edjewcon5772-0

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Martin J. Gottlieb Day Schooland the Jacksonville Jewish Center was the venue for edJEWcon 5772.0.

for Jewish Educators

Jacksonville, FLMartin J. Gottlieb Day SchoolHead of School: Dr. Jon Mitzmacher21st Century Learning Specialists: Andrea Hernandez & Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

edJEWcon is a conference based on 21st century professional development where attendees can experience a Jewish day school in transition to becoming a dynamic 21st century learning environment.  We are sharing a vision of teaching and learning that transcends physical boundaries and connects across geographic borders and time zones.

12:00-2:30  Welcome/Lunch     Set up of iPads, iTouches, iTunes, apps, Twitter client

2:30-3:30     Opening Keynote: Jon Mitzmacher &  Silvia Tolisano:“The Marriage of 21st Century Learning + 5000 Year Old Tradition- Why Jewish Day Schools Belong at the Forefront of the Learning Revolution.”

3:30-5:00 Session 1- Choice SessionIntroduction to the edJEWcon Blogging

Platform- Jon MitzmacherBlogging Platform for Advanced Users:  

Taking it to the Next Level- Mike FisherTake your blog to the next level – adding flair, getting the message out to the world, and creating more interactive and engaging posts. Leverage the technology you have and use this opportunity to explore the blogging platform, ask questions, and work toward transforming your message from text only to multiple levels of engagement and exploration.

Getting Started with Twitter- Andrea Hernandez

Building the Infrastructure to Support Your Vision- Silvia Tolisano

Blogger’s Cafe- Reflect, process, and share in the blogger’s cafe

5:00-5:45 Minyan

6:00-7:00 Dinner

7:00-8:45 Dessert and Social Time

World Cafe: “What does it mean to be educated in the 21st Century?21

DAY ONE

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Keynote: Heidi Hayes Jacobs7:10-7:55     MinyanTraditional Egalitarian Services- Witten

ChapelPersonal Prayer Space- Levin-Plotkin Room8:00-9:00     Breakfast

Room: Setzer Frisch9:30-10:30   Keynote Address: Dr. Heidi

Hayes Jacobs“Curriculum 21: Upgrading Curriculum and Assessment for the 21st Century Learner”Room: Social Hall

10:45-11:55  Session 2: Track SessionHead of School Track:

Leading in a Culture of Change- Valerie Mitrani & Julie Lambert, CAJE Miami with Dr. Jon MitzmacherRoom: 207

Communications Track:Using Social Media to Communicate, Interact With and Engage Your School Community- Talie Zaifert, MJGDS Director of Admissions & Marketing with Mike FisherRoom: 211

Curriculum, Technology & Media Specialists:Differentiated Staff Development and Upgrading Professional Practices- Heidi Hayes JacobsRoom: Library

Classroom Teachers (General Studies):Improving Student Writing through Blogging- Stephanie Teitelbaum, MJGDS 4th grade general studies teacher with Silvia TolisanoRoom: Blogger’s Cafe (upstairs)

Classroom Teachers (Jewish Studies): Using 21st Century Tools in the Jewish Studies Classroom- Liat Walker, MJGDS Jewish Studies Coordinator with Andrea HernandezRoom: 209

12:00-1:00 LunchRoom: Setzer Frisch

1:00-1:30 Hatzatah= Ignition”. Our adaptation of a popular presentation format. Each presenter has 5 minutes to share their idea, broken down into 20 slides which automatically advance every 15 seconds.Room: Setzer Frisch

Kim Glasgal: “I Am Passionate about Jewish Education“

Jeanine Hoff: “The 21st Century Student, An Adult Student’s Perspective“

Marjie Rogozinski: “It Takes a Shtetl to Raise a Child“

Liat Walker: “Tal Am at MJGDS” (delivered in Hebrew)

1:30-3:00  Session 3: Track SessionHeads of School & Classroom Teachers:

Moving Schools in to the 21st Century- Heidi Hayes Jacobs with Jon MitzmacherRoom: Social Hall

Communications:Video Workshop – Talie ZaifertRoom: 103

Curriculum, Technology & Media Specialists: Confronted with Information Overload? The Art of Digital Curation in Education- Silvia Tolisano & Mike FisherRoom: Library

3:30-5:00  Session 4: Choice SessionRe-inventing Schools- Jonathan Woocher

Room: LibraryGlobally Connected Educators- Silvia

TolisanoRoom: 105

Upgrade Curriculum & Assessment with Student Blogfolios- Andrea HernandezRoom:103

SPARKING Interest: Engineering and Robotics in the Classroom- Joshua NeudelRoom: 109

Blogger’s Cafe-Reflect, process, and shareRoom: Blogger’s cafe (upstairs)

5:00-5:45 MinchaTraditional Egalitarian Services- Witten

ChapelPersonal Prayer Space- Levin-Plotkin Room“21st Century Mincha” with Hazzan Holzer-

Room 105Ashrei around the World- creating a collaborative and poetic prayer experience for the 21st century. Please bring your iPads!

Yoga- Stretch & Relax with Cassie Vichozsky-Room: Library

5:45-6:45  DinnerRoom: Setzer Frisch6:45-8:00 Panel Discussion: “The Future of

Jewish Education” Moderated by Elaine CohenRoom: Setzer FrischJane Cohen (YU Partnership)Barry Holtz (Davidson School, Jewish

Theological Seminary)Eli Kannai (AVI CHAI)Jonathan Woocher (JESNA)

DAY TWO

“Curriculum 21: Upgrading Curriculum and Assessment for the 21st Century Learner”What year are you preparing your learners for? Schools are launching pads into the future, thus as educators we need to consider whether we are genuinely preparing our students for a changing world.

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Closing Keynote: Angela Maiers7:10-7:55 MinyanTraditional Egalitarian Services- Witten

ChapelPersonal Prayer Space- Levin-Plotkin

Room8:00-9:00 Breakfast

Room: Setzer Frisch9:00-10:00 Session 5: Choice SessionUsing the 21st Century Schools Rubric to

Evaluate & Assess Teachers- Jon Mitzmacher(This is a 2-part session. Session 6 consists of a classroom walk-through and reflection.Click link for session description & materials.)Room: 105

MJGDS Student-Teacher-Parent Panel- Moderated by Andrea Hernandez & Silvia TolisanoTransparency in action! Bring your questions for our panel which will consist of MJGDS teachers, students & parents. Find out how different members of our community are learning to learn in the 21st century.Room: Setzer Frisch

Building your Personal Learning Network (PLN)- Akevy GreenblattLearn about the power of Twitter, the importance of creating a PLN & how to use your PLN as part of ongoing professional development. Find out how #jedchat was created and experience the influence of Twitter chats on professional growth.Room: 107

Social Media and Personal Branding for Teachers & Schools- Angela Maiers & Mike FisherRoom: Library

Using Pinterest for Lesson Planning & More - Shana Gutterman, MJGDS Art TeacherRoom: Art Room (upstairs)

Blogger’s CafeReflect, process, and shareRoom: Blogger’s cafe (upstairs)

10:00-11:00 Closing Keynote: Angela Maiers“Changing the Conversation: Using Technology R.I.G.H.T”Room: Social Hall

11:00-12:00 Session 6: Choice SessionBloom’s Taxonomy & iPads in the

Classroom-  Mike Fisher & Silvia TolisanoCan iPads replace laptops? Are they just a toy or a tool that can improve teaching,  student learning and productivity? Room: Library

Walk-through- Using the 21st Century School Rubric as a Lens to Look at Classroom Practice- Jon MitzmacherThis is the second part of Jon’s 2-part session, following “Using the 21st School Rubric to Evaluate and Assess Teachers from Session 5″.Room: 105

Creating a Collaborative, Reflective Professional Learning Community with your Faculty- Andrea Hernandez & Angela MaiersRoom: 209

Blogger’s CafeReflect, process, and shareRoom: Blogger’s cafe (upstairs)

“Changing the Conversation: Using Technology R.I.G.H.T” “...in ways that are real, impactful, global, honoring passion, and talent amplifying”. Shira Leibowitz

“Every day should be AWESOME!  Students are getting real tasks, real talk, in real time.  That is a game changer”.  Jessica Jundef

DAY THREE

Involve Students

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I feel equal parts “proud parent”, “exhausted midwife”, “exhilarated student”, and “inspired principal”.An edJEWcon Reflection by Dr. Jon Mitzmacher

edJEWcon.Wow.How’s that for an honest and succinct reflection!  But

that is truly how I feel coming out of an experience unlike any I have ever had.  I feel equal parts “proud parent”, “exhausted midwife”, “exhilarated student”, and “inspired principal”.

Exhausted Midwife...•First, here are some facts:•We had twenty-one amazing school teams for this first conference

on 21st century Jewish day school education:•Community Day School•El Paso Jewish Academy•Fuchs Mizrachi School•Gann Academy•Golda Och Academy•Gray Academy of Jewish Education•Greenfield HebrewAcademy•Gross Schechter Day School•Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor

•Heilicher Minneapolis Jewish Day School•Jewish Community Day School of Boston

•Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island•Kellman Brown Academy

•Lehrman Community Day School•Margolin Hebrew Academy•Metro West Jewish Day School•Perelman Jewish Day School

•RASG Hebrew Academy of Miami Beach•Schechter Westchester

•Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Monmouth County•Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley •We had amazing sponsors:•AVI CHAI Foundation•Schechter Day School Network•We had amazing partners:•Yeshiva University Institute for University-School Partnership•Day School Leadership Training Institute•Behrman House•CAJE Miami•JESNA•The Jewish Theological Seminary

Twitter Reachour conference of under 100 had reached over 120,000 people within 24 hours. The outpouring of positivity is extraordinary.  

#edjewcon

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We had amazing major keynotes: Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Angela Maiers.

We had one extra-special partner, Mike

Fisher, without whom the conference would not not have been the same.

I had a team unlike no other.  I use the word “midwife” to partially describe my experience, because truthfully this was conceived prior to my arrival.  It began with Andrea Hernandez and moved forward with Silvia Tolisano.  I was blessed to arrive in the right time and in the right place.  I’ve played my part, but without the foundation they built over the last four years, none of this would have been possible.

Our Story... Our story and the story of edJEWcon

5772.0 is partially contained in our opening keynote:

You can begin to grasp the impact of the conference by flipping through the blogs written by the school teams (here) and the partners (here).  Angela Maiers shocked the house and stimulated the most amount of tweets and “ah’s” when she showed us a site that tracks Twitter activity that showed us that our conference of under 100 had reached over 117,000 people within 24 hours. The outpouring of positivity is extraordinary.  

The Proud Parent in Me...The proud parent in me is thrilled to see so

many firsts – first blog posts written and first Tweets abound.  It is a cornucopia of shehecheyanu moments – blessings of firsts and blessings for having been there in that place and at that time.

My full live blog of Heidi Hayes Jacobs’ keynote (here) is a series of exclamation points from a breathless schoolgirl.  [Much less sophisticated than Mike Fisher's! (here)]

The Exhilarated Student in Me... Here is the exhilarated student in me:

What an extraordinary thrill to have Heidi Hayes Jacobs speaking at our school and at edJEWcon!

She opened by giving a shout out to the MJGDS Middle School!

The Hebrew root for “teach” is also to “learn”.

“Strategic Replacement” – Remember it!All MS students have been paired with an

adult to help them use TodaysMeet – edJEWcon.  We are all now all on TodaysMeet and beginning to dialogue.  She is sharing why TodaysMeet is better for some functions than Twitter.  It is closed and temporary.

You can save the transcript and use it in the future!

Next bookmark is the Curriculum 21.com/clearinghouse.

People are now moving into groups of three or four for an activity.  Prezi.com is a new site for many.  It is also an app for the iPad.

The goal for everyone is to leave “emotionally disturbed”!

Who owns the learning?  The student!The back-channel conversation on

TodaysMeet is dynamic.  I am selfishly proud of our students who are contributing great feedback

Heads of schools should have steering wheels to give them illusion of control.

…this is about adult discomfort.  Amend your mission statements and be honest about what year are your educating your children for.

“Democratized socially created knowledge”All students should learn to create their

own app before they graduate.No one learns in a straight line.What you study matters.  Content matters.  

And it cannot wait.Text messaging as note taking – great idea.Quality counts.  The tools are great, but we

still have to teach quality – quality blogs, quality movie-making, quality Skype – quality, quality, quality.

We should eliminate Faculty Meetings and turn them into opportunities for teachers to explore new tools.

Teachers have to be learners in order to teachers.

There is no closure!

The Inspired Principal in Me...As for the inspired principal?  I’m over the

moon.This was a tremendous validation for our

faculty, parents, students, stakeholders, and our community that the path we have chosen is indeed the right one.  This “21st century learning” thing is no fad and no slogan.  We can become a school who prepares our students to be successful in these modern times.  Or not (as Heidi Hayes Jacobs would say).  We can provide our students with authentic tasks that motivate them to learn and be their best.  Or not.  We can recognize what technology allows us to do.  Or not.  We can take the ideas, suggestions and inspiration from edJEWcon and use them to move our school down the 21st century learning road.  Or not.

We could start planning for edJEWcon 5773.1.  Or not.

What do you think?

The Exhilarated Student in me...No one learns in a straight line.What you study matters.  Content matters.  And it cannot wait.Text messaging as note taking – great idea.Quality counts.

Amazing Keynotes

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edJEWcon and Fifth Grade by shellyzavon

 I have been doing a lot of thinking since last Tuesday about the Edjewcon conference. My first thought is, WOW!  Jon, Andrea and Silvia deserve a medal for all of the work that they did to coordinate, plan, and bring to life the event. I cannot even begin to imagine how they did what they did.

My second thought is, as I said on my voice thread, how proud I am to be a part of it all.  Usually when you attend a conference of this magnitude you can only imagine what it would be like to work in a school like ours.  But I am here!

My third thought is, how do I become more involved?  To be honest, I was one of those who really didn’t understand what was going on or really think it was important for me to become involved. I was wrong. I wish I could go back in time and be in on the ground floor of the planning and everything else that must have taken place.  It must be an incredible feeling to know that you were part of a history-making event.

Along with many others who attended Edjewcon, I am now very motivated to do more in my classroom. When I reflect about this year, I am not very happy with myself as far as trying new things with technology.  I am stale compared to the things I did last year with my students.  It seemed that last year was full of Skype calls, creating videos, “fake Facebook” pages, and the list goes on.  Some of the connections that Silvia helped me make were unbelievable.  We talked to a history teacher who made the American Revolution come alive. We skyped with a Native American who had had a very different opinion about Christopher Columbus than my students did.  We talked to a group of students in China who enlightened us about the way history is taught to them.

This year was not as productive for some reason.  My projects were few and far between.  I seemed to have lost the “wind in my sail”. However, I am pleased, for the most part, with the things that I did do with my students. The best thing that I found out about was the “Show Me” app (thank you Stephanie) and The Kahn Academy for math.

All I can do now is think about how I can change things for next year. I started today.  I tweeted in hopes of reaching out and connecting with people who came to Edjewcon. Maybe we can collaborate and do some projects together.

I am thrilled that I will be “full-time” next year. Now I do not have any excuse not meet and plan more with everyone.  My main goal is to, as Silvia put it, to have more confidence in myself to try new things.  I literally have the world at my finger-tips and I must do my part as a teacher to use and integrate all of this wonderful technology that we have at our school into my curriculum.  Thank you Edjewcon for motivating me again.

ReflectionsMJGDS

I am now motivated to do more in my classroom... Along with many others who attended Edjewcon, I am now very motivated to do more in my classroom. When I reflect about this year, I am not very happy with myself as far as trying new things with technology.  I am stale...

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A Visual Reflection of edJEWcon by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

I am slowly coming down from an incredible high this past week.  I was part of a team (Andrea Hernandez, Jon Mitzmacher and myself), that envisioned, organized and ran an education LEARNING conference. This was a first  for me, since I have only been a participant an/or  a presenter at such conferences.

We were inspired by the educon conference, run by Chris Lehman, his faculty, students and parents at the Science Leadership Academy . We envisioned, not a technology conference, but a conference about teaching and learning.

A prerequisite for being able to connect, communicate, collaborate and create during the conference, our attendees would have to be equipped with tools that would act in a way that made technology as “invisible, ubiquitous and necessary as oxygen”(Chris Lehman). Each one of our attending school teams, received a toolkit, containing an iPad, an iTouch, a Flip camera and a paper and pencil.

The focus of the conference was NOT going to be the tools though, but how the tools could encourage and support:

the CREATION of media and documentation of learning

the PARTICIPATION of attendees during conversations NOT lectures

the LONG TERM creation of a learning community

John Dewey said that “we do not learn from experience, but we learn from reflecting on experience”. REFLECTING on the learning experience during the conference and the SHARING of that reflection has been an INTEGRAL part of  our vision.

Andrea Hernandez, already shared her first reflection post-edJEWcon describing our first steps of making edJEWcon  a reality. She pointed out that while there was an

extraordinary amount of work from all the people

involved, it was the attendees, presenters and students who brought the theory behind our vision of

learning and teaching to

life.Jon Mitzmacher in his reflection  explains

and elaborates on his feelings of being ” equal parts “proud parent”, “exhausted midwife”, “exhilarated student”, and “inspired principal” after the physical edJEWcon conference had concluded.

Mike Fisher, another key player in making edJEWcon all and more than it could have been, takes on the aspect of student involvement during edJEWcon as the topic of his post on ASCD Edge titled “Strategic and Capable“. He addresses the school’s Middle Schoolers directly by pointing out although they did not know it…” this was an assessment, one that happened in the moment but allowed you to prove your skills. You gave a performance, a recital of your capabilities…and you SHINED!”

More and more reflective posts from our school teams and partners are pouring in on their own professional blogs as well as on their edJEWcon school blogs, we created specifically for that purpose. Take a look at Shira Leibowitz’s posts A Day With Angela Maiers, Comfort With Discomfort, and The Purpose of Ed Tech, as well as Akevy Greenblatt’s post, or the Gray’s Academy of Jewish Education’s blog to share just a few.

Now it is my turnto be reflectiveto be transparentto add my reflection to theirsto weave a web of reflections and multiple

perspectivesto connect my learning to othersto continue a conversation that started face

to faceto allow others, who were not able to be at

edJEWcon physically, to learn with and from our experiences and thoughts.

I am a very visual learner, so I used my cell phone to sporadically take images during edJEWcon in an attempt to facilitate my post conference reflection on the experience. I will let the images guide my train of thought and hopefully they will also make the experience for the reader come alive. It can serve also as just another example of transmedia learning and storytelling.

21 school teams and 14 partners were registered to attend edJEWcon 5772.0. We knew that each team was bringing members

LEARNING...

Reflection

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Backchanneling is Nothing New to these Students...who were at various comfort levels with the tools they were about to receive and the platforms we were about to ask them to explore, play and use over the span of three days. We needed to bring in speakers like Heidi Hayes Jacobs, Angela Maiers and Mike Fisher, who would be able to:

share a visiontell a storyinspire participants to WANT to grow and learnmake connections between the shift in the real world to the realities

in the educational worldaddress how professional development for educators MUST change

in order to allow change in the classroom to happentalk about the moral imperative of sharing among educatorspractice what they preachedshow that they are approachable and willing to connect with

their audiencelead a conversation, not just lecture

After receiving their toolkit, we ushered our teams to a location where they could unpack, set up and connect their devices with the help and support of a tech team if necessary. We had prepared a suggested app list to guide them as they were setting up an iTunes account and make choices about their first few apps.

  Among the apps listed, was an edJEWcon conference app (created

with Yapp.us) , which allowed attendees to receive updates, browse the schedule with room assignments and conversation descriptions, click on links we were pushing out, images, and Twitter feeds (@edjewcon & #edjewcon).

Tool set up went smooth and participants  were getting to know each other or reconnecting over lunch before heading to the first keynote. The conference had begun

Mike Fisher, explained it well in his post Strategic and Capable, how MJGDS Middle School students worked behind the scene at the keynotes. They became the teachers, as Heidi Hayes Jacobs asked them to disperse, find an adult among the audience, sit with them and coach

them in using their tool (iPad, laptop, iTouch)  to participate in a backchannel.

Backchanneling was nothing new to these students. Over the years, they have experienced using a backchannel  for academic purposes on a regular basis. (ex. movie watching, learning styles & collaboration, assessment of learning, Skype conferencing)

The concept of a shift in roles and defining who is a learner and who is a teacher was beautifully illustrated throughout the conference. As attendees AND presenters called upon our students to show, coach and participate as valued members of a conversation. In my mind it became clearer that any conference about education MUST include our students.

One of the main take aways, we wanted attendees to leave edJEWcon with, was an acute awareness of learning as being

social, collaborative, connected and participatory.We are not alone in our learning journey but can, should and must rely on a learning network to filter, contribute and add

perspective.

Attendees were reminded throughout the conference to document their learning. Many took notes in  (paper) journals we provided in their toolkits. Several were spotted using word processors on their laptops to take notes. Some used  Google Docs to amplify by collaboratively taking notes and sharing them with colleagues.

Many brought their own iPads or used the iPad that was given to each team as part of the tool kit.

It was thrilling to see a Twitter newbie to discover the connected note taking capabilities of Twitter, by using not only summarizing their own thoughts but using #hashtags and RT (re-tweets).

It was equally thrilling to see attendees using their tools  to go beyond text based note taking and documenting. Thousands of images

One of the main take aways, we wanted attendees to leave edJEWcon with, was an acute awareness of learning as being social, collaborative, connected and participatory.We are not alone in our learning journey but can, should and must rely on a learning network to filter, contribute and add perspective.

An acute

awareness of learning as

social

DOCUMENTINGPUBLISHINGSHARING

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were taken during edJEWcon, they were shared via Twitter, blogs and Flickr.

There was undoubtedly a buzz in the air…A buzz…•how “edJEWcon was nothing without the people. People who

came. People who helped. People who shared and learned and tweeted and connected. People are the magic that breathe life into an idea”.- Andrea Hernandez

•and “a Burst of educational excitement”- Gray Academyof “magic happening”- Mike Fisher•where “we together explored topics that matter, not technology, but

rather relationship and community”- Shira Leibowitz•of “an environment where everyone was willing to learn and  grow

and move out of his or her comfort zone”.- Akevy Greenblatt•of  being “uncomfortable, in brain pain, and petrified of what I don’t

know.  And I couldn’t be more excited or invigorated about it”.- Julie Lambert

•of learning “this week that blogging and tweeting are the “new” forms of communication that expand our world – that make it global”- Valeri Mitrani

•where “All leadership is collaborative, co-creation. No one can create anything extraordinary without tapping into the brilliance, hard work and passion of others. There is no creation without people”.- Andrea Hernandez

•“Through Twitter, I have connected with incredible people with invaluable resources.  These people have many more followers and much better insight than I and they can now lend their collective voices to mine”. – Jessica Nathan

•to “get everyone excited about these new concepts and ideas we are beginning to embrace”.- Metro West Jewish Day School

•that “It is not necessarily about using technology in the classroom it is about transforming learning with the assistance of technology.”- Jessica Jundef

As Heidi Hayes Jabobs points out, we need to strategically upgrade the areas of school structures, assessment and curriculum content review. edJEWcon was just the BEGINNING. edJEWcon was a about making educators AWARE and planting a SEED with concrete ideas how one one school is pushing for change.

The buzz was high… now the real work begins of ACTING on

the awareness and growing that seed. We set ourselves the goal of edJEWcon being a conference, where

the CREATION of media and documentation of learningthe PARTICIPATION of attendees during conversations NOT lectureswould be a PRIORITY! Mission accomplished!Now we move onto the challenge of LONG TERM sustainability of

the learning community platform that was started DURING edJEWcon.I am asking myself questions such as:How do we sustain our own level of excitement?How do we continue (or start)  to share what we learned with others?How do you enact change in your own school?What are your next steps?How will you CONTINUE to participate?How do we COLLABORATIVELY create a platform that becomes a

source of reflection, resources and documentation of CHANGE in Jewish Education?

How do we translate the COMMITMENT of PARTICIPATION (not just attending) during the conference into becoming more than a LURKER in a virtual community platform.  (Wikipedia defines a lurker as: “In Internet culture, a lurker is a person who reads discussions on a message board, newsgroup, chatroom, file sharing, social networking site, listening to people in VOIP calls such as Skype and Ventrilo or other interactive system, but rarely or never participates actively.”)

My challenge to you is to reflect on these questions above…come up with your own questions…take the time to respond openly

on your edJEWcon’s school blogin response to another blog postas comments on this poston your own professional learning blog with a link back to this postin 140 characters or less on Twitter (including the #edjewcon

hashtag)in a videoas an audio post

or any other way how you can express and share your thoughtsThe important part is to get it out…in a digital form… to be able to connect it to others…to be part of a learning conversation that is CHANGING eduction.

How will you share your learning?

21ST CENTURY SKILLS CRITICAL THINKING COMMUNICATE COLLABORATE CREATE CONNECT

Abilityto go beyond rote memorization> Being able to identify and evaluate to guide decision making

Communicatingyour ideas effectively through a variety of media.

Collaborating with a peers, experts and people from around the world.

ProducingGo beyond being a consumer, but a creator

Connectingideas, concepts as well as people.

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One Week out from edJEWcon by Jodilyn Solomon

Yesterday, my son and I were walking on a bridge over a river.  He kept throwing rocks in and exclaiming over the number of circles – ripples his rock had created.  After a few throws, he asked if I wanted to know why he was so interested in creating ripples.  I did.  He told me, “When I throw the rock and make the ripples, I am making a difference on the world, I am doing something and I can see the beginning of it in the ripples.  Who knows where those ripples might go?  Maybe those ripples will make their way to a pirhana about to eat a fish, and that ripple will push the pirhana just enough so that the fish could get away.  Maybe I saved a life with my rock!”  While this was unlikely, as we were on the Charles River in Newton, Massachusetts, this was not important.  What he was telling me was that he wanted to make a difference in the world, to be a part of it and make his mark.  This is what Curriculum21 and 21st century education is about.

Twenty first century skills, if we can still use that term, as we are currently in (and more than 10% through) the twenty first century,  have nothing to do with the technology itself. We can call them “Right Now” skills, since they are skills students need now and going forward.  The technologies are tools with which to learn, demonstrate and use those skills. Both the ideas of the “Right Now” skills, and the integration of technology to support them are exciting to me, and should be to everyone in education. It is the beginning of a revolution! Really, for students and teachers in Jewish schools, the skills are not so new.What are these “Right Now” skills? Everyone who spoke with us had a different way of framing them. They all used “the five C’s,” but to which words these referred varied. This is not to say the ideas varied: collaboration, communication, creation, critical thinking, connection (around the world), culture, creativity, all these and more are the skills that students must acquire to be global citizens. This is, after all, what we are building them to be.  This is a different paradigm than “How long should the periods or blocks be?” “How many pages should this essay be?”  “How should the desks be arranged?”  While each teacher can update

his or her curriculum, really to be effective, a whole school needs to change.  After all, how can a Language Arts teacher, a science teacher, a social studies teacher and an art teacher have students work together on a global ecosystem problem if they never work together or communicate with one another in real time or in digital space?  Yet in the real world, for which we are preparing the students, a team working to solve an ecosystem problem would most assuredly use all the skills from all those areas and more – probably finance as well – and communicate with scholars on the subject all over the world in real time.  We don’t live or work compartmentalized, why should students?

The tools that can help make “right now learning” are here.  They will continue to evolve; in fact we are preparing students for a world of which we have not yet conceived.  I am in the middle of my teaching career, but I remember when my high school library got its first computers for the library.  When I went to college I got a very high tech “luggable” computer – portable in the same way a fifty pound suitcase is.  When I went to graduate school, I got a laptop computer.  I remember when email started, I remember what the internet looked like without pictures.  Now, I communicate with people all over the world about information that is relevant and current.  I take videos with the iPad, integrate them into presentations with other content, and collaborate with teachers, I connect and consult on Facebook with people in Israel, California, England and Australia.  Learning happens best collaboratively.  I assist student in finding resources all over the world – a student came in asking for information about technology in Israel and I didn’t take him to the bookshelf, I connected him with Technion Institute in Israel.  I told him that any books I had would be outdated, because new technologies are always coming out, and they were a good place to start.  I hope that he connects with learners all over the globe to learn about and discuss his questions.  (I can facilitate that.)  When he is done, I hope he creates a digital portfolio or presentation of what he learned that can be

LEARNING IS SOCIAL ...

Gann Academy I connect and consult on Facebook with people in Israel, California, England and Australia.  Learning happens best collaboratively.  I assist student in finding resources all over the world ...

Reflection

[11]

shared with the other students here, and other learners all over the world.  His learning matters; not just for a grade or personal information (although both are important) but in a global way.

So: to me, the question is not why do the students need access to iPads and other technology, but how could we possibly prepare them for the skills they need without the tools they will use once they have them?  To quote Heidi Hayes Jacobs, we can prepare them for the skills they need right now and the adaptability they need for the future, or not.  We can learn with them and facilitate their production of a video teaching others about an experiment they performed and its potential impact in the world, and post it to Youtube to get feedback from the world, or we can have them write a paper that only the teacher and student will ever see.  Students need to feel they have a place in the world and can have an impact.  We can help them understand that their learning matters and is valuable enough to be shared, or not.

Finally, the beginning of this blog referred to these skills not being new to Jewish students at a day school, and here is why:  our students

are already in conversation with scholars from over 2000 years ago, from the other side of the world.  They have participated in discussions throughout history and argued with Rashi, Rambam, Nechama Leibovitz, Nachum Sarna, ibn Ezra, and more.  Our students know how to be part of a global conversation, they have some of these skills, they must be allowed to apply them to the world in which we live Right Now, and the world in which they will live in the future.  They need the tools to acquire the skills Right Now.  The need to participate in the global conversations, and make their marks on the world.  They need to be able to make ripples in the water that can save lives.

We “require students to think critically and problem solve, there is no way that a teacher can get students to become independent learners in sync. Sure there may be some useful apps that help the student gain the skills, knowledge or insight into the subject, and a teacher might want the class to do it together, but focusing solely on the apps, or student control, limits the true potential of the iPad — "a tool to think with."Ben Johnson - Edutopiahttp://www.edutopia.org/blog/ipads-transform-classroom-ben-johnson

THE IPAD IS A TOOL THAT CAN HELP YOU THINK BETTER

edJEWcon Toolkit

[12]

Our Vice Principal, Lori Binder, didn’t want to wait for a staff meeting to share when she could

send a little of the excitement our

teachers’ way this morning. Here’s an email she sent to

our staff.Good morning!I just returned from the edJEWcon

conference in Jacksonville, Florida, along with Ashley, Karen and Judy. We went as a team to this conference sponsored by AVI CHAI and run by the Martin J Gottlieb Day School, accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools.  You can check out the edJEWcon website for amazing resources or check out the MJGDS school’s website. We were the only Canadian school present and were part of a learning community that included Community Day Schools (RAVSAK), Conservative Day Schools (Schechter) and Orthodox Day Schools.

There is so much to share and the learning community we were involved with really challenged our thinking about our students and 21st century learning.  This was definitely an expansion of the work started by the Social Media committee (the result of my CAIS Change Project) and will hopefully help with the professional development we implement as we move forward. It has definitely expanded my thinking with the Social Media project and in a positive way has brought it to an important focus. Please check out our blog to get a sense of what took place at edJEWcon –  as well as

links to amazing keynote speakers including Heidi Hayes Jacobs of the book Curriculum 21. We would love for you to reply to our blog after reading it.

Some of the amazing education leaders we met included Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano (online known as Langwitches) who has amazing resources on her blog or through her website  and Andrea Hernandez who has the EdTechWorkshop blog. Both are 21st century learning coaches at the Martin J Gottlieb Day School.

Below are a few videos to check out, as well.

Passion in Education from @langwitches (Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano)http://vimeo.com/16328594

21st Century Learning Reflection – Where the Martin J Gottlieb Day School Was (no staff emails in 2010) to where they are now (leaders in 21st century learning)http://vimeo.com/25285456 

After two days at edJEWcon, we’re

definitely feeling a bit of information overload, but according to Heidi Hayes Jacobs from Curriculum 21, a little bit of uneasiness is a good thing.

At her keynote address this morning, Hayes Jacobs encouraged us to consider which year we are preparing our kids for, and challenged us to reflect that in our mission statement.

Or not. We don’t know about other schools,

but we don’t want our mission to reflect the idea that we’re setting our students up for the past. Starting today, we’re looking to the future – a slightly uncomfortable future.

For us, this new start requires us to change our language as much as our approach. It was very poignant when edJEWcon leaders pointed out that we’re already 11.3% into the 21st century. We’re no longer looking to a 21st century approach, we’re there (or supposed to have been there for over a decade). Instead, we’re looking for our “right now” approach. And in order for us to be effective educators, we have to commit to being lifelong learners – lifelong learners that are willing to let our students own their educational experience.

In order to accomplish this, we need to reach our students where they’re at. In Hayes Jacobs’ words, “We can fight the sea change or learn to navigate it.” This means embracing today’s literacies. Our intent is the same (to inform, to persuade, or to give perspective), but we’ve learned that if we want our students to be prepared for their futures, the tools we use to get there have to change to meet their needs.

…or not.

Basic Literacy• Reading• WritingGlobal LiteracyGlobal competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance.Network Literacy" The ability to create, grow and navigate personal learning networks in safe,ethical and effective ways."- Will Richardson

Digital Citizenshipdescribes the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use.

Information Literacyis a set of competencies to participate intelligently and actively in the Information society. It is the ability to to locate, understand, evaluate, utilize, organize, categorize, remix and convey information.

Media Literacyis a repertoire of competences that enable people to analyze, evaluate and create messages in a wide variety of media modes, genres and forms.

21ST CENTURY LITERACIES

Embrace Discomfort...or

Not...

Bursting with Educational Excitement by AMorgan

Embrace Discomfort...Or Don’t by AMorgan

Gray Academy

[13]

Sharing some Learning from edJEWcon by Hope

Upon returning home from EdJEWCon, we are starting to get our hands a little dirty… in fact this is the first blog post I have ever written!!!

Blogging:  Our Middle School Teacher started a blog, and will inspire other teachers to follow suit…. We are also figuring out how to supplement our Word Press website with Word Press blogging capability to support Elana’s efforts. 

Strategic Upgrades – a proof of concept:  Inspired by the QR Codes on the artwork at MJGDS, we figured out to add depth to a few science fair poster boards.  We experimented with a few types of media (mp3, m4a, and mov), all of which worked.  Proving many theories that we heard at EdJEWCon right, the technology was very easy to use (even for me), but it’s the content and the skills that are so important to create a quality product.  This, however, was a proof of concept to test the viability.

Using an iPhone and Google Voice, we recorded 3 children delivering their science fair “elevator pitch.” 

We stored the files in the media section of our website

Using http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ we generated QR Codes for the media files – 2 audio and 1 video

We printed the QR Codes and, using a glue stick, pasted them on to the science fair boards.

This morning we demonstrated how this strategic upgrade brought a new level of depth to the final piece, but also engaged my kids in a way that was exciting and inspiring!

Telling the Story: As luck would have it, next week we have a Board meeting, a faculty meeting and a community meeting… at all 3 events we plan to share our experiences with these stakeholders and get everyone excited about these new concepts and ideas we are beginning to embrace.  

LEARNING WITH & FROM OTHERS ...

Teacher & Student Panel

[14]

Strategic and Capable Choices by Mike Fisher

Kids need access to choices in instruction so that when the moment arises they can make discerning decisions about what they will do.

I just watched that happen. At a conference with adults where kids were invited. I just watched magic happen.

Heidi Hayes Jacobs keynoted at edJEWcon in Jacksonville, Florida this week to a national group of participants from Jewish Day Schools. The keynote was attended by over 200 people and included several dozen middle school students.

Heidi engaged the backchannel, the background conversation, during her keynote so that the information wasn’t just being delivered, it was being nuanced and discussed and explored to greater depths. This is the 21st Century dialogue symphony. Everyone is an instrumental piece of the orchestra and collectively creates an interactive performance.

Heidi used a web tool, Today’s Meet, to collect the backchannel as an “in the room” conversation. Additionally, the #edJEWcon hashtag was used on Twitter to capture the “out to the world” conversation.

Heidi hit a snag though, when she went to create the Today’s Meet room in the moment, during the keynote. The “EdJEWcon” room had already been taken.

By the students in the room.On their own, they created their own backchannel so that they could capture the conversation and interact around the message they were receiving. This tool was already in their toolbox, and they made a decision in the moment to do their thing. Isn’t that cool?

This is precisely what it means for students to use the Internet and digital media strategically and capably. They had choices and they made a decision. They used it the right way and it was the exact right tool for the task. (Because the task is key, remember the Drill Slide!)

Here is a link to a transcript of the student room and their interactions.Note: the progression of cognition in the conversation. It started with the collection of soundbites and descriptions of the presentation. Then it segued to questions and then interaction and metacognition around Heidi’s message. So, so awesome.

Heidi had to create a separate room so that the entire audience could participate. What a great problem to have!

You can read the transcript of the whole group here.

Note: that the adults jumped right into the interaction, sharing salutations and then responding to Heidi, each other, and the

students who were dually participating in the whole group room.

I was so impressed by the way this worked. It invited everyone to be

strategic and capable with the use of technology, specifically engaging

strategies that help these students be college and career ready, and give educators examples of what this looks like in practice.

Big, big kudos to the middle school students at Martin J. Gottlieb Day School. You didn’t know it, but this was an assessment, one that happened in the moment but allowed you to prove your skills. You gave a performance, a recital of your capabilities...and you SHINED! 

Digigogy.com

[15]

A Day with Angela Maiers by Shira Leibowitz

Social fluency, not technological fluency is the essence of learning in

an age of social media. Or, in

Angela Maiers’ poetic language,

“twitter is not a tool; it is a

community.” Privileged to

participate in not one, but three learning sessions with Angela Maiers (@angelamaiers) at the EdJEWcon conference, my own learning journey of the past several years gained context, nuance, and meaning.  

I acknowledge; I was star struck. Yet, Angela quickly put me, and I sensed all of us, at ease. She did not seek to present the wisdom of one who has expertise, although she possesses incredible expertise. Instead, she crafted a collaborative learning environment in which we together explored topics that matter, not technology, but rather relationship and community.

Changing the Conversation: Using Technology R.I.G.H.T (in ways that are real, impactful, global, honoring passion, and talent amplifying), the title of Angela’s key note address, framed much of my essential learning not only for the day, but for the entire conference. I began the conference, as shared in my blog post, The Purpose of Ed Tech, acknowledging that we would not be learning about educational technology, as I had anticipated, but rather about creating communities of learning and character in a rapidly changing world. I continued the conference, as shared in my blog post, Comfort with Discomfort, respecting the challenges we face when we are changing communities; honoring our ability to address difficult realities not with stress and discomfort, but with a spirit of

possibility, energy and fun. I ended the conference with Angela Maiers’ inspiration to enter learning with the mindset of an invitation to experiment, giving ourselves permission to play and to take play seriously.

Mike Fisher (@fisher1000) co-facilitated Angela Maiers’ first session on social media and personal branding for teachers and schools, and Andrea Hernandez (@edtechworkshop) co-facilitated Angela Maiers’ last session on creating a collaborative, reflective professional learning community with your faculty. Mike helped us recognize that there is no longer a clear division of personal and professional; we instead create, in Mike’s marvelous language, professional identities. Andrea shared with us ways that social media can strengthen a school community by deepening relationships among those who work together in the same building, yet may not have sufficient time during the work day to connect, reflect and collaborate.

I came to EdJEWcon thinking about educational technology. I left thinking about ways of collaborating as professionals, with playful energy, to support our students to develop the mindset and skills to enter, sustain, and contribute to their own communities of meaning. In the process, I gained perspective on my own learning journey of the past several years, recognizing that it has been a process of developing ever greater social fluency. There remains a long road to travel; yet a magnificent road, with some stress and challenge, but with much more playful experimentation and creative collaboration.

“I came to edJEWcon thinking about educational technology. I left thinking about ways of collaborating as professionals, with playful energy, to support our students to develop the mindset and skills to enter, sustain, and contribute to their own communities of meaning. In the process, I gained perspective on my own learning journey of the past several years, recognizing that it has been a process of developing ever greater social fluency”.

Shira Leibowitz

ANGELA MAIERSSocial

fluency, not technological fluency is the

essence of learning

[16]

Comfort with Discomfort by Shira Leibowitz

“How many of you are feeling uncomfortable right now?” Heidi Hayes Jacobs asked at her EdJEWcon conference keynote yesterday. I confess. I didn’t raise my hand. When Heidi Hayes Jacobs emphatically shared that we should feel uncomfortable, I wondered, feeling a bit like the child in class who has just gotten the “wrong” answer. Now please don’t misunderstand, I was riveted by Heidi Hayes Jacobs’ presentation. My mind raced with her notion of “strategic upgrade”; not adding to our already overfull plates but shifting learning experiences strategically to more effectively meet the needs of our students today who are processing information differently, in more social, non-linear ways. I was feeling engaged, open, reflective, and interested. I was considering possibilities , reflecting on how better we might serve our students. I was learning and I was loving the opportunity.

And, yet, suddenly, with Heidi Haye’s Jacobs’ challenge to embrace discomfort, I became uncomfortable. I know, the demands are great. I know, our schools are not yet where we want them to be. I know, with all we have accomplished in our schools, it isn’t yet enough. I know, we have tremendous challenges ahead.

For a moment, I felt a heaviness, allowing the grip of fear of failure when the stakes are our children’s futures to overtake me. Yet, only for a moment. For me, embracing discomfort means becoming comfortable with discomfort. When we strive together to address difficult realities the engagement need not be stressful. We are allowed to have fun.

With tremendous respect for Heidi Hayes Jacob, I permitted myself again to relish in her

words, to imagine the possibilities they hold for our school, and to find energy, rather than discomfort, in the challenges she poses. I formulated my own essential question, which stood in the background of my learning for the rest of the day: How can we become comfortable with discomfort through the experience of rapid change in our schools?

The two following sessions offered me context – Leading In a culture of Change with Valeri Mitrani, Julie Lambert and Jon Mitzmacher and Upgrade Curriculum and Assessment with Student Blogfolios with Andrea Hernandez. Each of these extraordinary educators supported me to reflect on my essential question.

Valeri Mitrani and Julie Lambert focused on the factors necessary in managing complex change in a system.No shared vision leads to confusion.Missing skills leads to anxiety.Missing incentives leads to resistance.Missing resources leads to frustrationMissing an action plan leads to a treadmill (working hard with no results).Missing results leads to inertia.Confusion, anxiety, resistance, frustration, hard work with no results, and inertia. Now, there is a recipe for discomfort. And, it’s real. We’ve experienced such discomfort. We know it, relate to it, recognize it, and fear it.

It is also a recipe for possibility. Share a vision. Build capacity and skills. Find incentives in focusing on the values based mission of providing together for our learners. Creatively assess and develop resources even in financially trying times. Plan and develop an action plan collaboratively. Celebrate even the small successes.

Jon Mitzmacher then authentically shared in concrete terms ways he is managing complex change at the Martin J. Gottlieb Jewish Day School, speaking of structural choices his school has made.They got rid of the computer lab and instead pushed technology instruction into the classroom.They created a school ning as a virtual space for faculty members to collaborate.They redefined a number of existing positions with a 21st century and instructional coaching thrust.They transformed faculty meetings with a focus on professional learning.

MJGDS.org/mitzmacherHead of School Blog

MJGDS.org/21stcenturylearning21st Century Learning Blog

MJGDS.org/classroomsClassroom Blogs

MJGDS.org/studentsStudent Blogfolios

MJGDS.ORGMain School Site

Edtechworkshop.blogspot.comAndrea Hernandez Blog

Langwitches.org/blogSilvia Rosenthal Tolisano Blog

Social fluency, not

technological fluency is the essence of

learning

[17]

Jon Mitzmacher, as Head of School, set clear expectations, defining minimum requirements and raising the bar every year.

As Jon spoke, I connected. We as a school are in the process of making similar choices. I felt energized because I recognized the shared vision, skills, incentives, resources, action plan, and celebrations of successes along the way. And, I appreciate Jon’s open acknowledgement of the discomfort that occurred in the process. He recognizes the discomfort without wallowing in it, astutely open for course corrections in an ongoing process of learning.

Andrea Hernandez spoke in the following session with contagious energy about one strategic upgrade at the Martin J Gottleib Jewish Day School: student blogfolios. A term Andrea has created, a blogfolio is a blog + a portfolio. Beginning last year in kindergarten, third and fifth grade; and this year extending to the entire school third through eighth grade, blogfoloios are offering students at the Martin J Gottlieb Jewish Day School a voice with an authentic audience. Started as digital portfolios on a wordpress blog to use primarily for assessment of learning, students were so excited to receive their own blog that they wanted to write. The magic began! Students became bloggers, in Andrea’s words, “learning to create and creating to learn.”

Andrea was honest, open and reflective about the challenges and discomfort; parent concern about safety and privacy, student interest and engagement growing and waning, and skill building with teachers. She was also clear, blogfolios are a tremendous amount of

work. And, yet, Andrea did not seem uncomfortable. The reverse, her energy, excitement and passion were palpable as she shared one example of a strategic upgrade – replacing assessment and writing projects previously on paper and handed in to a teacher with blogfolios that can be shared with an authentic audience. Imagine the possibility!

The Purpose of EdTech by Shira Leibowitz“It’s not an ed tech conference, it’s a conference on learning and

teaching,” Silvia Tolisano (@langwitches) astutely pointed out in the opening keynote of EdJEWcon. In that moment, as in so many magical learning moments in groups, I felt as though Silvia was speaking not merely to the group, but directly to me; gently, caringly, correcting me in order to support my own learning and growth. I had called EdJEWcon an ed tech conference not only once, but just about every time I shared with others where I would be April 29th-May 1st. In that moment, as Silvia defined the purpose of edJEWcon, I understood; I learned; I grew. I was in the presence of teachers skilled in educational technology; but far more significantly, I was in the presence of learners wanting, as Andrea Hernandez (@edtechworkshop) shared in her introduction to the conference, to engage in collaborative co-created learning. With Silvia’s and Andreas’s words, a tone was set for our group of twenty plus individual school teams to become a learning community.   

 Our responsibilities are significant. The

world of education, reflecting the world in which our students are growing up, is changing rapidly. Silvia Tolisano shared that Generation Alpha, those born around 2010, will arrive at school already having a digital footprint. It will be our responsibility as educators to help them make that digital footprint a positive one. I reflected on what a daunting task we share; focused for me not primarily on technology, although the technology matters, but on character. How can

we help our students define their own identities in positive, meaningful ways in a world in which so much that was once private is now transparent, shared, and open? How can we support our students to contribute to community in a world in which the very definition of community is in constant flux? 

 In the past several years, I have grown

more comfortable with questions that have no immediate answer; relishing in the creative chaos of finding our way together. I also appreciate the calming voices among us who remind us of the substantial gifts we have to guide us. Jon Mitzmacher (@jon_mitzmacher) did not disappoint, joining his voice to the keynote, pointing to the necessary contemporary skills that have ancient grounding and have always  been part of the fabric of Jewish schools: critical thinking, global connection, second language acquisition, and social learning.  The tension in my body eased a bit and I recognized that  while expectations are high,  we share many supports to reach those expectations.  As much as our world is changing, much remains the same: the importance of character, compassion,  and care. Ultimately, our world remains dependent upon the strength of communities of value.  

 And so, I add to Silvia Tolisano’s message.

EdJEWcon is not an ed tech conference and not even a conference on learning and teaching. EdJEWcon, at least for me, is a conference on creating communities of learning and character in a rapidly changing world.  

edJEWcon is NOT a

technology conference!

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I will be tossing and turning, my brain will not be sleeping, I will be feeling growing pains, and I will be continually uncomfortable.  Mission accomplished.  Because OR NOT is not an option.My Mind is on Twitter by Julie Lambert

My mind is a Twitter.  I’m all Blogged out.  And I can’t spend anymore time in the Apple App store.  I’m uncomfortable, in brain pain, and petrified of what I don’t know.  And I couldn’t be more excited or invigorated about it.

The last 2 ½ days at EdJewCon 5772.0 were some of the best and most inspiring days I have spent thinking about what Jewish education can be in the coming decades.  (I am intentionally NOT using” in the 21st century” as I have come to be uncomfortable with the term, thanks to all of you  :) ) I am thinking about my responsibility in making this a reality.  After all, I matter, Angela Maiers reminded me.  I keep thinking about what an incredible paradigm shift and reallocation of resources on a communal level would be needed to quickly upgrade and realign what we do, how we do it, and re-focusing on why we do things the way we do.  We talk about Jewish continuity and Jon Woocher suggested that maybe “continuity” isn’t our agenda anymore.  But even if it is, we can’t continue in the way we are approaching Jewish learning and community engagement.  We will leave the learner behind.  And therefore we leave the Jews behind. Our tradition and text can come alive even more if we use technology and current learning tools to enliven and inspire interest in the rich, complex, and meaningful tradition that we are responsible for.

Heidi Hayes Jacobs spoke of the 5 C’s necessary for curriculum and learning to be relevant and current to our learners.  Learning must involve communication, connection, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.  The content that Jewish education brings to the table is the perfect match.  Inherent in our tradition and our text is communication, connection, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.  The Talmud and the Commentaries are one long conversation and communication

between thinkers, scholars, generations, and societies.  Critical thinking is innate, it is part of the Jewish DNA.

The past few days, learning with Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Angela Maiers, Silvia Tolisano, Jon Mitzmacher, and Andrea Hernandez have inspired me to think deeply about what it means to alter our Jewish educational system.  What do I, as a community Jewish educator, who sits every day in the 3rd largest Jewish community in the United States need to do to get community leaders, funders, parents, educators, and community professionals to understand that this is not a choice.  This is an imperative.  We can’t sit in our 20th century structures, with our 20th century institutional boundaries, and our 20th century learning tools and expect the residents of the 21st century to be inspired by what we offer them.

The opportunity to connect and communicate with the Jewish community on a global level has never been easier.  Israel and Jewish communities around the world don’t need to be distant relatives and others, they can be members of our Jewish communities, working together to do what we as a people are commanded to do, be a light unto the nations and spend our days L’taken Olam.

As uncomfortable and unsure of next my next steps as I am,  I am inspired and motivated to keep thinking, trying to make sense of the Twitter feed in my head, the Twitter feed on my phone, and the conversations both in person and online that I have entered into, in order to figure out our next steps.  Heidi Hayes Jacobs consistently challenged us to think about teaching and learning in a new way.  She modeled ways in which content and curriculum and engagement can come alive in ways it never could before.  We have the choice to make learning relevant, or not.  We can choose not to, but why? And at what expense?

So thank you Edjewcon5772.0.  I will be tossing and turning, my brain will not be sleeping, I will be feeling growing pains, and I will be continually uncomfortable.  Mission accomplished.  Because OR NOT is not an option.

Best and Most Inspiring DaysThe last 2 ½ days at EdJewCon 5772.0 were some of the best and most inspiring days I have spent thinking about what Jewish education can be in the coming decades.  (I am intentionally NOT using” in the 21st century” as I have come to be uncomfortable with the term, thanks to all of you    ~ Julie Lambert

Because or NOT is not an

option

NETWORKING- F2F & VIRTUALLY

[19]

First Reflection from edJEWcon by Andrea Hernandez

We did it.We had an idea, a vision. We dreamed it.

We made it happen. edJEWcon- a learning conference, similar to Educon at Science Leadership Academy in  Philadelphia, but for Jewish Day Schools (who cannot attend Educon because it falls over Shabbat.)

Here are the words I shared in my introduction to the opening keynote:

We often talk about 21st century learning in terms of the skills needed to be successful in this technological world. One of those important skills is collaboration. edJEWcon is collaboration at its best. This conference began as a conversation between Silvia Tolisano, Jon Mitzmacher and myself. It grew to include Elaine Cohen of Schechter Network and Rachel Abrahams from the AVI CHAI Foundation. We appreciate not only their support, but their ideas, questions and push-back in the beginning stages. 

Rachel encouraged us to "think big" so we did- we dreamed about speakers of the caliber of Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Angela Maiers, as well as the idea of providing "toolkits" to the school teams that would attend. We are so

grateful to AVI CHAI for their generous sponsorship of edJEWcon.  

All of you sitting here today, 21 school teams and 14 partners from a variety of Jewish agencies, are our collaborators as well. Without you making the trek to Jacksonville from all over the United States and Canada, there would be no edJEWcon. And of course, the reason we are hosting the conference here is because all of our MJGDS teachers, students and parents are partners on this learning journey.  

The next step is to reach out, through the tools you have received in your toolkits and brought with you, through the blogs on the edJEWcon website, through Twitter and through other digital tools- to document and reflect on what you are learning- to collaborate with each other and to share with others who are not in attendance either at the conference or at a particular session. edJEWcon is collaborative, co-created learning. The whole will be greater than the sum of its parts. 

Collaborative, co-created learning. My big takeaway is almost a full-circle spiral. I "knew" it to begin with, but now I understand it in a new way as I experienced something extraordinary. All leadership is collaborative, co-creation. No one can create anything extraordinary without tapping into the brilliance, hard work and

MARTIN J. GOTTLIEB DAY SCHOOL

[20]

passion of others. There is no creation without people. 

edJEWcon was an idea. It was a lot of work. edJEWcon was a website, a Google form,

a Twitter feed, a whole lot of emails. But for all the preparations, edJEWcon was nothing without the people. People who came. People who helped. People who shared and learned and tweeted and connected. People are the magic that breathe life into an idea. 

This dovetails with Angela's inspirational closing keynote, "Using Technology R.I.G.H.T." Using technology isn't about the technology, it's about the people. Social networking- about the people. Teaching and learning- yes, it's about the people. 

There is lots more to reflect upon in detail, including the keynotes, but for now I want to thank all the people (and there were many) who supported and breathed life into edJEWcon- from the very beginning until right now (which is not the end by any means).

It’s About the People ...Angela's inspirational closing keynote, "Using Technology R.I.G.H.T." Using technology isn't about the technology, it's about the people. Social networking- about the people. Teaching and learning- yes, it's about the people. 

~Andrea Hernandez

CONNECTINGThere is no Creation without People

Collaborative, co-created learning. My big takeaway is almost a full-circle spiral. I "knew" it to begin with, but now I understand it in a new way as I experienced something extraordinary. All leadership is collaborative, co-creation. No one can create anything extraordinary without tapping into the brilliance, hard work and passion of others. There is no creation without people. ~ Andrea Hernandez

edJEWcon is NOT a

technology conference!

[21]

A Reformed Twitterer by JNathanI’m not one of those people that always has to be right.  I can easily admit when I am wrong (don’t tell my husband) and in fact, have even conceded an argument just to end it.  Because,  ultimately, does it really matter whose turn it was to do the dishes?  Or that the wall color you picked out was actually burnt sienna and NOT red.  So while it may not be difficult for me admit I was wrong (at least to all of you), it is, in this case, surprising.

Last year I had the privilege of partaking in an online educational technology certificate course.  As an assignment for the course we were tasked with creating a Twitter account and worse…we had to actually use it.  Let me make this perfectly clear….I HATED this assignment!  I had avoided the Twitterverse like the plague.  Not a plague, but “THE” plague.  I couldn’t understand why anyone used this technology or how it came to be so revered.  I was so adamantly against it that I even wrote a blog detailing all the ways I thought Twitter was the devil incarnate. You can click here  to read that post.  In retrospect, it may not be considered scathing and the writing seems questionable at best, but it still got the point across.  I think.

Recently, though, something  magnificent happened.  I have been made into a believer. A reformer.  A user.  Dare I say, a tweeter.  It all happened at a magical place called EdJEWcon.  A place where Jewish educators from all across the United Staes and Canada met for 3 days of

learning, teaching and inspiration.  It was there, in sunny Jacksonville, FL that I saw the light.  Or rather, I saw the “hashtag”.  I saw it for what it was and what it could be and I embraced the power of the tweet.  It was there that I saw Twitter as a professional tool instead of a personal play-by-play for my life.

Through Twitter, I have connected with incredible people with invaluable resources.  These people have many more followers and much better insight than I and they can now lend their collective voices to mine.  With the tap of a button, or in this case, 140, I can reach thousands of like-minded professionals and educators with the same passions, interests, fears and questions.  Not sure how to teach a lesson…tweet about it.  Looking for a good resource to share with colleagues…tweet about it.  Gonna be in the area and need a place to stay…tweet about it.  There is no question too silly and no comment to inane to share with the Twitterverse.  Well, actually there is.  Hence, my first blog about twitter.

And don’t forget the power of the hashtag… Formerly known as the number sign.  This is how you know what everyone else is tweeting about.  Unfortunately for me, the things

that are usually “trending” are ridiculously superficial and irrelevant.  But, all of that is just background noise and a necessary evil in this virtual world.  If you can manage to get past all of that and not “follow” the people that care what Justin Bieber is doing, the Twitterverse is a great place to be.

So while I will not admit this to my husband, I will admit it to you.  I was wrong. About Twitter I mean.  Don’t be scared off by the ridiculous and inane.  Don’t allow your opinion to be skewed  by tweets about Ashton Kutcher and Dancing With the Stars.  Whatever you’re looking for, chances are someone else is wondering about it too.   And, oh yeah, there’s a hash tag for that.

GOLDA OCH ACADEMYThrough Twitter, I have connected with incredible people with invaluable resources. 

What Year Are you Preparing your Students For?What year are you preparing your students for? 1973? 1995?Can you honestly say that your school's curriculum and the program you use are

preparing your students for 2015 or 2020? Are you even preparing them for today?

EDJEWCONMartin J. Gottlieb Day School 3662 Crown Point RoadJacksonville, FL 32257

[22]

My (Quick) Reflection from edJEWcon by Akevy Greenblatt

[ Editors Note: There is so much I still need process and want to blog about but wanted to share my quick highlights right away. ]

WOW!!I am not sure what else to say about my recent experience at the

EDJEWCON conference.First is foremost are thank you to the amazing organizers

Jon_Mitzmacher langwitches edtechworkshop I would also like to thank them for asking me to present ( a topic for

a separate  blog post very shortly )I would also like to thank my school the Margolin Hebrew Academy  

for sending me together with a team of three other educators. The conference started for me with a keynote from heidihaysjacobs

unquestionably the premier expert on 21st century learning.She pointed out the following which for me made me really think

she said that Form should follow function but in reality how we function unfortunately follows the form and system we are currently in. In reality this is our biggest challenge the school structure is 19th century the curriculum is 20th century and we are teaching 21st century students

Then she challenged us and in return I challenge myself and all of you as well given our current structure curriculum assessments etc for what year are we preparing our current students for?

Heidi said not one is educations them for today let alone tomorrow she believes we fall  between the 1980-90's a very scary thought.

She also pointed out which is a pet peeve of mine as well that these aren’t 21st century skills but rather skills needed for life and we should probably stop using that term given that we are more than 10% into the 21st century.

And finally she concluded with the idea that we are not necessarily looking for change but rather our goal should be growth and with growth we go through growing pains and it hurts sometimes.

The conference ended with a key note from AngelaMaires

What a way to end she truly lives her Mantra of you matter and being passion driven. What an inspiration

I have blogged and spoken about how technology is a tool and it needs to support learning

Angela said it even better and that is What is the RIGHT way to use technology  or how can we use technology correctly and she shared the following acronym

R-Real ( it needs to make the learning real )

I-Impact it must have an impact on our

studentsG-Global - learning is now global and needs to be done beyond the

classroom wallsH-Honor PassionT- Talent amplifier

Angela concluded with the following idea that I tweeted out. She said the number 1 thing students want is to know that They MATTER!  You show me that we Matter when you honor me, inspire me, notice me , smile at me ,help me, and trust me via AngelaMaiers

In between these two keynotes there were amazing sessions about leading school change, how we need to reflect on our learning and teaching and how can we create that culture,and blog portfolios just to name a few. Each one probably deserves an individual blog post.

However the biggest takeaway and the one thing that made the biggest impression was the fact that everyone came to learn. We often talk about life long learners and we believe it ( I hope) but do we see it. Well I had the privilege over the last 2 days to be in an environment where everyone was willing to learn and  grow and move out of his or her comfort zone.

Can’t Wait for EDJEWCON 5773

Can’t wait for edJEWcon

5773

[23]

My Brain is Overflowing with Ideas and Thoughts...The Plan by Jessica Jundef

Ok, the conference is over and my brain is overflowing with ideas and thoughts.  I learned so much at this conference and met so many great and inspiring people.  The biggest concept I walked away with is:

It is not necessarily about using technology in the classroom it is about transforming learning with the assistance of technology.

Reflection on edJEWcon by Mindy Civan and Marsha Messinger

EdJewCon 5772 was a unique experience in our professional development.  It allowed us to network with people from Jewish Day Schools all over North America and share ideas.  It was refreshing to hear ideas that have been implemented in similar schools, and learn what is possible to do in order to invigorate Jewish and secular studies. New tools and platforms were introduced, and the importance of connecting outside of our community became apparent.  We learned from educators across the country and across the river (you know who you are.)  Heidi Hayes Jacobs was an inspiring teacher, who shared resources that we see

ourselves using tomorrow.  Her vision of what education can be motivates us to think outside of our comfort zone and go to where the magic happens.  We look forward to continued collaboration online, and in person at ISTE and EdJewCon 5773.

So many great ideas for writing across the Curriculum by Gellers

Wow, there are so many writing opportunities with blogging. I think my students would love it. Does the teacher check over every post? Or if the post is part of an assignment does that count or gets checked afterwards?

Slightly unrelated: I had a great idea for math blogging. Once a week groups of students… I don’t think I could do individuals yet could make a blog or a screen capture explanation for aMeatcomb crept we learned that week and we could ultimately create our own Kahn academy type archive of what we’ve done so that others can access it at home when they are confused on their homework.

Blogging might also engage parents more deeply with what their children are going throughout the school day. Maybe they would actually read about what we are doing in the classroom if their own children are showing and explaining what they are doing. That is a solution to my newsletter frustrations.

It is not necessarilyabout using technology in the classroom it is about transforming learning with the assistance of technology.

~Jessica Jundef

It is about transforming

learning with the assistance of technology.

LEARNING WITH AND FROM EACH OTHER...

QR CODES AND COLLABORATION

Let me share a transliterate learning opportunity (Art, iPads, QR codes, Language Arts and Digital Storytelling)  in collaboration with our Art teacher and the 4th grade classroom teacher.

During Art class, fourth graders adapted Vincent van Gogh’s chairs and placed things on and  around them that were important to them. In Language Arts, students wrote a script,

explaining their choices of what they drew and why it was important to them. We all

gathered in the library to record their script as an audio file on the iPad. We used the AudioMemos app (free) to

record. Students then emailed the wav file to me. We created QR Codes (Quick

Response) to be attached to the original art

work. ow anyone with a QR scanner on their Smartphone, iTouch or iPad walking by the art work, can scan and listen to the student artist’s audio reflection. The next step was to create a poster to catch the attention of the visitors and parents walking by and give a short explanation of what to do with the QR code

QR Codes and Fluency-http://www.mjgds.org/

21stcenturylearning/?p=788

Strategic UpdatesA proof of concept: Inspired by the QR Codes on the artwork at MJGDS, we figured out to add depth to a few science fair poster boards.  We experimented with a few types of media (mp3, m4a, and mov), all of which worked.  Proving many theories that we heard at EdJEWCon right, the technology was very easy to use (even for me), but it’s the content and the skills that are so important to create a quality product.  This, however, was a proof of concept to test the viability.

MJGDS

MetroWest Jewish Day

School