Biographical Info

Areas We Address

A day school would engage with us if they are looking to develop or enhance:

• Training and support for new or novice Jewish studies teachers which integrates rich content knowledge with appropriately aligned pedagogic tools and strategies and content-specific pedagogy (i.e. how to teach Torah, Middot, Mishnah, etc)
• School capacity for onboarding, supporting, and mentoring new Jewish studies teachers.
• Teachers’ capacity in specialized Jewish content areas such as
  • Tefilah education
  • Meaning-Mining in Jewish texts
  • Mahloket Matters for Teens: Navigating Inner Challenges and Societal Discord through Jewish Text and Social-Emotional Learning.

Expected Outcomes

Working with us, a school should expect to accomplish:

• Rigorous training for new teachers who:
  • Are knowledgeable about their Jewish studies content area and confident in teaching it
  • Knows an experienced professional supports and advocates for them and who cares about their professional growth
  • Effectively engage students using content-specific pedagogies (such as teaching Tanach, Talmud, Middot, Tefilah, etc.)
• A systematic support for new and emerging teachers. Schools do not always have the resources (people or time), experience, or knowledge to mentor and coach their new hires effectively. Our mentoring and pedagogy programs are designed and led by veteran Jewish Studies educators
• Faculty being trained in Jewish studies specific topics such as Tefilah, Mahloket Matter (constructive disagreement) for Schools, Meaning-mining in Jewish texts, Experiential Jewish education, or in general pedagogy skills (e.g. Understanding by Design, Thinking Routines, etc.)

Key Activities

We help schools achieve their goals by implementing the following:

Programs for faculty that support the school’s need for skillful educators who engage students using best practices and relevant content:

• Jewish Studies In-Service Teaching Training program (JSITT): A 12-month new/novice teacher training certificate that combines a Summer Pedagogy Intensive, with year-long mentoring, pedagogy-focused webinars, and two in-person site visits.
• Summer Pedagogy Intensive: A four-week, synchronous, cohort-based summer intensive held over Zoom. During the 12 two-hour webinars participants learn essential classroom pedagogy skills in four main categories (unit planning, lessoning, engaging students, and classroom environment). This time is coupled with individualized mentoring.
• Jewish Educators Summer Workshop: Provides Jewish studies educators with an opportunity to spend three weeks studying in the Pardes Beit Midrash, exploring Israel, and planning for the year with 1-on-1 guidance from our expert mentors.
• Mentor Matching: Pairs Jewish educators with professional mentors able to assist them with specific projects, while also providing guidance in exploring the fundamentals of curriculum design, accessing resources unique to Jewish studies, and utilizing valuable tools for educators. The entire process is flexible and customizable to meet the needs of each participant.
• Mahloket Matters: Healing Our Broken Discourse: A curriculum for high school and upper middle school students, these interactive materials foster a constructive disagreement mindset via Jewish text study and Social-Emotional learning.
• Customized professional development to suit the number, experience level and needs of your school.

Setting Expectations

To ensure the impact of our support, we expect schools to:

• Allow mentors to visit for in-person mentor visits
  where possible for participants to have mentoring sessions during the school day
• Be in regular contact with mentors or program directors to evaluate participant growth
• Support, encourage, and praise participants for being in high-quality PD.
• Publicly celebrate (staff meetings, newsletters etc.) program completion

To ensure the impact of our support, we expect administrators to: 

• Help us define the professional growth goals of the participant
• Be in regular contact with mentors or program directors to evaluate participant growth

To ensure the impact of our support, we expect classroom teachers to:

• Commit to attending all mentoring and webinar sessions
• Be open and reflective with the mentors