Shine a Light on: Collaboration

Since Chanukah is the Festival of Lights, we wanted to shine a light on some bright spots we are seeing in the Jewish day school field. It is our hope that each day of Chanukah will grow even brighter as you learn about these bright spots and consider your work in a new light.
Shine a Light on: Collaboration: Teachers Working with Teachers
Whereas day school leaders often have access to conferences and peer networks, teachers have less opportunities for outside support and inspiration. One exciting new idea is to break down what at times feel like isolating classroom walls and provide opportunities for teachers to collaborate – within schools and across schools.
 “Improving the overall outcome”: The JDS Collaborative

Suzanne Mishkin, K-4 Director at the Solomon Schechter of Metropolitan Chicago, had a challenge. The school had started a new initiative called JSTEAM, which incorporates Jewish learning with STEAM education. But, they weren’t sure about how to make the program more effective and meaningful or how to take it to the next level.
She contacted Alanna Kotler at the JDS Collaborative to see if other schools were grappling with similar issues. Alanna told her about a cross-school Collaborative-managed project with the goal of developing and curating STEAM initiatives about the chagim. It was just what Suzanne was looking for. She joined the project and learned from other educators about things they were trying in their schools. The Heschel School in California, for example, had created a tashlich pool for its whole school to use; first and fifth grade students worked together to create a motor and system for the pool, which recycled its own water. As a result of learning about this from the Heschel teachers, Suzanne adapted it to meet the needs of Chicago Schechter. She developed a whole-school project integrating arts into creating a tashlich pool, designed as a Jewish star using different amounts of water and color. The school used this pool to teach the laws of tashlich. Susanne’s participation in the Collaborative helped her develop new thinking, adapt others’ creative ideas to her school’s context, and ultimately helped her take the JSTEAM initiative school-wide.
If you are a Jewish day school teacher or leader with a burning challenge or a new opportunity related to your school’s Jewish mission, you might consider getting involved with the JDS Collaborative. Utilizing networked techniques, the Collaborative connects at least three schools that share a common set of goals. Then, it provides project management and access to outside expertise to help the team of educators and leaders from those schools see the project through to completion. This way each school can solve its unique challenges, using collective resources.
A project of Prizmah, the Collaborative is managed by Educannon Consulting, which is headed by Jonathan Cannon. As Jonathan explained at a recent meeting about the unique approach and success of the JDS Collaborative, “Groups of teachers who are collaborating on the outcome will increase the efficacy of the outcome.  Teachers don’t have the opportunity to work with teachers from other schools, so there is excitement there and it improves the overall outcome.”
iNfuse: Israel at the Heart of Jewish Day Schools
Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, FL had an “AHA moment” while participating in the iNfuse program, an iCenter program which aligns Israel education across a school’s curriculum and with its mission and goals. Some of the first steps of the iNfuse process include teachers all sharing their curriculum and programs relating to Israel education through staff meetings and other opportunities for dialogue. During this process, teachers and administrators at Donna Klein suddenly recognized that their Israel trip was being planned by the provider in Israel and not according to their educational needs or vision. Moreover, they realized that they were not connecting the children to contemporary Israel, even though it was part of their vision.  As one outcome of these discoveries, the school created a course that focused on the diverse ethnic groups in Israel and used their music, food and other aspects of their culture to introduce the students to the diversity of groups in Israel.
Through such initiatives, the collaborative process to decide how to “iNfuse” Israel education throughout the school creates more coherence and depth across all aspects of school learning. Along the way, participating schools have access to a mentor, as well as other iCenter tools to support teachers to design and implement learning experiences aligned with the vision created during the initial visioning process. In doing so, iNfuse provides a framework to engage students, educators and the greater school community in building personal connections to Israel and to the Israeli people.
Now that’s a way to take us all to our Promised Land!
In what ways does (or could) collaboration happen between teachers at your school?
Learn more about the JDS Collaborative here and about iNfuse here.