Welcome - Baruchim Habaim

Shalom. Welcome. Jewish Educators are very accomplished multi-taskers. Many of us have families to tend to, other jobs, and community involvement. My blogs will try to convey information in a way that, if you wish, you can immediately apply the ideas presented.
I was amazed to receive an e-mail reminding me that the first Religious School in-service at the synagogue where I teach will take place in a few weeks - What! Back-to- School already!
Before starting to plan for the new school year, think over the past year. What worked? What didn't? What changes are in store (different grade level, different ability level, new textbooks, new priorities, students with special needs, etc.)? If your religious school director hasn't scheduled individual meetings to discuss expectations for the coming year, take the initiative and plan a meeting, yourself. Once you know the room, grade, approximate number of students, and topics you'll be teaching, you can use the remaining "vacation" days to get a head start on preparations for opening day and beyond.
After meeting with my Religious School Director, (more accurately, Director of Lifelong Learning), I was excited to discover that I'll be teaching modern Hebrew, using a new textbook, rather than the Siddur Hebrew course that I've taught for the past few years. I'll still be teaching Grade 6 in the same classroom that I used last year.
With this information as an example, let's see what initial preparations can be made in the next few weeks.

Space for Jewish Learning: Walls that Teach
If your classroom looks like mine, it has blank walls, a few bulletin boards, a "teacher's" desk in the front of the room, desks or tables and chairs, a chalkboard, and possibly a storage cabinet and bookcases. All in all, a well-equipped classroom...for the 1960's! Anything more high-tech or up-to-date is seldom in Religious School budgets. That's the reality. It's up to us to transform this bland space into a stimulating learning environment... starting with the walls.

^Divide up the wall space into the various topics that you'll be teaching, for example, Israel, Torah, Brachot/Prayers, Holidays, Hebrew Language.

^If you taught last year, you may already have items on the walls. Were these items useful and relevant to the lessons? Are they in good repair - not torn or faded? Are they appropriate for the coming year's curriculum? What else might be added to catch students' attention and reinforce learning?

^Finding items for wall display may be as easy as checking your synagogue or community Teacher Resource Center. If there is no Teacher Resource Center, there may be a supply closet or cabinet in the Education office. Ask and look around. Summer is an especially good time for uncovering resources that may not be in plain sight.

^Textbook companies are another source of wall displays. Often a textbook series has posters and flashcards that go along with the program

This is just the beginning! Future posts will continue to explore the classroom environment and many other ways to prepare for the new school year.