What is Zoho Docs and how can it be used within a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, for mentor training and staff development?

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training, The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. In this post we will begin our discussion on how  students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use Zoho Docs for both individual, group and classroom collaborating writing and for creating of new knowledge products such as documents, templates, spreadsheets,  and powerpoint presentations.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers as well.

Note: Although the Zoho Docs collaborative writing and project creation web tool can be applied in  the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators.

Click here and see a  slideshare tutorial on how to use Zoho docs, a wiki,  in the classroom for individual and collaborative writing and product creating (i.e. d such as documents, templates, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations and drawing) and for teacher/mentor training.

On the next post we will share a video tutorial on how to use PBworks for collaborative writing and project creating in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom and for teacher mentoring and staff development.

Tutorial on how to use PBworks for collaborative writing and project creating in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom and for staff development

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training, The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. In this post we will continue our discussion on how  students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use PBworks  for both individual, group and classroom collaborating writing and for creating new knowledge products such as documents and other files that you want to modify that are on your computer.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers as well.

Note: Although the PBworks collaborative writing and project creation web tool can be applied in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators.

Note: PBworks can also be used as a face to face classroom learning activity without adding the online component.

Click here to see a video tutorial that I made showing how PBworks can be applied in both the blended learning Judaic Studies classroom and for the staff development of Judaic Studies teachers.

On the next post we will introduce a new web-based tool for collaborative writing, and mentor training, Zoho Docs.

Vision for the Jewish Future in Education and Teacher Training

Colleagues:


Recently Wendy Light, Nellie Deutsch, Dale Eberwein and I collaborated on a project for the Jewish Futures Conference and created this four minute video powerpoint. Click here to see and hear our vision for the future of Jewish Education for both teaching and teacher training.


There is no question that we could not have created this professionally done video powerpoint presentation without the expertise of Dale Eberwein. Accordingly, we have invited Dale to share an introduction to this sophisticated web creation product which he calls Flash Player Electronic Learning.

Flash Player Electronic Learning is a new and dynamic curricular intervention strategy that incorporates flash player into presentational methodology for the instruction of business, industry, and education. Addressing, either through software and/or strategies for inclusion the seven learning styles that are considered best practice in education, FPeLearning effectively disseminates core curricular content to students through a media-rich interactive player. After creation, courseware can be saved to be used in conjunction with classroom presentation methodologies. In essence, the instructor becomes the guide on the side and removes the sage on the stage, as lessons are presented through media, encouraging a social constructivist, pedagogical practice. The advantages of FPeLearning design are several and include: Curricular Integrity, as the content is recorded for classroom interfacing; Once created, can be used indefinitely or until basic knowledge of the subject changes to reflect modern ideology; Easily editable where, as content changes, edits can be delivered in 24 hours or less; Addresses the seven learning styles considered best practice in education; Incorporates instructor expertise, as content is delivered by the subject matter expert (teachers) themselves: And is easy to learn.

Dale H Eberwein MAED/CI-AE

Founder and CEO FPeLearning Systems

Doctoral Student EDD/ET (ABD)  

          

Introduction to a new web-based collaborative writing and creating tool, PBworks, that can be used within a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom and mentoring or teacher training

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training, The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. In this post we will begin our discussion on how  students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use PBworks  for both individual, group and classroom collaborating writing and for creating new knowledge products such as documents and other files that you want to modify that are on your computer.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers as well.

Note: Although the PBworks collaborative writing and project creation web tool can be applied in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators.

Note: PBworks can also be used as a face to face classroom learning activity without adding the online component.

Here is a slideshare of a  powerpoint tutorial for teachers on how to use PBworks, a wiki, in the classroom for student individual and collaborative writing and product creating.

http://www.slideshare.net/leah.jensen/how-to-create-an-educational-wiki-using-pbworks

On the next post we will share a video tutorial that I made describing how to use PBworks for collaborative writing and project creating in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom and for staff development.

Tutorial on how to make a drawing on Google Docs for the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom or for teacher training

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training, The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. Now we are discussing how  students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use Google docs for both individual, group and classroom collaborating writing and for creating new knowledge products such as documents, templates, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations and drawings. In this particular post we will demonstrate how to make a drawing using Google Docs.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers as well.

Note: Although the Google Docs collaborative writing and project creation web tool can be applied in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators.

Click here to see a tutorial I made on how to make a drawing using Google Docs.

Note:  All of the web tools we are sharing on this blog can be used in these Judaic Studies classroom settings:

·      The face to face classroom

·      The blended learning classroom (combination of the face to face and online classroom)

·      The blended online classroom (online classroom that takes place in real time [synchronously] or offline [asynchronously]

Moreover, these web tools can be used for Judaic instruction and  staff development.

On the next post we will explore another collaborative writing web tool, PBworks.

Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic Educators (Endorsements)

Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic Educators

Read the endorsements by Dr. Hana Bor, Dr, Jeffrey Schein, Dr. Wallace Greene, Wendy Light,  Rabbi Dr. Moshe Weisblum, and Professor Judy Aronson





What a must-read resource for a Judaic Studies teacher or teacher educator!


“Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic Educators” is a practical sequel to the Solomons’ recent book, “Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Moving Madrichim to Mentor Teachers and Beyond.”


It is also a necessary sequel because it provides easily implemented lesson plans that are written to cover the original book’s content including: what is a teacher, what should I be teaching, how do I plan lessons, three teacher-directed and three student-engaged models of teaching, methods to reach all students including differentiated and individualized instruction, and strategies to transform the classroom into a Jewish community of learners.


In addition, each chapter lets the reader choose from a variety of lesson plans, with each containing these elements: lesson title, enduring Jewish knowledge rationale for the lesson, essential questions, assessments, objective/learning outcome, anticipatory set, introductory and developmental activity procedures, guided practice, independent activity and closure.


“Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic Educators” is essential for teachers, administrators, professors, staff developers and consultants interested in training the next generation of Judaic educators for our day and supplemental schools."
Hana N. Bor, Ph.D. 
Director of MAJE & MJCS Programs. Associate Professor of Education Instructional Leadership & Professional Development. College of Education, Towson University, Towson, Maryland






You never can have too many dreams in Jewish life.   Herzl dreamed of a Jewish state of which we still sing im tirzu ayn zo agadah, if you will it potentially it is no dream.

Richard and Elaine Solomon have an educational dream. They articulate and flesh out this dream in Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic Educators. It is a dream that one day our schools, synagogues, and communities will be so richly supportive of  the professional development of our teachers that one can imagine a career ladder.   One begins a teen (madrich), then becomes a novice teacher, progresses us to being an accomplished teacher, and finally becomes a mentoring teacher.   In dreaming this dream the Solomons reminds us  of the work of Carl Glickman, a University of Georgia Professor of Educator Development where he carefully scaffolds the growth of teachers at all levels of their development.

The Solomons  continue to translation of that dream into educational tachlis.   The most immediate thing to note is the depth and breadth of the Solomon’s mastery of creative educational methodologies.  This is drawn from their own 60 shared year of work in education. On almost every page one sees an classroom and staff developed tested way of engaging the teacher/learners in their own development.   The foci on student-engaged models of teaching, transforming the classroom into a Jewish community, and differentiated and individualized learning are but a few of the ideas embedded in ready made staff development lesson plans.

Short of a fully developed career ladder, the thoughtful practitioner of Jewish education will be challenged to find creative ways to utilize part of the total  package offered in the volume.    One can readily imagine  a free standing faculty meeting where one of the ideas proposed and already packaged  will expand the individual and collective repertoire of the faculty.   A menu could be created for a modified program of madrich development based on once a month meeting.   A faculty retreat could be devoted to a personal and professional exploration of one of the more generative of the techniques.

Perhaps in the end such practical and limited innovation and adaptation of Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors will create the soil out of which will grow the fuller dream.   Im tirzu ayn zo aggadah.
Dr. Jeffrey Schein 
Director, Department of Jewish Education,
Siegal College,
Cleveland, Ohio




“Richard and Elaine Solomon have been banging the drum for a while that we need new models to train the next generation of teachers. In their previous publications, they have developed a well thought out series of stages to bring nascent teachers from madrich to expert teacher. In this Toolbox  they actually provide the resource of detailed  lesson plans to train those who train those who would be teachers. Geared to those who are mentors, staff developers, teacher trainers or otherwise engaged in pre-service and in-service programs, these lessons plans focus on the “how” not necessarily the “what” of Jewish education. Their writing style is easy to follow and the lessons combine the technical with the practical, and includes theory as well as research based applications. Most teacher training focuses on how to teach children. The lacuna of how to teach teachers to teach children is amply filled by this book.”
Dr. Wallace Greene
Former Director of Jewish Educational Services and Senior Educational Consultant to the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, and President of The National Board of License for Teachers and Principals in Jewish Schools in North America. Dr. Greene served as the Executive Director of the Jewish Center. Teaneck, New Jersey.


"A friendly and sagacious book with helpful lesson plans and a clearly laid-out sequel  text, about the whys and wherefores of successful Jewish mentors in education. "
Rabbi Dr. Moshe P. Weisblum 
Spiritual leader of congregation Kneseth Israel, Annapolis, Maryland, and author of Ruth Talk and Table Talk: Biblical Questions and Answers.




“Several times every week I receive calls from congregational schools asking for advice on how to keep high school students enrolled, involved and engaged. A big part of the answer to this question can be found in the pages of Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic Educators. Taking high school students seriously, giving them important information and life skills, and seeing them as the Judaic educators of the future, Richard and Elaine Solomon have created an important book of scripted lesson plans that takes high school students step by step through the process of learning to be a skillful educator with a full bag of significant education techniques. The double benefit of this book is that in the very process of exploring the wide variety of classic teaching techniques the high school students will quickly reach that ‘ah ha moment’ and come to the ultimate understanding of how students process, learn and retain information just at the point in their lives when they are ready to go to college. This book is ‘win-win’ all the way. “
Wendy Light
Associate Director and National Education Consultant,
United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism


“When I began reading  the original Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Moving Madrichim to Mentor Teachers and Beyond (i.e. Toolbox)  I knew that I would like to use it as a textbook  for a new course I would be introducing at the Academy for Jewish Religion entitled ‘Toolbox for Jewish Educators’.  This would be a graduate  course for potential rabbis and cantors.  However, I wasn’t quite certain how I would teach the content in this new course.  What came to my rescue were the multiple lesson plans in the Solomon’s new ebook, Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic Educators (i.e. Lesson Plans). Each chapter in Lesson Plans provided me with different ways of teaching the content in the Toolbox.   Some lessons are geared to the novice teacher and others to the more experienced professional.  Personally, I have taken ideas and inspiration from the various lesson plans to create my own. The original Toolbox contains great ideas, and the Lesson Plans ebook provides the blueprint for  making those ideas accessible to my students. Together these two books are an excellent set of resources that empower me as a teacher and facilitator of Jewish learning.”
Judy Aronson 
Former member of the clinical faculty, Rhea Hirsch School of Education, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles, California. Now Professor, Academy for Jewish Religion, Los Angeles, California.

Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic Educators (Just Published)

Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic Educators

WHAT IS IN THE TOOLBOX FOR TEACHERS AND MENTORS: LESSON PLANS FOR PRE-SERVICE AND IN-SERVICE JUDAIC EDUCATORS?

Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic  Educators  contains practical, user-friendly lesson plans on how to teach the content in the original book, Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Moving Madrichim to Mentor Teachers and Beyond.

There are seven chapters in the Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Lesson Plans for Pre-Service and In-Service Judaic  Educators. Each chapter focuses on a different essential question. Here are the seven essential questions that are addressed in the book:

·      What is a teacher?

·      What should I be teaching?

·      How do I plan lessons?

·      What are teacher-directed models of teaching?

·      What are student-engaged models of teaching?

·      How do I reach all students?

·      How do I manage student behavior?

For Whom is This Book Written?

1.    Mentor teachers in Jewish supplemental and day schools who want to train 11^th and 12^th graders, undergraduate Jewish Studies majors and Hillel students to become teachers. These teaching candidates or interns are the  pre-service teachers.

2.    Supplemental and day school staff developers who want to train in-service (i.e. novice, beginning, and veteran)  Judaic educators to acquire and master best practices in instruction, and classroom management.

3.    Expert supplemental and day school educators who want to train teachers to become madrich and mentor teachers.

4.    Educational consultants, supervisors, principals, college and university professors who (a) conduct workshops and seminars, and (b) teach undergraduate and graduate courses in instruction, mentoring, supervision, and staff development to Jewish educators.

Tutorial on using the templates available on Google Docs for the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom or for teacher training

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training, The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. In this section of our blog we are discussing how  students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use Google Docs for both individual, group and classroom collaborating writing and for creating new knowledge products such as documents, templates, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations and drawings. In this particular post we will share a video on using the templates available on Google Docs for the Judaic Studies  blended learning classroom or for teacher training and mentoring.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers as well.

Note: Although the Google Docs collaborative writing and project creation web tool can be applied in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators.

Click here and see a video on templates available on Google Docs. 

On the next post we will share how to make a drawing using Google Docs.

Example of A Pre-Course Survey Using Google Docs for the Training or Mentoring of Jewish Educators

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training, The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. At this time we are discussing how  students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use Google docs for both individual, group and classroom collaborating writing and for creating new knowledge products such as documents, templates, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations and drawings. In this particular post we will demonstrate how to make a form or a survey using Google Docs.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers as well.

Note: Although the Google Docs collaborative writing and project creation web tool can be applied in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators.

Now here is a survey I created using Google docs for a blended learning course I am teaching on Mentoring Students to Become Jewish Educators: Introduction to Mentoring.

Note:  All of the web tools we are sharing on this blog can be used in these Judaic Studies classroom settings:

·      The face to face classroom

·      The blended learning classroom (combination of the face to face and online classroom)

·      The blended online classroom (online classroom that takes place in real time [synchronously] or offline [asynchronously]

Moreover, these web tools can be used for both Judaic instruction and  staff development.

On the next post we will examine the different kinds of templates available on Google docs.

Tutorial on how to make a form or survey on Google Docs for the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom or for teacher training

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training, The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. In this section of our blog we are discussing how  students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use Google docs for both individual, group and classroom collaborating writing and for creating new knowledge products such as documents, templates, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations and drawings. In this particular post we will demonstrate how to make a form or a survey using Google Docs.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers as well.

Note: Although the Google Docs collaborative writing and project creation web tool can be applied in the Judaic Studies blended learningclassroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators.

Click here to see a tutorial I made on how to make a form or a survey using Google Docs for Judaic Studies instruction or teacher training.

On the next post we will share an actual survey I made using Google Docs for training and mentoring  Jewish educators.

A Spreadsheet Using Google Docs on Useful Web 2.0 Tools for Jewish Educators and Staff Developers

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training. The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. In this section of our blog we are discussing how  students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use Google Docs for both individual, group and classroom collaborating writing and for creating new knowledge products such as documents, templates, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations and drawings. In this particular post we will share an actual spreadsheet that I made using Google Docs.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers as well.

Note: Although the Google Docs collaborative writing and project creation web tool can be applied in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators.

Here is a spreadsheet that I made that contains useful tools that Jewish educators and staff developers can incorporate into their instruction and teacher training. It is entitled “Useful Web 2.0 Tools for Jewish Educators and Staff Developers”.

Note:  All of the web tools we are sharing on this blog can be used in these Judaic Studies classroom settings:

·      The face to face classroom

·      The blended learning classroom (combination of the face to face and online classroom)

·      The blended online classroom (online classroom that takes place in real time [synchronously] or offline [asynchronously]

Moreover, these web tools can be used for Judaic instruction and  staff development.

On the next post we will share how to make a form or survey using Google Docs.

Tutorial on how to make a spreadsheet using Google Docs

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training, The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. In this section of our blog we are discussing how  students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use Google Docs for both individual, group and classroom collaborating writing and for creating new knowledge products such as documents, templates, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations and drawing. In this particular post we will demonstrate how to make a spreadsheet using Google Docs.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers as well.

Note: Although the Google Docs collaborative writing and project creation web tool can be applied in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators.

Note: Google Docs can also be used as a face to face classroom learning activity without adding the online component.

Click here and see a  brief video tutorial I made  on how to make a spreadsheet using Google docs.

On the next post we will share an actual spreadsheet that I made on Google Docs. This spreadsheet contains useful tools that Jewish educators and staff developers can incorporate into their instruction and teacher training.

Tutorial on how to make a powerpoint presentation using Google Docs

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training, The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. In this section of our blog we are discussing how  students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use Google docs for both individual, group and classroom collaborating writing and for creating of new knowledge products such as documents, templates, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations and drawings. In this particular post we will demonstrate how to make a PowerPoint presentation (PPT) on Google Docs.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers as well.

Note: Although the Google Docs collaborative writing and project creation web tool can be used in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators.

Note: Google Docs can also be used as a face to face classroom learning activity without adding the online component.

Click here to see a tutorial I made on using Google Docs for creating a PPT.

Click here and see an actual PowerPoint presentation that I made on Google Docs. This PPT was an agenda I created for an online course I taught on mentoring students to become Jewish educators. This reinforces the point that these web tools (e.g. Google Docs, Springnote, Type with Me, etc.) can be used in the face to face classroom, the online or virtual classroom environment for both instruction and staff development.

On the next post we will share how to make a spreadsheet using Google Docs.