'Mr Sarrrlaway, I have a quest-ion...'
What an exciting couple of weeks its been, 2 weddings, a shevah brachah, being amongst the 1st people in the world to see the new star wars film and more. Of this, however, more below- you'll just have to keep that breath bated for a while.
Before i get to use this blog for regular updates and reflections, i figure some selected highlights of my year should do the trick for the mo. January saw me in Atlanta for a month of student teaching which is a standard component of the educators programme. Pardes set you up with a school, mentor teacher and host family.
I had a fabulous experience. I really enjoyed my teaching and was welcomed into the Atlanta community very warmly.
We'll get to the teaching and school in a second. First of all the Atlanta experience. Of course, at the end of the programme here in jerusalem i have to fulfill a 3 year teaching commitment in the States so going to a new city and country and finding myself considering how i might potentially feel about living there was kinda strange. As it turned out i left Atlanta regretting the fact that its all but non-existent public transport system does not makee it a viable option for me as a place to work, as the Jewish community/schools are far away from the minimal but efficient metro system that serves the heart of the city.
I travelled with Jamie, my fellow brit and course-mate. Our introduction to life state-side was not exactly a smooth one. Ill gloss over the details, but suffice to say that due to very heavy snow we were delayed in the assundry airports of the New York region for a total of 14! hours. BLOODY HELL. Although the assistant at the Delta desk at Newark had kindly informed us that we were not going anyware for two days at the earliest, so i guess i should be thankful for small mercies.
Finally arriving at Sandy Springs, a picturesque suburb of Atlanta we were pleased to be greeted by our host family. Judy and Shai Robkin. They are big muchers in the school (where Judy teaches art), very committed to the Jewish community and have been hosting educators at their house since Pardes first began the programme five years. They are suburb people, very warm, hospitable and more than a little excentric in the best possible way. They hosted 3 people from our programme, Jamie, Adee and myself. We couldnt have felt more welcome, even their crazy and loveable long-haired datsun 'kishke' took an immediate shine to me.
Atlanta, in addition to boasting great hosts also has a very strong community of Pardes Alumni. Pardes Atlanta, heavily populated by familiar faces and many of the teachers at the school where Jamie and I were working provided a home from home and made the transition into a new and temporary community so easy.
And so to the teaching experience. Jamie and I were teaching at the Weber Community (i.e. plauralist) High School. Weber provided a good introduction to American Jewish Education and i can see why pardes felt like it would be a good fit for me. It is a small school of about 130 boys and girls on a site made up of a warren of portacabin classrooms. The school feels like a family. Its close knit nature aids students to achieve their potential in a supportive environment. You get the feeling that Weber makes a success of kids who would fall through the net at bigger schools.
That said, myself and particularly Jamie were suffering from a fair bit of culture shocj, Jamie particular as he is a Habs boy! You see a not small element of why i set myself on a path towards America and formal, school education is because it is more consistent with the potential for a greater impact on students than the one off session i am incustomed to in the informal education world. The other attractive element is that school is a venue for 'serious' learning and high standards for Jewish literacy etc. America in relation to Britain has a strong reputation for churning out graduates with high levels of jewish literacy.
The story is mixed a Weber but essentially this is not the case here, and it came as a disappointment. If i contrast the school with my own secondary Jewish school experience at Carmel, the Atlanta still comes out streets ahead. We only had Jewish Studies at Carmel, I only did one year of Hebrew and it was not compulsory after the age of 14! We never opened the Talmud or engaged in any traditional style learning at Carmel and it certainly did not inpart any of the skills necessary for Jewish literacy (other than the practical knowledge of the components of living an halachically observant life-style which comes with the territory of attending an Orthodox boarding School). In comparison Weber was streets ahead. With Hebrew, Rabbinics, Tanach and Jewish History all almost daily components of the Timetable across the school. Through in Rosh-chodesh celebrations, shabbatonim and the like and you have a pretty vibrant sounding Jewish life at the school.
And of course on a certain level this is true. The problem is that the school felt often like a summer camp. Only English and Maths are tested subjects. The Jewish curriculum certainly is not (although learning for its own-sake is of course very valuable) and it did not seem that the Jewish curriculum is taken as seriously as i had hoped and it is not backed-up with a strong vision of what graduates of the school need to know in order to be literate Jews or that the school can feel that it has achieved certain things in building the Jewish education of its graduates.
Just as a little aside. The vast,vast majority of American schools DO NOT TEACH GEOGRAPHY- Bloody Hell that explains a lot (Sorry American friends, but as i write this im thinking particularly of your dear friend and mine Dub'ya!).
Oh year and in the state of Georgia its ny on illegal to teach evolution theory! Welcome to the South ladoes and Gentlemen.
And so to the teaching, it was a largely positive experience. I was teaching the story of Queen Esther to grades 9 and 10. The beginning was difficult and the 2 days i was observed by someone flown out especially from Pardes, my lessons were crap, the worst i taught by a large distance- Hurrumph! Things went particularly well with the grade 10 class with whom i built a good rappor. I came away feeling better equipped for the riggers of the classroom. And of course it was hear that i recieved my new title: 'Mister Sarrrlawayyy- it takes forever to say my name with a Gerogia accent!
And so i returned to Jerusalem at the end of the month away reinvigorated in the knowledge that i had wonderful experience and aquitted myself fairly well in the class room, or so i thought....
Before i get to use this blog for regular updates and reflections, i figure some selected highlights of my year should do the trick for the mo. January saw me in Atlanta for a month of student teaching which is a standard component of the educators programme. Pardes set you up with a school, mentor teacher and host family.
I had a fabulous experience. I really enjoyed my teaching and was welcomed into the Atlanta community very warmly.
We'll get to the teaching and school in a second. First of all the Atlanta experience. Of course, at the end of the programme here in jerusalem i have to fulfill a 3 year teaching commitment in the States so going to a new city and country and finding myself considering how i might potentially feel about living there was kinda strange. As it turned out i left Atlanta regretting the fact that its all but non-existent public transport system does not makee it a viable option for me as a place to work, as the Jewish community/schools are far away from the minimal but efficient metro system that serves the heart of the city.
I travelled with Jamie, my fellow brit and course-mate. Our introduction to life state-side was not exactly a smooth one. Ill gloss over the details, but suffice to say that due to very heavy snow we were delayed in the assundry airports of the New York region for a total of 14! hours. BLOODY HELL. Although the assistant at the Delta desk at Newark had kindly informed us that we were not going anyware for two days at the earliest, so i guess i should be thankful for small mercies.
Finally arriving at Sandy Springs, a picturesque suburb of Atlanta we were pleased to be greeted by our host family. Judy and Shai Robkin. They are big muchers in the school (where Judy teaches art), very committed to the Jewish community and have been hosting educators at their house since Pardes first began the programme five years. They are suburb people, very warm, hospitable and more than a little excentric in the best possible way. They hosted 3 people from our programme, Jamie, Adee and myself. We couldnt have felt more welcome, even their crazy and loveable long-haired datsun 'kishke' took an immediate shine to me.
Atlanta, in addition to boasting great hosts also has a very strong community of Pardes Alumni. Pardes Atlanta, heavily populated by familiar faces and many of the teachers at the school where Jamie and I were working provided a home from home and made the transition into a new and temporary community so easy.
And so to the teaching experience. Jamie and I were teaching at the Weber Community (i.e. plauralist) High School. Weber provided a good introduction to American Jewish Education and i can see why pardes felt like it would be a good fit for me. It is a small school of about 130 boys and girls on a site made up of a warren of portacabin classrooms. The school feels like a family. Its close knit nature aids students to achieve their potential in a supportive environment. You get the feeling that Weber makes a success of kids who would fall through the net at bigger schools.
That said, myself and particularly Jamie were suffering from a fair bit of culture shocj, Jamie particular as he is a Habs boy! You see a not small element of why i set myself on a path towards America and formal, school education is because it is more consistent with the potential for a greater impact on students than the one off session i am incustomed to in the informal education world. The other attractive element is that school is a venue for 'serious' learning and high standards for Jewish literacy etc. America in relation to Britain has a strong reputation for churning out graduates with high levels of jewish literacy.
The story is mixed a Weber but essentially this is not the case here, and it came as a disappointment. If i contrast the school with my own secondary Jewish school experience at Carmel, the Atlanta still comes out streets ahead. We only had Jewish Studies at Carmel, I only did one year of Hebrew and it was not compulsory after the age of 14! We never opened the Talmud or engaged in any traditional style learning at Carmel and it certainly did not inpart any of the skills necessary for Jewish literacy (other than the practical knowledge of the components of living an halachically observant life-style which comes with the territory of attending an Orthodox boarding School). In comparison Weber was streets ahead. With Hebrew, Rabbinics, Tanach and Jewish History all almost daily components of the Timetable across the school. Through in Rosh-chodesh celebrations, shabbatonim and the like and you have a pretty vibrant sounding Jewish life at the school.
And of course on a certain level this is true. The problem is that the school felt often like a summer camp. Only English and Maths are tested subjects. The Jewish curriculum certainly is not (although learning for its own-sake is of course very valuable) and it did not seem that the Jewish curriculum is taken as seriously as i had hoped and it is not backed-up with a strong vision of what graduates of the school need to know in order to be literate Jews or that the school can feel that it has achieved certain things in building the Jewish education of its graduates.
Just as a little aside. The vast,vast majority of American schools DO NOT TEACH GEOGRAPHY- Bloody Hell that explains a lot (Sorry American friends, but as i write this im thinking particularly of your dear friend and mine Dub'ya!).
Oh year and in the state of Georgia its ny on illegal to teach evolution theory! Welcome to the South ladoes and Gentlemen.
And so to the teaching, it was a largely positive experience. I was teaching the story of Queen Esther to grades 9 and 10. The beginning was difficult and the 2 days i was observed by someone flown out especially from Pardes, my lessons were crap, the worst i taught by a large distance- Hurrumph! Things went particularly well with the grade 10 class with whom i built a good rappor. I came away feeling better equipped for the riggers of the classroom. And of course it was hear that i recieved my new title: 'Mister Sarrrlawayyy- it takes forever to say my name with a Gerogia accent!
And so i returned to Jerusalem at the end of the month away reinvigorated in the knowledge that i had wonderful experience and aquitted myself fairly well in the class room, or so i thought....
posted by Ben at 7:40 pm
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