On-line in the classroom

Jan Levy graciously agreed to give me the sacred password to the wi-fi network at CBI. Consequently, we can now access the internet in our classroom. We've already put it to good use. Now, if only we could get our hands on an in-focus projector.

This year the class is repsonsible for learning the first 2 sections of the Amidah - the avot and the gevurot - as well as kedushah for both shacharit (the morning service) and musaf (the additional service.) I have a chart to record each student's progress and am in the process of getting every one "checked off" on the avot section. We have 2 cd's of the Amidah in our classroom and 2 personal cd players for students to use who need extra practice. If anyone wants a copy for home, just let me know.

Today we read about the destruction of the Holy Temple and the Babylonian exile. We looked at a map of the Jews' journey, and noted how it was essentially Abraham's journey in reverse. We talked about the impact of this period in history on the psyche of the Jewish people, and read an excerpt from Pslams:

By the rivers of Babylon - there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there we hung up our harps.
For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
How could we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?

I asked students to rewrite the Psalm in their own words. We also learned to sing a round, written by Don Mclean, of this passage. We listened to recording (on line) of this, and another version of the song by the contemporary reggae band, Sublime (also on line. See, we are really using it!)