All the best to you and your family.
I’ll be back to upload some images from Chanukah at School and the kibbutz.
November 20, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
My daughter, Zohar, has been shooting flowers on the kibbutz.
…. We’ve had some rain this week – close to 2 mm (in some parts of the country, there’s been up to 90 mm rainfall, but we’re desert, after all).
There was a qassam fired just north of us and a ‘Red alert’ in our neighbouring kibbutz, but we’re alright.
We are living with tractors and dirt piles while protected shelters are being installed on our kibbutz.
Flu- I got hit but only with a short-term brand. Two members of the kibbutz suffered through H1N1 but are well recovered, now.
School – Life continues in Nofei Habsor Comprehensive School. Friendships are being made. Teachers are being challenged. So, what’s new?
My classes are well, alive, breathing, learning.
The Leonid meteor showers came and went with some overcast skies. Unfortunately, 3 a.m. peak viewing hour on November 18th coincided with my peak flu symptoms and I didn’t venture out. I hope Arieh Schkolnik has some news.
Have a good weekend!
November 13, 2009
Filmmaker Larry Weinstein tells the story Inside Hana’s Suitcase | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com
This is an especially good review of my brother’s film, Inside Hana’s Suitcase.
It touches on the theatrical devices used to create the effects, the special choice of music and the voices of children to narrate the story.
Filmmaker Larry Weinstein tells the story Inside Hana’s Suitcase | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com.
November 7, 2009
Pete Seeger’s role in ending Israeli house demolitions – Haaretz – Israel News
Pete Seeger’s role in ending Israeli house demolitions – Haaretz – Israel News.
Read the article from the above link. Then watch Pete Seeger speak about how he came to write “Turn Turn Turn“. Roger McGuinn and David Crosby talk about the Byrds’ rendition.
October 28, 2009
Seven solar technologies from Israel that could change our planet
This is a new article from Israel 21C, by Karin Loostermann, October 27/09.
Solar technologies create a cleaner environment and break our dependence on oil. ISRAEL21c takes a look at the top seven solar technologies being developed in Israel.
Fixed link – thank you Linda!
October 24, 2009
SderotMedia.com: News – SMC Theater therapy program changes lives of Sderot’s traumatized girls
Sderot Media Center (SMC) Community Treatment Theater Program put on a therapeutic performance last October 14th, 2009.
It is this continuing drama therapy that we first saw in our Mustache Theatre of the Eshkol Region that affirms that we can be proactive in remediating post-traumatic stress disorder.
Read the article. Support those who are working to support themselves.
October 23, 2009
Forgive my silence – i’ve been transitioning
Shalom to all
It’s been a time of new changes:
Our school has become Nofei Habsor, a composite of the Moshav School and the Kibbutz School. We are hi-tec, large in area and number. Our prep work now includes creating computer lessons as well as the essential elements of teaching.
I now carry a laptop as well as all my books. Sometimes I weigh in with an additional 3 kg CD/tape recorder. Many teachers have taken to trolleys and the sounds of wheels accompany their travellings.
In order to be ‘normal’ I’ve used Om Mani Padme Hum in the mornings. Taken daily, it’s a delightful way to prepare for highly complicated days.
Our kibbutz is under construction. The Ministry of the Interior has commanded that each home/room be given a security structure. So, along with tractors, workers and noise, we have piles of sand, sliced telephone and internet cables, electricity breaks and a sense of hope that the current structures need never be put to the test. In my backyard, i’ve got some footings cemented in and sand piles awaiting further phases of building.
Sorry for not writing. Hope you’re well
September 30, 2009
The Green Bedouin
Read the article from Israel 21C about how one man is working to bring September 14, 2009
How to Motivate Attention Deficient Students | eHow.com
This is a very well-written, to the point article about working to maximize attention of pupils with lack of ability to focus.
Read it and pass it on, please!
How to Motivate Attention Deficient Students | eHow.com
Shared via AddThis
September 11, 2009
Sept 11/09 A long time and here it is again
September eleventh brings a rush of associations. We still mourn our loved ones in New York. We still quake at the reality of urban terror and know it could recur anywhere, anytime.
September 11th is also the birthday of some fine virgos: Wendy, Jamelah, Craig and Krista.
September 11th is almost getting serious. Almost getting Autumn.
In school, it’s jumping into new technology at a new hi-tech school.
Menu Bar of SmartBoard
We’ve got Smartboards in our classrooms and teachers bring laptops into class in order to maximize their use.
School’s been heralded off to this start with weekly staff instruction. Our English staff got its first private class on Wednesday. About half of us, or more, are already using the boards in class. We’re finding that the kids enjoy the sessions. Flashcards have never been so high resolution before. Our painstakingly prepared powerPoint presentations do their magic. For us it means hours and hours of prep. Theoretically, we’re building up a reservoir of materials.
As English teachers in Israel, we’ve always needed to put in huge amounts of creative time in readying our materials. We’ve had to adapt authentic materials so that our students can work on mandatory projects. We’ve toured the globe to bring them sound clips and interesting activities to stimulate their many intelligences.
We’ve investigated techniques to focus students with ADHD, and now the SmartBoard, I feel, will aid us in all of these components.
I feel the focus and I love it when students ask to go one more time through the vocabulary flashcards and I burst out laughing when a class of Special Ed kids finally all pronounce ‘laughed‘ correctly along with the magenta framed flash card.
So, it’s good.
The laptop is, however, heavy! And the distances between classes and the English Centre is not small. On Sunday, I strapped on a pedometer to measure the distance. Sunday I did 5,000 steps just going back and forth. Tuesday was a lot less: 3, 695! Together with biking to school and back, I’m just about commuted into aerobic health. Unfortunately, it’s never enough. A good walk around the fields is the best and I hope I’ll still have time when the clocks go back to Winter time and throw darkness on those precious early evening hours.
Qassams? We’ve had a few in this area. In Mifalsim, they had a Red Alert. We’re always reminded that the fortified school and the ongoing construction of home shelters is not for nothing.
May the weekend be quiet,
Judih
Sept.11/09
