By An Educator
Sometimes the stress of approaching a new school year makes it difficult to see things in perspective. As educators and as parents our hopes and disappointments often impair us from seeing how privileged we are as a people and as a generation.
Not so long ago, Chedarim and mesivtas only accepted the elite. If you weren’t academically gifted, your only option was to take the path of laborious trade from a young age.
Today we live in a world where everyone is encouraged to go to school and where educators push even their weakest students to succeed.
This blessing is unprecedented and although it comes with its challenges, solutions are quickly being put in place. For the first time ever teachers are faced with several academic levels in one class. Teachers will always aim to grasp the majority but some students will inevitably be sidelined. And as these students drift further and further away from the class’s level they often feel less confident and their self-esteem drops. This can go on for years. Parents, teachers and students are left feeling bitter, wronged and hopeless.
I noticed this phenomenon as a student, I noticed it as a teacher and then I finally noticed a positive and exciting change.
Two years ago, one of my students suddenly jumped from a sidelined “trouble maker” to one of the most motivated in the class. I noticed some positive changes in his self esteem as he became more confident and social.
After further investigation, I discovered that he had joined YTT (Your Torah Tutors) an online one-on-one tutoring program in which he was taught hundreds of gemara words and phrases within a couple of months. Apparently, besides for the academic gain, the unique style of repeating and writing showed him that he is capable of learning and achieving and this removed some kind of a mental block.
I got involved with the YTT team and started teaching a few talmidim myself. Some of them joined because they were academically behind and some just wanted that extra boost to be able to learn independently.
This is not an advert for any specific organization. My hope with this letter to COLliv is to encourage the community to see the education system in a more positive light.
Boruch Hashem, we are living in a time where schools and organizations are putting the infrastructure in place to ensure that every Jewish boy and girl can succeed. The programs are there, let’s utilize them!
—
For more information or to schedule an evaluation to find out if we can assist your child, visit our website at yourtorahtutors.com
Or contact Laibel Shemtov at [email protected]
Teachers need to educate themselves to learn to accommodate different levels and abilities in one class. It should not be frontal teaching, only addressing “the majority”. Schools need to support teachers by offering training, support staff, and specialists so children do not get left behind. Communities need to support schools so all of this can be funded and The Abishter has to help!
Easier said than done. At the end of the day, regardless of how extensive ones training is, being faced with 25 students who span across five different levels is a very hard task. How is one supposed to engage them all without boring or confusing some ?
that’s exactly why classes should not have more than 12 students!
Is that sustainable?
Is it sustainable to keep classes at 25?
Why does it seem more sustainable to keep them at 25 than at 12? Because at 25 the financials get covered as opposed to with only 12? What about the fact that at 12 the children’s needs get covered as opposed to at 25?
Maybe that’s more important and what we should be looking to be what we consider sustainable.
So much of our neighborhoods financial resource s are spent supporting other neighborhoods and our children/grandchildren is the price we pay.
Use leveled system but encourage to upgrade kids to upper levels not to kicking out to low levels. Like a game with one goal to succeed
Education as a child wasnt for me because since the age of 6 I faced that teachers dont practice what they preach. They preach G-d and his Torah but dont apply it in their own lives. That left a scar within me for years. I had to leave that scar behind me and educate myself with the help of nasi hador our Rebbes teachings, that Hashem wants me to have faith and have a frum life and not put faith in my teachers example/way of life.
Stop separating classes by age and go back to basics.
You go up in grades as they pass test.
Time alone should not be a indicator of grade but simply knowledge and study.
Class 1 learn A
Class 2 learn B
Class 3 learn C and so on…
Very simple very soon all will be taught on their level!
Anyone who has worked in a school will know that doesn’t work. Peoples brains work differently and it’s not just a matter of time. For example, some people take longer to process. So you ask a question and by the time the child understands the question, you have already moved on. The child might actually be very intelligent and, in a situation where they are given the time, will give insightful responses beyond those of their quicker peers. Imagine how that child would feel if they are kept down and see children much younger than them moving ahead. The long… Read more »
Instead of it, do one level for all and then upgrade all who wants more, simply by doing test and sending kids to different level, and the others can continue to repeat the same for longer.
My kid is smart but because he is smart he is bored and boredom is just waste of his time and my money. He can do more.
Simply give him advanced level for few hours a day to be there
I remember when I was in Oholei Torah grade 8, we had an incredible rebbe that taught us the most gemarah I ever learned. He had a special weekly “mitzuyanim shiyur” in his house for the elite top students – to challenge them and give them extra depth of rishonim/achronim on the weekly blatt gemarah. He also had a weekly “chaloshim shiyur” during lunch recess for anyone wanting a one-on-one review with him of the weekly blatt gemarah he taught. He would even sometimes pick 2 students that needed TLC and invite them to his house to join his family… Read more »
And remember that he had a “double class” of 32 students!
I don’t know how he managed them all, while giving all the extra attention to the levels of students.
He even had monthly class melaveh malkas in his home.
And remember one year the class even printed a kovetz of chidushim on the gemarah.
Remember when every Sunday he would start the day with a quick 15-minute review of the Shabbos farbrengen (he would tell us, “First sicha was about…, second sicha was…third sicha was…”)
Chederim we’re always for everyone. (besides during tragic circumstances which were the exception)