Biographical Info

Areas We Address

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

• Help school leaders and teachers expertly employ student-centered learning (SCL) with a team of experienced coaches matched to each school’s religious, cultural and academic preferences. Our professional development in SCL includes:
• Leading for change in student-centered learning, creating teacher leaders in SCL, becoming your school’s SCL coach
• Designing curricula and lesson planning in Judaic and General Studies, grounded in big ideas, essential questions, and meaning making
• Designing interdisciplinary curricula
• Creating SCL activities and assessments
• Building academic curricula imbued with Social and Emotional Learning
• Fostering student-centered school and classroom cultures focused on building student voice and agency
• Creating interdisciplinary, affective Israel education, embedded organically into academic content

Expected Outcomes

Working with us, a school should expect to accomplish deep and meaningful change in student-centered learning. Working with us, schools and teachers can anticipate:

• More active and engaged student learning
• Rigorous and creative curricula, learning activities and assessments
• Improved student collaboration and communication skills
• Holistic educational experiences addressing students’ cognitive, emotional and personal development

  Through the implementation of:

• Enhanced teaching methodologies
• Tools for creating meaningful, values-driven learning experiences
• Strategies for developing student voice and agency

Key Activities

We help schools achieve their goals by implementing a robust professional development plan that, depending on a school’s needs and budget, includes:

• Onsite and online coaching sessions for the school leaders and/or individual teachers chosen from a team of highly experienced coaches
• Innovative student-centered learning strategies and actionable feedback
• Meetings as a professional learning community (PLC) for the school leaders and teachers engaged in the change process
• A program manager who conducts regular check-ins with the educational leader in charge of the initiative
• Metrics reports that include a project tracker showing the progress of each teacher as they learn and implement SCL strategies and of the PLC
• A comprehensive library of resources and learning packs developed by the idea institute and our clients

Setting Expectations

To ensure the impact of our support, we expect schools to commit to a transformational educational journey by:

• Dedicating an educational leader to oversee the change process
• Selecting a group of motivated teachers willing to learn and grow
• Providing time for coaching, professional learning communities (PLCs), and collaborative development
• Creating a culture of curiosity, growth, and continuous improvement

To ensure the impact of our support, we expect administrators to commit to a transformational educational journey by:

• Dedicating an educational leader to oversee the change process
• Providing support to the group engaged in the PD by celebrating its successes and acting as a trusted sounding board for areas of growth
• Dedicating time and resources so teachers can implement the student-centered strategies and pedagogies they are learning
• Communicating as needed to all school stakeholders–all administrators and faculty, students, lay leaders and parents–about goals and milestones of the initiative

To ensure the impact of our support, we expect classroom teachers to commit to a transformational educational journey by:

• Showing curiosity and flexibility as they work
• Selecting focus areas of change for their classrooms
• Experimenting with different student-centered strategies, finding the ones that work best for their disciplines and for the specific content and skills they need/want to teach
• Celebrating successes and exhibiting a growth mindset when confronting obstacles and challenges
• Reflecting on their own practices
• Collaborating with peers
• Creating a portfolio of work over the course of the PD experience
• Bringing their mastery in student-centered learning to their peers once training is complete!