- 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
3. Reflections- Curriculum
Until Foundations class, analyzing Rabbinic opinions about priorities in learning, I had never before seen evidence of ancient discussions about what have become decisions about a curriculum of learning in Jewish schools. As a student, I don’t recall ever really wondering why we were taught what we were taught, but merely accepted it as the norm.
As I now think about schools in broader terms, I see that we must make significant decisions about what to teach, to who, when, with what resources, etc. In our world of changes in Jewish living and learning, and in student (and parent) attitudes and learning styles, we must reconsider the status-quo and not simply let precedent lead us. We must evaluate what students need to learn and why: what will be genuinely important in their Jewish and broader lives, and what will inform, inspire, and empower them into their future.
From a teacher’s perspective, creating a curriculum establishes the tone and pace of all teaching and learning. Learning about the importance of setting goals radically shifted the paradigm of how to ensure effective use of teaching time and hopefully effective learning of priority information via the best methods.
I included sample curricula designed as course work, and one I designed for actual classroom use, all using the goal-oriented methods of Understanding by Design. The group curriculum, created collaboratively with 4 fellow student-teachers, was very helpful practice for evaluating and re-evaluating what our goals were, and ensuring that our lessons, activities, and assessments were consistent and compatible with them.
The individual curriculum, created simultaneously as the group one, was therefore good practice to develop one on my own, and I saw how hard it really was to begin with worthwhile goals and then structure lessons accordingly.
While designing the unit on Chanukah for my real teaching, I used my class notes, and was excited but apprehensive to put it to use. I edited it as allotted class-time varied day-to-day and I saw what students did or did not like. I appreciated the structure of the UbD design to always remember to be consistent with my overall goals, with the flexibility to amend it as necessary.
Until Foundations class, analyzing Rabbinic opinions about priorities in learning, I had never before seen evidence of ancient discussions about what have become decisions about a curriculum of learning in Jewish schools. As a student, I don’t recall ever really wondering why we were taught what we were taught, but merely accepted it as the norm.
As I now think about schools in broader terms, I see that we must make significant decisions about what to teach, to who, when, with what resources, etc. In our world of changes in Jewish living and learning, and in student (and parent) attitudes and learning styles, we must reconsider the status-quo and not simply let precedent lead us. We must evaluate what students need to learn and why: what will be genuinely important in their Jewish and broader lives, and what will inform, inspire, and empower them into their future.
From a teacher’s perspective, creating a curriculum establishes the tone and pace of all teaching and learning. Learning about the importance of setting goals radically shifted the paradigm of how to ensure effective use of teaching time and hopefully effective learning of priority information via the best methods.
I included sample curricula designed as course work, and one I designed for actual classroom use, all using the goal-oriented methods of Understanding by Design. The group curriculum, created collaboratively with 4 fellow student-teachers, was very helpful practice for evaluating and re-evaluating what our goals were, and ensuring that our lessons, activities, and assessments were consistent and compatible with them.
The individual curriculum, created simultaneously as the group one, was therefore good practice to develop one on my own, and I saw how hard it really was to begin with worthwhile goals and then structure lessons accordingly.
While designing the unit on Chanukah for my real teaching, I used my class notes, and was excited but apprehensive to put it to use. I edited it as allotted class-time varied day-to-day and I saw what students did or did not like. I appreciated the structure of the UbD design to always remember to be consistent with my overall goals, with the flexibility to amend it as necessary.