At our seminal meeting this September I posted a QR code for all the Administrators of our school to use. At first they were stymied by the idea, but as I showed them what to do they became engage and excited. Taking snapshots of QR codes became and excited conversation among us. One of the challenges we face at our school is Judaic education is based in two worlds - the ancient world from which the lessons come and today's world where student's lessons are applied. QR Codes helped our teachers bridge the gap.
With this in mind, two leaders in our Jewish Education Department in Middle School, created a "QR Quest Through the History of Our Sages." After learning about the six time periods of great Jewish scholars in the classroom, students were brought to one of the main hallways of the school where they found over 150 of these QR codes taped to the windows. Using their smart phones, students scanned the QR codes and were instantly linked to various informative websites. Each of the codes corresponded to a different Jewish scholar, starting with the greats who lived during the Second Temple and ending with the spiritual leaders of modern times. With the information culled from these codes, students created a Torah timeline ranging from 515BCE until 2011. By tapping into their students' interest in technology, the middle school faculty was able to generate tremendous excitement about the Torah personalities that students learn about on a daily basis and give them a more intimate view of the special tradition of which they are an integral link.
In our lower school we have launched two online math programs side by side in different grades. I thought this would be a good way to get the teacher's input about how they use the programs and which they prefer. In grades 2 and 5 we are using a deployment of IXL and in grades 3 and 4 we are using MangaHigh.
Each program has it's own set of benefits and I am still waiting for the teachers to compare their experiences - I will write more about that in the future.
At our seminal meeting this September I posted a QR code for all the Administrators of our school to use. At first they were stymied by the idea, but as I showed them what to do they became engage and excited. Taking snapshots of QR codes became and excited conversation among us. One of the challenges we face at our school is Judaic education is based in two worlds - the ancient world from which the lessons come and today's world where student's lessons are applied. QR Codes helped our teachers bridge the gap.