The Force Awakens - on your home Internet!!

Ah, my young Padawan Techies...

We all know that the Internet can be a force for good - abundant information at one's fingertips, connecting with fellow learners throughout the world - but it also has a dark side - a warped space/time of endless hours playing games, and some sites that try to seduce us and waste our time with cute pictures of cats with lightsabers (https://youtu.be/m6erUBMtV2g) .  We call that the black hole, the dark side of the web.

So, as a parent, what can you do to manage the screen time, websites and general usage of the World Wide Web at your home?  Well, over the years I have seem many different home based solutions.  Some worked well, but the common thread was that the parents had to become technology specialists to use them!

Well, search no more!!  A force of light has awakened!!  

Disney (yes, the folks who now own Star Wars - hence all the bad puns...) has partnered with an AMAZING home Internet management device.  Not only does it work, but it is easy to use as well!!

I could extoll the virtues of this device, but the below linked video says it all!

(Click link to see video)

I ordered mine and I can't wait for its arrival!!  I will keep you all posted on how it goes... My son is just going to love it!! (sarcasm intended!!)

May the FARCE be with you all!!

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

IT Director - Shalhevet High School

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Wearable Tech... or just warm socks?!!

I absolutely MUST share this amazing piece of wearable tech with you all!  (Shout out to Donna Mandosa from the InTELA user group for sharing this!!!)

So, here is the "Big Idea" (Shout out to my wife Batsheva - the PBL instructor - she has taught me well...)

After a hard day of marking student papers, have you ever settled down on your couch to watch a Netflix video with a nice glass of dry red wine? (I am accepting bottles of GOOD kosher wine if anyone is offering!!)  After about 15 minutes into the movie... what happens.  If you are like me - zzzzzzzzzzz - Fast asleep!!  When I wake up, I have no idea of where I was in the movie!  Very frustrating...

Well, the folks at Netflix have the solution!!  Netflix socks!  When you doze off, they automatically pause your video so you don't miss a minute.... For real!!  This is a cool DIY project.

(Click here for the link)

Check it out!  I would love to hear your feedback - my sock size is Large.... in case any of you are making these.

Regards...

Yossie Frankel

IT Director - Shalhevet High School

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Special Professional Development Opportunity!

Hi everyone!

Firstly... my apologies for not blogging over last month.... I have been so busy setting up Shalhevet High School in their brand new building and working with my new network - The Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education www.thecije.org - that I haven't had the time to get out any posts!!  Well, I am about to change that!!

So my first blog back is about a great Professional Development opportunity here in Los Angeles!!

On Sunday, October 18th, at the Shalhevet High School, we are going to be hosting a full day of PD dedicated to 21st Century Education.  Now, if you are an out-of-towner, we will have a live INTERACTIVE stream of the events as well!  As of right now, we have a full crew of folks attending from here in the US, Canada AND Israel!

The link for the local folks is: https://oct18pd.eventbrite.com

If you are an Out-Of-Towner, here is the link for you: https://oct18pdstream.eventbrite.com

Here is what we will be doing:

CIJE and Shalhevet High School
 invite you to join us for a
Teacher Professional Development Day
Sunday, October 18th 2015

Three amazing Sessions: This is an all-day event so please attend all three of them!!

Session One:  Lenses of Questioning Workshop

In this age of instant information access and shallow sound bites, it is imperative that we don't lose the skill of thoughtful, critical inquiry, as the ancient Jewish tradition of questioning teaches. The Lenses of Questioning method (loosely based on the business model of Six Hats of Thinking), as taught in the 1.5 hour workshop, gives solid tools and includes activities to both model for and train students to ask and analyze strong questions. This leads to deeper critical thinking skills and imaginative observations.

Session Two:  LaunchBox Demo
During lunch the lunch break, Batsheva will demonstrate the LaunchBox games and activities that explore philosophical issues through a Jewish lens. Learn about and play games such as C.Hi.P.-­‐In : Competing High Priorities Game, Feed Your Wolves (Deals with Good and Evil), Sage Advice (Love and Relationships) and Fortune in Your Hands (Fate and Free Will).

Session Three:  Project Based Learning Workshop
Although Project-­‐Based Learning is a "buzzy" term in educational circles, there are many misconceptions about it. Before we begin the nuts and bolts of how to create a successful PBL Unit, there will be a short introduction (before lunch) explains what PBL is, what it isn't and how using PBL can enhance learning in any subject.  After lunch, the main workshop session focuses on the essential elements and practices of Gold Standard Project-­‐Based Learning. Each participant will leave with tools, resources and ideas for incorporating these standards, as well as a plan for a specific unit to be used in class.

Here is how the day is set out: 

(We will be very prompt with the times - so don't come late!!)

8:45am to 9:30am               Registration with a light breakfast
9:30am to 9:45am               Welcome to the event
9:45am to 11:15am             Session One: Lenses of Questioning Workshop
11:15am to 11:30am           Short Break
11:30am to 12:00pm           Introduction to PBL (A MUST introduction for
                                                Session Three)
12:00pm to 1:00pm             Working Lunch: Bagel, Cream Cheese and Veggies
                                                AND Session Two:LaunchBox Demo
1:00pm to 3:00pm               Session Three: PBL Workshop

Venue:  The Brand New Shalhevet High School Building
910 S Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles 90036
Parking in the school lot is very limited.  When it is full, the lot will be closed.  Street parking is available as well as the Petersen Car Museum

Now, I know that you are wondering, so.... No, there is NO CHARGE FOR THIS EVENT!!!  All we ask is that if you register, that you show up!!

To register for the event, open a web-browser to: http://oct18pd.eventbrite.com

 About the Presenter:

Batsheva Frankel has been teaching English, Judaic studies, creative writing and acting for over 20 years in a diversity of places throughout Los Angeles and the East coast. She has given lectures, classes and workshops for adults at Isralight Institute, JConnect, Jewlicious, Limmud, LimmudLA, American Jewish University, and Pico Shul. In 2011, Batsheva began developing LaunchBox which was the winner of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles' The Next Big Jewish Idea contest. As an educational consultant she has taught at teachers' conferences, schools and synagogues in the United States and the United Kingdom. Batsheva is also a full-­‐time teacher and Dean of Faculty at Arete Preparatory Academy, as well as a published writer, performer and director.

As always, please feel free to share this post and I hope to see some of you on Sunday!

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High School
Technology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to consortium-for-information-and-academic-technologies+unsubscribe@shalhevet.org.

Traveling through a wormhole... aka - "beam me up Scotty!"

OK, so maybe I didn't bend time and space, but it sure felt like it to me!!

Last Thursday morning, at 9:30am, I was in Silicon Valley sitting on a panel about "Robotics in Business" and then by 10:30 am, I was in Los Angeles at the Shalhevet High School construction site installing network switches.

Now, I know what many of you are thinking.... "What's the big deal?  You were just on a video conference."

Well, yes and no.... I was engaging in "telepresence" using a marvelous little robot call a "Kubi" (see my blog: http://technorebbe.blogspot.com/2015/02/tele-presence-when-being-there-is-next.html) and I actually FELT like I was attending the event - in person!!  Based on some of the feedback I got from attendees, they also felt as if I was actually present - talking directly to them, participating in person.

I have been on the receiving side of the Kubi (www.revolverobotics.com) many times, setting up a room where my speaker is on the Kubi, mounted on a tripod and it feels like s/he is actually in the room participating.  This is my first time being the presenter who is off in the distance and I found the experience to be transformative.  I really, really, really felt like I was there, sitting on the panel and fully participating.  Here... take a look at the picture... I am the guy on the end...

So, the next time you are going to host an event like above, consider "Kubi-ing" in to the conference.  You will be quite pleased!

If you were at this event, I would love to hear what you thought! (Pictures are solicited!!)  As always, please comment on the blog page.

Oh, I see that it is time for me to go, so "beam me up Scotty!"

regards...

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High School
Technology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

The continuing adventures of Kano Boy - the Last Day!

So, it had to come at last - Tuvia's final day at the Kano camp run by Star Camps.  This day was particularly exciting for Tuvia as he got to bring his Kano home.  Here is our final interview...

Well son, this was the last day of camp!  What was the thing that you were most looking forward to?

Tuvia: Taking home my Kano!!

I get that, but what I want to know is what was the thing you were looking forward to at the camp itself?

T: OH.... well then... (Tuvia furrows his brow in thought) fixing my scratch calculator program!

Cool... so what was the first thing you got to do when you got to camp?

T: At drop off, before Kano rotation part one, I built structures with dominos.  One of the other kids was building with me - it was fun!

So tell me about Kano part one.

T:  I practiced using terminal to program my Kano - I made it make sounds.  When I was done with this, I played Minecraft.  After, I "modded" Pong.

Ah, Tuvia, is "modded" actually a word?

T: Yes, Tattie, it is a word - just like "Googled."  It means modified!  Anyhoo... (me: I wondered to myself if that was a word as well, but I didn't say anything.)  I finished off the rotation with Minecraft again.

What was next?

T: Snack and rotation two... Scratch programming.

What did you do here?

T: I edited my Plane drawing game and made it into an actual game. When I was done, I finished editing my calculator program - I really wanted to finish that!!  From there I went to recess and played chess.  Oh! There was a surprise dance by the minecraft camp.

OK, we can skip that...

T: NO WE CAN'T!!! It was the "surprise of the week!"

OK, so I included it... what next?

T: Lunch was next and then rotation three - activities where I played Stratego.  It was fun!  And then on to rotation four.. the last Kano class!!

What did you do here?

T: Played Snake - no editing... just playing.  Then I used code to draw pictures. I played some more and then I got to pack up my Kano and bring it home!

Were you sad that the camp over?

T: Not really, I got to take home my Kano FINALLY!!  How could I be sad??!!

What did you learn from going to this camp?

T: That computers are more awesome than I thought they were... I also learned more about coding techniques... Oh yes, how to build a Kano!!!  That was cool too!!

So there you have it.  A week with Tuvia - Kano Boy!  When Tuvia got home, he couldn't wait to hook his Kano up to our big screen TV and show us everything that he learned.  Here are some pictures.

Next week Tuvia is in "Tech City... all things 3D" camp.  That should be an awesome experience as well!!

As always, your comments are solicited on the blog site.

Regards...

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High SchoolTechnology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

The continuing adventures of Kano Boy - Day Three

As a parent, regarding my child's growth, I constantly ask myself: "Is my child having fun?  Are they learning?  Are they developing into a fine adult?" So, on Day Three of camp,I am concerned that Tuvia keeps on having a good time AND is learning.

Well, I am happy to share with you that it appears that he is!  He is now incorporating words and pictures together in his journal (he is only 10 and this IS a work in progress) and he IS still having fun and learning.  So here is the Day Three banter.  Enjoy...

What were you looking forward to at camp today?

Tuvia: I wanted to make a specific video game that I had an idea for.

Did you get a chance to do it?

T: Yes, but I will tell you about it later...

How did your day start today?

T: We started with Kano rotation part one

What did you do?

T: Used a program called "make snake" that allows me to modify snake.  I used the command terminal.

What is the command terminal?

T: It is kind of like a C.M.D kind of thing (Tuvia looks at me like I should know exactly what this is!!)

OooKay... what was next?

T: I played MineCraft PI edition using my previous mods from the day before. I then decorated my Kano computer box and then I coded with scratch on the Kano.   The game I made was that lasers shoot up from the bottom of the screen to the top where your avatar is standing.  You have to move side to side to avoid it.  It was fun and it took a little while to code it.  Then it was snack time.

So what did you do in snack?

T: Drank water and ate animal crackers... what else do you do in snack Tattie!! After snack I went to Rotation 2 - scratch programming.

And what did you do here?

T: I coded a series of instructions that allowed a airplane icon to draw lines on the screen using the keys on the keyboard.  Then the teacher asked me show the class how I coded the program so that you could adjust the size of the drawing by using variables.

Wow, the teacher asked you!!  Cool!!

T: Yes, he liked the way I was using variables.  After that I coded a calculator and then it was recess before lunch - so I went out and played chess.

What did you do after Lunch?

T: Rotation 3 - Activities.... I built circuits and play Stratego. After that it was straight into Kano Part two...

So what did you do there?

T: I coded with the Terminal and then played snake.

What was the hardest thing you did today?

T: It wasn't that hard a day, but what was the most challenging for me was to teach the class on how to use the variables for the pen size.  It was really hard because I had to keep stopping teaching to allow the class to keep up with me.

Welcome to being a teacher my son!!!

Tuvia will be on a field trip for tomorrow and then he brings his Kano home on Friday.  I will most likely post his last day exploits on Sunday.

Take care all and have a great Shabbat and weekend.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High School
Technology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

The continuing adventures of Kano Boy - Day Two

So day two has come and gone and Tuvia came home today just as excited and happy as he did yesterday!  For those of you who are educators reading this blog, examine carefuly some of Tuvia's comments about expectations and impressions.  These are unedited comments that give a wonderful insight into the mind set of a 10 year old boy.  Feel free to add comments (and questions for Tuvia) via the comments on the blog page!

Day Two...

What was the big thing you were anticipating for today?

Tuvia:  Working with Kano and modifying the games on the Kano.

What was the first thing you did at camp today?

T: waiting in the drop-off area for camp to start and watched people play games.

Why didn't you play any games?

T: I didn't want to PLAY the games.  I wanted to watch other people play.  I wanted to see HOW other people played so that I could get information that I could use for my own programming in the future.

So what was the first thing that you did when the camp started?

T:Rotation one was Kano part one. Here I played one of my favorite games - Minecraft Pi Edition. It played like an old version of Minecraft Pocket Edition (the iOS version) with a few little PC features included.

So, you are a minecraft expert?

T: Well, I know a lot about the game... I work in Red Stone, I create my own maps of my minecraft world, make my own server, install mods and I customize the .bat files... so not really an expert. (My Note... yes, he is an expert!!!)

OK... so what happened next?

T: I went for snack break - the two cookies you packed - Thanks Tattie (Yiddish for father)...  Then next  was scratch class.

Like yesterday?

T: Yes, except I added to the game from yesterday by adding a timer and a better score keeping algorithm.  Then we had recess and I played Handball - I really like handball. I was playing with about seven other kids...

Then what?

Lunch -I ate my whole sandwich... thanks again Tattie!!  After lunch I went to rotation 3

What is Rotation 3?

I made circuits with snap circuits (http://www.snapcircuits.net) and with this cool magnetic circuit thing... you use magnets to attach the circuits (http://littlebits.cc).  The magnet stuff was really cool and I was learning a lot.  Can we get that set Tattie?

Not for now, son.  I know that you love making circuits... how much fun was this?

T:It was good.  Not as complicated as I do at home... there were no transistors. Besides at home, I am going to start bread-boarding soon!

What was next?

T: Rotation four. Kano Part Two!!!! (Tuvia said this with MUCH enthusiasm!)

So what did you do here?

T: I got to edit Pong and Minecraft.  This is where I get to customize the games and change them to the way I want them to be.  Then it was drop off and I got to play chess with one of the kids.

On a computer?

T: No Tattie!! on a chessboard!!!

So, what was the most challenging thing you did today?

T: Making mods to Pong and Minecraft.  I had a lot of concepts to learn before I could make things work the way I wanted.

So there you have it folks... Impressions from a real 10 year old!

Regarding Tuvia's journal, I told him to include some words with his pictures.  So today, he went all "word" and no pictures.  Hopefully tomorrow he will get the balance!

Stay tuned for day three!!!

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High SchoolTechnology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel