For the first time ever, educators in grades K-8 at Jewish day schools and yeshivas gathered in Baltimore for the inaugural Jewish Educational Services Educator Expo.
Held at the Weinberg Park Heights JCC on Sunday, March 10, the expo gave teachers the opportunity to meet others in their field, get materials to use in their classrooms and learn from their colleagues about strategies they use in class to better engage their students.
With the motto “Connect. Learn. Inspire.” the event’s organizers strove to create a space where teachers could do exactly that, sharing their approaches to teaching subjects ranging from general studies like English language arts and math to more Jewish-specific fields like Jewish history and Hebrew.
“We have some of the best educators with some of the greatest ideas,” Rachel Shar, a first grade general studies teacher at Ohr Chadash Academy and one of the expo’s event chairs, said at the event. “Just being in this room and hearing the buzz makes me glad that we had the opportunity to do this.”
Teachers representing 10 different schools from across Maryland and the Washington, D.C. area attended the expo, along with a few independent curriculum consultants and counselors. These included local institutions like Krieger Schechter Day School, Yeshivas Toras Simcha and Bnos Yisroel of Baltimore, as well as ones closer to D.C. like Rockville’s Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, Silver Spring’s Yeshiva of Greater Washington and D.C.’s Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital.
In addition to group workshops about note-taking and the usage of theater games and three-word-actions in class, the expo was designed so the participating teachers would be able to engage with each other on a peer-to-peer level.
“One of the most effective ways to do professional development is through peer-to-peer coaching,” explained Faye Friedman, director of educational services at JES and a speech and language pathologist who helped to organize the event. “We have a mandate to not only raise the profile of teaching, but to show our appreciation. We wanted teachers to feel like we recognize them for the amazing work they do.”
In order to make them feel more directly involved with the expo, JES invited teachers from several local day schools to participate on the expo’s planning committee. Several volunteered to help out with planning, as well as with promoting the event to their colleagues in the education field.
The exhibits at the expo ranged from discussing ways to integrate STEM into the classroom to more interactive approaches to lessons like games and crafts. One participant, KSDS science and drama teacher Alex Thaler, showed off the comprehension pyramid, a papercraft he made for students to gauge their understanding of his lesson plans. Each side is printed with a different statement indicating how well students are getting what they are being taught.
“If I see too many ‘I have questions’ or ‘I don’t understand,’ I know to stop the lesson to address concerns before I continue,” he explained. “It helps to keep the flow of my lesson going with minimal disruptions. Plus, the kids love to take ownership of their own learning that way.”
Another presenter, education consultant Naema Tenenbaum, discussed her services helping other teachers create lesson plans.
“A lot of schools, even if they have good curricula, still expect teachers to be curriculum planners,” she said. “It can be hard to figure out how to break down a subject that seems basic to you to students. You want to encourage students to be curious about it and engage in conversation with you.”
In addition to these exhibits and the workshops, there was also an talk with author Leah Sokol, who writes Jewish books for young audiences. She discussed her latest work, “Yosef Mendelevich: Leader of Soviet Jewry,” a biography of the rabbi and refusenik written with elementary and middle schoolers in mind.
There were also several giveaways held for attending teachers, and they also were able to pick up new and upcycled materials for their classrooms. A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education found that 94% of teachers have to spend their own money to buy adequate school supplies, so this was a boon for them.
“Professional development doesn’t have to be stuffy and just sitting in a chair for hours on end,” Friedman said. “There are quick, practical ideas [teachers] can gain from a single afternoon and use in their classrooms the very next day. JES values the incredible work and the commitment and dedication that teachers put into their profession.”
