Group items tagged

They say that no matter what happens, at the end of your wedding day the goal is to be married. I find the same to be true for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. At the end of the day you are a Jewish adult. You will be held to higher standards. It does not matter if you only have an aaliyah to the Torah or if you lead the whole thing. The point is you have reached adulthood in Judaism and you need to start acting like it.

You are a Jewish adult, then you go back to middle school! Seriously though, I really love myjewishlearning.com. I use it all the time for references and articles. The articles make a lot of sense and speak to a wide yet focused and community. I also appreciate how even though it keeps it serious, it remains consistent in its respectful approach to pluralism. In terms of the adult b'nai mitzvah, we have a class at the Synagogue for just this type of thing. We use Hineni Prayerbook Hebrew for Adults through Behrman House. People can take the class even if they don't schedule an actual adult bar or bat mitzvah. The ceremonies are really quiet special....it's never too late. And there's also the tradition of every 70 years having a bar or bat mitzvah which also has lots of potential. We all should live so long!

More and more, adult learners are finding the convenience and flexibility of online learning a match for their learning goals and busy lifestyles. Online degree programs, courses, and virtual universities targeting adult learners have proliferated in the past decade.

I agree with this statement in this article: "Online discussions with fellow students and the instructor are central to the learning experience." In the 5 C's, this would be all about collaboration, connectivity, and communication. If it's and art project, you could through creative expression in there too. If specific questions are asked too, customization would be the next step too. Having our class last night and yesterday afternoon really helped me see the big picture of where we are headed in this summer course. Surfing can be isolating, as can teaching, so the more we can increase communication with real people the better. I just signed up for a free quote from a car insurance deal online and not three minutes later, my cell phone rings with a service agent trying to get my business. How efficient is that...but kind of creepy too!

Cool and fun tool for older kids or adults to use.

This is a great article about integrating the smartboard into your lessons. We don't have smartboards at the Synagogue (not yet) but they have one at the day school and at the federation. I've taught some classes before for adult ed at the federation and for kids at the day school and using the smartboard is quiet an experience. It is so much fun and really is the future. Typical story though: We have this family who donated a smartboard to the school but then wanted the smartboard to be used in the same class as their daughter who will be in first. But the director want's to have the smartboard in fifth grade so it can maximize student learning. Plus, the first grade teacher doesn't know how to use it and doesn't really want to incoorporate it into her classroom experience. If you were the director, would you put the nicely donated smartboard where the donor wanted it to go in the first grade classroom with their child or use it in another classroom entirely because that's what would benefit the school? Or would you humbly say no thank you to the gift because it has strings attached?

I would let the donor know that it is best suited in the fifth grade class. However, anytime any teacher wants to use it, arrangements would be made so that they could use the smart board. That's what we did in our religious school. The classes that would most likely use the smart board received it in their room. But if a teacher was doing a special project or needed use of the smart board, the classrooms were switched so that someone else could use it if need be.

Makes good sense to me. Giving gifts with strings attached really complicates the matter and everybody loses in my experience.

NFTY's resource space for their initiative to maintain sanctity online. a great resource for teens, adults and educators to start a discussion about how what we put online goes further than just our "friends" or "followers"