Great Opportunity for a Mitzvah

About 3 years ago, I began volunteering for an organization known as Partners in Torah. In short, this program partners Jewish adults of all backgrounds via phone across North America free of charge with a learning opportunity to discover Judaism – its culture, history, and traditions – at their pace and their schedule.

This basically required that I volunteer one hour a week so that an adult can enjoy the opportunity mentioned above. Anyhow… words alone cannot express how enriching this experience has been. In fact, the experience has been so beneficial that I volunteered to help a Pilot Program from the same organization that aims to achieve a similar task. The Kohelet Fellowships Mentor program pairs a volunteer adult with a husband and wife team wishing to learn about their Judaic background. I thought this program would be similar to the other program. It is not. I feel it is even more effective as you are helping 2 people at one time.

In any case, the Kohelet Fellowships Mentor program has been a resounding success and is now planning to significantly expand their program. This program requires that individuals learn with a husband-wife team once a week for approximately 8 weeks in the Fall and 8 weeks in the Spring. The Kohelet Fellowships Mentor program provides you with user-friendly training materials prior to the session. If this sounds like something, you would like to get involved with, feel free to drop an e-mail to htzall@partnersintorah.org or to myself.

IWB, I Loathe You!

Michael Lotta was in a foul mood… again. Why did the school have to buy those stupid Clever Boards? Quite frankly it robbed him of blackboard space and a place to hang his coat. If that wasn’t enough, a school wide memo required all High School Math teachers to attend a Clever Board Nuts and Bolts workshop. Michael thought, “I bet this is Perkinson’s fault.” How he detested the new AP. “The nerve of him! He thinks because he went to the Harvard Leadership Program that he is ready to be an AP. How long did he teach in the classroom? 2 months? What a disgrace!”

The Clever Board instructor started by showing the participants how to use the interactive markers and having them sign their name on the Clever Board. The instructor then showed them how to align the board using the Clever Board Tools. For the next hour the instructor showed them how to integrate the Clever Board clip art into their documents. Bill Perkinson the AP was attending the session and thought it was going rather well.

Suddenly, Michael blurted, “What does this have to do with teaching math?” The Clever Board instructor said, “Let me show this really fun shape game we can play. On one side of the screen are the shapes and on the other side of the screen are the names of the objects. The objective of this activity is to drag the correct word on to the shape.”

Michael yelled, “What am I five years old? High School Math! We want High School Math!” The Clever Board instructor started to stammer. Clearly, he was not prepared for this turn of events. The Clever Board instructor attempted to find Math Activities only to be shot down again. Michael said, “Multiplication? You’re kidding me right.” The Clever Board instructor then said that he would install the Clever Board Geometry Pack and asked the participants to take a 15-minute break.

About 15 minutes later, the installation was completed. The Clever Board instructor rebooted the machine and notice the display on the Clever Board mutated into the shape of a diamond. Michael blurted, “Hey that looks like a parallelogram.” The instructor attempted to adjust the screen. “Now it looks like a rhombus. What’s next? A quadrilateral?” After another 15 minutes of tinkering, the instructor proceeded to launch the Clever Board Geometry pack. Unfortunately this caused the machine to display the following message;

WARNING- YOUR SYSTEM HAS A FATAL ERROR DUE TO THE INSTALLATION OF CORRUPT SOFTWARE. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR IMMEDIATELY.

Michael Lotta could not be happier and said, “I give this instructor an Unsatisfactory.” The other High School teachers started grumbling as well and joined in the festivities.

Bill Perkinson was beside himself. He understood that this Clever Board workshop really stunk, and would reinforce Michael’s biases. It would also probably sour the other Math teachers to this kind of technology.

15 Additional Practices for Bad Professional Development in Technology

1. There is no need to start your workshop on time.

2. Workshops are an ideal time for a presenter to catch up with their e-mails and phone calls.

3. Start out your presentation slowly and then speed it up to mess with their heads.

4. Make sure your PowerPoint handouts do not match what they see on the screen because it is really funny to watch participants scratch their head and struggle.

5. Three-hour workshops do not require breaks.

6. If a participant cannot log on to the computer, ignore them.

7. Tonight I’m going to teach technology like its 1999!

8. Do not provide laptops or computers for the participants to work with.

9. Reading from a PowerPoint is the essence of good Professional Development.

10. Malware!! Schmalware!!

11. Manuals do not need directions. Screenshots without explanations are sufficient.

12. If the user's application is not working; its all good. Just tell them to look at what you are doing on the screen or look at their neighbor’s screen.

13. Speaking of screens, use the smallest font possible because its fun to watch participants squint.

14. If the application fails while are you presenting; blame the programmer who made the application. Never accept responsibility for your actions!

15. If a user insists on asking for help. Give them a blow-off answer like, "You should really ask your IT person for help."

Coming Soon: 1 Instructor + 1 Smart Board+ (X Irate Math Teachers)= Professional Development from Hell

Ancient Memories Long Forgotten- Mother’s Day Edition

Sometime during the early 1980's my Mom surprised me in a rather interesting way for one of my birthdays. To be truthful, this event happened so long ago that I am not sure which birthday it was and I do not remember what my mom gave me. Having said that, I do recall waking up on December 23rd and noticing that there was a box near my bed addressed to me wishing me a Happy Birthday.

During the late 1970’s, my brother and I cleaned the house thoroughly. As a reward, my mom gave us a stack of comic books. Naturally, I do not remember what comic titles were included in the stack. However, I remember we were both very excited and had a great weekend reading comic books. I also saw that my Mom immensely enjoyed our interest in reading the comics.

For my 16th birthday, my Mom held a surprise party for me and purchased a CD player. This might not sound significant. However, it was the 1980’s and at the time, CD Players cost on average between 200-300 dollars. More importantly, I recall that my uncle was a part of the elaborate rouse in which I exited the house so that Mom could prepare the surprise party.

Needless to say, there are many other stories that share the same motif. As I reflect on these anecdotes, I fondly recall that my Mom took great joy in surprising us. In one video clip she proudly proclaimed, "See, I know what my kids like."

Unfortunately, there will be no more surprises from her as she passed on in 1990. However, reflecting on these long forgotten memories helps me understand why I too take pleasure in surprising my kids and wife. As I reminisce these events certain parallels have become evident. I also take a special pride in knowing what motivates my kids and wife. I also love to surprise my siblings. Unbeknownst to me I probably learned this through my mother’s example. With this, Happy Mother’s Day Mom! Happy Mother’s Day Este! And Happy Mother’s Day to all!!

12 Seconds

12 Seconds. That’s all it took. Conner and Disquizo smashed through the 3^rd floor window using a motorcycle. Of course this was no ordinary motorcycle. Street Smasher and Night Shift used a glider and swooped in shadowing the motorcycle entourage. Night Shift disarmed 5 of the assailants with a kung fu move and a half dozen ninja stars. Conner smacked two of the barons with the motorcycle; not a pretty sight. Meanwhile, Disquizo jumped on one of them and Street Smasher knocked out the 2 others.

All in all it was a shocking yet dazzling sight. In a matter of 12 seconds this gang of vigilantes broke up a robbery. In another 12 seconds they disappeared. Not a trace. It was as if they never existed. Clearly, their method of attack was concise and deliberate. Everyone was relieved by the heroics. Nevertheless, who were these hoodlums? Why did they call themselves the Assassinators?

The press did not know what to make of the either. According to some media outlets they apprehended several hundred criminals in one short year. However, their methods were non-typical and at times controversial. Where they the devil or saints doing the work of the lord? No one knows for sure. However, I bet you bystanders in that bank were thankful for their presence.

The 10 Zens of Technology Planning

Your principal has drafted you to create a school based technology plan. You are both enthused and scared at this prospect. Where do I start? Do we get iPods for all the students? Perhaps we should purchase netbooks. I hear they are really cheap. Then again… I hear they are kind of flimsy and the keyboard is too small. Wait a minute… How are we paying for this?

With this in mind, I share with you “The 10 Zens of Technology Planning”

1. Establish a committee with stakeholders of varying interests- Make sure to include a Special Education teacher, ELL teacher, Math teacher, Science teacher, an administrator, as well as staff members from other subjects and interests.

2. Conduct a Hardware and Instructional Needs Inventory- The Hardware Inventory should catalog the age, functionality, and condition of the technology equipment. The Instructional Needs Inventory will help the school determine what instructional focus the computer hardware will be used for.

3. Developing a Long Term Plan- Ask your committee the following; “In 5 years what 3 technological milestones do we wish to achieve?”

4. Developing a Short Term Goal- Ask your committee the following; “In 5 months what one goal do we wish to accomplish?”

5. Develop Activities to Achieve the Short Term Goal- Once the committee agrees on a short term goal, it becomes important to create a mini timeline of what activities must be carried out to fulfill the short term goal.

6. Grants- Grants are often a major funding source to help schools acquire and update technology with in a school. With this in mind, schools should aggressively seek grant opportunities. This includes funds available from local politicians, private foundations, donations, and public grants. In many cases, simply writing a letter and making a few phone calls can help a school net a grant or donation. For example, a company purchases new computers and may wish to donate their old computers as it helps them avoid potential recycling costs and can be used as a tax write off. Similarly, a local politician is running for reelection and might have funds to help a local school. Likewise, a philanthropist creates a grant opportunity offering free computers to promote his/her cause. In each of these scenarios the school that proactively seeks these opportunities is far more likely to benefit from one or all of these opportunities.

7. Repair and Repurpose Technology- All too often schools are ready to throw out equipment that appears to be older. This is a shame as older computers can often be nursed back to health by re-imaging the machine. Additionally, older machines can be used as dedicated writing and research centers where as newer machines could handle photo and video editing applications which tend to be more taxing. If a machine is beyond repair, cannibalize it and use it for spare parts. Not only is it environmentally sound, it also teaches students a valuable lesson about computer repair.

8. Be Wary of Purchasing the Newest Technology Toy- New products typically are ridden with hardware problems, have a limited number of applications, and are cost prohibitive. For example, in 2007 the iPhone cost 500 dollars, was buggy, and had very limited features. Three years and several upgrades later the same device costs only 100 dollars and has approximately 200,000 applications that can be used. One may also recall that a number of school systems purchased the 1^st generation tablet based laptops, which proved to be costly, underpowered, and buggy.

9. Research Software Solutions- As we all know there is no shortage of vendors trying to sell their wares. The best way to determine the effectiveness of a program is to test the software. Fortunately, acquiring trial versions of the software is fairly easy to do as reputable companies will usually offer white papers documenting the effectiveness of their product and will offer a 3o day trial version of their software.

10. Avoid Drive By Professional Development- All too often; schools will conduct one-session of professional development. This is a recipe for failure, as multiple sessions are needed to see a cohesive improvement. Additionally, follow up workshops are critical. It is also important to offer a menu of workshops as adults learning how to use technology have very different needs