When I originally learned about podcasts and vodcasts, the ability to syndicate consistent "episodes" of recorded audio or video files to subscribed listeners, I thought that this tool would not be particularly valuable in the high school context. While the use of audio or video recordings may be valuable (see my later post on visuals in the classroom), why would students subscribe to a your "cast" when you are meeting with them on a regular basis in the classroom and links or files can…

While many have blogged already on this site about the power of twitter for teachers’ professional development and networking, I would like to share some ways in which twitter can serve as a powerful tool to use in the classroom and some of my concerns in encouraging its use.

(1) Formative Assessment:

Twitter is a great tool for formative assessment in class- asking students to pose questions or respond to them. By attaching a hashtag for the class, everyone can see each…

Over the past few years, I've always thought of blogs as places where people, able to guise themselves in anonymity, post cynical and critical comments about whatever comes to their mind. Why would I want to get involved in that, let alone encourage my students to do so? Nevertheless, through my involvement in this site, reading numerous blog posts and starting to blog on my own, I have discovered that blogging provides a powerful platform for our own learning as…

This past week, I had the privilege of joining over 600 educators from across the denominational spectrum at the North American Jewish Day School Conference in Atlanta. Most of the sessions I attended (considering I am not involved in financial sustainability and governance at all) focused on innovative ideas that are not just "cool" tools to use but are new ways of thinking about how classes and schools are structured. From completely online education to…