Tequipment: Blogging About SMART Boards, Resources, Lessons, Training, Games…

Google boasts that it has the most ‘hits’ of any website on the Internet, with billions of hits per day. While everyone is familiar with the deceptively simple search engine giant, there are many of us who don’t use its full capabilities.

In almost every search database there is a way to clarify and simplify a search in order to find precisely what a person is looking for. Additionally, since we as educators have to be more and more careful about what we expose our students to, it becomes much more important to censor out all the ‘bad stuff’ and focus in on what we need.

Below is a collection of Google words that, when used in the Google search bar at www.google.com, can narrow the search to only include information that is pertinent.

Word usage and their use in Google searches:

Source: www.googleguide.com

In the past few weeks we have been in many Jewish Day Schools and Yeshivos accross the country. During this time we have begun to create what we hope will be many long lasting relationships with Jewish Educators who use technology to teach their students, be it general studies or Torah studies.

As this is a time of reflection in the Jewish year, I will share a “reflect” of mine that is SMART Board related.  It occured while I was involved with a study partner with whom I study the Talmud.  While I was trying to wrap my brain around a complicated passage that compared various different opinions I found that I was “seeing” with my minds eye myself at a SMART Board dragging the many opinions, thoughts and ideas of each Rabbinic personality mentioned into the appropriate location of a graphic organizer.  I experienced very clearly that a good teacher will be able to help develop their student’s ability to think, organize thoughts and then recall ideas through skillfull use of the SMART Board as an educational tool.

Shana tova – Blessings for a sweet year.

Shimon