Please join us for Shabbat dinner and networking at

The Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan
808 Columbus Ave. (entrance on 100th Street)

$36 per person, payment must be made by Friday, June 1st.

Contact edintern@uscj.org for more information. Please click here to register.

Date: Thursday, October 25th
Time: 10 am – 4 pm
Place: Jewish Theological Seminary
RSVP: education@uscj.org

Schechter Tri-State Consortium, with consultant Herb Tobin.

Date: Monday, June 25th
Time: 10 am – 3:30 pm
Place: Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan
RSVP: education@uscj.org

Dr. Paul D. Schneider

Pirkei Avot asks us, “Who is wise?” The answer is, “He who learns from everyone.” In order to maximize our learning, we are urged to take advantage of every resource available to us.

The new KSDS Science Enrichment Committee was given the task of proposing a program that would take advantage of the vast resources in our own community in the area of science. Do you know how many of our KSDS parents and grandparents, and how many of our alumni work in science-related fields? Dozens and dozens work in medicine, engineering, computer technology, and science education and research.

The decision of the committee was to highlight scientists from our own community at a Schechter Science Showcase. We invited the Baltimore Science Center to partner with us. The Science Showcase took place on Sunday, December 18th. There were 20 minute sessions for children between the ages of 4-14 and their families. THIS WAS NOT A DROP-OFF PROGRAM. This was a family program.

So, who was on the agenda for first Science Showcase?
Dr. Suzanne Keilson on Biomimicry, Dr.Yuval Boger on the Science of Music, Dr. Michael Fingerhood on Heart Basics, Casey Gelber on Molecules in Motion, Barbara Siegel on Why Boats Float?, Cheri Crow on How Your Brain Works?, Dr. Bruce Rabin on Challenging your Brain, Dr. Ben Sugarman on How Telescopes Work?, Ann Gearhart on Your Pet and the Environment, Dr. Michele Shenk on All You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Teeth, Dr. Ron Cohn on Hibernating Squirrels, Oliver Kuntz on Building Structures That Can Withstand Earthquakes, Dr. Stu Levine on The Magic of Chemistry, Ellen Friedman on Caring for the Environment at KSDS, KSDS science consultant, Ed Robeck, on How 3D Works?, and Dr. Jim Kraft on Cracking the Code.

This program was among the finest family educational programs ever offered at KSDS. It was part of our focus on science, an initiative of the new KSDS Strategic Plan. Our appreciation to Sandy Hittman, a past member of our KSDS Board, who generously, sponsored the Science Center programming for this major event.

JACKSONVILLE – Twenty-one Jewish day schools of different religious orientations came together in Jacksonville for edJEWcon, a groundbreaking conference designed to demonstrate to teams of day school educators how to implement a 21st-century approach to curriculum and instruction. The integration of technology and digital media into teaching and learning are essential tools to engage all learners. This innovative conference raised the bar and showed the way for participants to acquire new understandings and gain needed skills.

The Martin J. Gottlieb Jewish Day School (MJGDS) in Jacksonville planned and led the three-day program that featured two keynote presenters with international reputations as leaders in the field, Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Angela Maiers. Heidi Hayes Jacobs spoke of the “5 C’s” necessary for curriculum and learning to be relevant and current to our learners: communication, connection, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. The school’s own experts facilitated hands-on learning for the educator teams that came from across the United States. Jon Mitzmacher, Andrea Hernandez and Silvia Tolisano demonstrated how to seamlessly integrate technology into the life and culture of Jewish day schools.

Jewish day school educators attend edJEWcon, held at the MartinJ.GottliebDay School in Jacksonville, Fla. Photo courtesy of the MartinJ.GottliebDay School.

Participants blogged and tweeted throughout the conference. One blogger captured the spirit of the conference this way: “The Talmud and the Commentaries are one long conversation and communication between thinkers, scholars, generations and societies. Critical thinking is innate, part of the Jewish DNA.”

As a Jewish day school well on its way to becoming a dynamic 21st-century learning environment, MJGJDS’ faculty shared its vision of teaching and learning that transcends physical boundaries and connects across geographic borders and time zones. The school is part of the Schechter Day School Network, an association of Jewish day schools that is working to inspire and encourage member schools to chart a new course to excel in the future. A number of community and Orthodox day school teams attended the conference and agreed that part of the path forward in Jewish education is to adopt successful elements from the general education milieu. The Schechter Network schools are at the forefront of a paradigm shift incorporating new technologies such as social media and digital and online expertise. The conference’s approach to curriculum and instruction was aligned with inquiry-based and discovery learning, tenets of Schechter schools’ pedagogy.

“There’s no question that with the high cost of Jewish day school education, day schools must prove to parents and students that we offer an exceptional and worthwhile educational experience,” said Dr. Jon Mitzmacher, MJGDS’head of school, and the organizer of the conference. “EdJEWcon represented an opportunity to demonstrate that Jewish day school can be synonymous with excellence. Jewish day schools are uniquely qualified to lead the 21st-century learning revolution that is currently underway, and edJEWcon is a powerful demonstration of that leadership in action. This is all about highly engaged learning and doing, and we wanted ay schools to have the chance to collaborate and learn from each other.”

Dr. Elaine R. S. Cohen, director of the Schechter Day School Network, which supported the conference from its inception, added, “The Schechter Day School Network is working every day to live up to the standard that our schools approach education through inquiry; we seek to stimulate critical thinking as a cornerstone of academic excellence and student engagement.”

The entire conference was digitally recorded and broadcast via social media platforms including Twitter – the feed is available at https://twitter.com/#!/edjewcon – and blogged at edJEWcon’s website: http://www.edjewcon.org/.

Mitzmacher secured funding from the AVI CHAI Foundation to support the conference.
“The incorporation of 21st-century teaching and learning is of paramount importance to the future of Jewish day school education,” said Rachel Mohl Abrahams, program officer at AVI CHAI. “AVI CHAI was pleased to support edJEWcon as a wonderful opportunity for day school educators to develop best practices in this arena. We are proud of MJGDS as leaders in this emerging field and commend them for wanting to share their work with other schools.”

Andrea Hernandez, one of the conference organizers and presenters concluded: “We often talk about 21st century learning in terms of the skills needed to be successful in this technological world. One of those important skills is collaboration. edJEWcon is collaboration at its best.”

Future plans include turning edJEWcon into a yearly professional development opportunity and sharing the learning at national educational conferences, beyond the day school milieu.

There will be story in the Friday backpack and pictures are all posted on the school’s facebook fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/epsteinschool?sk=wall

This workshop is open to all teachers who will be using MaToK materials in the coming year, or who want to learn more about MaToK for possible use in the future. The sessions will be led by Galya Greenberg, Director of MaToK. There will be differentiation within some of the sessions in order to meet the needs of both new and veteran MaToK teachers. Topics will include the principles and methodology upon which MaToK is based, Differentiated Instruction with the MaToK curriculum, integrating MaToK with Bible Standards and Benchmarks, integrating technology, using the Hebrew and English student booklets within the same classroom, and learning how to create and implement an effective MaToK lesson plan. There will also be time devoted to preparing your first lessons for the new school year.

The registration form may be downloaded here: July 2012 MaToK Registration Form. Teachers and administrators from both Schechter schools and non-Schechter schools are invited to participate. (THERE IS A DISCOUNTED FEE FOR TEACHERS WHO WERE TRAINED IN THE PAST AND ARE ATTENDING FOR AN UPDATE/REFRESHER. CONTACT GALYA FOR DETAILS AT gagreeenber@jtsa.edu).

If you would like to learn more about MaToK, please see the MaToK webpage which includes sample pages from MaToK student booklets, a grid that outlines the contents of MaToK, an Introduction for teachers new to MaToK, and more.

Schechter Day School Network to cosponsor edJEWcon, April 29-May 1

First-grade students at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School in Jacksonville, Fla., practice Hebrew writing on iPads.<br />Photo courtesy of the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School.

JACKSONVILLE – Next week, 21 Jewish day schools will come together in Jacksonville for edJEWcon, a conference designed to help day schools incorporate 21st-century technology and other innovative teaching techniques into their classrooms. The Martin J. Gottlieb Jewish Day School (MJGDS) in Jacksonville has planned and will lead the three-day program that will facilitate educator teams in hands-on learning taught by technology and curriculum experts, provide class observations demonstrating how to seamlessly integrate technology into teaching, and teach new skills development. As a Jewish day school well on its way to becoming a dynamic 21st-century learning environment, MJGJDS’ faculty is eager to share its vision of teaching and learning that transcends physical boundaries and connects across geographic borders and time zones.

MJGDS is part of the Schechter Day School Network, an association of Jewish day schools that is working to inspire and encourage member schools to chart a new course to excel in the future. Part of the path forward is adopting successful elements from the general education milieu, as well as positioning Schechter Network schools at the forefront of a paradigm shift incorporating new technologies such as social media and digital and online expertise, happening across the continent in education.

“There’s no question that with the high cost of Jewish day school education, day schools must prove to parents and students that we offer an exceptional and worthwhile educational experience,” said Dr. Jon Mitzmacher, MJGDS’ head of school, and the organizer of the conference. “edJEWcon represents an opportunity to demonstrate that Jewish day school can be synonymous with excellence in secular education. Jewish day schools are uniquely qualified to lead the 21st-century learning revolution that is currently underway and edJEWcon is a powerful demonstration of that leadership in action. This is all about highly engaged learning and doing, and we want schools to have the chance to collaborate and learn from each other.”

Not surprisingly, more Schechter schools than other Jewish day schools are participating in edJEWcon because the conference’s approach to curriculum and instruction is aligned with inquiry-based and discovery learning, tenets of Schechter school pedagogy.

“The Schechter Day School Network is working every day to live up to the standard that our schools approach education through inquiry; we seek to stimulate critical thinking as a cornerstone of academic excellence,” said Dr. Elaine R. S. Cohen, director of the Schechter Day School Network, which is cosponsoring the conference. “Our curriculum is integrated across the disciplines and distinctively hands-on. The edJEWcon conference exemplifies these commitments and best practices. It will equip educators at Jewish schools nationwide to work collaboratively and to motivate, challenge and stimulate their students’ engagement in learning through the purposeful incorporation of technological applications.”

The entire conference will be digitally recorded and broadcast via social media platforms including Twitter – the feed is available at https://twitter.com/#!/edjewcon – and blogged at edJEWcon’s website: http://www.edjewcon.org/.

Mitzmacher secured funding from the AVI CHAI Foundation to support the conference, and all schools sending teams were given travel subsidies to make it easier and affordable for their teams to attend.

“The incorporation of 21st-century teaching and learning is of paramount importance to the future of Jewish day school education,” added Rachel Mohl Abrahams, program officer at AVI CHAI. “AVI CHAI is pleased to support edJEWcon as a wonderful opportunity for day school educators to develop best practices in this arena. We are proud of MJGDS as leaders in this emerging field and commend them for wanting to share their work with other schools.”

Additional schools remain on a waiting list to attend. Future plans include turning edJEWcon into a yearly opportunity, as well as expanding it to the larger educational sphere of congregational religious schools, Jewish camps and foundations.