2009 DeLeT Alumni Conference

To further the vision and successes of DeleT, we held a groundbreaking alumni conference March 13-16th, 2009, in Los Angeles. The conference was made possible through the generous sponsorship of the Gary and Laura Lauder Foundation.

The theme was MeHazon L’Metziut-From Vision to Reality: Teacher Leaders Integrating Vision into Practice.

 

At the 2009 Conference, alumni shared the many ways in which they have implemented the DeLeT philosophy and vision of teaching in their classrooms. DeLeT faculty members from both Brandeis and Hebrew Union College also presented. Here's an opportunity to revisit some of the key presentations of the conference through video, synopses of sessions and powerpoint presentations.

Session Recaps

Conference Slideshow

Here are some photos of the conference. Enjoy! Conference Slideshow

Service Learning

Session Title: A Guide to Developing Jewish Service Learning in Day Schools

Presenters: Ora Gittelson David and Sarah Shulman

Watch videos of Ora Gittelson David and Sarah Shulman's session.

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Jewish Values

Session Title: Infusing Jewish Values into the Classroom Culture

Presenter: Jocelyn Segal

Watch videos of Jocelyn Segal's session.

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Session Title: Creating Community of Learners in a Middle School Classroom

Presenter: Shira Lowenstein List two or three of the session’s key ideas to share with others:

    • Generate “hopes and dreams” with your middle schoolers.
    • Develop rules of the classroom combining all grades’ rules with middle school. Sign a “brit.”
    • Develop morning meeting rituals
    • Engage in peer learning.

A few interesting comments or questions in this session were:

    • Can you describe how you go the rest of the teachers to buy into this method?
    • Is Responsive Classroom responsive design?
    • Does this affect tefillah as well?
    • Are the kids embarrassed about going into another classroom?

What reflections did the presenter share with the audience? Shira emphasized that this is social and emotional learning and growth for her students. She shared with us her difficulty in getting to know students as their “official” homeroom teacher and how this way of working with them helped her to build a cohesive moral community.

Session Title: Unveiling the Value of Children’s Literature

Presenter: Sapphira Fein Two or three of the session’s key ideas were:

    • Children’s literature, as such, has been developing for hundreds of years and has resulted in our current literature.
    • There are Jewish values can found in a wide range of literature for children, Jewish and general, and can be introduced to children in this very appealing way.
    • We can also write our own stories to convery the values which we wish to teach.

Some of the interesting comments or questions from this session were:

    • There seems to be a need for Jewish children’s literature that presents more diversity in the Jewish family/community.
    • What are some resources that we can use to enrich our classroom curricula/units?

Sapphira recommended: The Jewish Values Finder by Linda R. Silver and these links - What reflections did the presenter share with the audience? Sapphira asked those present to think about what Jewish book for children that they wish existed. She encouraged those present to write their own books! She also encouraged us to team with our librarians in exploring themes to present in literature in our classrooms, a team-teaching/collaborative model.

Jewish Identity

Session Title: Siyum: Wrapping it Up Jewishly in Your Classroom

Presenter: Meg Lederman Two or three of the session’s key ideas were: Siyyum marks the completion of a large task/unit with a celebratory “festive meal” (seudah). We have the opportunity to incorporate the educational idea of “closure” with having students show what they know/can do. Although siyyum is not a formal assessment, showing what you know assume that learning has taken place.

Here are a few interesting comments or questions from this session: Are there any customs that overarch all of the siyyumim? Who buys the food? Are there any restrictions on what is served? Have the kids ever come up with the food idea? Are any siyyumim solo or are they all large group? Do you set up the classroom differently? What if the unit is sensitive or sad content, e.g. shoah, akedah, etc., how does that influence the atmosphere of the siyyum?

Feedback from the group share with the presenter? The group was intrigued with and encouraging the students to come up with the idea for their own siyyum.

Session Title: Advertising Judaism: The Jewish Identity Project

Watch a video of Yechiel Hoffman's session.

Session Title: Jewish Identity as a Curriculum

Watch a video of Daniel Bar-Nahum's session.

Session Title: Relationship Between Prayer And Jewish Identity Formation

Watch videos of Tali Hyman's session.

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Collaboration

Session Title: Collaborative Learning Communities

Watch videos of Vivian Troen's session.

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Session Title: Mathematics Scope & Sequence

Presenter: Sarah Burns Some of the session’s key ideas were:

    • A review of what the mathematics scope and sequence is.
    • Problem solving strategies and building on the foundation of facts and skills needed.
    • We need to identify the purpose of working with a sequence and having teachers at all levels familiar with it.

Interesting resources from this session were:

The NCTM website- Illuminations

The book Fostering Algebraic Thinking by Mark Driscoll.

What kinds of feedback did the group share with the presenter? Participants noted that, from their experience, we need to be careful with Internet resources.

What reflections did the presenter share with the audience? We are always problem solving. We need to be able to share our ideas and the ways in which we engage in the process and find solutions in an articulate way. If you have any questions, you can reach Sarah at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Sessions on Teacher Leadership

Session Title: Enacting the "L" in DeLeT

Presenter: Jamie Faith Wood List two or three of the session’s key ideas to share with others:

    • Jamie encouraged the use of protocols as they help establish the group and help it stay focused on the task at hand as well as impacting teaching.
    • We can bring change(improve learning?) to our students by bringing a few colleagues together for serious discussion on teaching.
    • Even a small start can influence you and others in your work as a teacher.

What were a few interesting comments or questions in this session:

    • Who gets to set the agenda for the meetings?
    • How do you keep anonymity in a small school?
    • Can observations play a part in your group?
    • Is the goal process or product?

What kinds of feedback did the group share with the presenter? Many of us were inspired by Jamie’s actions and want to move toward this in our own schools. People were impressed by how she turned her idea into a reality. What reflections did the presenter share with the audience? Listening has kept her group successful. Structure is the key. She feels empowered that she was able to enact change in a short time.

Session Title:Teacher leadership: A Group Inquiry

Watch videos of Sharon Feiman Nemser's session.

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Session Title: Yes “Wee” Can: Voting and Elections in a Kindergarten Classroom

Presenter: Jared Matas Key ideas from this session included:

    • Voting introduces a fair way for all voices in the group to be heard as well as the concept that it’s OK to disagree.
    • Fair rules and a fair process in which rules are followed are what make the election’s results fair.
    • There is an emphasis on student participating in the process.
    • Authenticity and a real discussion are key- something that really matters to students and will change based on an election, are what drive this process.

Participants wondered- -Have you ever had issues of peer-pressure and kids bullying other kids to vote a certain way? -Did you get any complaints from parents about the demographics of the school not offering an equal representation of Democrats and Republicans? -How do the kids relate to this unit when it’s not an election year? Is there as much motivation and excitement? Jared shared with the group his perception that the process is certainly “jump started” and more intense in a presidential election year. He found it very gratifying to hear that first and second graders told their parents, when parents went to vote this year, “Oh, I know about the ballot and the voting booth from Jared’s class!”

Sessions on Integration

Session Title: Integrating Integration into Day School Teaching

Watch videos of Dr. Michael Zeldin's session.

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Session Title: Thesis Findings on Integration in the American Jewish Day School

Presenter: Melissa DeLowe Two or three of the session's key ideas were:

    • There are two main types of integration that Melissa explored, curricular and structural.
    • Curricular as stated and may involved different teachers in GS/JS.
    • Structural involves a school that integrates the teaching of both areas by the same teacher and integrates the school culture as well.

What were a few interesting comments or questions in this session:

    • How did you choose the schools that you studied?
    • Was it easy to get access?
    • Did you study student work/learning outcomes? If so, what did you find?
    • How do you integrate and still maintain integrity of subject matter?

What kinds of feedback did the group share with the presenter? People commented that it is very challenging to find/observe in an integrated classroom or school setting despite the number of schools who claim to have or support integration in their programs/settings. Participants were very enthusiastic about a DeLeT alum having made this a thesis topic and having done further research.

What reflections did the presenter share with the audience? Melissa told the group that she also had difficulty observing integration and was not allowed to observe in a school whose MO it was and could really only find it in one school. 

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