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- 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
A current trend in education is Differentiated Instruction, with or without practical use or advantages. But I think that student-generated project-based-learning is always a good idea for thoughtful, productive, and social learning that accomodates various skills and modalities.
Introducing 5th graders to Mishna requires much more than simply reading and translating text; it necessitates explaining- simply- the form, structure, scope, reasons, and application of the Rabbinic discussions. For a lesson on the structure and contents of the 6 Orders of the Mishna, I wanted students to appreciate the scale of Torah She'B'Al Peh, and its relevance to the many facets of our lives. The class was divided into 6 groups; they were assigned 1 Order with its Tractates listed on a page in their workbook, and together, they tried to figure out the common denominator of all the Tractates in the Order. As a class, we discussed their thoughts, and wrote in their books a brief title/description of each Order. Each group got a poster-board, folded vertically to look like a book; on the outside, they wrote the name of the Order, and on the inside, listed all the Tractates contained within it, and some pictures describing it.
The poster "books" now proudly grace our class bulletin board, and have recieved many compliments from faculty and administration. The students enjoyed the project, and now have a foundation for understanding the style, sequence, and subjects of the Mishna.
Introducing 5th graders to Mishna requires much more than simply reading and translating text; it necessitates explaining- simply- the form, structure, scope, reasons, and application of the Rabbinic discussions. For a lesson on the structure and contents of the 6 Orders of the Mishna, I wanted students to appreciate the scale of Torah She'B'Al Peh, and its relevance to the many facets of our lives. The class was divided into 6 groups; they were assigned 1 Order with its Tractates listed on a page in their workbook, and together, they tried to figure out the common denominator of all the Tractates in the Order. As a class, we discussed their thoughts, and wrote in their books a brief title/description of each Order. Each group got a poster-board, folded vertically to look like a book; on the outside, they wrote the name of the Order, and on the inside, listed all the Tractates contained within it, and some pictures describing it.
The poster "books" now proudly grace our class bulletin board, and have recieved many compliments from faculty and administration. The students enjoyed the project, and now have a foundation for understanding the style, sequence, and subjects of the Mishna.