Akiba-Schechter's Blog

Colonial Times Come Alive

2012-02-23T08:01:00.000-08:00

The World in the Past - diorama by a 3rd grader

In a recent study of Colonial America, the 3rd and 4th graders in Mrs. Sandler's class not only learned how to write a research paper but they actually brought Early America to life by building a colonial town in their classroom. Students chose their own topic, depending on what was most interesting to them: the thirteen colonies, communication and transportation, public services, everyday life, culture, celebrations, and trade and commerce.

Shops, Clothes and Food in Colonial Times - by a 4th grader

First the students worked through the process of writing a research paper. After gathering all of the information on their topic, they created a set of notes. They also learned about plagiarism, citations, and structure. Along the way they gained a much better understanding of how to read, comprehend and summarize material, and then put what they read into their own words.

Model of a Colonial village by a 4th grader

After completing their reports, they created a colonial town in the classroom to which each student contributed. Discussions abounded as they verified what was and wasn’t around, and what was possible, or how things would be done during Colonial Times. For instance, they were very aware that cars were not around, and that traveling was much harder. A family’s belongings might be loaded into a Conestoga Wagon. See picture below of a model built by a 3rd grader.

Model of a Conestago wagon built by a 3rd grader

Thus history became not "just" an intellectual pursuit, but a tangible one. When the Colonial Village moved into the school's entryway atrium, visitors, and especially pre-schoolers passing through, could not believe it had been built by 3rd and 4th graders, and those very same 3rd and 4th graders were proud to present their work and share all they had learned.

Survivor: Palestine 1880 - 1948

2012-02-14T06:05:00.000-08:00

Tu B'Shvat is a wonderful holiday for exploring our connection to the land of Israel. Thus, last week, Akiba-Schechter’s Director of Judaics Studies Rabbi Holman, our B'not Sherut and our P.E. teacher Sara Price created a program for the middle schoolers to take place during their physical education classes called Survivor: Palestine 1880 - 1948.

Draining swamps and building barriers as early settlers
in Palestine

This program had three objectives:

1) to explore the challenges and experiences of the early Chalutzim (pioneers) and learn a little of the history of the time period;

2) to take the experiences of the Chalutzim, of working together under difficult conditions, to develop our own cooperative and collaborative problem solving skills;

3) to tie it all into Tu B'Shvat, and a study role of agriculture and trees in Israel's growth.

On Day One, the students learned about the kinds of people who chose to emigrate to Palestine and the challenges they faced building shelters and draining swamps. They discussed some of the decisions these pioneers made regarding where to settle. The students broke into three teams representing the early settlements of Rishon L'Tziyon, Petach Tikva, and Zichron Yaakov. The groups played team building games that represented some aspect of the discussion, including a "Swamp Draining" game using cut up PVC pipes, and a "Tent Building" game using a parachute. The groups also discussed the challenges the actual Chalutzim struggled with in deciding where to build their settlements, and what crops to plant.

Pioneers get ready to hitch a tent.

On Day Two they talked about developing agriculture and more permanent settlements in the land. The three groups worked on more challenging activities, such as clearing rocks from fields and using them to build barriers (using small plastic balls and cardboard boxes). The students also had to watch out for the giant malaria-infested mosquito (Mrs. Price), who infected a few unlucky students who then had to be carried off the fields.

Stricken with malaria, a settler is carried away.

The students also learned about "Stockade and Wall" settlements (Choma u'Migdal). During the British Mandate, the Chalutzim used a Turkish law to circumvent the British ban on building Jewish settlements by sneaking onto a portion of land and building a watchtower and fence overnight. Once the structures were in place, the British could not tear them down. 57 Moshavim and Kibbutzim in Israel were started this way. The middle schoolers built their own Choma u'Migdal from cardboard boxes and ropes.

Building a watchtower

On Day Three the program wrapped up by fast forwarding to modern times and seeing what has become of these settlements. The students participated in developing city emblems to represent the past and present of their cities and performed skits about their settlements. They planted beautiful plants and seeds in planters which will beautify the school! They also learned about modern day Chalutzim, immigrants from Ethiopia, the former Soviet Union, America and Western Europe, to explore their challenges and contributions to Israeli society.

Of course the program featured the ultimate Tu B'Shvat
activity: planting.

Thus another multi-faceted lesson involved the kids in learning, hands-on, about agriculture and history, all the while promoting team building skills and beautifying the school. Of course, some fun was had as well.

No Snow? Create your own Winter!

2012-02-06T04:47:00.000-08:00

Except for one long gone snowstorm, we've had the most amazingly dry winter here in Chicago, which the kids of course find rather boring. So, since there is no snow outside, the kids in our Green Room made their own snow balls and had a snow ball fight. How? They balled up socks to make snow balls!

There's also been no ice - so how to go ice skating? There's a trip to a rink, of course, but it can be simpler than that: Make "ice skates" from wax paper, tie them to your feet, and take to a rug!

Why School Recess Should be Outside

2012-01-23T05:05:00.000-08:00

As any child will tell you, some of the most important parts of the school day do not happen in the classroom, but on the playground. And that's as it should be. The essence of education is the discussions, negotiations and social interactions between students – and between students and teachers. Nowhere is that more apparent than outside at recess. Beyond the benefits of physical activity, and its proven connection to academic success, outdoor play is the laboratory for social interactions. Learning how to make friends, share, work together, and play games with rules – all of these are “caught,” rather than taught outside during open-ended play.

In general, today's children have little play time. After school they are shuttled to soccer, dance, music or art lessons. All of these enrichment activities are valuable, but the opportunities for our children to be able to just walk out on the street and put together a game of baseball, football or pretend store are rare.

Much has been written about how important imaginary play and unstructured social games are in the intellectual development of children. The deep thinkers of tomorrow need the space and time to develop these thinking skills. Figuring out how to play a game with a limited number of people and supplies is a great opportunity. Creating a castle out of snow and rocks is exciting. Two teams are needed to play a real game, and the students will figure out how to make the teams “fair” and fun for everyone.

That’s why our students have recess outside, unless the weather is truly prohibitive, which for many of them means never, as they will argue to go out even in sub zero temperatures. After all, snow and ice provide new opportunities for play, not to be had otherwise.

History: A Lot Depends on Perspective

2012-01-17T06:07:00.000-08:00

Just how should we view Christopher Columbus? The 5th graders in Mr. Salk's U.S. History class have been thinking about this very issue. After learning about the heroic aspects of Columbus - he was certainly an accomplished sailor who exhibited much persistence and courage, and he kicked off the Columbian Exchange (for better or worse, depending on whose perspective one takes), they discovered that he was also a selfish, ruthless man who lied, maimed, and killed to get what he wanted.

Students were asked to situate their opinion of Columbus along a continuum, from villainous to heroic. After much discussion and debate, each student reassessed his/her opinion. The net results: most of the students felt more positively towards Columbus after listening to what others had to say, although overall the class viewed Columbus as more bad than good. Hopefully this exercise showed students that history is more complex -- and debatable -- than it might appear at first, and that perspective makes a big difference in how one understands historical developments.

A Lesson Should be 6 Feet Deep and 1 Inch Wide

2012-01-09T06:39:00.000-08:00

Akiba-Schechter first and second grade teacher Jackie Rapp believes that a lesson should be “six feet deep and one inch wide.” What does that mean? By focusing on one topic (one inch), a lot of knowledge and skills can be acquired (6 feet). Case in point: Her first and second graders have been studying penguins since early November, and as they dove deep into the topic, they gathered a plethora of knowledge and skills, not to mention that they got the whole school involved and excited about the penguins.

Penguins made from two-liter soda bottles.

Their penguin project has covered academic topics such as:

History: Learning about Sir Ernest Shackleton’s fateful journey to the South Pole.

Math: Measuring out life-size models of different penguin species.

Biology: Learning how penguins live, what they eat, how they breed, etc. And studying the many different types of penguins!

Environment: Learning all about the world the penguins live in. For example, Cape Royds has seen fewer nests over the past few years since an iceberg crashed offshore, causing the penguins’ trip for food to be much longer.

Geography: The kids know all about the South Pole now, especially after their flag flew in Antarctica!

An Akiba-Schechter Flag made by the 1st/2nd graders
flies in Antarctica.

Science: Learning what it takes to live on the South Pole, not only as a penguin, but also as a human. University of Chicago scientist Abby Crites visited the class before leaving on her expedition to the South Pole, and packed the flag that the kids had created. She had the flag fly at the station, then mailed it back.

The penguin project also honed many academic skills:

Research skills: Corresponding with Penguin Outreach Coordinator Jean Pennycock, who helped the students understand what they were seeing on their penguin web cams, and of course using Internet sources to read up on penguins and the South Pole.

Presentation skills: Presenting all their learning to other classes by giving oral reports and tours of the penguin habitat.

Penguin habitat in Mrs. Rapp's classroom.

Arts & crafts: Building penguin models out of two-liter pop bottles, and creating a penguin habitat in their classroom.

The kids' postcards before they were mailed to Antarctica.

Writing: Designing and writing postcards to Ms. Crites in Antarctica, who then mailed them back. Now the kids have their very own postmarks from Antarctica!

And of course the penguin project built social skills as well. Teamwork was involved in pretty much every aspect, but so were:

Empathy & Caring: The kids pooled their pocket money to adopt a penguin in the Falkland Islands, whom they named Snowy. They also got really worried when one of the mother penguins they were watching in Antarctica went missing for a while, and the male penguin had to leave the nest to find food. Thankfully, all is well now, and the kids are ecstatic that the chicks have hatched, and new photos are posted every day on PenguinScience.

A first grader advises visiting students
as they measure themselves against
life-size models of penguin species.

Sharing & Leadership: The first and second graders worked on the penguin models with a pre-school class. As the grand finale of their penguin project, they welcomed pre-schoolers as well as the other elementary grades to their class to share their knowledge, help the other students measure themselves against the penguin models, or give them a history lesson about Shackleton.

A student presents the penguin habitat to visitors.

In putting together this blog post, it was hard to even parcel out skills to different activities in this project because they are really all interconnected: Baking penguin cookies entails not only measuring (math), but also working together (teamwork), and decorating (arts & crafts). And building life-size penguin models involves not only math, but biology, and a good amount of dexterity and creativity!

So, not only were the kids’ minds engaged in this project, but so were their bodies, and these first and second graders swept up the entire school with their excitement about penguins! The penguin project's focus might be only one inch wide, but it certainly is more than six feet deep.

Book Menorah - A Lesson in Giving

2011-12-20T07:09:00.000-08:00

5th grade Judaic Studies Teacher Baila Brackman likes to do Chanukah projects with her students that are not only fun to do together, but also bring the lessons of Torah alive by teaching the children about giving. Each year's class decides on what items to collect, and builds a menorah out of them. Sometimes that building can be a little challenging as it was with last year's menorah made out of toys. After celebrating with their menorah, the class donates the items to a charitable organization.

This year's menorah was made of books. Last year's was made of toys, and before that, a "canora," made of canned food even stood up to being lit.

Happy Chanukah to all our families and friends!

Chanukah and Science Go Together

2011-12-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

Exploring the miracle of Chanukah can entail many things – songs and storytelling come to mind, so do arts and crafts. But how about learning the scientific method?

In the Peach Room at Akiba-Schechter, the four-year-olds wondered how long oil usually lasts when it is burned. Together they created five oil-burning candles using simple supplies: aluminum containers, cooking string, cooking oil, copper wire, and matches. They twisted the wick holder, put the cooking string through the holder as the wick, poured in the oil and lit the candles. That was the arts and crafts part of the project.

Next, the children predicted how long the burning candles would last. Predictions were logged in a chart. Many of the Peach Room students thought the candles would last eight days. But as they observed the candles burning, they began to recognize that the candles easily go out or burn through the oil, so they revised their predictions.

In the end, the children's longest burning candle lasted for seven hours! This hands-on experiment helped the children better understand the great miracle of Chanukah, but it also just happened to introduce them to the idea of coming up with a hypothesis, setting up an experiment, gathering data, and examining the results.

Favorite Hanukkah Books

2011-12-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

Hanukkah begins December 20th this year - time to think about books to read while "the candles are burning low!" Becky Rubin, who teaches library in our pre-school, shares some favorite Hanukkah books:

Lift the Flap Books

Light the Candles

Written by: Joan Holub

Illustrated by: Lynne Cravath

A variety of Hanukkiot (menorahs) get lit for Hanukkah.

Happy Hanukkah, Biscuit!

Written by: Alyssa Satin Capucilli

Illustrated by: Pat Schories

Biscuit, the puppy, is invited to celebrate Hanukkah at his friend Sam’s house.

Song Books

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah

Illustrated by: Susan L. Roth

Sing along with the cute mouse family and enjoy the lovely paper-cut illustrations.

I Have a Little Dreidel

Written by: Maxie Baum

Illustrated by: Julie Paschkis

The dreidel song you know and love plus a few new verses.

A “little something extra” Books

It’s Hanukkah!

Written and illustrated by: Santiago Cohen

It’s hard to resist these bold, colorful illustrations set against the black pages. The little something extra? Sparkly candle flames!

Spin the Dreidel!

Written by: Alexandra Cooper

Illustrated by: Claudine Gevry

Learn how fun and easy it is to play the dreidel game - a dreidel is attached!

Longer Story Books

Lots of Latkes: A Hanukkah Story

Written by: Sandy Lanton

Illustrated by: Vicki Jo Redenbaugh

Everyone was going to bring food to share at the Hanukkah party. Only one person was supposed to bring latkes…read this funny story and find out why everyone ended up bringing latkes!

The Chanukkah Guest

Written by: Eric A. Kimmel

Illustrated by Giora Carmi

An old woman is busy frying latkes to serve to the Rabbi when he comes to celebrate Hanukkah at her home. A bear follows the delicious smell of latkes right into the old woman’s home. The old woman does not see very well, and mistakenly thinks that the bear is the Rabbi. Read this funny to story to find out what happens next.

Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story

Written by: Fran Manushkin

Illustrated by: Robin Spowart

Long ago, in a village far away, a family sadly realizes that this Hanukkah they will not be able to have latkes and applesauce. An early blizzard covered the potatoes and apples needed to make their favorite foods. It would take a miracle… Read this clever story to find out how the family ends up having a happy Hanukkah after all.

Why Grandparents & Special Friends Day Is Important

2011-11-18T10:44:00.000-08:00

Rivka Kahana, who teaches 3rd-8th Hebrew at Akiba-Schechter, reflects on her own experience of Grandparents Day, not only as a teacher, but as a grandparent:

Initially, when Akiba-Schechter started hosting Grandparents & Special Friends Day, I didn’t think much of it. We don’t have this in Israel where I grew up and was a young mother, so it was unfamiliar to me. I did not even consider attending it at my own grandchildren’s schools in Michigan and California because taking time off during the school year to travel is difficult as a teacher. However, on one of the first Grandparents & Special Friends Days at Akiba-Schechter, I was in my classroom, and as grandparents were filing in, I happened to be watching one student. I was worried because I knew his grandparents lived abroad and wouldn’t be able to come. Would he be left without a visitor? Then I saw his face light up and turned to see a man whom I knew briefly from the community enter the room. When I later asked this student who it was that had come for him, he was beaming as he told me: “He’s my special friend. He came for me.”

Then I felt bad for never having bothered about Grandparents Day. Clearly, it meant a lot to a child. So, when the next invitation for Grandparents Day at my grandchildren’s school arrived, I took the day off, and I went. Of course it was wonderful to experience their school day, and as a teacher, it was interesting to see how another Hebrew School or Jewish Day School operated, how other Hebrew teachers taught. But I did not expect how nice it would be to meet other grandparents, and to share experiences with them. Now I have made my own friends where my children live. I believe that events like these, that create bonds not only between generations, but also within each generation, are especially important here in America because they foster that sense of community that will continue our traditions.

As a grandparent, I realized that you come to Grandparents & Special Friends Day not only for the kids, but for yourself.

Partner Portraits

2011-11-08T05:10:00.000-08:00

Learning about themselves and others through portraiture is a regular feature in all our grades, from the pre-school all the way to 8th grade. Here is a glimpse of how the children in the Peach Room (4-year-olds) recently worked with a classmate:

The Buddies Program

2011-11-02T08:06:00.000-07:00

In education, academics are not everything, and thus we do a lot at Akiba-Schechter to foster a sense of community. We have always had multi-age classrooms, but in the past few years we’ve instituted a Buddies Program, in which younger and older students work, learn and have fun together. Here, 3rd/4th grade teacher Miriam Kass shares how the Buddies Program works for her students:

Throughout the school year, 3rd/4th graders will get together with their Kindergarten buddies to celebrate Shabbat and other holidays, to read and write stories, and to do some mitzvah projects. Each get-together allows the buddies to strengthen their friendship and create a feeling of community across the grades and the two buildings. For the Kindergartner, the buddy friendship puts a warm and friendly face on what might appear to be the big kids’ school where taller children are weighed down by big backpacks and often seem to be in a hurry to and from the bus. For the 3rd/4th grader, the buddy friendship provides a welcome opportunity to try out his/her leadership skills. The buddy friendships are unique in the lives of the students; both the older and the younger child feel cared for in an unqualified way.

Last week, the 3rd and 4th graders looked just a bit taller as they headed back to their classroom from the first meeting with their Kindergarten buddies. They had each made a new friend and felt proud of their new role.

“That was so much fun,” said one 4th grade boy, “and my buddy is so cute!”

While the 3- or 4-year age difference is small in our eyes, it is vast in the eyes of both the older and younger students.

One 3rd grade girl reminisced about her days in Kindergarten when “8-year-olds were practically adults” in her mind, and yet “that feels like it was just last week.”

The Buddies Program definitely brings the ages closer together to benefit from each other.

Academics Are Not Everything

2011-10-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

A pre-schooler sniffs an etrog during a visit
from the middle school students.

During Sukkot, Principal Miriam Schiller is often asked about Akiba-Schecther’s stance on Chol Hamoed, the intermediate days of the holiday of Sukkot. Many Jewish day schools close their doors for all of Sukkot, with the rationale that this is a good opportunity for family trips and vacations.

However, at Akiba-Schechter we feel that closing can also be a missed opportunity for a school. While we provide an excellent education at Akiba-Schechter, an excellent education amounts to so much more than challenging academic programs. The difference between a good education and an excellent one is not always easy to pinpoint, but it has a lot to do with intellectual and emotional honesty: Living a value rather than merely teaching it. For instance, we are committed to our Buddy System and other inter-age activities, not only because they are good pedagogic practice but also because they are part of our larger mission: to help create decent human beings who care that they are part of something larger than themselves: a school, a community, and in this case, the Jewish people.

Holidays like Sukkot provide much-needed room for teachers and students to engage in less formal activities – activities that students will remember long after a test or due date has passed. So the intermediate days of Sukkot are dedicated to exactly those activities that are Jewish-themed and also give the children and teachers an opportunity to celebrate a holiday together.

We serve lunch in the school’s Sukkah, even if it is cold, and students love to sit together, brave the wind, and admire the handiwork of the decorations they created together. During Sukkot, P.E. teacher Sara Price organized Sukkot-themed physical activities during which students of different ages worked together, and older students were called upon to be leaders. Another day found the middle school students hosting a Sukkah fair for younger students and guest judges. They had worked in groups to create models of the various ways a Sukkah can be built, following discussions in the Mishnah. Middle school students also visited the pre-schoolers to show them how to shake the Lulav and hold an Etrog.

These aspects of Jewish education reach beyond “excellent academics” and give “community” a real meaning, and they are why we at Akiba-Schechter choose not to close our doors on Chol Hamoed.

Teachers' Tips on Easing the Transition to First Grade

2011-10-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

1st/2nd grade classroom at Akiba-Schechter

Akiba-Schechter teachers share tips on how to ease the transition from Kindergarten to first grade on the NPN Blog. Check it out!

What If your Child Isn't Athletic?

2011-10-03T06:02:00.000-07:00

By P.E. teacher Sara Price

Parents often come to me in despair: “We have tried everything! My child just doesn’t like sports!” But “everything” often refers to the more prevalent sports like Little League baseball, after-school basketball, or soccer. All of these are wonderful programs, if your child enjoys team sports. However, many children prefer the solitary challenges of an individual sport, like gymnastics, swimming, or fencing (my personal favorite).

Variety is important in making physical education more appealing, and exposing children to many different sports can be the key to finding one that will engage them. At the beginning of every school year I remind my students that they may not love every activity we learn, but they will all find something they do love. To me, this is the key to increasing the likelihood that someone will remain active and fit throughout his or her lifetime.

Last year I received a phone call from a parent. She had enrolled her son in basketball, baseball, martial arts, and more over the years, but nothing clicked. While she knew it was important to keep her son active and fit, she didn’t know what to do to encourage him. He came home one day from school and informed her, “I found my sport.” She had called to thank me, and to ask, “Where do I find a badminton program?”

Can P.E. be fun and educational?

2011-09-26T04:59:00.000-07:00

P.E. Teacher Sara Price reacts to the recent Wall Street Journal article "Taking the Dread out of Phys Ed"

P.E. teacher Sara Price (upper left) demonstrates basic moves.

This summer a girl with whom my son had gone to school told me about her first day of 7^th grade and her nightmare physical education (P.E.) class: “First he made us run four laps around the track, and then we did push-ups and sit-ups…on gravel! And then we ran some more! I hate P.E.!”

Sadly, it’s a story I have been hearing for years. As a lecturer in Health and Kinesiology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and an adjunct professor at DePaul University, I have spent the past decade trying to convince the Physical Education majors who pass through my classes not to become one of those P.E. teachers. Even at Akiba-Schechter, I have spoken with parents who remember their P.E. classes with a distinct lack of fondness.

My own P.E. experience as a student was not far from the one described in the Wall Street Journal’s September 13 article “Taking the Dread Out of Phys Ed,” and it’s almost a miracle that I became a P.E. teacher at all. In the article, Sue Shellenbarger describes the “fear of getting dressed in the locker room, of wearing a nerdy uniform, of looking clumsy, of being picked last.” In middle school I was not athletic, and our P.E. uniforms were polyester one-pieces that were green on the bottom and green and beige striped on top. It didn’t get nerdier than that. Then there was the running (I always came in close to last), and the long, boring, painful calisthenics we did every day.

Maybe because of my awful memories it has become my mission to make physical education fun and educational. My philosophy in teaching P.E. is that children are more likely to stay physically active throughout their lives if:

they feel competent;
they enjoy what they’re doing;
they understand why it’s important.

To this end, we have devised a physical education curriculum at Akiba-Schechter that stresses skills development, and sport, games, and fitness concepts. We strive to provide variety and fun in all our activities.

From an early age, we work with students to master basic skills such as throwing, catching, skipping, galloping, hula hooping, jumping rope, kicking, and trapping. These skills form the building blocks for more complex sports that children begin learning in third grade. This year, for example, students have begun learning tennis ground strokes, volleying and serving, tennis rules, and the scoring system. We spend four weeks, or eight days, on each unit, mastering basic sport skills through drills, lead-up games, and finally, competitive games. When students feel that they have mastered the skills, they are better able to enjoy playing the games.

We also strive to educate our students physically. We still run laps from time-to-time, but it is one of many ways we warm up for an activity. We still do calisthenics, but we try to be more creative, make them more engaging, and we teach them in a sport-specific capacity. We learn what muscles they engage, and why it is important to engage them. Akiba-Schechter students learn about aerobic fitness, and why it is important to strengthen their hearts as well as their core muscles, arms, and legs. Students learn not only to play sports, but a little about the sports as well. They learn whether it is an Olympic sport or not, where it originated, and where it is popular. And they learn enough of the rules and strategies to be informed players and spectators.

Finally, P.E. has to be fun! Most classes begin with a warm up game, followed by a fun fitness activity. Lessons are designed to maximize activity time (you will rarely, if ever, see a long line of students waiting for their turn), minimize repetitive activities (you won’t see them doing countless trials of any drill), and increase skill level and confidence.

We try to create a positive and safe environment for each child. Sportsmanship and teamwork are stressed over competition and winning. Children learn to interact positively and encourage each other. Cooperation precedes competition, and when children do compete, it is always in a controlled, fair manner.

At Akiba-Schechter, we have thoughtfully and purposefully designed a physical education curriculum to give our students the tools to participate in sports and recreational activities, and to instill the love to pursue them for a lifetime.

Staying Connected: Why Our Administrators Still Teach

2011-09-19T04:46:00.000-07:00

Principal Miriam Schiller reads with a student.

Miriam Schiller has been principal of Akiba-Schechter since 1988, and while the school has grown threefold under her leadership, and her administrative duties have grown more than that, every morning she can still be found reading with a first grader or second grader. She says: “I feel there is no better way of connecting with the students than to be teaching them. We want our students to feel a strong connection to the school, so I want to feel a strong connection to them.”

Couldn’t all that be gleaned from observing in the classroom? “No – when you observe there is a buffer: You’re not interacting with the child; you’re observing someone else interact with the child.”

Mrs. Schiller has taught all Akiba-Schechter students how to read, and she feels particularly fortunate because she gets to know them at the very beginning, in first grade: “Reading is the window to learning. It is the basis for everything else, and I love helping children acquire this critical skill. Teaching first grade also gives me a unique perspective as students grow up because I know where they started. I can speak to parents about their child not from up above, but from having taught their child.”

Pre-School Director Carla Goldberg (center) sings with the parent/tot class.

Pre-School Director Carla Goldberg agrees that being the first teacher a child and a family experience is a privilege. Even though she heads up a staff of more than 20, she’s been teaching Akiba-Schechter’s parent/tot class – for children 13 to 24 months old – for 15 years: “Being a child’s first teacher allows me to ensure that it’s a nurturing and challenging experience. I get to plant the seed for a love of learning. I also get to know 15 new families every year, and they become my families. Just the other week I spent time sitting on the floor with the new Kindergartners on their first day because I truly feel connected to them. The parent/tot class is about building community, and I am proud to say that almost all families who have been in parent/tot continue at Akiba-Schechter.”

Mrs. Schiller and Mrs. Goldberg also find that teaching makes them more relatable for their staff. “My foot is still in the trenches,” says Mrs. Goldberg, “I can advise from my own classroom experience.” – “If you don’t teach,” adds Mrs. Schiller, “you don’t experience the children as students, and you can’t really appreciate that vantage point. You can also better advocate for the child vis-à-vis parents because you know what you’re talking about. You’ve been in the classroom, you’ve taught that child.”

And that’s what it’s all about: each and every child.

Coming Soon!

2011-08-03T12:21:00.000-07:00

If you've stumbled on our blog and are disappointed not to see any posts yet, don't be! Watch for our official launch in mid-September. We promise to offer timely and relevant reads, and look forward to engaging with you in this exciting new forum. Stay tuned...