INTRODUCING "CR EDUCATION ADVISORS LLC"

Educational institutions have crash-landed into the 21st Century with the unfortunate spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As teachers scramble to learn the many new methods, tools, and pedagogies, to becoming online teachers, I am humbled to do my part in alleviating the stress during this challenging and unprecedented time. I will continue to offer consultation services to all Jewish Day School institutions so that learning can go on. Teachers will need to become proficient in online learning as students will join classes in the real classroom and remotely during this time. The implementation of synchronous and asynchronous methods of instruction will be necessary to ensure optimal engagement and to ensure the prevention of "zoom fatigue".  

Please see this menu of offerings that I would be honored to deliver to your educational institutions:

-*Professional Development Training Courses: 

One hour sessions: (Please be in touch regarding cost)

Three or more one-hour sessions: (Please be in touch regarding discounted rate)

- PLN (Professional Learning Network): Continuous support throughout the year via a focused Whatsapp group:

(Please be in touch regarding cost per participant)

- Consultations and Follow up Meetings:

(Please be in touch regarding cost per one-hour consultation)

*Topics can be customized to your institution's preferences: Below are some samples of PD topics that can be offered to your staff:

- Blended and Personalized Learning in the (Judaic Studies) Classroom (A Two-Part Series) 

Learn the theories and models of Blended Learning and gain practical tools to implement these models in your virtual and non-virtual classroom to enable differentiated instruction to take place. Learn how to create meaningful assessments, collect data, and allow your assessments to inform your instruction. 

- "You Taught It, But Did The Student Learn It?"

Learn to engage your students in the learning environment by incorporating online activities that encourage the use of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). Learn to apply the theories of Bloom's Taxonomy to your curriculum planning to ensure optimum student learning and engagement. 

- Tools that Teach

Explore the various online platforms and tools that are available to the Judaic Studies teacher to enhance the learning and engagement of the student. Platforms & Tools to be explored: Ji-Tap, Mercava, Sefaria, TorahLive, Vocaroo, Flipgrid, and Padlet.  

- GAFE: Google Apps for Education (A Two-Part Series)

Explore the treasure chest named "Google". Learn to use tools such as Google Docs, Google Drive,  Google Forms, Google Slides, and Jamboard, to enhance the engagement and collaboration of your students during your daily instruction. 

- Google Classroom (A Two-Part Series)

Learn how to use the various tools that this platform has to offer so that all students can feel a part of your classroom whether they are in the actual room with you or joining the class remotely. 

- Social-Emotional Learning in the Socially Distanced Classroom: 

Teaching the whole child is a must during traumatic times such as these. Learn the theories of Social Emotional Learning and numerous practical ways to implement age-appropriate learning strategies for every grade level. 

- "It Takes a Village.."

Have you been given permission to teach the whole child? Learn how to establish a team that will support you in your job as the child's teacher by creating a positive and effective communication system amongst all stakeholders in the child's education journey. 

TEACHING DURING CORONA: AN EDTECH GUIDE FOR JEWISH DAY SCHOOL TEACHERS

This summer, I had the opportunity to share my Edtech knowledge with Jewish Day School teachers across North America through my partnership with UnitEd and Smadar Goldstein, a leader in digital training and learning. It was an incredible learning experience to join the UnitED team of facilitators, experts in training hundreds of Jewish educators around the world to maximize online learning opportunities. Sessions were geared towards grades 1-5 or 6-12. These workshop series were made possible through Prizmah and the JEIC. Feel free to click on this link to see an outline of the first workshop in the series of four: Workshop #1: Collaborative Learning.

EDUCATION PLANNING FOR CORONA & BEYOND

FAQ Findings for Education for Corona and Beyond:
It was an honor to collaborate with members of UnitEd and MaTach, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, and with a group of educational leaders across the globe, to create this excellent resource. Our struggles, achievements, and goals, were discussed, analyzed, and outlined, to create a framework for Jewish Day schools world wide. I am pleased to share this comprehensive document with schools in today's Covid-19 reality. Feel free to use this information as you plan for the openings of your educational institutions. 

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL) IN THE DISTANCE LEARNING CLASSROOM

In partnership with JETS Israel and Smadar Goldstein, I will be giving a series of training sessions to the teachers of Baltimore, Maryland. These training sessions are generously sponsored by the CJE of Baltimore - The Macks Center of Jewish Education. My first session was quite successful, and it was wonderful collaborating with the teachers of Baltimore as we explored the challenges and needs for improved SEL during Covid19. Feel free to click on this link to see the slides for my presentation: SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL) IN THE DISTANCE LEARNING CLASSROOM

PARSHAT MISHPATIM

Parshat Mishpatim

“To Be Free”

By: Chani Richmond

 Click on this link to read my thoughts and musings on Parshat Mishpatim. 

The Sefaria Day School Partnership Initiative

It is an honor to partner with Sefaria, an online database containing thousands of Jewish texts, to innovate and design lessons that implement the usage of this 21st Century EdTech tool. The use of Sefaria in my classroom has been mind blowing for my students as they now have access to texts, commentaries, and modern day works, that they would have never had the knowledge of before. Not only are my students using Sefaria to enhance their Torah knowledge, but they are also creating their own Torah compilations of texts and ideas through the Source Sheet feature available on the site. Please read this article, written by Sefaria, which highlights the way that I have been implementing the use of the site in my classroom: Educator Spotlight: How a Blizzard Brought Sefaria to Miami

The Tanakh Standards & Benchmarks Project

As a past member of Cohort Ten of the Tanakh Standards & Benchmarks Project (currently named "The Legacy Heritage Instructional Leadership Institute"),  I was presented with the opportunity to revisit and analyze the nuances of Tanakh curriculum design based on a set list of standards and benchmarks. The extensive collaboration between myself (the Tanakh coach), and my peers, that took place over that year, was an experience that was tremendously informative, engaging and extremely impactful to my practice as a Curriculum Developer. Please see the attached link below of the various unit plans that we created over that year of intensive collaboration:

The Tanakh Standards and Benchmarks Unit Plans

JETS Israel, Global Edtech Team

Incorporating the effective use of Educational Technology into your teaching practice can be a game changer for your students! Blended and Personalized Learning is highly effective when there is an online component in the instruction process. As a 21st Century teacher, it is imperative to incorporate the use of effective and relevant EdTech tools to create an environment of increased student engagement and learning. As a team member of the Jerusalem based Edtech Company, JETS Israel, I strive to share with my colleagues world wide, appropriate uses of Edtech tools in their Judaic Studies classes. Read all about some great tools that you can begin to use today, in your classroom, in my blog post on JETS Israel titled: "Raising the Bar in Jewish Education"

JBlend Miami Project

When the opportunity to join the JBlend Miami Project as a member of cohort II was presented to me, I jumped at the opportunity. Now, in my second year of the project, I am already teaching the ideas of Blended and Personalized learning forward to the other Judaic Studies teachers at my school, The Hebrew Academy of Miami Beach. PD Days are always an opportunity to improve our practice! Here is an online course that I created for Elementary School Judaic Studies teachers to guide them in the implementation of Blended & Personalized learning in their classrooms. Click on the link here to view this course: Blended & Personalized Learning