Innovative Teaching

Amanda Gelb (“Breaking Down Classroom Walls With Resilience Theory,” Aug. 10) gets it right when she says “cross-pollination” is a key to effective education. In DeLeT (huc.edu/delet), our innovative program to prepare Jewish day school teachers, we call this “integration.” 

Mia Pardo, one of last year’s DeLeT fellows, who is teaching at Pressman Academy, developed an innovative approach to teaching first-graders about national symbols by comparing and contrasting America’s and Israel’s flags and symbols. The students became so passionate about the lesson that they began interacting with each other as if they were the symbols. They used songs and other aspects of what they were learning in dramatic renderings. The teacher recorded these improvisations, and later two of the students created a movie out of the videos. We look forward each year to seeing how the emerging DeLeT educators find new ways to make Gelb’s idea of cross-pollination a reality in day school classrooms.  

Dr. Michael Zeldin
Professor of Jewish Education
Senior National Director, Schools of Education
Director, Rhea Hirsch School of Education and DeLeT
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

The workshop we are presenting is called: “The Hallway Project: Using School-wide Collaborative Art as a Means of Teaching and Exploring Math, Science, Sensory Play, Language, Literacy and Social-Emotional Development in an Early Childhood Center.” It will be based on the collaborative work engaged in by all the ECC classes as we created the multi-textured jungle of flora and fauna. In our workshop we will lead participants through the process of creating a similar project in their own schools, beginning with discussions and meetings amongst the faculty, discussions within each classroom, devising a plan, and then carrying it out. We will teach the participants how such a collaborative project can enhance children's social-emotional development and serve as a springboard for teaching and exploring math, science, language and literacy. Participants will also discover how they can provide sensory, play, and process art experiences which will provide rich opportunities for exploration, discovery and creative expression. We will also engage the participants as adult learners through many small-group and hands-on activities to allow them to have these experiences themselves.

If you are interested in King David High School, here is the link:http://www.sabje.co.za/About-Us/Our-Schools/KD-Linksfield/High.aspx

Dr. Balstan is a musicologist and concert pianist and undertook an eight-year journey to research the story of the national anthem – a journey that resulted in a book, Hatikva – Past, Present, Future, and this show, Hatikva – A Hymn Is Born. The story of “Hatikva,” says Baltsan, is the story of the Zionist movement, the story of the Jewish people, a story of political intrigue and national awakenings, a story of irony and endlessly unfolding tales. It begins with Naphtali Herz Imber, who in 1878, aged just 22, wrote a poem called “Tikvateinu,” our hope, expressing the hope of the Jewish people to return to the land of its forefathers, a poem that would later become the Zionist and then the Israeli national anthem.

Students in grades 5-8 participated in the performance. This special program is part of our educational approach to teaching Israel. Pressman prides itself on its nuanced approach to Israel education.

For more information about this show and Dr. Balstan, click here.