Teachers are the key
For most Bnei Mitzvah aged students, the exciting part about becoming a Bar/Bat Mitzvah is not the Torah reading or the tallit (prayer shawl) that they receive, it is the party or the feeling they will have when it is over. Well, let’s just say that was not the case with this rabbi. The reading came easy to me, and I really enjoyed meeting with my tutor. I loved going to synagogue services and was super excited about wearing a tallit. However, this is not the case for most kids. So how can we, as parents, as Jewish educators, as Jewish people in general ensure that this experience is more to our kids than just a few stressful months before having a party?
One of the key components of making this an incredible experience is the teachers. There is no one that directly impacts this experience more than the teacher that is working with your student. The teacher can make or break the experience for the most part. The teacher is the one entrusted with making the Bnei Mitzvah process a positive stepping stone towards a life devoted to Judaism and Jewish learning.
At Online Jewish Learning we know that the teachers are the key to unlocking the door to Jewish learning for each student. We have had many students who just “didn’t work” in Hebrew School or parents who said “it’s not worth fighting for” their students going to Hebrew School. These same students, once they entered our program, are now thriving, enjoy the lessons with their teacher, and actually look forward to lessons rather than kicking and screaming. What is the key? Aside from a more open and flexible approach than many programs out there, we recruit young, passionate, and excited teachers with a variety of skills which include special needs education as well as a variety of experiences in teaching students with all skills, challenges, and learning styles.
In this week’s blog post we would like to thank our teachers and our students. To our wonderful Online Jewish Learning teachers-we thank you for all of your tireless work and commitment you put into your students. To our students-we thank you on behalf of the teachers, because we know that the learning they do with you enriches not only your life-but theirs as well.
So rather than bringing an apple to your teacher this week (I am sure there is an app for that ? say thank you-for helping you better understand what it means to be you-in a Jewish way!
