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…

Let Me Count the Ways: Hebrew Names

by Carol Oseran Starin

Names are important in Judaism. Our names connect us to previous generations, to the Torah, to the Jewish people. Names are our hopes for our children and wishes for who we want them to become.

It used to be the case that all Jewish babies were given Jewish—either Hebrew or Yiddish—names. Ashkenazic Jews named their children after a family member who had died. Sephardic Jews named their children after a living grandparent. But children with Jewish names can no longer be taken for granted. Many of our children come from interfaith homes and don’t have Hebrew names. Other families aren’t very connected to Judaism or Hebrew names weren’t on their radar screens or weren’t important to them at the time their children were born.

Many teachers in Jewish schools want to use their students’ Hebrew names, but find that some students don’t have them. How can you handle this situation sensitively and respectfully? Here’s what some teachers do:

Jewish Classroom Management: A Good Offense (part one)

by Joel Lurie Grishaver

To be a little crass, classroom management has both offense and defense. Defense is when we are forced by a situation to create a response. Offense is the atmosphere and framework we set up in class to encourage participation and to set limits. Classical teacher wisdom states, “a teacher should start strict and then loosen up as the year goes on.” Jewish wisdom will teach,” start cheerfully.

A Case Study

This letter came to us via e-mail from a teacher who taught in a one room school house with fourth to seventh graders in the same class.

The class was looking and acting tired so I had everyone pretend to go to sleep and then say the Shema, provided they wake up and sing Modeh Ani to get them moving. They were mostly excited and into it, but a few kids basically didn’t get up when the “alarm” rang. So 75% of the class was singing Modeh Ani, and the others were lying on the floor being difficult. The whole class was looking at me to see what I’d do about it. My instinct was to be hurt and angry that they had taken advantage of my flexibility in lesson planning, but then I tried to smile and ask someone to tap them gently. Eventually they got up but I ended up feeling embarrassed, like I had lost face.

I often bring this case into workshops and ask people to suggest what this first year teacher should do. The single most popular answer is “chocolate.” Many teachers are into bribing the students who respond positively. The next most popular answers all have to do with other (non-food) modalities of positive reinforcement for the students who are behaving. When I got the letter I ask just one question, “Were the problems the twelve year old boys?” I got back a diatribe on all the things these boys and their families do to make this particular teacher’s life uncomfortable. I sent my diagnoses that I will share with you now. “Greet all students at the door as they come in every day.” This may seem over simple, but I will explain. The problem here is a relationship problem. Until she fixes the relationship issue with this group of students one incident after another will occur. But to explain how saying hello fixes things, let’s start with some Jewish thinking.