Year-end Teaching Perspective

היום שנים ועשרים יום שהם שלשה שבועות ויום אחד בעמר

Today is twenty-two days, which is three weeks and one day of the omer
חסד שבנצח
A day of loving-kindness in a week of perseverance

Twenty-two days of the omer, and two more Wednesday night teaching sessions. Time to look at the year, see what worked, what didn't; who I reached, who was seemingly unreachable; what was most rewarding, what was most challenging.

In past years now I've envied day school teachers for their classroom time and resources. So much of the curriculum I read is based on the experiential model with multi-day projects incorporating journals and computer research in small interactive work groups. My teaching environment is too unstable for that. I get 50 minutes, once a week, in a 7 - 8 week module, never really knowing how many and which ones of my 15 registered students will attend on any given day.

This year, thanks to my participation in various discussions with a cadre of dedicated Jewish educators,  I've gained a different perspective that reminds me of an advantage I have working in the supplementary synagogue school world. I have more leeway to take those curricula and adapt them to the needs of my students without having to worry about meeting specifically laid out standards. I have the freedom to write my own curriculum, mixing sources as I see fit. I have more flexibility that enables me to let my students take the lead if their input takes the lesson plan off the course that I set. My brief is to bring the critical, creative thinking out of them, without concern of what they need to spit out simply for the sake of passing a test.

All educators have rewards and challenges. The challenges feed our minds, keeping our teachings fresh. The rewards feed our souls, fueling our passion. Keeping both in balance moves us ahead.

Loooking for lessons in the Kosher Nation

היום שלשה וארבעים יום שהם ששה שבועות ויום אחד לעמר
Today is forty-three days, which is six weeks and one day, of the omer
חסד שבמלכות
A day of loving-kindness in a week of majesty

Today I received my copy of Kosher Nation: Why More and More of America's Food Answers to a Higher Authority by Sue Fishkoff. It will be the next book in line for me to read. Friends have given it good reviews. But more importantly, I hope it gives me some ideas on how to teach the concept of kashrut to my students next year.

I teach in a Reform synagogue where the laws of kashrut are no longer followed. However, the students often bring up the subject. They are curious about the what and why's of the practice.

I need to be careful how I teach this--after all, it is not part of the culture of their synagogue and unlikely a part of their home life. When it comes up, I talk about mindful eating--being aware of what is in the food, where is comes from, how it gets to the plate. I show them the animated G-dcast for Shemini which gives the kashrut laws in song. I point out that the verses following the laws talk about each of us being holy--a kind of "you are what you eat."

But I'm hoping this book will enable me to bring in a worldly relationship to kashrut that would be in line with the philosophy of the Reform movement while letting me be true to the mitzvah aspect.

I'll post my own review when I'm done and let you know :)

School Daze

היום שלשים יום שהם ארבעה שבועות ושני ימים לעמר
Today is thirty days, which is four weeks and two days, of the omer
גבורה שבהוד
A day of strength in a week of humility

This evening was the last session of religious school at Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo, the synagogue where I teach seventh and eighth graders. This completes my second year of teaching there. They have asked me back for next year, and I have accepted their offer.

It was far from smooth sailing this year. Some teachings that went over well last year didn't work this year. I had less individual discipline problems, but the group of students in my first trimester core class  at times got the best of me. And for some reason there were more attendance issue this year. It seemed like I had a different group of kids each week.

But these issues made me work harder, look for new ways to engage my students. Through the Bureau of Jewish Education I learned new classroom management techniques. My involvement in the LINK Fellowship at the Contemporary Jewish Museum gave me new insights into curriculum, which led me to better ways to structure my lesson plans. Sometime mid-year I hit my stride, and my last trimester core class went very well. There was lots of active participation during the lessons. And the meditation element that I introduced at the start of each session seemed to resonate with quite a few of the kids. So while it's not easy to figure out how much of this year's teachings reached my students, I know some of them will move on in their lives knowing they have the ability to ground and center themselves when the atmosphere around them is full of stress.

Both strength and humility are important attributes for teachers. Strength is needed to stay on course with kids whose goal is to distract  you; humility opens your eyes to see when those detours can lead to more and sometimes more important learning. The knowledge I gain from my students makes me a better teacher.

What does Sacred Space mean to you?

היום שני וארבעים יום שהם ששה שבועות בעמר
Today is the forty-second day, making six weeks of the omer
מלכות שב יסוד
A day of majesty in a week of foundation

On this last day of the sixth week of the omer I finish my first year of teaching at PTBE. I hope I was able to teach my students some Torah and inspire them to think about the spiritual concepts contained within. I certainly learned much from them this year, and will be evaluating what I did this year, looking for more ways to reach them. Some of that processing will happen on this blog--if anyone out there has some wisdom to share, I would appreciate the input.

In honor of this year's students, I will share a poem written today by one of the students in my Sacred Space class. I don't know that I could have come up with this when I was 11 or 12.....

SACRED SPACE

Sacred
a word
what it means
no one knows
Sacred
a tree
a house
or any place at all
Sacred
a breath of air
a beat of the heart
a death
a birth
Sacred
is a state of mind
Sacred
is an abstract
Space

Shabbat is Rest

היום שמנה ושלשים יום שהם חמשה שבועות ושלשה יומים בעמר
Today is the thirty-eighth day, making five weeks and three days of the omer
תפרת שב יסוד
A day of compassion in a week of foundation

This week, in my 6th grade class on sacred space, we discussed Shabbat--what is it, what does it mean, what does it mean to them. (hmmm, sound familiar?) I asked them to write about Shabbat--how have they practiced it, what rituals did they observe, what can they do to bring more Shabbat into their lives.

As we enter into Shabbat, I will share one response--a wonderful example of how much I learn from my students.

Shabbat Shalom

To me, Shabbat is rest. It is living in the moment. This rule, this God-given law, is a gift. Like Buddha gave the people yoga, God gave us Shabbat. Because of Shabbat we have one day where we don't have to worry about money or school or social life or gossip or emotions. On Shabbat we can simply rest. We don't have to work. Never think of Shabbat as a restriction--Shabbat is a privilege. On Shabbat you can unplug your electronics. You can turn off your phones. You can silence the family, calm your pets, turnoff the lights, and find a sacred place to tell God how much you appreciate his gift, and simply enjoy the fact that you are simply there.

The Four Students

היום ארבעה עשר יום שהם שני שבועות בעמר
Today is the fourteenth day, making two weeks of the omer
מלחות שבגבורה
A day of majesty in a week of strength

As I prepare to go teach Torah to the 6th and 7th graders at Peninsula Temple Beth El, I want to share a new insight I had this year during the seders concerning the story of the Four Sons -- traditionally known as the wise son, the wicked son, the simple son, and the one who cannot ask. (For those of you who are not familiar with this story told on Passover, click here.)

There are so many ways you can look at this story--different kinds of people in the world, different aspects on one's personality, what are the positive and negative connotations in how each relates to this story of their heritage. People have favorite sons--also written, of course, as children to update to an egalitarian environment. Those of you who have been to seders all your lives have heard it all, I'm sure, and more.

That's why it's nice to get a new hit, as I did this year. The main point of the story is to tell each child the story of Passover, however they ask, or don't ask, the question. The change for me is this year I saw each child as a student who learns things in their own way.

There's the know-it-all, arm always raised kid. I need to teach that child with patience, and steer her/him to helping others learn.

There's the kid who is always going to act up. I need to be strong but straightforward with that child, and engage him/her in the goings on in class.

There's the kid who needs to get the information in different ways. I adjust my lesson plans so I include options for each kid to have a learning opportunity.

There's the kid who will just sit quietly and check out. I need to reach out to that kid gently, but always include her/him, not letting him/her disappear.


That's the new perspective---now to put the newly-found teaching into action.