If Mary Poppins Taught Hebrew School, She Would Have…

by Fran Pearlman

One of the greatest challenges of the congregational school is our setting (and of course our timing). We often share our classrooms with others; most of who are not the same age as our students. For the child with special needs the setting and the classroom dynamics can be either a deterrent or an advantage to learning.

Here are some suggestions that may offer some help. There is no one solution for every special needs students just as no two people learn in the same way. Sometimes this may require trial and error and other times the best solution may be the first alternative.

Let Me Count the Ways: Index Cards — Don’t Leave Home without Them

by Carol Oseran Starin

Just before Simhat Torah my colleague Rivy Poupko Kletenik burst in on a Monday morning with, “Carol, I’ve got the greatest idea for the class I teach on Shabbat.” Rivy’s great idea inspired this week’s column. Rivy took 54 index cards. On each she wrote the name of one of the parshiyot. Each person in the class was invited to take one of the “parsha cards” and spend a week preparing one of the following: a drash, a poem, song, a teaching, game, cartoon, creative midrash — to find a creative way to express one of the ideas in “their” parashah — and to come prepared to make the presentation on Simhat Torah. Imagine the possibilities!

Index cards! They’re inexpensive, easy to handle, come in various sizes and colors – and have the potential to be the most versatile teaching tool imaginable. Index cards can help you manage time and manage students. Index card become games and flashcards, extend and support learning.

Here are 5 ways to use index cards in your classroom, followed by the ‘granddaddy’ of all ideas.

Where to Find Hanukkah Art Supplies

by Laurie Bellet

With Hanukkah approaching, I am asked questions daily, all beginning with the same introduction: “I’ll bet you know where I can buy…..” And so, here it is, Laurie’s list of great places to buy absolutely cool materials to use in your Hanukkah projects.

Jewish Classroom Management: A Good Offense (part two)

by Joel Lurie Grishaver

(To read Part One of this series, click here.)

Last time we talk about “sever panim yafot,” greeting students with a cheerful countenance. We talked about how a simple greeting can set a tone for a relationship with each student. In this unit we are going to talk about extending that sense of greeting throughout the lesson by focusing on Kavod ha-Talmid, the honor or each student.

A Prologue

Begin by reading this reflection by the Rav, Rabbi Yosef B. Soloveitchic.

Old Greeting Cards Make Great Art Supplies

by Laurie Bellet

Heshvan is a month I love. In Heshvan, families shower me with their used greeting cards, a virtual art windfall. Just one greeting card, cut into its component pieces, can be used in several projects. Here’s the trick…