- HOME
- Table of Contents
- Resume
- Philosophy Statement
- 1. History of Jewish/General Education
- 2. Assessment
- 3. Curriculum
- 4. Language Development/Hebrew
- 5. Personal Development of Teachers
- 6. Collaboration/Community
- 7. Technology
- 8. Learning and Cognition
- 9. Evidence-Based Practice
- 10. Child Development
- 11. Content Knowledge
- 12. Ethics and Values
- 13. Instructional Methods
- Inspiration/Chizuk
- Post-Observation Reflections
In my 12th grade Parsha class, at the start of the year, our teacher asked us: “Why is it important to learn Parsha?” It was a “hook” that got us thinking about why we do what we do. We realized it has many benefits: exposing us to Torah on a regular, weekly basis; allowing potential to learn either Beki’ut or B”Iyun; dividing the corpus of the Bible into smaller parts makes it less intimidating and easier to accomplish the feat of learning it. The repetition year-to-year certainly helps us to remember and grasp the scope of the Torah, and the individual parshiyot and stories within it; I see the benefits in my own experiences, growing up going to shul every Shabbos, with my whole family sitting with my mother- I have a solid perspective on Torah as a whole, just by virtue of reading through it every year!
As I matured, I started spending Shabbos reading more insights into the Parsha, gleaning deeper insights; as I learned more sefarim of Chumash and Navi in school, I was excited to read in the Parsha and Haftara what I now understood in a more sophisticated way.
Teaching Parsha is an opportunity to revisit stories and topics that students are already familiar with, but learn it deeper and differently each year. It’s a nice chance to incorporate stories and life lessons (besides or what’s usually done), and to use the time to talk about Shabbos with students (and gauge their shabbos observance, and fill-in gaps where necessary). Practically, it’s nice to learn/teach Torah beyond the usual curriculum and without rigorous assessments, allowing more creativity and flexibility.
As I matured, I started spending Shabbos reading more insights into the Parsha, gleaning deeper insights; as I learned more sefarim of Chumash and Navi in school, I was excited to read in the Parsha and Haftara what I now understood in a more sophisticated way.
Teaching Parsha is an opportunity to revisit stories and topics that students are already familiar with, but learn it deeper and differently each year. It’s a nice chance to incorporate stories and life lessons (besides or what’s usually done), and to use the time to talk about Shabbos with students (and gauge their shabbos observance, and fill-in gaps where necessary). Practically, it’s nice to learn/teach Torah beyond the usual curriculum and without rigorous assessments, allowing more creativity and flexibility.