Welcome Home!

This week, the staff of Tomorrow’s Genius participated in this summer’s first Aliyah fair which welcomed over 200 new Olim to Israel. The experience of moving to a new country, even a place as great as Israel, is not an easy task. Tomorrow’s Genius is always happy to be able to help Olim families to integrate into the Israeli educational and professional systems.

As we met each of the new Olim, it was amazing to hear each individual and unique story. One newly married couple, met here in Israel and after returning to the US to get married, decided to move back to where it all began. Another new family from New York, decided to make Aliyah with their 8 children who range from ages 14 to 1. Each story helps to make the Aliyah experience that much more meaningful. This summer, Tomorrow’s Genius is working with new Olim of all ages to ensure the best transition to life here in Israel.

For our grade school students, Tomorrow’s Genius is happy to offer a special summer school program. Running for six weeks, this online program focuses on math and Lashon, two subjects which historically are the most difficult for new Olim students. The courses are created specifically for the needs of each individual student and family. All of the TG teachers involved in this program are experienced in working with new Olim to make the Aliyah transition a bit easier.

For adults, TG is offering a wide variety of professional development courses. Often, new Olim are required to update their skills or to retrain in order to qualify for certain jobs here in Israel. Tomorrow’s Genius understands these challenges and has created a course syllabus designed to meet the needs of the Olim community. In addition, Tomorrow’s Genius is also offering a special three part course designed to help Olim integrate into the Israeli workforce. The course will focus on topics such as changing your CV, using social media, and expanding your skill set. To register for any of these exciting programs, contact us at support@tomorrowsgenius.com.

Of course, Tomorrow’s Genius is always here to ensure that every family living here in Israel is getting the best possible educational services. Whether we help you to create additional learning options, or we serve as your advocates in your school, TG is here to help.

Education is one of the most important aspects of Aliyah, but it is also one of the most challenging tasks. Let Tomorrow’s Genius help you succeed!

Mazel Tov to all of the new Olim!

 

Stop the Presses!

Over the past two weeks, Tomorrow’s Genius has been featured in two prominent news publications. In the United States, the Jewish Voice and Opinion in Bergen County, New Jersey published a great article which described our services and highlighted our educational staff.This was a great experience for everyone involved, as more families have learned about the services which we provide. With this summer’s “Virtual Summer School” program in full swing, the feature story helped to let more students know how we can help them. At Tomorrow’s Genius, it is all about helping students succeed. We have received calls and emails this summer from students all over the US who need to take summer courses. The great part of our program is that we work according to the student’s schedule. So, if there is a student who wants to go to camp in the middle of the summer, no problem. TG summer courses are scheduled to meet the needs and scheduling preferences of each individual student. We would like to thank the Jewish Voice and Opinion for their continued support and high quality publication that they publish each and every month. Tomorrow’s Genius was proud to have been featured in its pages, and we hope that this article raises awareness and enables students all over to succeed.

Here in Israel, Tomorrow’s Genius was featured in the Modiin-News, a popular weekly newspaper published in the city of Modi’in. Aryeh Eisenberg, TG’s director of education is a resident of the city. In the article, Aryeh explained why Tomorrow’s Genius was such an important resource and how it is helping to shape the future of Israeli education. In Israel, the idea of online education is still fairly new. This article not only brought TG to the attention of schools and students, but has also raised awareness on a national level. Among the services mentioned in the Modi’in-News article were the special programs that Tomorrow’s Genius runs for new Olim. Modi’in is a city with a large Olim population, and Tomorrow’s Genius is here to help them. Our unique programs such as online Ulpan, private classes, and even professional assistance for the parents, are here to ensure that every new family is able to adjust with as much help as possible.

Here are the links to our two recent articles:

Jewish Voice and Opinion

Modi’in News

It is our hope that these types of articles bring new awareness to students in both Israel and in the United States. There are many challenges in education, and Tomorrow’s Genius is here to help!

Bagrut Crunch Time – Linking Your Way to Success

Here at Tomorrow’s Genius we follow the 5-P rule: “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance”.  As our students are entering the Bagrut season the 5-P rule takes on a whole new meaning, for it’s not only Bagrut season it’s actually  Bagrut crunch time and the tight schedule doesn’t always enable us to prepare the way we would like to. That’s why we at TG feel that it’s important that students and parents become familiar with some of the best academic resources that are only a few clicks away.

The following article will focus on three main resources – links to helpful websites, pre-recorded classes and TG’s online classes option:

To begin, please check out our FAQ page for the Bagrut system. This will help you to better navigate and understand the options:

http://tomorrowsgenius.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/faq-on-navigating-the-bagrut-system/

Did you just make Aliyah? What is an “Oleh Vatik”?  Nefesh B’Nefeh’s info page on Bagrut leniencies for student Olim:

http://tomorrowsgenius.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/bagrut-matriculation-exam-leniencies-for-olim.pdf

TG Bagrut Central

Students are always looking for resources to help them study and absorb complex materials. The educational staff at TG has created “Bagrut Central” which offers students a one stop shop in finding the relevant resources in various subjects. For example -

 

Math

http://tomorrowsgenius.wordpress.com/tips-from-the-educators-3/math-bagrut-resources-center/

Biology

http://tomorrowsgenius.wordpress.com/tips-from-the-educators-3/299-2/

Lashon

http://tomorrowsgenius.wordpress.com/tips-from-the-educators-3/lashon-bagrut-resources-center/

Tanach

http://tomorrowsgenius.wordpress.com/tips-from-the-educators-3/tanakh-bagrut-resources-center/

 Expanding Your Knowledge – The Pre-Recorded Experience

The world of pre-recorded classes is sweeping the web these days and students may find some excellent resources in almost any given subject:

“YouTube for Education”

http://www.youtube.com/education

 Khan Academy – “Learn almost anything for free”

http://www.khanacademy.org/

 “WatchKnowLearn”

http://www.watchknowlearn.org/default.aspx

TeacherTube

http://www.teachertube.com/

Get the Help You Need!

The following is a sample of some of the questions we’ve been receiving from parents and students over the last few weeks:

“My daughter is in 10^th grade and needs immediate help with geometry for the Bagrut”

“My son’s Bagrut in Lashon is approaching and he has falling behind his class – is there any way you can help me?”

“We’re a group of students and we’re looking for help with 5 yechidot in Physics – do you have anyone on staff who can teach this?”

As the Bagrut season is already here, many students will need that extra push to meet the tight deadlines of the Bagrut exams. Tomorrow’s Genius has become a primary academic resource in preparing students for their Bagruyot. Students enjoy the flexibility of the class scheduling and through the virtual classroom the student and teacher are able to engage in an interactive learning session to receive the necessary tools for their academic success.

Click here to find out more about Tomorrow’s Genius online class options and bagrut course offerings.

Beyond the Classroom…

Providing students with a quality education is hopefully the main goal of any school or educational institution. In today’s academic world this has continued to become a grater challenge, as the expectations continue to rise while the available financial resources continue to dwindle. Some schools have found that by adopting innovative programs such as technology, fine arts, and other specialties that a strong educational foundation can still be provided.

New programs and resources are essential tools required in today’s academic environment. Principals are depending more on web based instruction in forms such as Khan Academy, K12, and other self paced learning options. While these new options certainly do enable schools to offer more instruction, they still do not provide one of the most important aspects of a strong educational program. The relationships between the students and the teachers have, for years, provided the students with more than just factual knowledge. The mentoring and the guidance that students can receive from their teachers is an invaluable part of the learning process. There are ideas and topics which just cannot be taught via an instructional video.

Looking back to my own high school career, it was the outside of the class relationships, that I built with some of my teacher,s that gave me the character and the tools to be successful today. These are educators from whom I certainly learned from in the classroom. But the education continued beyond the classroom walls. Through casual lunch time conversations, advising opportunities, and other informal programs, these teachers were able to combine their academic knowledge with their own life experiences. I am still in contact with many of these educators to this day, almost twenty years since graduation.

As a teacher, I have always tried to build these types of relationships with my own students. Those after class conversations about history, college, or just life’s challenges can be amazing learning experiences for both the teacher and the student.

So, back to today’s educational system. How can we give our students the unlimited academic offerings that technology brings, without losing the personalized educational approach? Tomorrow’s Genius has successfully made this possible. Online learning certainly opens unlimited doors for students and schools. In fact, principals in many schools around the world are starting to realize just how the possibilities can really be used. Thanks to Tomorrow’s Genius it is possible to create online learning options without sacrificing the personalized relationships between the students and the teachers.

Tomorrow’s Genius online classes all take place live with a fully trained and certified teacher. Students in TG online classes never watch self contained videos. They actually participate in the class sessions in real time, just like they would in a regular classroom. Because of the live interaction between the teacher and the students, the personalized relationships and mentoring can still take place, despite the fact that the teacher and the students are thousands of miles apart.

In the time since Tomorrow’s Genius began its online class programs, we have received numerous messages from our students, thanking us for making the online learning process so much more interactive. In one of our schools, students have asked their online TG teachers to serve as their senior thesis advisers. At another school, the student has already asked Tomorrow’s Genius to arrange for continuing lessons during the student’s semester abroad.

For the past three months, I have been teaching an online Jewish History course to a group of 8th grade students at the Kellman Brown Academy in Southern New Jersey. Throughout our sessions, I have been teaching the students about Israel, Jewish heritage, and other topics relevant to their lives. Next week, I will have the opportunity to meet with the students in person while they are in Israel for their class trip. If these students were just watching video recordings or were only completing online activities, the relationships that I have formed with these students would never have occurred.

So, even in an online environment the personal aspects of education can still take place. Sure, the pre-recorded lessons can be useful too, but schools do not need to sacrifice the personal approach in order to use technology as a resource.

“Timing is Everything” – A Message for Passover

By Rabbi Yisroel Porath, Tomorrow’s Genius

Does the name Milorad Cavic ring a bell? If not, allow me to remind you of some of his accomplishments – Cavic has won numerous gold medals in world class swimming competitions and has set  world records. He was also recognized in 2008 as the best Serbian athlete.

Does the name Michael Phelps ring a bell? Most likely so – he’s the American swimmer who in the 2008 Olympics won an astonishing 8 gold medals setting new world records as well.

What do Phelps and Cavic have in common? In the 2008 Olympics, Phelps and Cavic competed for the final 100m butterfly. Phelps beat Cavic by 1/100 of a second and won his 7^th gold medal of the Olympics and thus became a world champion. Most people will remember the name Phelps, but almost no one will recognize Cavic. That 1/100 of a second made all of the difference. Timing is everything.

The importance of time becomes even more crucial as we approach the holiday of Passover.  Time was of the essence from the moment we left Egypt. It wasn’t just any random time but specifically in the middle of the night that the Jewish people left, even the matza itself symbolizes that lack of time as the matza can only be baked until 18 minutes, and any second beyond that disqualifies it from being called Matza, thereby rendering it Chametz.

The concept of time in Judaism includes sanctifying it. In fact, the first commandment that the Jews received upon leaving Egypt was the commandment of establishing the Jewish calendar through sanctifying the first day of the Jewish month.

Time is significant in education as well. Geometry cannot be learned in first grade, and reading should not be pushed off to middle school.  At every stage, students should be learning the necessary and developmentally-appropriate skills that they need in order to move forward, while educators should be identifying and implementing appropriate learning goals that their students can aspire to achieve.

We at Tomorrow’s Genius are learning every day how important this lesson of time is in education. We encounter many students who, had they not have come in contact with our programs, would not have received the proper tools to succeed in school. We were at the right place at the right time and able to create the right educational programs and assistance that have enabled these students to succeed more than they would have before.

The uniqueness of the Seder night is that it combines the sanctity of time together with the power of education as each family creates a seder that is just right for the children who are participating in it. Hopefully, the children will be engaged, excited and motivated to be active participants in the story, without feeling that too much of it is below or above their grasp. Parents notice how their children mature as the methods and content of the storytelling mature with them (until grandchildren arrive on the scene!).

As we approach the seder night we need to make sure that we proactively recognize where our children are at and provide them with the environment and skills that their personal level requires, in order to empower them to move ahead. Their development and progress may be reflected in what they bring to the table from one seder to the next!

Chag Kasher V’Sameach!

Notes from the Frontier of Online Learning

By Yisroel Porath

What does Tomorrow’s Genius have in common with Tanach, Biology, Hebrew Language, Physics, Math, Social Studies, History, Chinese, Environmental Geography, Talmud and English? The answer is that we’re teaching all of these subjects and more – online!  When people ask us is if it’s even possible to teach a subject like Biology or Math with a screen and many miles separating between the students and the teachers the answer of course is yes!

In this article I will explain a number of the basic elements of synchronized learning in a virtual classroom setting and why it’s highly recommended for schools to begin exploring this learning method as an opportunity for educational renewal within the school curriculum.

The three advantages of synchronized online learning are:

• Enriched educational content
• Visual content
• Integration of technology in the educational process

Enriched Educational Content

One of the great challenges faced in an online setting is transforming textual based material into an online context.  In our early distance learning experiences we thought it would be enough to hear the student on the other end in order to guarantee a successful class – but that expectation lasted for one class only.  Online students need blended content.  Blended content means taking the text and enriching it with added features and capabilities to make it more lively and engaging. For example, our History teacher was teaching an online class to a group of students who were located in another continent and “met” with the teacher through the class’s smart board.  The teacher took the text that he had in front of him and created the following Prezi:

The teacher blended between textual and visual content to enrich the educational experience of the class. The Prezi functions on the basis of a presentation but in contrast to Power Point it’s possible to present the material in a variety of alternative ways. The Prezi that you see above is an overview of what the class learned.  In reality, the Prezi zooms-in on a circle and the teacher can focus on the content in each circle individually. This method enabled the students to focus on a specific topic without getting distracted with the other elements of the presentation.

Another example is from a Tanach course.  Literary analysis isn’t always an aspect of Tanach that students are enthusiastic to study. In one of my Tanach classes, we encountered a verse that demanded an in-depth literary analysis. After brainstorming possible options of student engagement I had decided to place on the virtual classroom white-board the relevant commentaries and asked each student to choose a different color to annotate on the white-board what they thought was the correct reading of the verse. After the students received permission to begin the annotation, a very interesting process began to take place and the students were contemplating how exactly the verse should be read. They engaged each other in the discussion as I sat back and listened.  Not only did they not scribble all over the board, they decided to first solve the issue verbally and use only one color to do the final annotation.  This brought up an additional advantage of the online context – the students learned through an experiential process not only a relatively technical issue, but also how to listen and speak to one another in a respective matter.

Visual Content

There’s no doubt that students today are more visual than ever. As teachers, we are always trying to adjust our educational methods to the place where our students are at. Recently, I gave an online demo session in Jewish History to principals of North American Jewish day schools. The goal of the class was to show how it’s possible to learn Jewish history in an online context. The topic of the class was Theodre Herzel’s Uganda Proposal and I had to decide how to present the material. In the end, I created a full presentation on the Uganda proposal with a minimum amount of text involved. The slide below is from that presentation:

The session participants started to engage in a conversation on the various personalities pictured in the slide. One of the principals told me that this is the exact educational approach that his school is moving in the direction of – transitioning from textual based content to visual based content.  According to this specific principal, the learning in his school has been far more effective when presented visually as opposed to the standard text oriented class.

The integration of visual and textual content in any class context is a delicate issue and it demands of the teacher a lot of thought and creativity to be able to teach a subject in a variety of methods in order to better engage the students in the learning process.

Integration of Technology in the Educational Process

You’re probably wondering why this wasn’t the first item to be discussed in this article. For us at Tomorrow’s Genius, the most vital component of a class is the content that is being taught and technology is only a means to help our students understand that content. After a year of implementing online classes in Israeli and U.S. schools, we are beginning to see an increase in requests from schools to incorporate new educational methods in their educational processes. As students become more digitally oriented in their everyday lives, schools must continuously keep up with them by creating new, creative and alternative educational approaches.

Technology is just one piece of the TG puzzle. We also invest many of our efforts in building a core group of excellent educators who are comfortable teaching in an online setting just as if it were an offline classroom. The real challenge is actually integrating the online teacher with the schools with which we work. We put a strong emphasis on these issues and work relentlessly to spread the message that technology should not serve as a barrier between the teacher, students and school. There are many examples of how this can be accomplished like holding online PTA meetings, enabling staff and administration to “sit in” on an online class etc… The online classes are included in the school class schedule like any other class as opposed to an after school enrichment course. All of these little details set the tone from the beginning that the integration of technology happens on all levels from the subject being taught to when it’s scheduled in the course of a day at school.

We are also identifying important educational processes as students begin to adjust to the online method. There are many students who have experienced more educational and academic success when learning with technology than when they were succeeding in the regular classroom. We’ve noticed that students who experienced difficulty learning a specific subject in a regular class were able to build a more positive approach to the once hated subject when they started learning online and saw the material presented in a different way.

In conclusion, online learning with its visual presentation can offer significant benefits to the students of today’s digital generation. At Tomorrow’s Genius we are continuously refining our own online teaching methods as we gain more experience in the field.  We are excited to be a major player on this new educational frontier.

Reflections on Sustainability in Jewish Education…

Submitted By: Aryeh Eisenberg, Director of Education

Tomorrow’s Genius is now a truly global service. I just returned from a successful two week trip to the United States. Covering seven states in two weeks, I had the opportunity to meet with several Jewish day school principals and administrators to discuss the current needs of the day school communities.

While the schools I met were separated geographically, the challenges and needs of all of the schools were very similar. Day school sustainability has been a frequent challenge and a topic of discussion on many blogs and forums. Principals all over North America are being asked to provide top quality education but with increasingly limited funds available. One principal discussed how he has had to make difficult cuts in his school, as the funds that once existed were simply no longer available. Instead of four sections of math and science, this school is now offering only two sections, as there were not enough funds to pay for the additional teaching hours. This means that there are students in both of the existing classes who do not belong at that level.

As I traveled from school to school, the budgetary challenges were obvious, but it was also remarkable to see how much was being accomplished despite the financial limitations. Several of the schools I visited are embracing technology as a learning tool for the first time. These schools have realized that the available technology based tools can facilitate differentiated instruction and can enable the schools to offer more educational options to the students.

During the second week of the trip, I traveled to Atlanta to attend the North American Jewish Day School Conference. This 3 day event was co-sponsored by some of the major Jewish educational organizations including Ravsak, PEJE, and Solomon Schechter. The theme of the conference was 21^st century education. The workshops and speakers focused on how new digital tools could be used to broaden the educational possibilities. Principals and lay leaders from around the US and Canada attended to hear about new possibilities which could enable them to continue to meet the required high educational standards. While at the conference, I spoke to close to 30 principals and school administrators who all had the same challenges of providing a high caliber program with limited funding.

The educational challenges are the same throughout the entire world, but so far there have not been clear solutions. Tomorrow’s Genius however, has met these challenges and now provides schools with viable educational alternatives. By combining our talented educators with cutting edge technology, day schools can now create personalized online learning options that meet the specific needs of the students. The Tomorrow’s Genius platform enables schools to create personalized synchronous online classes. The TG team works with each individual school to create classes that meet the school’s individual curriculum, scheduling, educational, and philosophical standards. Tomorrow’s Genius realizes that no two schools are exactly the same, and therefore there is no such thing as a “standard” offering. Currently, Tomorrow’s Genius is facilitating classes in subjects such as Tanakah, Math, Jewish History, and even Chinese language. The possibilities are limitless.

Most importantly, even though Tomorrow’s Genius courses are online, the quality remains at each school’s high standards. The TG teacher works seamlessly with the school’s administration and faculty to ensure that all of the standards and goals are met. Tomorrow’s Genius provides unlimited possibilities at a price that makes even specialized options affordable to virtually any Jewish day school.

The sustainability of Jewish education has been called into question several times in the past. Tomorrow’s Genius has answered this challenge by providing exceptional services to schools at an affordable price. If you would like to find out more about how Tomorrow’s Genius can help your school, please contact us at support@tomorrowsgenius.com for more information.

Educational Technology Throughout Israel

This past week, Tomorrow’s Genius participated in a conference sponsored by MOFET. The “Israeli Association for Information Technologies” conference focused on using technology in the classroom, and as an effective educational tool.

Speakers included Dr. Binyamin Feinstein, MOFET’s chief educational technology officer and other innovative teachers and principals from around the country. During the course of the day, educators from around Israel had the opportunity to exchange ideas, and to learn about new educational possibilities. Workshops included discussions on technology’s role in education and on specific tools, including blogging and mobile devices, that could be used in the classroom.

It was especially interesting to hear from a group of students who described how using technology as part of their education has really made a difference in their academic journeys. The students represented a popular blog called “תנועת הנוער” and shared their observations on how technology is not just an educational tool, but part of our everyday culture.

During the day long conference, Tomorrow’s Genius staff members had the opportunity to meet and speak with many members of Israel’s academic community. Teachers, administrators, and curriculum designers all enjoyed learning about the services provided by Tomorrow’s Genius.

The not so secret world of social media…

Submitted By: Aryeh Eisenberg, Director of Education- Tomorrow’s Genius

Like it or not, most teens have been bitten by the social media bug. The latest statistics show that 76% of all online teens are social media users. With a percentage that high, there is a good chance that your own child or student is already using social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and more.

As with any other technology or web based tools, using social media has the potential to do a lot of good or a lot of harm. Sure, Facebook has been used to raise money for charities, and to promote awareness on several important causes. The platform has also been the location of many types of unacceptable behaviors such as bullying, identity theft, and other types of inappropriate behaviors. According to the latest reports 88% of social media users say that they have witnessed cruel behavior online.

So, how do we keep our children from becoming part of the negative statistics? Let’s be honest. Telling our children to stop using Facebook is probably not a viable solution for most. Whether we like it or not, social media has become part of our universe. For several years, I was not a supporter of platforms like Facebook. As a teacher, I always felt that the possible harms outweighed any possible good. Eventually however, it became clear that the world we live in today revolves around social media tools. To prohibit or ban these tools would not actually solve any real problems, as Facebook clearly is not going anywhere.

Then what do we do to keep our children out of the negative statistics? Well, you may be surprised to learn that 60% of teens say that their parents most influence their online behavior. Sounds surprising, considering that many parents have never even visited Facebook.com. I suppose however that this is the point. As parents, it is important to know what our children are experiencing online. The best way to make sure that our children maintain a safe social media environment is to understand what staying safe means. Understand how Facebook and Twitter work. Be able to speak to your children about their activities. If our children know that we have no idea what they are doing, they are going to be more likely to get into areas that we would find problematic.

The entire point of social media is to create an open stream of communication. So, if your child has a Facebook page or a Twitter feed, be part of it. Insist that you become a friend on your child’s Facebook profile. Firstly, this will give you a glimpse as to what types of activities your child is doing, and it will also give you some hands on experience as to how the platform works.

It is us the parents and teachers who must stay proactive and keep our children safe. Stay on top of what is happening. If you see a change in your child’s online profile, discuss it. Keep an open dialogue.

Finally, like I mentioned at the beginning, social media can be an amazing tool. A Tomorrow’s Genius student for example recently used Facebook to raise money for an important charity. He was successful because he was able to use the tools of social media in order to deliver his message.

We need to channel social media tools to positive activities. If you are a teacher, think about how you may use social media as an educational tool. Try for example to create a Facebook group for your class in which they can write and share opinions and viewpoints. Writing in the group can be a great homework assignment that makes learning enjoyable for the students. Ask your students to conduct Facebook polls and then use the results to create statistical data. The students will enjoy the social media aspect and will gain experience in collecting and analyzing data.

These are just a few examples of how we can use social media in positive ways. The bottom line is that these tools are only expanding. Keep your children safe and productive by being part of the process.

TG Student Bats for Israel

We are all very proud of TG student Yisrael Gilbert, who as a member of Israel’s National Baseball team brought home the Silver medal at this year’s International Baseball Tournament.

Yisrael Gilbert who hails from the Southern part of Israel, is a talented baseball player and devoted Yankees fan.  Yisrael flew out a few weeks ago along with Israel’s national baseball team for the international tournament which was held in Tuskana, Italy.

The team plowed its way through the tournament winning all of their initial games and eventually made their way to the championship game against France.  Although it was a close game, Yisrael came home with a silver medal and can’t wait to go again. His contributions both at the plate and in the field helped Israel, which is not known for its strong baseball teams to make an impressive showing.

All of us at Tomorrow’s Genius are proud of Yisrael’s efforts and look forward to more great moments.