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

Liana: The Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship was an important resource for me…Throughout the year, UTF was a place where I could get advice about any issues I was having, and was a space that helped me grow as a Jewish educator.

Rachel: I got the opportunity to do my own Jewish learning every week, in bi-monthly seminars  with a group of other religious school teachers…I learned how to think more creatively…Together we learned the value of asking questions and how asking questions is a Jewish value.

Miriam: I’m grateful to have learned so many new ways to teach and how to help motivate my students…Before the UTF fellowship, I did not realize how important it was for me to help the students feel a personal connection to learning Hebrew and biblical texts. I soon realized the difference it makes to dive deeper into words and their meanings through the way that we approached learning texts in the seminars.

Ultimately, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for the diversity of learners that I encounter at religious school and I am looking forward to continuing my work helping each of them connect to their Judaism.

Hannah: Reflecting on my journey throughout this fellowship has been an eye-opening experience, full of growth, collaboration, and new insights…I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work and learn with other amazing Jewish college students who share the same passion for Jewish education I do…Through this fellowship, I’ve been able to think more deeply about the impact I want to have on my students.

Simone: UTF has given me the confidence to answer difficult questions about God, how to discuss Israel with my students, and how to connect with my classroom and meet them where they are emotionally.

Elinoa: Now I care about teaching in a way that helps my students’ social emotional development as well as teaching them the content…In the future, I hope to continue having an impact on Jewish kids through youth programs and volunteering at Jewish organizations.

Liana: Through creative and intentional lessons, I learned how to foster an inclusive, welcoming and joyful classroom community that will hopefully inspire each one of (my students) to want to continue learning and finding and contributing to Jewish communities.

Since the beginning of the year I have become much more confident in my ability as an educator. Learning more about my students and seeing their trust has helped my confidence along with our relationship. As an instructor I’ve begun to think more about how I accommodate everyone in the classroom.

As someone who struggled a lot through a majority of my schooling, I try my best to accommodate everyone. One way I do this is by giving my students some freedom during class. For example, while having a discussion I allow and sometimes encourage my students to doodle. Additionally, while doing independent work, I try to help out students depending on how much help they need rather than giving them all the same help. My goal is to keep them engaged while helping their development and making sure they will be successful students now and in the future.

At the beginning of the year I was focused on what I was teaching rather than how I was teaching but I have begun to think much more about how and what other hidden lessons are in the content I teach. For example, at the beginning of the year, I would have just cared about making sure the students knew the story we were talking about, but now I care about teaching it in a way that it helps their social emotional development along with teaching them content. In the future, I hope to continue having an impact on Jewish kids through help youth programs and volunteering at Jewish organizations. I also hope I can help increase kids' pride by living and expressing my pride in being Jewish.

I have grown a lot as a Jewish educator in both my lessons and the way I view my students. The UTF fellowship has helped me expand my materials and acquire skills and quick resources for when lessons don't go as planned, or I have extra time. I am thinking more about how to contribute mindfulness and deeper thinking into my lessons. Now that I am lesson planning for two different age groups, I appreciate having resources to adapt materials for different ages. 

Our conversations in the seminars have allowed me to hear what others are doing and how other age groups respond to topics I will be teaching or exploring with my students in class. This fellowship has highlighted how important it is to view students holistically. I appreciated the emphasis on social emotional learning as a reminder that we are not just teaching our students how to be Jewish, but helping them grow into good and kind people. 

This semester was challenging for me, as I switched schools and had to adapt to two new classes. Not only was I entering a new space, but I had to fit into a place where the students had already built routines and were not expecting to start over mid-year. Along with being welcomed warmly  by Temple Beth Elohim, UTF was an important resource for me, specifically offering me a panel of educators who had wisdom and had been in my position. Throughout the year, UTF was a place where I could get advice about any issues I was having and was a space that helped me grow as a Jewish educator. 

Reflecting on my journey throughout this fellowship, it has been an eye-opening experience, full of growth, collaboration, and new insights. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work and learn with other amazing college student educators who share the same passion for Jewish education that I do. I have been able to see how I have grown and adapted my teaching and created a better learning environment for my students.

Throughout the year, I became more confident as a teacher and have improved my ability to cater my lessons to my individual students, their needs, and their likes and dislikes. I am now thinking about how I structure the time we spend together and how I can make each moment count. Though I had a lot of previous work and volunteer experience as an assistant teacher in the classroom, this is my first time teaching by myself and I have become more comfortable managing time, coming up with creative and engaging lesson plans, and communicating with parents.

Through this fellowship, I’ve been able to think more deeply about the impact I want to have on my students. I want to foster not just academic growth but also emotional and social development. Each week, I work to instill a deep sense of community and a connection with Judaism and Jewish values. As I continue teaching and working with children in Jewish settings, I look forward to deepening my connections with the children I work with and helping them to see the love and joy that I find within Jewish education and the Jewish community. 

When I first started teaching this year, I had moved from being a Kindergarten madricha to being a sixth-grade Hebrew coach and substitute teacher, and I was suddenly thrown into a new Hebrew curriculum, a room of students with much less curiosity and a much less consistent schedule than the Kindergarteners. 

I was worried that I would not be able to connect with the older students, especially as a substitute, and I struggled to see how I could bring my personality to my classes. 

Through the Undergraduate Teaching Fellows program, I have learned to make an effort to get to know each student and to make sure that the classroom is a welcoming environment. When I sub for a class, I always start with an icebreaker, and I try to add at least one element to the lesson plan that helps them feel more comfortable with a new teacher.  For example, a few weeks ago, we played  “Passover March Madness.” The students immediately felt more comfortable talking to me, and they were eager to share how their family celebrates Passover. 

Because of the UTF seminar, I focus more on how to engage each student, rather than just trying to get through the material, and I have found this focus is a much more enjoyable experience for me and the students.

Before I started UTF, I did not realize how important it was for me to help the students feel a personal connection to learning Hebrew and Biblical texts. I soon realized, through the way that we approached learning texts in the fellowship, the difference it makes to dive deeper into words and their meanings. I pushed my sixth-grade students to find personal connections to the Hebrew text they chose for their tallit. They saw how they could personally connect to Hebrew as the language of their community. More than that, they were able to find meaning in texts that made the Torah feel more relevant to them. I’m grateful to have learned so many new ways to teach and how to help motivate my students. Ultimately, I have gained a deeper appreciation for the diversity of learners that I encounter at religious school, and I am looking forward to continuing my work helping each of them connect to their Judaism. 

At the beginning of the year, I was unsure about leading a classroom for the first time. Previously, I had only worked as a madricha and aided 1-1 during lessons; I was not responsible for lesson plans and classroom management wasn’t ultimately my responsibility, I wasn’t the one who held kids accountable for their behavior. 

It’s been an adjustment to jump into the role of head teacher, especially because it has been two years since I was in a Hebrew School classroom in my hometown of St. Louis. 

This year UTF has given me the confidence to answer difficult questions about G-d, how to discuss Israel, and how to connect with my classroom and meet them where they are emotionally.

I know that I have the skills to be a lead teacher. I strive to balance between being a fun teacher and being strict. Now I care more about what the kids are coming away with than them being well behaved all the time. They’re just kids at the end of the day, and a little bit of boundary-pushing is natural. I care more that they have a good time at Sunday school. I have taken student feedback and stuck a bit more loosely to the lesson plan if I think the activity won’t connect with my students. They like movement activities where they get to go outside or outside temples more than arts and crafts. For example, I had them play baseball outside during our lesson on Sandy Koufax. I hope that by having a positive experience in Sunday School that I have a desire to continue their Jewish education.

To My Students,

Our first day together was exciting and full of energy. You came enthusiastic and ready to learn. I didn’t yet know your names, but I knew that I was excited to build a joyful Jewish community with you all. 

In the beginning of the year, I struggled to choose activities according to your needs and interests. I wasn’t thinking of creative ways to foster a sense of Jewish learning that would keep you inspired to continue learning and appreciating your Jewish identities. But, luckily I got the opportunity to do my own Jewish learning every week. In weekly fellowship sessions with a group of other religious school teachers, I learned how to zoom out and consider the big ideas I wanted you to leave with, and I learned to adapt my plans based on what engaged and excited you the most. I learned how to think more creatively and to put your needs and interests first.

One of my favorite Sundays we had this year was when we read the story of Joseph, and we stopped after every few lines to ask any and all questions you could come up with. I got this idea from one of my fellowship sessions, where we read a Jewish text by keeping most of the story covered, reading a few lines, and asking as many questions that we could come up with before uncovering the next part of the story. You guys thought that this was a crazy way to read a story, just as I did when the idea was first presented to me, but we can all admit now that we loved it. We had previously been struggling to stay focused while reading stories, but this new way made us all more invested in the story, and excited to continue reading it and finding out what happened. Together we learned about the value of asking questions, and how asking questions is a Jewish value. Of course I remember how upset you were when we ran out of time and had to wait an entire week to finish the story.

I also loved the day earlier in the year when I got to share one of my favorite games with you all: Jewish Spot It. I got this idea from my fellowship, where we used this game to discuss our memories and feelings about the items we had in common on our cards, and I loved getting to hear your stories and memories when I brought this game to you. I got to learn more about you and the parts of Judaism that were most important to you, whether this was a holiday or a ritual item, and I got to watch all of you become better friends with each other as you learned about each other’s Jewish stories. 

With so little time together each week, I was nervous I wouldn’t have enough time to really get to know each of you and teach you everything I wanted to. But, through this fellowship I learned that one of the most important things I could teach you was to find the place and meaning of Judaism in your lives. And I got to know each of you, sometimes by hearing stories about your week, debating whether latkes or hamantaschen are better, or learning about why you love being Jewish. And, through creative and intentional lessons, I learned how to foster an inclusive, welcoming, and joyful classroom community that will hopefully inspire each of you to want to continue learning and finding and contributing to Jewish communities.

I hope each of you leave our class with a new Jewish value you want to infuse into your daily lives, a new story you love, or a new friend you made. Thank you for everything you’ve taught me this year, and thank you for building a community with me infused with kindness, joy, and a sincere love for learning. 

Love, 

Rachel