December 2024 l Pardes' JSITT + Gross Schechter Day School
Director’s Message: From “Calling” to Powerful Teaching
Dr. David Farbman, Project Director, The DEEP Consortium
At DEEP, we think of Jewish day school teachers as superheroes. Why? Because they dedicate their time and talents to shape the next generation of Jews. We even just made a video about their impact: watch it here! ➡️
And just like comic book superheroes, using their superpowers – building a love for Jewish living and learning in our children – is as instinctual as breathing. Teaching isn’t their job; it’s their calling.
But our heroic teachers’ innate dedication to teaching our children does not automatically come with the ability to be effective classroom educators. Learning and teaching encompass a complex and nuanced dynamic. Those who choose to teach must apply a range of strategies to meet the specific needs of all their students. Translating our teachers’ desire to teach into the ability to teach demands added layers of know-how and experience.
And this is where a robust professional development program comes in. The Jewish Studies In-Service Teacher Training (JSITT) from the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators has worked with hundreds of teachers like the one featured in this issue from the Gross Schechter Day School in Cleveland, Ohio. Through JSITT, teachers gain the concepts that undergird effective education, and also pair with a coach who works with them one-on-one to reflect on their instruction, to modify their techniques, and to hone their skills over time.
As you read about how this one school and one teacher transformed raw enthusiasm for Judaic content into powerful lessons for children in Jewish values and aspirations, you may be reminded of the well-known Talmudic dictum: “The true guardians of a community are the teachers” (Talmud Yerushalmi Hagigah 1:7)” Surely, if we care about our Jewish future, we must commit to investing in those guardians.
Pardes Center for Jewish Educators: The Jewish Studies In-Service Teacher Training
Does this scenario sound familiar? A school, perhaps because of staff turnover or an increase in student enrollment, must hire a new Judaic Studies teacher. Administrators search diligently to find an experienced Jewish educator, yet are unable, for any number of reasons, to find the perfect match. So, they bring onboard a Jewishly-knowledgeable communal professional or maybe a graduate of a rabbinical seminary, a Hillel professional, or someone with experience in informal Jewish education, who was excellent at their previous role, but has no formal training in how to teach Jewish studies in a formal educational setting. Unfortunately, this scenario is all too common within the Jewish day school community because the demand for properly prepared Jewish educators far outstrips the supply.
Ideally, teachers are trained professionals who have undergone rigorous preparation in practical pedagogy and have had time to develop their craft before they enter the classroom. The Pardes Teacher Fellowship, which features a year-long learning program in Jerusalem combined with a master’s in Jewish education, offers such training in pedagogical methods. However, not everyone can take the time, or is at the right stage in life, for such an intensive program. So Pardes created the Jewish Studies In-Service Teacher Training program (JSITT) to meet the needs of new teachers and schools by providing shorter and more job-specific pedagogical training and support to teachers in day schools of any kind.
JSITT helps teachers in their first few years in the classroom become practiced in the art and science of teaching and to get the content-specific support they need. The year-long process includes four main elements:
- A summer intensive webinar series featuring 12 two-hour webinars in which the cohort of participants are taught pedagogy basics such as: How to plan units and lessons, how to engage students, how to conduct effective assessments, and how to structure a positive learning environment.
- Yearlong, one-on-one mentoring by veteran Judaic studies teachers to help the participants apply this pedagogy to their specific Judaic studies classes – from Chumash and chaggim to midot and Gemara. Teaching Judaic studies has its own content-specific pedagogical subtleties – for example, how to teach an ancient text, how to talk about God, or communal sensitivities which the mentor helps mentees consider and navigate.
- The mentors also conduct on-site visits to observe their mentees in the context of their classrooms and school so that the mentor’s support and guidance can be better tailored to the mentee’s needs.
- Cohort-based webinars continue through the rest of the year to dive deeper into specific pedagogy topics (think havruta, Bibliodrama, facilitating discussions, tefilah, the affective domain, etc.) and provide space for participants to share their own dilemmas of practice.
The JSITT program enables participants to develop a deep awareness of what excellent teaching is and how to apply key educational theories and tools to their own classroom teaching. (For a clear demonstration of impact on participants’ changed perspective, check out the Before/After survey responses in the Resources section below.) Additionally, they join our alumni network, giving them access to and engagement with a community of educators who share a common teaching language and vision and, thus, who come to rely on each other for support.
Raising the Bar for Our Jewish Studies Classes
Elana Perlin, Director of Jewish Studies, Gross Schechter Day School
Situated in the mid-sized Jewish community of Cleveland, Ohio, the Gross Schechter school has a student body of under 300 students. As a smaller school, we often do not have the luxury of hiring teachers who combine a robust Jewish knowledge and a love of children with a strong teaching background and proficiency in a range of instructional strategies. As much as individuals with content expertise may have many talents and be outstanding individuals, some lack much-needed pedagogical skills such as creating engaging classroom work, utilizing classroom management strategies, and developing lesson plans using backward design.
When I came to Gross Schechter school four years ago as head of Judaic studies, I was introduced to a middle-grades teacher, Binyamin Kleinman, who developed a great rapport with the students, had a passion for teaching, and knew the material inside and out. He held (and continues to hold) a personal mission to teach all students to understand and access Jewish law. What he lacked, however, was the knowledge of how to structure a class, create goals and benchmarks, formulate essential questions, and determine how to measure success. Because I had seen the impact strong training and mentoring could have on strengthening an educator’s ability to impact student learning, I recommended him for the Pardes Jewish Studies In-Service Teacher Training program (JSITT). As Binyamin’s supervisor, I wished I could have provided this kind of coaching myself, but I simply lacked the time to spend the intensive hours needed to coach him. With grant support from our local Jewish education agency, The Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, Binyamin eagerly enrolled in JSITT.
On the practical side, I appreciated that the structure of the JSITT program, with its online classes, meetings with a mentor, and in-person visits, would not take time away from Binyamin’s classroom duties. More critical, though, JSITT would help Binyamin practice and hone his pedagogy, and, moreover, would do so within a framework specific to teaching Jewish text.
I began to notice a difference soon after he returned from the summer intensives, as we would discuss his classroom instruction and he would employ more sophisticated language to describe his lessons (e.g., using the term “essential questions” to explain learning goals for the students). I also was pleased to see that with a few months of coaching from his mentor under his belt, his lesson plans became tighter and his overall study units more coherent and well-developed. When I walk into his classroom now, I see his walls lined with visual aids. Also, Binyamin made a habit of color coding his worksheets, a strategy that he learned to help the students decode the instructions and information more successfully. Visual clues aside, the substance of his classroom instruction has improved, as his students are consistently engaged in activities that push them toward higher-order thinking.
But more than observing Binyamin’s skills as a teacher develop, I was pleased to see his confidence grow, as well. This year, for example, Binyamin has taken on the project of creating a new curriculum for 7thgrade Talmud – a feat that came about directly from his participation in JSITT.
Binyamin is a prime example of why, as school leaders, we cannot and should not dismiss creative, thoughtful, talented individuals even if they have no background in pedagogy. Instead, we should seek out hires who have a strong Judaic knowledge, a passion to teach the next generation, and, probably most important, who have the desire to become stronger teachers and are willing to learn. Providing them with a professional development opportunity such as JSITT can then fill in many gaps and help grow a hire with tremendous potential into a masterful teacher. And, even better, because Gross Schechter has invested in his professional learning, Binyamin has expressed to me that he is even more committed to our school and our school’s mission, making the investment a good one not just for now, but for the long term.
Strengthening My Lessons, Deepening My Impact
Binyamin Kleinman, Middle Grades Judaic Studies Teacher, Gross Schechter School
Last year, I was privileged to have the opportunity to enroll in the Pardes Jewish Studies In-Service Teacher Training (JSITT) program. While I had a strong Jewish textual background and knowledge, as a relatively new Judaic studies teacher, I lacked the pedagogical tools necessary to make my classroom teaching as effective as I hoped.
One of my bigger challenges was lesson planning and, specifically, that I never seemed to have enough time in the day to prepare a lesson structure for every class. The JSITT instructors showed us how to properly design a unit for classroom teaching and gave us the tools to do so on our own, building my confidence in those skills. In particular, the Understanding by Design method that we explored has become an invaluable approach in helping me plan my units. JSITT trained me how to “backwards plan,” making sure that each of my lessons hits on key objectives. Backwards planning also entails making sure that my lessons are preparing students for the assessment which is to come at the end. This focus not only makes the assessments more effective, but also helps ensure that our time spent in the classroom is geared carefully toward meeting the educational goals I set out at the beginning of the unit.
As my fellow teachers from other day schools and I proceeded through the JSITT course, we were encouraged to create our own streamlined template for a lesson plan document, in which we would remove some of the unwieldy details and leave only those elements that best suit our needs and how we function. We reviewed drafts of these templates in small groups with each other and the instructor, and then later with our individual mentor. At the end of this design process, I produced a short but highly functional personal lesson plan template that would take only a couple of minutes to fill out. That simplified lesson outline has proven to be a tremendous help in organizing my ideas for a lesson, making my goals for the day feel realistic and attainable.
Judaic studies teachers rarely have the benefit of a classic textbook or curriculum with which to structure their classrooms. Therefore, having well-designed materials that engage and welcome the students to the content is crucial in maintaining high levels of student engagement. At JSITT, we learned some of the most helpful tools for creating effective assignments. Just as importantly, through the students in the cohort modeling a classroom situation with each other, we saw how ineffective and confusing a poorly crafted set of instructions can be for our students. Since then, I have aimed to make my class materials incorporate the principles and techniques I learned from JSITT, with clearer and more direct language in questions, color-coded text boxes for presenting Jewish texts, pictures where appropriate, and the like.
Ultimately, participating in JSITT has pushed me to be much more reflective as a teacher, both in planning and in assessing my own effectiveness as an educator. In terms of lesson planning, I have now developed the habit of processing my ideas in greater detail and asking myself important questions about what I wanted to accomplish. Just as importantly, the reflective process continues after class, as I am able to look back at my plan and consider what went according to plan and what didn’t with the understanding, of course, that sometimes the lessons that end up most meaningful for students are the ones that weren’t planned at all! But now I have sufficient confidence to know a lesson can deviate somewhat from my plan, as long as they are rooted in the key concepts I had planned to explore.
And, most importantly, I am confident that, even though the changes I have made to my classes may be invisible to my students in the sense that they would not probably be able to articulate a “before” and “after,” the quality of their learning experience is better. Because of the tighter lessons and whole units I have designed, they get increased exposure to multiple perspectives on the same content. Further, they do not become bored spending too much time on the same texts, and I can see by their faces and their behavior they are more engaged in thinking about the material. I can now move forward knowing that my teaching can have even more impact on my students’ understanding and appreciation of Judaic studies.
What Mentoring Looks Like
Reuven Margrett, Associate Director (North America), Pardes Center for Jewish Studies
I was fortunate to be Binyamin’s mentor, and it soon became clear that he had a deep understanding of, and passion for, text and Jewish life, even as he lacked strong pedagogical practice. A prominent example was what I call the “never-ending unit” syndrome, when a teacher starts a unit of learning (perhaps a particular parsha in Torah or sugya in Gemara) and continues to teach that single source because he has not clarified specific learning objectives. When units and lessons lack a clear structure, it is more difficult to define what you want students to take away from the lesson and, moreover, to know whether students have met these learning goals.
Through the mentoring process, he gained the space to reflect on his practice and the needs of the students, challenge his assumptions about teaching and learning, and apply his learnings directly to his Jewish studies classes. Because Binyamin’s Jewish content level was high, we would often engage in havruta-style analysis of the content he was teaching to tease out ideas and themes. These discussions often sparked his pedagogical imagination and how he could engage students with these ideas. In his unit on the Ten Commandments, for example, we drew out fresh thoughts, connections, and questions that Binyamin thought would resonate with his 6th graders. Rather than plodding through a list of commandments, we worked together to think about the connections, links, and sub-units within the ten; discussing which commandments he’d want to spend more (or less) time focusing on. Our conversations generated more focus and intentionality around the themes and learning objectives expected of students, the flow of the unit, and how to engage students in the learning.
For optimal success, the participant must open up to their own need for further development and demonstrate significant vulnerability to their own performance as an educator. I was lucky that Binyamin was honest about his strengths and areas for growth, and felt comfortable pushing back against some of the educational theories. For example, we had open and candid discussions about whether it matters how long a unit is and whether it is worth planning out a unit in advance. Our conversations fostered a self-reflective and critical approach to teaching, and, in turn, cultivated a more mature teacher mindset in Binyamin as he examined his own practice in his ongoing effort to improve student learning.
The site visits — when I had the opportunity to visit Gross Schechter and observe his classroom instruction — proved instrumental in more deeply understanding the context of Binyamin’s teaching and seeing, in person, the beautiful connection and rapport he has with students. In Binyamin’s case, I experienced how his teaching generated learning among his 7th grade girls’ class students, for example, and where it fell short. He and I had hard conversations about what would enable the students to stay more focused, ensuring they were not all talking over each other and Binyamin. In fact, the issue of student behavior is one of the biggest struggles facing newer teachers and typically results from several factors (teacher personality, student expectations, lesson planning, school culture, accountability, etc.). Because of the multiple causes, a teacher cannot adopt a one-size-fits-all approach. Seeing the dynamics in Binyamin’s classroom enabled me to propose what strategies would work best in his specific case.
In the class, I also saw how seemingly minor matters affected learning. For example, Binyamin’s projector was set up at a skewed angle, which was a potential distraction for students. I adjusted the projector for him with positive results. I recall an analogous situation with another mentee where classroom layout seemed to significantly impact classroom behavior. We moved tables and chairs around together, discussing what would be most effective for their type of learning, and the teacher saw immediate improvement.
At the end of the year, as with most of my mentees, I was sad to part ways with Binyamin, although we still keep in touch professionally and personally. Binyamin had grown so much and his knowledge of how to teach was catching up to this knowledge of what he teaches. Like most newer teachers, he still struggles to find the time to develop new units and complete all the lesson plans in the time he has allotted. But he has a much deeper sense of the craft of teaching, what teaching excellence looks like, and how he can move forward on his continuum of improvement.
Enhancing Teaching Around the World
Nic Abery, Educational Consultant, Pardes Center for Jewish Educators
In cities as diverse as Helsinki, Sofia, and Istanbul, maintaining schools with passionate and capable Judaic studies teachers is essential for the survival and sustainability of these communities. Over the past six years, the Educating for Impact initiative, a British-based organization to support Jewish day schools in Europe, has challenged school and community leaders and educators in 19 cities across the continent to rise to this challenge. And, even though my experience takes place in Europe, I know the very same challenge confronts many communities in North America.
As one of the team of educational consultants with JSITT, I spent five years guiding and supporting communities and schools in curriculum development, lesson material preparation, teacher training, strategic planning, and management. I also had the privilege to enroll three teachers in various cities and schools in Europe in the JSITT program at Pardes.
One of those teachers, Silvia, had taught combined Judaic studies and Ivrit at the Ulus school in Istanbul for six years, but had essentially learned to teach on the fly. After a series of lesson observations and coaching sessions, we agreed that she would benefit from a formal teacher training program, since her classes lacked clear learning objectives and goals, even as the students were usually busy.
Since Silvia participated in the JSITT course, her students are more focused, the lessons have a clear and purposeful structure, and the learning is more meaningful. In our frequent guided professional conversations, she is able to acknowledge how much her teaching has changed over the past six months. Where she had struggled previously to encourage active learning and engagement, the educational experience for her students is now much improved. They are using more Hebrew terminology correctly in lessons and engage with learning about the chagim with enthusiasm; the learning objectives are concise and there is real learning outcome achievement. As a result, she has a heightened love and vigor for teaching.
Another teacher enrolled in the JSITT program, Avishag, arrived in Helsinki with her young family, eager to offer her energy and Jewish studies knowledge to its small school and youth program. As enthusiastic as she was, she lacked any training in Jewish pedagogy and had not developed teaching skills suitable for elementary and middle school. Following several months of one-to-one professional coaching support and guidance in lesson planning and material development, it became apparent that she would highly benefit from a more comprehensive and holistic teacher training program to ground her learning and expose her to the best pedagogical methods. By studying through the JSITT program and teaching simultaneously, she could immediately implement the theories and concepts of learning she was studying, providing the students with a heightened and far more enriching learning experience.
Juggling a new job, community, and culture with the demands of participating in the JSITT program was a challenge, but in our biweekly meetings, her growing confidence in the classroom became apparent, making the investment of time worthwhile. We would discuss how embedding concepts such as detailed lesson planning, assessment for learning and differentiation into her day-to-day teaching resulted in her student’s attainment and progress. Within a couple of months, she could identify how much easier it was to fuse her strong content knowledge and creative spirit to rejuvenate the formal and informal middle school Jewish learning program of the school.
Following a successful year of co-studying and working, she was promoted to the position of community youth director. Because she has now developed the necessary capabilities and tactics, she is set up for success. Further, the JSITT program has enabled her to become part of an international network of colleagues and experts to call upon.
As Rabbi Sacks (TZL) wrote in From Optimism to Hope:
Teachers open our eyes to the world. They give us curiosity and confidence. They teach us to ask questions. They connect us to our past and future. They’re the guardians of our social heritage. We have lots of heroes today – sportsmen, supermodels, media personalities. They come, they have their fifteen minutes of fame, and they go. But the influence of good teachers stays with us. They are the people who really shape our life.
And it is thanks to programs such as the Pardes Institute’s JSITT, that communities around Europe can benefit from such teachers.
JSITT Resources
At the end of the JSITT intensive summer pedagogy webinars, we ask participants to complete the following statements: I used to think that teaching Jewish Studies… I now think that teaching Jewish studies is…
Below is a sampling of responses.
| I used to think teaching Jewish Studies… | I now think that teaching Jewish studies … |
| …was relatively intuitive and simple to perform. | …is a complex art form, where as much as one is moved by and inspired by our rich legacy – traditions, prayers, customs, holidays, and sacred literature – there is a wealth of teaching knowledge and skills necessary to convey it successfully. |
| …took a lot of prep and didn’t have as many resources available | …takes a lot of prep (no getting out of that!) and there is so much out there that is adaptable to Jewish studies and can help me in the process. |
| …was something that would come naturally to me and I could do in my sleep. | …requires a lot more preparation and planning than I anticipated, especially if I want to engage my students in a meaningful way. |
| …was a subject that I would never be qualified or capable of teaching. | …is my life’s work. |
| … would be made possible simply by my passion for the subject. If I taught well (whatever that means) and I showed I was passionate about the subject to my students, they would have total buy-in. | …is way more work than I anticipated. I never thought teaching was easy and didn’t take the route for that reason. But I’ve never thought so intricately about lesson planning and UBD (Understanding by Design) before. It’s all very time consuming (in the best way possible!!!). |
| …was a bit stuffy and possibly irrelevant to a large percentage of students. | …can add meaning to students’ lives (even if they don’t know it) and can also be engaging for all learners. |
| …was a mere repetition of rituals and behaviors and very little, if any at all, actual study of texts and history behind said rituals/behaviors. | …is a course meant to engage students in their Jewish heritage and teach them how to understand Judaism in a way that they can make it a useful and meaningful part of their own lives. |
We Want to Hear From You
We hope you find The DEEP Dive useful and meaningful. We welcome your feedback about how we might build upon this foray into professional learning for future issues! Email me at [email protected].
