Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education

Hi! My name is Sarah Bernstein. I am a senior. And this past year I taught 6th grade at Temple Emunah.

“If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” I was first introduced to this quote when I was in 3rd grade as the quote of the week. I bring this quote up because I believe that being a part of this fellowship has taught me how to fish. Let me explain, this fellowship has taught me how to better create lesson plans, activities, and an environment where my students will flourish. While I was not able to implement everything that I learned throughout these seminars I was able to implement much of it in how I think about my lessons. 

Blooms Taxonomy was particularly helpful as I lesson planned. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification system used to define and distinguish different levels of human cognition. This framework has helped me frame lessons and make sure that I am checking for understanding, before asking students to apply, analyze, evaluate, and create work based on our content. For example when we learned about Purim, first I asked my students what they learned from the video we showed them checking for comprehension, then I asked them to apply their understanding by splitting them into groups by chapter of the Megillah to create a skit. Finally, each group created their own skit about their assigned chapter. Bloom’s Taxonomy helped me scaffold this lesson so that the student's final skits demonstrated their ability to interpret and apply their understanding of what they had learned.

I was excited to come to every session because I enjoyed working with the other fellows, getting to know them, forming friendships, and learning from each of them. I also especially enjoyed learning from Robin. She introduced numerous topics, resources, and fun activities that I was able to implement for my 6th graders and that I now have in my back pocket for future lessons. I am so grateful to this group of fellows, Robin, and Meir for helping me become a better Jewish educator.
I know as I pursue a Master’s Degree in Jewish Education next year, I will be reflecting back on this incredible experience.

Hi! My name is Ben Breslow. And this past year I taught Third grade at Temple Beth David with Noah
Although I went to a Jewish day school for elementary school, I didn’t really care about Judaism beyond the big holidays.  After day school my parents tried to get me to go to a supplemental Jewish education program but I always ended up hating it and left after the first or second class, never to come back.  Even when I was at Jewish summer camp at Camp Yavneh, I never really cared about the Jewish aspect, leaving services for 10 or 20 minutes at a time to go to the bathroom or walk around.

This distaste for Jewish activities really shifted when I started becoming a counselor and educator. I started enjoying services more, learning more, and helping my kids discover their love for it. I would raise my level of enthusiasm in hopes that it would excite them as well, but without any real thought behind it, just excitement.

I’ve learned a lot in this seminar, but one of the main things is intentionality in the way I teach. I used to do things relatively randomly, but from what I’ve done in this seminar, from learning about the different stages of child development in the first session, and learning about the Question matrix to look at the questions we ask our kids and the questions they ask us, I’ve learned about the ways that kids learn and how to best adapt my teaching to suit everyone’s needs.

I hope that the kids came and were excited, Some were always happy to see me and ready to learn and some seemed relatively subdued, but there was always a point every class where they all got excited about something. And to be honest, that is the main reason I show up. I really love seeing them have the same enthusiasm and enjoyment of Jewish learning that I have now, and to hope that they stay on that path for a while.

In our wrap-up seminar, we created mezuzahs that represented our time teaching. For mine, I chose to make the main focus be a tree, with Noah and I represented at the trunk. Our kids are represented as 16 apples at the top of the tree. Learning about them this year, and how to best teach to their needs, has been the highlight of my weekends, and the way I chose to represent them shows my hope that the apples don’t fall far from the tree.

Hi everyone, my name is Noah Glassberg, I’m a sophomore, and this past year I taught 3rd grade at Temple Beth David in Westwood.

Dear Gabe, Margo, Teddy, Ayla, Kara, Brynn, Josh, Micah, Sylvie, Jonah, Nate, Natalie, Avery, Scarlett, Hannah, and Jacob

Todah rabah! You made me a better person and educator this year. Despite being only nine, I learned more from being in a classroom with you then I could have possibly hoped. Going into the year, I was intimidated by the prospect of being the head of a classroom for the first time. However, I had some great tools in my metaphorical toolbox: Two people that worked as glue and glitter to boost my security and sparkle in being your teacher, 

My glue. Ariana. You already know Ariana and how awesome she is, always crafting the best lesson plans and making sure every student feels comfortable and happy at Beth David. I would call her my glue, always making sure everything sticks together so I can show up on Sunday mornings ready and excited to teach. 
Who you haven’t met is Robin, who I would describe as my glitter. As the director of a teaching fellowship I participated in, Robin pushed me as a teacher to make sure I dazzled! In the fellowship I learned about the power of multisensory and interdisciplinary lessons (so you can thank her for the shekels I brought from Israel as a reward for answering review questions right) and the power of designing an effective space for learning (we still have to clean up your Lego Sukkahs)! I learned how to effectively read stories by asking good questions to make sure you’re all engaged, whether it was about Hanukkah or making “something from nothing” in my elective.

You’ve all inspired me to commit myself to the world of Jewish education for a long time.
Thank you for such a great year!

The Mandel Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship, or as I tell my friends, “This REALLY AWESOME Secondary Jewish Education Fellowship at Mandel,” has provided me with the skills to take creativity and flexibility into lesson planning and execution. Throughout the past year I have found a community within a group of 6 other extremely qualified and passionate educators and gained opportunities for mentorship both within the group of the 7 of us and with Robin. Whether it was the check-ins on Thursday nights before we got ready for religious school or the many opportunities to check in both personally and professionally, this fellowship has been able to bring me closer to all of my fellow… fellows in this room. And Robin, I cannot thank you enough for your flexibility, patience, and mentorship throughout this past year. You managed to make me comfortable teaching about Israel and Hebrew in the classroom, something which I am excited to expand my skills on moving into the future.

In addition to this I have discovered how I have the potential to guide students in my classroom both actively and passively through classroom design and the use of management strategies, smelling flowers and blowing out birthday candles being my favorite. On top of that, I have learned how to write a lesson plan, specifically for my students in meeting their needs and ways of learning. When I am struggling writing a lesson plan today I will take the skills of highlighting parts of a lesson based on the types of learners in efforts to build lessons that can reach all learners in the classroom.

Hi! My name is Elye Robinovitz. I am a senior majoring in Politics and minoring in Legal studies and NEJS. This past year I taught 4th grade at Temple Emunah.

My experience with UTF has been a joy. It has been an honor to be able to be a part of a group of students with common goals and aspirations as I am approaching a transitory phase of my life, as a senior. I came into this semester with no formal teaching experience or education. Had it not been for Robin and the UTF program I would’ve gone into every lesson as a chicken with his head cut off. I am grateful to have learned, above all else, how to approach and relate to my students who are not the same age as me and who come from different backgrounds with different educational experiences. 

One thing that I have learned  that I will carry wherever I go is the importance of intentionality both as a teacher and in life. Coming into class, or making my way through life, without a set of goals, and understanding the intention behind why these are my goals, is a recipe for disaster. When I have a clear intention or goal, I then seek to plan the lesson around that and provide a fun and informative lesson plan and class. 

This fellowship, and Sunday school teaching experience, has enhanced my Jewish education and understanding.I can confidently say now that I can lead a Seder to perfection, as my curriculum this semester was focused on Passover. 

One important lesson I learned was that we are all educators. Educating is intrinsically connected to the Jewish faith. As it says in the Talmud: ““As my ancestors planted for me before I was born, so do I plant for those who will come after me.” While I might not pursue formal teaching, educating others (through politics) will be something I do for the rest of my life, in the spirit of making the world a better place. Leaving this program, and school, I am confident that the lessons learned will only strengthen my hope to leave the world better than when I entered .

Hi! My name is Tirtza and I am a senior. This past year I have been teaching Kindergarten at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, an incredible experience in which I have grown so much as a Jewish educator! 
Prior to this year I had never taught in any formal setting, and though I loved kids, I questioned my ability to successfully teach lessons at an appropriate level to a classroom of kindergarteners in a way that would ignite their interest in learning. Time in the classroom and in our fellowship seminars have been invaluable in learning the best ways to teach my kids and connect with them on an individual level. I have developed goals for myself on classroom management and planning, and articulated my aspirations as an educator to create an environment where Judaism becomes ingrained in a child’s consciousness as part of their core identity. I have loved coming up with craft ideas that I know my kids will enjoy, and weekly check-ins of past lesson comprehension always make me proud.  

Within our fellowship, I have written multi-sensory lesson plans to ensure accessibility and inclusion in my classroom, learned about the importance of ritual objects and physical storytelling, and grappled with my own role as an educator. For instance, Professor Krasner’s talk allowed me to gain a greater understanding of the history of supplemental religious education, and view myself in a larger context of strong Jewish educators. Our sessions as a group have allowed for discussions of contemporary issues and findings of current Hebrew school teachers in the classroom, using each other as sounding boards for any issues or ideas that arise in the classroom. On an interpersonal level, this has been an incredible group of peers to learn from. We began the year discussing our own Jewish journeys, and I have been able to see the growth and development that this fellowship has had on each of our teaching experiences.  

I am grateful that TBE allowed and encouraged me to make the lessons my own, in accordance with what I knew my students would appreciate and get the most out of ‘al pi darko.’ Because of this teaching fellowship, I am able to utilize teaching techniques and ideas from our sessions into my kindergarten classroom, and I’ve solidified my desire to pursue a graduate degree in School Psychology after I leave Brandeis. I am really proud of the work I have done and the teacher I have confidently become during this year.