Sample websites showing how Word Press can be used in the classroom

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 (i.e. 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 Word Press to enhance learning.  

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 or Ipads as well.

Note: Although Word Press 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. For example, here is a CoP you might want to join. 

Note: Word Press can also be used in a face to face classroom without adding the online component.

What is Word Press?

 Word Press is a web-based blog, or web log, that can be used for Judaic instruction and teacher training.

Where is  Word Press  located on the web?

 http://wordpress.org/

Click on the links below and see how others have used Word Press to promote learning in the classroom.

• http://www.mrboll.com/?page_id=3925
• http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/websites-using-wordpress
• http://mattskillen.posterous.com/creating-a-classroom-blog-with-wordpress
• http://chadtheteacher.com/blog/using-wordpress-in-the-classroom/
• http://www.teach42.com/2008/05/20/top-20-wordpress-themes-for-education/

On the next post we will share a new blogging platform, Edublogs.

Sample Word Press blogs that have Judaic themes

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 (i.e. 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 Word Press to enhance Judaic learning. 

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 or Ipads as well.

Note: Although Word Press 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. For example, here is a CoP you might want to join. 

Note: Word Press can also be used in a face to face classroom without adding the online component.

What is Word Press?

Word Press is a web-based blog, or web log, that can be used for Judaic instruction and teacher training.

What is a blog?

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog) :

A blog (a blend of the term web log)[1] is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.[2]

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

As of 16 February 2011, there were over 156 million public blogs in existence.[3]

.

Where is  Word Press  located on the web?

http://www.Word Press.com/home

Click on the links below and find Word Press blogs that have Judaic themes:

• http://jewishbooks.wordpress.com/
• http://jewishcleveland.wordpress.com/
• http://homeshuling.wordpress.com/author/homeshuling/
• http://techelet.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/the-talmud-as-the-first-jewish-blog/
• http://www.alljewishlinks.com/search/wordpress-blogs/page/2/
• http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2008/06/02/seeking-jewish-graphics/
• http://stuffjewishyoungadultslike.wordpress.com/
• http://hebrew4wp.nadav.org/

Click here  find free templates in Hebrew for Word Press blogs.

On the next post we will discuss how Word Press can be used to promote learning.

Announcing a new Google Spreadsheet on integrating web technology into Judaic instruction and teacher training

Dear chevre and colleagues:

The Google Document spreadsheet that we have been working on for the past 10 months, https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AVHRiMW9xDMfZGRycHJnaoaGZfODZjdzd0czlkMg, is now ready for your examination. This spreadsheet contains a list of web tools for Jewish educators and staff developers in these categories:

• animation
• audio
• blogging
• bookmarking
• collaborative writing
• comic strip
• course management
• file converting
• file storage
• graphic organizer, inquiry
• mind mapping
• personal and work organization
• presentation
• remote control and screen sharing
• screen capture
• screen recording
• social networking
• survey
• time lining
• video hosting
• web camera recording
• web conferencing
• website creation
• word collage and 
• miscellaneous tools

In addition to listing the various tools with their url under each category we have placed this  information: 

• purpose of the web tool
• tutorials
• secular educational applications for the classroom and teacher training
• Jewish educational applications for the classroom and teacher training.

This is a developing  collaborative work in progress and we invite you to add to this spreadsheet. If you think this work has some value, kindly share it with your colleagues and teachers. 

Kol Tuv, Richard

--
Richard D. Solomon, Ph.D.


http://jewish-education.org/


http://richarddsolomonsblog.blogspot.com/
rdsolomonphd@gmail.com
rds@umd.edu


Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors
http://tinyurl.com/n242jh


Lesson Plans for the Toolbox
 http://tiny.cc/8rkz7


Skype: RichardDSolomon

Introduction to Word Press, a web log or blog, that can be used for Judaic instruction and 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 (i.e. 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 Word Press to enhance learning. 

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 or Ipads as well.

Note: Although Word Press 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. For example, here is a CoP you might want to join. 

Note: Word Press can also be used in a face to face classroom without adding the online component.

What is Word Press?

Word Press is a web-based blog, or web log, that can be used for Judaic instruction and teacher training.

What is a blog?

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog) :

A blog (a blend of the term web log)[1] is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.[2]

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

As of 16 February 2011, there were over 156 million public blogs in existence.[3]

.

Where is  Word Press  located on the web?

http://www.Word Press.com/home

Where can you find helpful  tutorials on how to use Word Press?

Click on the links below for tutorials on Word Press:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QGgJSVBvcI
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqkAs18yOzM&feature=related
• http://www.siteground.com/tutorials/wordpress/
• http://codex.wordpress.org/First_Steps_With_WordPress
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWYi4_COZMU
• http://www.wp-tutorials.org/
• http://www.themelab.com/wordpress-tutorials/
• http://www.wordpress-how-to.com/
• http://mcbuzz.wordpress.com/wordpress-tutorials-complete-list/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWYi4_COZMU&feature=related

On the next post we will share some Word Press blogs that have Judaic Themes.

Sample listing of blog sites on Blogger that have Jewish themes

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 (i.e. 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 Blogger to enhance learning. 

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 or Ipads as well.

Note: Although Blogger 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. For example, here is a CoP you might want to join. 

Note: Blogger can also be used in a face to face classroom without adding the online component.

What is Blogger?

Blogger is a web-based blog, or web log,  that can be used for Judaic instruction and teacher training.

What is a Blog?

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog) :

A blog (a blend of the term web log)[1] is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.[2]

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

As of 16 February 2011, there were over 156 million public blogs in existence.[3]

.

Where is  Blogger  located on the web?

http://www.blogger.com/home

Click on the links below and find a sample listing of blog sites on Blogger that have Jewish themes.

•  http://www.networkedblogs.com/topic/Judaism/
• http://www.blogcatalog.com/category/religion/judaism/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-blogosphere

On the next post we will introduce another blog platform, Word Press.

Sample websites that show how Blogger can promote learning in the classroom

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 (i.e. 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 Blogger  to enhance learning.  

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 or Ipads as well.

Note: Although Blogger 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. For example, here is a CoP you might want to join. 

Note: Blogger can also be used in a face to face classroom without adding the online component.

What is Blogger?

Blogger is a web-based blog, or web log, that can be used for Judaic instruction and teacher training.

Where is  Blogger  located on the web?

 http://www.blogger.com/home

Click on the links below and see how others have used Blogger to promote learning in the classroom.

• http://mrrogersclassblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/bringing-classroom-into-21st-century.html
• http://zamj14.blogspot.com/
• http://my-ecoach.com/online/webresourcelist.php?rlid=4992
• http://web20intheclassroom.blogspot.com/2008/04/online-video-tutorials-how-to-create.html
• http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337
• http://supportblogging.com/Educational+Blogging

On the next post we will share Blogger blogs that have Judaic themes.

A tutorial I made on how to create a blog post on Blogger

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 (i.e. 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 Blogger to enhance learning. 

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 or Ipads as well.

Note: Although Blogger 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. For example, here is a CoP you might want to join. 

Note: Blogger can also be used in a face to face classroom without adding the online component.

What is Blogger?

Blogger is a web-based blog, or web log,  that can be used for Judaic instruction and teacher training.

What is a Blog?

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog) :

A blog (a blend of the term web log)[1] is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.[2]

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

As of 16 February 2011, there were over 156 million public blogs in existence.[3]

.

Where is  Blogger  located on the web?

http://www.blogger.com/home

Click here and see a tutorial I made demonstrating how to create a blog post on Blogger.

On the next post we will share sample websites that show how Blogger can promote learning.