  |
 |
|
 |
 |
|||
| OHR Online | |||
 |
|||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|||
| OHR Online | |||
|
|
|||
|
|||
    
|
|
|
|
OTS Newsletter - Summer 2007Training Talented Teachers
OTS is preparing outstanding young men and women for a wide variety of teaching positions in the Diaspora through the Adolph and Ethel Beren Educators Institute for men and the Educator Fellowships Program for women. Bible study is likely to take on a distinct new tune when Eran Na’ane begins teaching elementary school students at the Fuchs-Mizrachi School in Cleveland, Ohio, this fall. “In the four years that I’ve been teaching in Israel, I’ve taught the children not only the text of the Torah but the ta’amei hamikrah that guide how it is chanted,” he says. “This method, developed in Israel, helps the children learn the grammar of the Torah and makes learning more meaningful and more appealing. So I’m very excited about bringing this style of Torah study to America.” In order to synthesize his experience, knowledge and abilities with the background and skills necessary for successful teaching overseas, Na’ane has studied for the past two years at Ohr Torah Stone’s Adolph and Ethel Beren Educators Institute. Dedicated to preparing committed, motivated and engaging Judaic Studies educators, the Beren Institute is working to meet the pressing need for quality teachers in many Diaspora schools. This year, it is sending graduates to cities across the United States, South America, Europe and Australia. “The program’s courses on Diaspora Jewry gave me lots of practical information about Jewish community dynamics that will be very useful to me,” says the father of three, whose wife, Techiya, will also be teaching in the Fuchs-Mizrachi school. “I’ve also gained many skills from courses on teaching techniques and relating to different kinds of students. ”
Rabbi Yisrael Porath, 28, who also studied in the Beren program, will be applying the skills he learned to a much older student body. He and his wife, Shoshana, 25, will be Torah educators on the campus of Rutgers University through the Jewish Learning Initiative, providing classes, chevruta study opportunities and Shabbat programming for Jewish students of varying backgrounds. In addition to furnishing him with practical teaching skills, Yisrael stresses that his studies at the Beren program have given him inspiration. “The excitement and enthusiasm that my teachers have for Torah and for education have in turn inspired me to get other people excited about Jewish learning,” he says. Gaining Skills and Confidence While her husband has been studying in the Beren program, Shoshana Porath has been preparing for the couple’s new assignment by participating in the new Educator Fellowships program at OTS’s Midreshet Lindenbaum women’s college. The one-year program brings outstanding, post-university young women to the Chana and Yaakov Tilles Campus for innovative training for teaching in Diaspora communities. “The program has given me insight into the mindset of young men and women coming out of the modern Orthodox school system in the U.S. today,” she stresses. “I’ve gained a lot of ideas about what to teach, how to teach it and how to relate to the students.” Sara Gordon, 23, who will begin teaching tanach and Jewish history at the Maayanot High School in Teaneck, N.J. in September, also praises the program’s practical approach to teaching. “I am finishing an M.A. in Jewish education in the U.S. in addition to my studies here,” she says, “and as much as that gave me a theoretical background in pedagogy, the Educator Fellowships was very hands-on and practical. I’ve studied various approaches to situations I know I’ll be facing as a teacher, and I’ve received very useful examples and relevant information. I feel confident that I’m ready to tackle any forthcoming challenges. This program has really brought my education full circle.” Self-assurance is one of the most important characteristics in a teacher, and Ilana Hamilton, 22, says that the Educator Fellowships has given her the confidence and continuing support that will help her succeed in her new position as a Jewish studies teacher at the JFS High School in London. “We’ve all given so many sample classes to each other, and planned so many others together, that I feel very well prepared,” she relates enthusiastically. “And I know that we’ll be keeping in touch so that we can get peer advice and share lesson plans and experience.”
|
||||||
|
||||||||||
