste and smell. We need to be conscous of how this process works and always think about the five senses in all we do.
So to sum up:
by asking these 8 questions of
- What can be improved?
- Am I judging or defining?
- What are my goals?
- How do I get started?
- What do the experts say?
- What is my gut saying?
- How can I use this to learn?
- How is the learning happening?
In the next post:
we're going to jump into the innovating. As a former information architect and web designer, I'd like to explore how browsing the internet mindfully can improve the learning going on in the classroom.
See you on the 20th!
This post is cross-posted to <a href=
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