Never Give Up! Never Surrender!!! (with apologies to the intrepid crew of the NSEA Protector)

As a Sci-fi nerd, I always chuckle when I think of the 1999 comedy movie Galaxy Quest.  Especially the catch-phrase that the "captain" of the ship says when he and his team are under the most stress and danger...

It's a great message!  A message that I have tried to imbue to all of my students over the last 30 plus years.  When things are not going well, don't give up!... persevere and amazing things can happen.  

What a message!

Sometimes we don't ever know if our heartfelt pleas ever make it through to the students but in this case... Well... Can I "shep some nachas" here? (Yiddish expression that means to derive pride and joy).

You may recall my blog of 11-08-18 where I write about my son, Tuvia, and a classmate of his, creating a multi-user video game that they posted on STEAM.  

Well, after spending all of that time and really putting themselves "out there," his game was trolled, trounced and trashed by the "Blog Vaders" of the game platform. I have to say that some of the comments were just downright nasty. Instead of giving up, Tuvia took the segments that were valid constructive criticism and began creating a brand new game! 

Yep, that's right, he never gave up... he never surrendered!

With the help of his creative buddy next door, they designed a new character (the new game will be Sci-fi based so this player is a cyborg)

and a whole new list of game-play elements. 

Now, to test his new code in a live environment, Tuvia created a very truncated version of the game and turned it into a creative assessment/quiz for his Tanach (Hebrew Bible) class.

As an homage to the "Twilight Zone," he even prepared an intro cutscene that is just awesome! (Some understanding of Kabalah - Jewish mysticism - is helpful but not required)

(click this link to view video)

While his final game will be nothing like this assessment/quiz that he made, it will give him a chance to test his code in a live environment.  

When the actual game is released, I will be sure to post the URL for everyone to try it!

So, how about you?  Do you have a story about a student(s) who didn't give up?  Please share it on the blogsite so that I can pass it on!

Regards!!

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology


Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135
www.hillelhebrew.org
    

Rocket? Man!!! (with apologies to Elton John)

 

Those folks from ROCKETbook have done it again!! 

MAN-o-man, are they amazing!  

(Get it... ROCKETbook, MAN-o-man = ROCKET MAN... OK, so it's a "dad pun," just work with me!!)

My wife (you know, Batsheva... she wrote the book - The Jewish Educators Companion -see my blog post) first introduced me to "The Wave."  This is an amazing tech cross-over that combines "paper," digital tech and amazing engineering...

"The Rocketbook Wave provides the freedom of a traditional pen and paper notebook, while instantly blasting your notes into the cloud using your smartphone.  When you use Pilot FriXion pens with the Wave notebook, you can erase your notes using your microwave oven and reuse your notebook." (from the Rocketbook website)

What I love about The Wave is that I can draw, write and doodle like I always do and then, zap - send it to the cloud.  It just feels so natural!  When the notebook is full, you just pop it in the microwave - in my case, with some coffee to warm up -  and then I pull out a fully erased and ready to use clean notebook.  So Cool!!

But that wasn't enough for the innovators at Rocketbook.  They then released "The Everlast" - check out this super easy to erase version - I think of it like "The Wave" but on steroids!

(Click to watch video)

Well, now the intrepid voyagers from Rocketbook have "one-upped" their game. Introducing "The Rocketboard"

(Click to watch video)

What I love about this product is how it allows the user to transfer the image, from any angle, and then send it right up to the same cloud directory that I have for my notebook!!  It is amazing - and it would make a great gift to that special teacher on your shopping list!!  Personally, I think that every classroom that uses whiteboards should be using this product.  So get over to their Kickstarter page and support this one!

Now, I can hear some of you asking... "Yossie, do they pay you for this?"  And I reply... "Nope!! Nothing! Zippo! Efes! (That's zero in Hebrew!) 

Now, if they want to send me a coffee mug, I wouldn't say no! 

As always, I solicit your comments on the blogsite!

Seasonal Salutations!!

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology


Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135
www.hillelhebrew.org
    

A whole fortnight of fun... (With apologies to Louisa May Alcott)

What is exactly is a "fortnight?"

I asked that question to a group of students at my school and the answer I received the most was that fortnight was a video game.  There was also a couple of students who said that it was a two-week period of time.

So, which one is it?  A game or a measure of time?

Well...

FORTNIGHT, from Old English - fēowertȳne night - means fourteen nights.  

FORTNITE - note the spelling - that's a Massive Multi-player Online (MMO) game that currently has about 125 million players worldwide and chances are, if you are a teacher or parent, that you have an in-depth experience on how this MMO is causing "ripples" in your child's daily routine!

Now, I will be honest.  I like the game Fortnite - It's fun!! - and there are so many different modes that I can play it in.  I can play as a single player against a large group, I can play as a group member against other groups and I can even engage in the "playground" where I get to create fun games with my online buddies.  

One big downside is that it can suck me into what I call "The Cave."  You know, that time-defying parallel universe where one can lose track of time and forget to take out the garbage! (apologies to my wife!!)

So, is this game a "good thing" or a "bad thing?"

Like all else in the world of education (and parenting), I would suggest that it depends on how and what we do with it.  Researchers at Stanford Graduate School of Education say that Fortnite requires "students to practice "teamwork, collaboration, strategic thinking, spatial understanding, and imagination."  They promote bringing in the positive aspects of the game to spice up engagement in the classrooms.  (Example: A quick scan of YouTube brought me to this student's AP Physics project where he used the laws of physics and the scientific method to try to find the value of gravity in the game.)

On the other hand, as many studies have demonstrated, just having a phone or iPad sitting on a desk can be disruptive to the classroom.

So what do you think?  Distraction or teaching opportunity?  I would love to know your opinion - but please don't take a fortnight to get back to me!! 

Regards,

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology

Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135

www.hillelhebrew.org