Tag: educational
Christmas, and Chanukah
by on Dec.09, 2009, under Uncategorized
This is always an exciting time during the school year because my students always got excited. Of course when they start putting up Christmas stuff in the stores before Halloween arrives, it really drags the excitement along (but that is another story that I won’t go into!). Usually all of my students are Christians because I live in an area that is considered the “Bible belt.” So, this makes me want to give my students to holidays that others may be celebrating. I make it quite clear that I’m not encouraging my students to change religions but instead I want to encourage tolerance of other cultures and religions.
It was actually very educational to me when I found a synagogue that opened their store in order for me to buy dreidels. According to Wikipedia,
“A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top, played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.”
When I bought this dreidel, the person even gave me lessons on how to play the game and was quite excited that I would teach my class about this game and about Chanukah. More from wikipedia,
“Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, and may occur from late November to late December on the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a special candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah, one light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. An extra light called a shamash (Hebrew: “guard” or “servant”) is also lit each night for the purpose of lighting the others, and is given a distinct location, usually above or below the rest.”
Wikipedia also says,
“Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the United States honoring African heritage and culture, marked by participants lighting a kinara (candle holder). It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year, primarily in the United States. Kwanzaa is considered one of the primary holidays within the U.S. Christmas and holiday season.”
I think it is important that students learn about other cultures and the holidays they celebrate. After studying these three celebrations, I like to have students find ways that all of them are alike. It is fascinating to watch them come up with similarities that they didn’t realize. For my students, all of these are so very different and they don’t think of ways they can be alike. Once we start discussing the similarities, they start to come up with more. In fact, I had one student who came up to me the next day after the lesson to tell me that they talked about this over dinner and they came up with a few more ways they were similar. The student wanted to bring up the discussion again so he could share his family’s ideas.
I really felt this was a successful lesson in teaching tolerance as well as learning about cultural diversity. What other holidays do you know that are being celebrated during this time? Do you do any special lessons on this topic? If so, please share because I would love to know.
Original image: ‘The Geflocktne Dreidl’
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53416300@N00/72151761 by: Philip Chapman-Bell
Related posts
My 2009 Edublog Award Nominations
by on Dec.01, 2009, under Uncategorized
Nominations for the 2009 Edublog Awards are now open until December 8th. You can find out more about this on The Edublog Awards Homepage.
My nominations for the 2009 Edublog Awards are:
Best individual blog: Blogush (I am always inspired by the many things he shares. He writes very thought provoking posts)
Best individual tweeter: Karenjan (I never want to miss her tweets because they are usually informational and upbeat)
Best new blog: Reality 101: Council for Exceptional Children’s Blog for New Teachers (New teachers share their experiences as they experience the realm of teaching)
Best class blog: South Paris Collaborative Chat (Different students add their thoughts to this blog)
Best student blog: Civil War Sallie (Great information from a teddy bear named Sallie Ann)
Best resource sharing blog: Epic Adventures are Often Uncomfortable (hosting the Educarnival and sharing links to great blog posts)
Best teacher blog: Bellringers (shares the fun and frustrations of her daily teaching adventures)
Best librarian / library blog: Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts (another thought provoking blog)
Best educational tech support blog: e4Africa (helping to move the teachers in South Africa into the 21st century)
Best elearning / corporate education blog: eicommunity (gathers blog posts from a variety of teachers to share with others)
Best educational use of audio: Bit by Bit (blogs when updates to podcasts are ready)
Best educational wiki: Moving Forward (great resource for educators)
Best educational use of a social networking service: OnlineProjects4Teachers (Ning that lets teachers post what online projects they are involved with in order to facilitate collaboration with others)
Related posts
Contributing Makes Me Feel Good
by on Nov.25, 2009, under Uncategorized
I love to get on Plurk and Twitter connecting with my personal learning network (PLN). I am always amazed at the things I learn from people around the world. The more I interact with others, the more I realize how much many our challenges are similar. I had heard that the Georgia Educational Technology Conference was going on and wished that I could be there because I love tech conferences. Over the years I think we have moved past learning about the specific tools as much as learning how to apply the tools in specific situations.
Someone asked me if I would be willing to Skype in so they could show the audience how Skype works. First of all, I was thrilled to be asked to contribute something to a conference that I wish I had attended. Second of all, I was thrilled to be a part of something bigger. The more that people learn about using the tools, hopefully, the more people will actually apply it in their classrooms. It seemed like many of the people in the audience were thrilled to see how easy Skype worked and how clear the sound and picture was.
Just being able to contribute something made me feel special. At first it is a scary thing to do because of course I had to get out of my pajamas and fix my hair! Then it is the thought about how dorky I sound or look in front of all those people! But once I got past those scary feelings, I felt amazing. Without people who contribute to things like this, it would be really hard to show others how things work. It is the contributions that people make which make the interactive part of networking worthwhile.
I’m been holding our Council for Exceptional Children Chapter 877 meetings on Flashmeeting. I love the platform and the ease that we have holding these meetings. The problem is getting people to attend the meetings. By being there online, whether they use a microphone, web cam, or just text, they are contributing. They are adding their ideas and thoughts. Maybe people don’t realize how important their contributions are and think that just watching the recording is all that they need. Contributions are what make this a much richer experience.
I love blogging about my teaching experiences, beliefs, and ideas but it is a one woman show. I am usually throwing out ideas and hoping there is someone in the great beyond who is listening to me. Yet, when I get comments, I am thrilled. I’m not sure that people realize how much their comments mean to me. By commenting, I feel like they are making the discussion a much richer environment. Instead of being a one woman show, it becomes a conversation and conversations are important.
I started to join wikis so that I can add information. I also joined Nings so that I can be part of the community. Not only was I contributing to other people’s pages but people were contributing to mine too! The wealth of information that is out there when we all join in the conversation is astonishing! This is a way to corral everyone’s strengths towards a specific purpose. No wonder these people seem to be so successful in their professional lives.
I have noticed that some people are doing presentations on building a personal learning network and I think I will jump on the bandwagon. By being a part of a personal learning network, I think teacher’s professional lives will be so much richer. I’m hoping to create a presentation so that I can offer this to teachers in my area in order to help them because they can tailor their network to their needs and interests. It doesn’t matter what grade level or subject they teach because it is the interactions that are important to being successful in the classroom.
Do you contribute to others so that you have an interactive network? If not, take the first step. Offer a comment on a blog, or join Skype, Plurk and Twitter. But don’t just lurk (not saying anything). Join in the conversation because I promise you, once you start, you will be amazed like I was!
Original image: The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray… by addicted Eyes
