PROGRAMS FOR EDUCATORS
FALL, 2006
Communicating with Parents
Dr. David Pelcovitz
Gwedonlyn & Joseph Straus Chair in Jewish Education
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration
Yeshiva University
In recent surveys regarding teacher career satisfaction, the need to improve teacher-parent communication tends to be listed as a top priority as well as a major source of stress. This series will focus on the underlying cultural and psychological contributors to difficulty in effective school-home collaboration followed by practical suggestions for improving parent-teacher communication. Classes will include strategies for effective communication about behavioral problems in children, conflict resolution strategies and anger management.
Tuesdays, 3:30-4:30 pm
September 12, 19, 26 & October 3
Connecting with Students
Rabbi Chaim Feuerman
Golda Kocshitzky Chair in Jewish Education
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration
Yeshiva University
Students these days will learn from you only if they like, respect and identify with you. Educators can engender their liking, respect and identification by making meaningful connections with them. This series will present practical, down-to-earth strategies and interventions which will help you foster those connections. Among the topics to be covered are “Making Personal Connections with Students,” “Making Academic Connections with Students,” and “Making Social Connections with Students.”
Wednesdays, 4:00 – 5:00 pm
September 13, 20, 27 & October 4
Assessment & Grading
Dr. Scott Goldberg
Director of the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Division of Doctoral Studies
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration
Yeshiva University
This seminar will introduce participants to Performance Based Assessment (PBA), Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM), and various grading methods. Participants will learn how to develop, administer, and evaluate results for PBAs and CMBs. Discussions will include the aspects of grading relevant to alternative assessment techniques.
Wednesdays 3:30-4:30 pm
November 1, 8, 15 & 29
Differentiated Instruction
Dr. Scott Goldberg
Differentiated Instruction is a framework of thinking about and learning with all students by matching learner to learning through proactive planning, multiple approaches (more qualitative than quantitative in nature) to content, process, product, and environment, and a blend of whole-class, group and independent learning. This seminar will introduce participants to methods of Differentiated Instruction, including centers and stations, anchor activities, student agendas, tiered activities, and various cooperative learning techniques.
Wednesdays, 4:45-5:45 pm
November 1, 8, 15 & 29
WINTER, 2006/2007
Adolescent Religious Development
Dr. David Pelcovitz
Gwedonlyn & Joseph Straus Chair in Jewish Education
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration
Yeshiva University
The wide range of cognitive, emotional, and social developmental changes of adolescence are often marked by the adolescent’s need to reassess his/her religious behavior, beliefs, and values. An in-depth understanding of the underlying psychological underpinnings impacting on adolescent religious development can enhance an educator’s ability to effectively reach children during this critical stage of development. This seminar will summarize recent research and focus on how new insights from psychological research can inform teachers trying to help adolescents internalize religious values in a manner that prepares them for integrating religion into their lives. Sessions will also focus on using informal education as a source of promoting religious development; strategies for enhancing tefila, promoting spirituality; and dealing with the religiously alienated adolescent.
Wednesdays, 3:30-4:30 pm
January 31, February 7, 14, 21 & 28
TORAH U’MADAH SEMINAR
This five session series is devoted to exploring several fundamental issues and areas of thought that pertain to education and Modern Orthodoxy. The format will be more participatory and less frontal in order to engage participants in a serious dialogue on these topics.
Women and Torah
Dr. Rivkah Blau
Author and Lecturer
Tuesday, January 30, 2007, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
Creation & Science
Rabbi Moshe Tendler
Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler Professor of Jewish Medical Ethics, Professor of Biology, and Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan
Yeshiva University
Tuesday, February 6, 2007, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
Judaism & Christianity
Rabbi Binyamin Blech
Associate Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Tuesday, February 13, 2007, 3:30-4:30 pm
Bein HaMetzarim: Dimensions of Orthodoxy
Rabbi Kenneth Brander
Dean, Center for the Jewish Future
Yeshiva University
Tuesday, February 20, 2007, 3:30-4:30 pm
Judaism & Ecology:
Planting the Seeds of Environmental Protection
Atara Weisberger
Educator and Chair, Education/Curriculum Committee
Canfei Nesharim
Tuesday, February 27, 2007, 3:30-4:30 pm
SPRING, 2007
Shoah Education
Paul Radansky
Museum Educator
Museum of Jewish Heritage
The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust has educated thousands of students and teachers each year since opening to the public in 1997. When presenting to students from Jewish schools, the Museum emphasizes a narrative where Jews are active agents in history rather than objects acted upon by history. Students learn by closely examining precious original documents, photographs and artifacts. They also find profound connection through encounters with personal stories of Jewish experiences. Participants will review the STAJE (Shoah Teaching Alternatives in Jewish Education) Guiding Principles developed by the Museum, and how these principles may apply to their curriculum development.
Tuesday, March 13, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
or
Wednesday, March 14, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
Teaching Israel: The Ethics of War
Rabbi Kenneth Brander
Dean, Center for the Jewish Future
Yeshiva University
Wars and the battlegrounds on which they have been fought have changed dramatically over the last twenty years. Globalization and technology now feed into strife and religious fanaticism. Are there Jewish ethics that guide Israel in how they fight their battles? This session will contrast different theories on the ethics of war, explore how this issue is addressed by Jewish tradition, and contrast the Judaic notions of war to those found in Christian and general thought.
Tuesdays, March 20, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
or
Wednesday, March 21, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
Teaching Israel: Yom Ha’atzmaut - Under Attack
Rabbi Micah Halpern
Educator, Historian and Syndicated Columnist
How can educators prepare their students to learn about and celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut when Israel is faced with serious existential questions? This session will explore this and other questions related to how a free, Jewish, democratic society honors their independence while being threatened by terror and Iran’s nuclear program; and how living in the cross hairs affects our celebrations of Israel and connection to our brothers and sisters there, as well as what we can emphasize in the classroom.
Tuesday, March 27, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
or
Wednesday, March 28, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
Curriculum Assessment
Dr. Moshe Sokolow
Fanya Gottesfeld-Heller Professor of Jewish Education
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration
Yeshiva University
This seminar will focus on practical advice and guidance on designating, articulating, implementing, and evaluating curricular objectives for individual schools and school consortia. Developing standards and benchmarks in Limmudei Kodesh for grades K–12.
Tuesdays, 3:30-4:30 pm
April 24, May 1, 8 & 15
Competence, Caring, and Courage:
Encountering some Essential Questions
Dr. Shani Bechhofer
Assistant Professor of Jewish Education
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration
Teaching requires skills (competence) and a good heart (caring), but it is also a uniquely challen-ging endeavor that calls upon our inner resources (courage) and raises big questions. What is a “school of excellence?” What constitutes great teaching? Can - and should - teaching academic subject matter influence students’ affective and spiritual dimensions? Where is the boundary between education and indoctrination? Can students in Orthodox schools be trained to think critically without sacrificing religious reverence? How can we teach children middot in a way that might resonate? Participants will have the opportunity to encounter and offer challenging, out-of-the-box approaches to these and other questions and engage in personal reflection and critical conversations with colleagues across the country.
Wednesdays, 3:30-4:30 pm
April 25, May 2, 9 & 16
PROGRAMS FOR ADMINISTRATORS
Global Learning Initiative (GLI) Contact Meetings
Eight video conference meetings have been scheduled for heads of school and/or GLI Content Contacts. The purpose of these meetings is to evaluate and fine tune the Global Learning Initiative program, to identify unmet needs at GLI sites, and to provide future direction for professional development and student video conference programming. Video conference meetings will be held on the following Mondays from 12:00 – 12:45 pm E.S.T.:
September 25 December 11 February 12 April 30
October 30 January 15 March 26 June 4