Engaged Students

In last week’s newsletter Rabbi Feigenbaum mentioned the Twitter articles that I re-tweeted about motivation. I would like to focus on a similar but related topic and that is “Student Engagement”. Having students engaged and actively participating in the lesson is one of the keys to learning. There is a famous quote “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.” This idea was evident this week in the Lower School Judaic classrooms as classes learned about sukkot. The Benot Sherut did an activity that had the students acting out a story about sukkot. In some classes they made a play about the Ushpiezen, the special guests we invite to the Sukkah. In other classes they made models of kosher and non kosher sukkot and displayed them in the hallway of the school. Some classes used technology and had to make up a question sheet based on a video they saw, while others made games and went to some of the younger classes to play their games with them. The common denominator in all of these examples is that our students were engaged and were learning.
Have a Chag Sameach
Akevy

A Rosh Hashanah Message

This week Jews across the world will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah. I have been looking for an inspirational message for this time of year. The following is based on the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth. Rabbi Saks explains that even though Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of the world and of man, the portion we read from the Torah is about the birth of Isaac. Rabbi Sacks comments that on Rosh Hashanah one would think that we would read about how G-D created the world and the coronation of G-D as our King. Instead we read about our creation, the birth of a child. We see from here that our relationship with G-D on this day is not as a creator but as a parent.

As I write this, the next phase of Israeli- Arab peace talks are about to begin, the situation in Iran and how that will affect Israel and for that matter the entire world is very tenuous, not to mention the issues with the economy. How are we supposed to deal with and understand all of these complex issues? Rabbi Sacks says that the message that on Rosh Hashanah we read about the birth of Isaac gives of an insight of how we should approach these world issues. He says the following; “Don’t think about the past; or even present calculations of political interest or economic gain. Ask what impact this will have on future generation. Have in front of you the image of a single human child. The message of Rosh Hashanah is that greater than an understanding of creation is the ability to hear the cry of a child.”

I don’t think Rabbi Sacks wrote these words with educators in mind but as I read these powerful words I got my inspiration as an educator. As teachers we always have to have the image of our students in front of us at all times.

As we celebrate Rosh Hashanah let us remember that we may not be able to deal with all or the global issues that we face nor do we have the capability of changing the past but we as educators and for that matter parents do have the ability to think about what effect we have on future generations. May we always keep the image of our students and children on our minds and may we always be able to hear the cries of the children that need us.

Wishing you all a Ketiva V’Chatima Tova
Akevy