Moving the Needle 2014

Please note that this workshop will be primarily relevant to those schools that are situated outside of the major Jewish population centers.

Goal:

To help small schools develop approaches to secure a financially and academically stable future.

Description:

Schools with less than 150 students face unique challenges. Often located in demographically limited areas, these schools require creative solutions that mobilize the resources of the broader Jewish communities within which they are situated. Lay and professional leadership of small schools are invited to explore new approaches to fiscal management, creative recruitment solutions and innovative technological approaches to education.

Through expert sessions, peer-networking and workshops, this track will help small schools move down the path to a more sustainable future.

Opening Agenda:

3:30-5:00pm: Introductions & Setting the Stage: Defining the Challenges and Setting Goals

Dr. Marc Kramer, RAVSAK

Perhaps one-third of all day schools in North America are “small schools” - schools with enrollment under 150 students, and many of these schools are located in small Jewish communities.

Yet despite their size, the small Jewish day schools are key to the future of the Jewish communities in which they are found; they are led by some of the most talented lay and professional leaders; and they stand on the front lines in the fight against assimilation. Who are these schools? Who are their leaders?  And what will it take to ensure a vibrant future for the small Jewish day schools?   In this opening session, we will identify the framing challenges and opportunities facing small schools, meet one another, and begin the “deep dive” work of making small schools sustainable.

As Sherlock Holmes instructed, “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.” Our task is to apply our powers of reasoning to the future potential and challenge of the small Jewish day school. Proceeding in Holmesian fashion, we will examine data on the current status of these schools: What story do the data tell? How do they confirm or challenge our own perceptions and beliefs? What other clues should we be looking for?

Rabbi Jeremy Winaker, head of school at Albert Einstein Academy in Wilmington, DE, facilitates a participant-directed session built around the topics of greatest interest to you. Come with thoughts, questions, concerns, and a willingness to listen; leave with innovative ideas, new answers, and a critical network of peers and allies.

Goal:

To explore how technology can help schools achieve their educational goals more effectively and enhance the collaborative and creative skills essential for twenty-first century success.

Description:

Technology can open new possibilities for collaboration, engagement and differentiation in our schools. But with the ever-changing world of technological innovation can come pitfalls that can undermine even the best intentions. Learn how to craft strategic technology plans that align with your educational vision; explore what is meant by blended learning and understand its possibilities in a day school environment, and learn how educational technology innovations can help transform the learning environments in your schools.

Pre-Work:

Please take a look at the Google doc we’ve created for you with everything you need to know before you arrive. Please make sure to find the Prep Materials section and look through the resources the organizers and speakers have put together for you.

Request membership to our LinkedIn group exclusively for EdTech Deep Dive participants, where you will be able to connect with fellow participants before, during, and after the conference.

If you’re on Twitter, tweet alongside our conversations using the hashtags #DJLN #MTN2014 together.

Last but not least, please fill out a short survey to help us learn more about you, our audience, and in turn tailor our presentations to you.

Agenda:

10:30am: Competencies, Literacies and the Schools of Tomorrow (Conference Ballroom A)

Joan Getman, University of Southern California

How often have you been faced with the decision about whether to invest your and your students’ time, effort and funding in the latest hardware or software?  This session will help you navigate this ever changing landscape, by describing key educational challenges and opportunities in alignment with potentially innovative technologies. We will also explore the 21st century capabilities students are expected to have while exposing the myths and realities of the “digital natives” in our classrooms. This session sets the stage for crafting a strategic plan that will help you and your students realize the educational benefits of technologies that are on the near and far horizons.

11:15am: Strategic Technology Planning for Education: It’s less about technology than you might think! (Conference Ballroom A)

Gary Hartstein, Digital JLearning

In this session we will focus on the questions to consider and processes to use when planning for the implementation of technology resources.  Too often, schools buy iPads, computers and application subscriptions before thinking through how they will be used and supported, and how their effectiveness will be assessed.  We will focus on a process where we identify academic needs that drive the hardware, software and infrastructure solutions we choose.  We will also look at how to make this planning process dynamic and agile to insure any technology that is chosen for your school is purposefully selected because it aligns with academic needs.

12:00-12:30pm: (SOLE) Self-Organized Learning Environment: How To Reach the Visual, Auditory and Tactile Learner in Your Class (Concourse A)

Jaime Cohen, TannenbaumChat

In this session we will focus on how to engage the visual, auditory and tactile learner by creating a SOLE– a Self-Organized Learning Environment integrated with innovative educational technologies. We will take a look at a Grade 9 English unit awarded the top prize for a TED Education-sponsored contest called, "The Sole Challenge."

12:30-1:30pm: Lunch (Concourse A)

1:30-2:00pm: IGNITE Sessions (Concourse A)

How are schools using technology to meet their educational goals? In this session, a number of schools will use the IGNITE methodology to very briefly share what problem they were trying to solve, how they used technology to solve the problem and what lessons they learned. 

• Dan Ahlstrom, Tuscon Hebrew Academy
• Helena Levine, Donna Klein Jewish Academy 
• Josh Neudel, Gann Academy 

2:15-3:00pm: Breakout Sessions (Participants will choose one to attend).  

• Reboot Assessment: Engaging students Inside and Outside the Classroom (Concourse A)
  

Sarah Blattner, Tamritz

What alternative approach to assessment can both tell the story of the learner and provide frequent and meaningful feedback for students? Explore digital badge learning as one innovative approach to learning that provides frequent feedback, scaffolds the learning experience and supports multiple learning pathways.

• Driving Student Achievement through Community Culture (Stapleton Room)
  

Saul Rube, Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit

Participants will experience an immersive introduction to the structure, purpose and benefits of becoming a Professional Learning Community. What are the Big Ideas? What are the “new Four Questions” (they’re not just for Passover anymore…)? Which successes and challenges can we anticipate and celebrate?

• Constructing Knowledge Through Agile Teaching and Learning (Sea-Tac Room)
  

David Greenfield, EdD candidate, learning technologies, Pepperdine University

How do we teach creative problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration and innovation? How do we keep current with rapidly developing digital technologies for the classroom, and how can we guide students to construct knowledge in this context? This session will illustrate ways in which we can adapt agile development method strategies currently being used by many software developers into authentic learning experiences that provide Jewish students with needed 21st century skill sets.

3:15-4:00pm: Breakout Sessions (Participants will choose one to attend).  (Repeat)

• Reboot Assessment: Engaging students Inside and Outside the Classroom (Concourse A)
  

Sarah Blattner, Tamritz

What alternative approach to assessment can both tell the story of the learner and provide frequent and meaningful feedback for students? Explore digital badge learning as one innovative approach to learning that provides frequent feedback, scaffolds the learning experience and supports multiple learning pathways.

• Driving Student Achievement through Community Culture (Stapleton Room)
  

Saul Rube, Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit

Participants will experience an immersive introduction to the structure, purpose and benefits of becoming a Professional Learning Community. What are the Big Ideas? What are the “new Four Questions” (they’re not just for Passover anymore…)? Which successes and challenges can we anticipate and celebrate?

• Constructing Knowledge through Agile Teaching and Learning (Sea-Tac Room)
  

David Greenfield, EdD candidate, learning technologies, Pepperdine University

How do we teach creative problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration and innovation?  How do we keep current with rapidly developing digital technologies for the classroom, and how can we guide students to construct knowledge in this context? This session will illustrate ways in which we can adapt agile development method strategies currently being used by many software developers into authentic learning experiences that provide Jewish students with needed 21st century skill sets.

4:00pm-5:00pm: Moving from Theory to Action: Practical action planning for the launch of a blended learning program (Concourse A)

Rebecca Tomasini, The Alvo Institute

Learn about the critical design and implementation steps, often overlooked, to launch a strong, scalable, sustainable twenty-first century learning program. Participants will learn how to conduct a readiness assessment, ask the critical “getting started” questions, use and develop a project plan, risk/mitigation plan with a collection of Alvo created templates designed to support the design and launch of a more personalized way of learning that includes a deep dive into “21st century skills.”

...

Goal:

To gain exposure to the principles of Design Thinking and Immunity to Change in order to experience the mindsets and tools necessary to creatively navigate challenges and take advantage of opportunities in schools.

Summary:

In order to respond to the needs of today's Jewish students and their families, our schools need to create flexible and resonant learning environments. We will expose participants to a taste of two powerful methodologies: Design Thinking offers a set of mindsets and tools that can help schools be more creative, collaborative, and relevant in creating new opportunities for their student and parent bodies. Immunity to Change offers a perspective on why change is difficult, and how to navigate its various challenges. Acquire tools from these two realms to explore the challenges and opportunities of building a culture of distributed leadership and creative thinking in your schools.

PreWork:

Begin your learning with the following article, written by Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, who encapsulates the fundamental principles of Design Thinking.

View a short video that demonstrates how Design Thinking mindsets are put into practice.

Do you have any questions you are thinking about? What problems are keeping you and your school up at night? Share some of your challenges or opportunities you are excited about here.

Agenda:

10:30am: Welcome and Warm-Up

11:00am: Design Thinking– Mindsets and Tools for Creativity and Change

Design Thinking, as defined by Tim Brown, the president and CEO of Ideo, is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success. In this section of the day, participants will go through a full mini-design experience, and then unpack how the mindsets, tools, and methodologies can be applied to their work

12:30pm: Lunch

1:15pm: Using the Wisdom in the Room: Empathy interviewing and framing

Participants will explore the first two areas of the Design Thinking process more deeply, and will have the opportunity to interview each other, identify issues facing their schools, and frame challenges and opportunities

2:45pm: Break

3:00pm: Diagnosing the Self: Your role in the process

Using the Immunity to Change framework designed by Bob Kegan and Lisa Lahey, which helps individuals and systems identify competing commitments and overcome obstacles to change, participants will explore the role that their hopes and fears play in the process of creating change in their school environments

4:30pm: Wrap-Up

5:00pm: Adjourn

Goal:

To address the growing gap between “Israel education” and Jewish education, and to help schools craft new approaches to integrating Israel across their curriculum and school cultures in a sophisticated manner.

Summary:

The State of Israel is central to the Jewish educational vision that our day schools strive to impart. But there are growing fissures and anxieties around the role of Israel in contemporary Jewish identity that are carrying over to the day school classroom, resulting in mounting concerns that it is difficult to teach Israel honestly, and that how we talk about Jewish values and texts must be different than how we talk about Israel and its complicated realities.

In this session, through a combination of study, reflections from the field, and applied conversations, we will explore how we might translate the core and complicated ideas of Israel into the pedagogical context of the day school. We will grapple as learners with some of Israel’s primary foundational texts in dialogue with classical Jewish texts and experiment with rethinking the Beit Midrash as a site of not just studying text but studying difficult questions. We will discuss the developmental challenges of how and when to introduce Israel’s complexity and its unanswered questions as the invitation into, or perhaps as the impediment to, building engagement with Israel as part of a thick Jewish identity. And we will explore together how we might begin to build an authentic, spiraling curriculum that imbues commitment to Israel within the framework of contemporary realities.

Pre-Work:

At the day school conference co-sponsored by RAVSAK and PARDES three years ago, research by Alex Pomson of Hebrew University made national Jewish news with the revelation that students were highly skeptical by what they perceived as the "selling" of Israel as part of their education.

To help prepare for the session, I encourage you to read Rabbi David Hartman's famous essay "Auschwitz or Sinai," written in the wake of the 1982 Lebanon War, in which he called on the State of Israel to rethink the core metaphors that signal its meaning to Jews and Judaism. Additionally, you may consider watching this interview between Rabbi Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi, part of the iEngage curriculum, which explores some of the broader implications of a contemporary Jewish conversation on power and powerlessness.

The material we will use in our sessions is largely derived from the Hartman Institute's iEngage Project, a research and educational initiative that seeks to reframe the meaning of the State of Israel for world Jewry through both its cutting-edge content and its diverse educational programs for leaders and change-agents.

Agenda:

10:30am-12:30pm: iEngage Beit Midrash: Power, Powerlessness, and The State of Israel 

The State of Israel (and the American Jewish experience) offer a degree and quality of power in ways unprecedented in Jewish history. This manifests in a strong Jewish army, the possibility for a Jewishly-informed foreign policy, American Jewish political participation that signals a meaningful acceptance of Jews into American society, and a degree of confidence for Jews as political actors that is new. This experience also brings untold challenges, especially to the State of Israel, as it seeks to integrate this new experience of the world into a Jewish-values narrative that has much to say about the ethical use of such power, even as those traditions were rarely tested in practical reality.

Participants will engage in guided havruta to study some of Judaism’s foundational texts on the meaning of power and powerlessness, using our contemporary sensibilities as an entry point into our classical tradition. We will juxtapose these classical sources with some contemporary texts as well, hoping to consider in what ways this interplay of texts and traditions might be constructive – or at times destructive – to both how we think about the study of Jewish text, and how we think about mounting a thick Jewish Israel conversation.

12:30pm: Lunch Break (Lunch by Israel interest area)

1:30-3:00pm:  Case-Studies: Power and Powerlessness in Practice

Moving from the conceptual to the “applied,” participants will break up into small facilitated groups to explore specific case-studies on the exercise of power in the modern State of Israel: Targeted Assassinations, Indirect Responsibility, Assymetrical Warfare. Each case-study will build on the foundational ideas laid out in the previous study session, but will also introduce contemporary realia and an additional set of texts – ancient and modern – for participants to consider. In these facilitated discussions participants will consider the utility of the text-study methodology in Jewish day schools for exploring current events, and in what ways a study-based approach facilitates productive and constructive dialogue and learning around Israel’s most vexing policy issues.  The case studies will be an opportunity to experiment with a teaching methodology that reimagines the place of text study in Jewish day schools.

3:15-4:45pm: Translating from Theory to Practice: How can the iEngage approach inform the ways we teach about Israel? (Participants choose one to attend)

Participants will have the opportunity to choose a workshop led by academics and educators who are piloting this approach in teaching contemporary Israel. The workshops will look at year-long curricula and lesson plans to consider how this approach can work in a day school audience, what types of students are best suited for such a methodology, and how an approach such as this might also help position students more effectively for the college environment. The facilitators will both lead the discussion and introduce methodological and pedagogic thinking into the conversation, to integrate between content and process.

• Engaging Teenagers: Israel, Nuance and Developing Abstract Thinking Skills

Rabbi Joshua Seth Ladon

This session will examine a specific difficulty I have encountered in the Israel class that I teach which is based on the iEngage curriculum. A serious discussion of power and powerlessness in the Israel narrative requires students who can think abstractly and critically. The process of helping students develop these skills has been challenging.  In this session we will look at a couple of assignments which attempted to introduce students to critical theory and asked them to explore different facets of Jewish and Israeli culture through the lens of power and powerlessness. As part of this session, we will look at student work as well as brainstorm different ways of introducing this material.

• Israeli Literature and Film:  Inspiration and Critical Thought for the Reluctant Learner

Laura Sanders-Masset

Israel education in many instances has been reduced to teaching students answers to criticism they might encounter on their college campuses, an approach that not only fails to inspire students but one that also counters the critical thinking we strive to foster in them.  This session uses a model lesson on the security fence to demonstrate how Israeli film and literature can spark the reluctant learner’s interest in Israel while allowing for the development of critical thought.   We will begin with poetry and/or prose excerpts from Agi Mishol, Yehuda Amichai, Aharon Shabtai, and David Harris-Gershon plus a variety of film clips to examine the security fence from an experiential vantage, using the emotional impact of these voices to motivate further research into the actual causes and effects of the fence.

• Foundations and Practice of Israel Education

Rabbi Gordon Bernat-Kunin PhD

Based on student and parent learning at the Milken Community High School, this session will explore two large questions. What is the relationship between Jewish Education and Israel Education?  How can Israel education problematize and inspire Jewish Education in America? How can integrated text study (Jewish Thought-AP Literature) connect theological and practical questions for Israel studies? Among the texts to be studied are selections from David Hartman, A.B. Yehoshua, Talmud, and Shakespeare.

4:45-5:00pm: Bringing it all Together: Closing Reflections

Participants will regroup to identify approaches and major takeaways to bringing these new methodologies and approaches back to their school and classrooms.

...

Goal:

To help small schools develop approaches to secure a financially and academically stable future.

Description:

Schools with less than 150 students face unique challenges. Often located in demographically limited areas, these schools require creative solutions that mobilize the resources of the broader Jewish communities within which they are situated. Lay and professional leadership of small schools are invited to explore new approaches to fiscal management, creative recruitment solutions and innovative technological approaches to education. Through expert sessions, peer-networking and workshops, this track will help small schools move down the path to a more sustainable future.

(Please note that this deep dive will be primarily relevant to those schools that are situated outside of the major Jewish population centers).

Pre-Work:

• JDATA Report of the Intermediate Community Task Force on Jewish Day Schools
• Big Challenges Facing Small Schools, by Harry Bloom
• Case study of the Charlotte, NC Jewish day school, by Josh Elkin
• Small Scale and School Culture, by George Conway Educational Research Center
• A summary of Federation support of RAVSAK schools

Agenda:

Sunday 

1:00-3:00pm: Opening Keynote and Session  

3:30-5:00pm: Deep Dive Opening- Thinking Big About Small Schools (Grand Ballroom A)

Dr. Marc Kramer, RAVSAK

Perhaps one-third of all day schools in North America are “small schools” - schools with enrollment under 150 students, and many of these schools are located in small Jewish communities. Yet despite their size, the small Jewish day schools are key to the future of the Jewish communities in which they are found; they are led by some of the most talented lay and professional leaders; and they stand on the front lines in the fight against assimilation.  Who are these schools? Who are their leaders? And what will it take to ensure a vibrant future for the small Jewish day schools? In this opening session, we will identify the framing challenges and opportunities facing small schools, meet one another, and begin the “deep dive” work of making small schools sustainable.

5:15-6:30pm: Plumb the Data - What We Know About Small Schools (Grand Ballroom A)

Dr. Amy Sales, Center for Modern Jewish Studies, Brandeis University

As Sherlock Holmes instructed, “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.” Our task is to apply our powers of reasoning to the future potential and challenge of the small Jewish day school. Proceeding in Holmesian fashion, we will examine data on the current status of these schools: What story do the data tell? How do they confirm or challenge our own perceptions and beliefs? What other clues should we be looking for?

6:30-7:00pm: Break

7:00-9:00pm: Conference Welcome Banquet  

9:00-10:30pm: Small Schools Open Space (Westchester A Room)

Head of School, Rabbi Jeremy Winaker will facilitate a participant-directed “open space” session built around the topics of greatest interest to you.  Come with thoughts, questions, concerns, and a willingness to listen - leave with innovative ideas, new answers, and a critical network of peers and allies.

 

Monday

7:00-10:00am: All Conference: Davening / Breakfast / Keynote

10:30-11:00am: Framing Session: Thinking big about small schools (Grand Ballroom A)

11:00am-12:30pm: Workshop, Block 1

• Federation as a Day School Partner (O'Hare Room)
  

Marilyn Chandler, Greensboro Jewish Federation & Mark Goldstein, Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley

The challenges faced by small Jewish day schools are felt as acutely by the federations which support them. How can federations and day schools enhance their relationships in ways that strengthen the partnership including resource development? How do we ensure the day school’s role as an anchor institution in a smaller Jewish community? What does it mean for a day school and federation to partner and collaborate?

• 10 Enrollment Strategies That Work for Small Schools (Grand Ballroom A)

Dr. Rick Newberry, Enrollment Catalyst

Enrollment is a key driver for success in all day schools, and all the more so in small schools, where slight changes in enrollment can have major implications - for the better or for the worse.  Enrollment management expert, Rick Newberry, will explore effective marketing and enrollment strategies that help small schools grow their student body.

• The Challenges Facing Small-Sized Day Schools (National Room)
  

Dr. Jack Wertheimer, The Jewish Theological Seminary

How does a day school manage when it is the only such school in town? And how do small-sized schools address their unique set of challenges? This workshop will build upon a case study of one such Ravsak school in Charlotte NC. Written by Josh Elkin, this case will prompt reflection and discussion about the necessary compromises different stakeholders have to make in order for the school to limit friction and function smoothly.

12:30-1:30pm: Networking Lunch, Sharing Success Stories- An Ideas Exchange (Grand Ballroom A, by table)

1:45-3:00pm: Workshops, Block 2

• Retention: A Key to Small School Success (National Room)

Betty Winn, RAVSAK

As schools struggle to recruit new students they often forget the importance of retaining current families.  Looking at retention issues that affect small schools we will explore strategies to address them in concrete and proactive ways.  Participants will identify issues relevant to their own schools and develop an action plan to take back to their schools.  This session is for Heads of Schools and any school administrator.

• Creating High Impact, Marketable Niche Programs to Attract and Retain Students (O'Hare Room)

Sam Chestnut, The Lippman School

The Lippman School, Akron, Ohio has created educational programs that have helped define its market niche, attracted new families, and strengthened school programs and enrollment for existing families.  This cross-cultural model has invigorated not only the secular studies but also, and importantly, the Judaic experience for families and students. Beginning with this case study, this workshop will be a facilitated conversation for school leaders and board members to examine their own school and community to consider what opportunities might exist for school-wide educational initiatives with intentional marketable opportunities. 

• Nurturing the Talent in Already in Your School: Getting good teachers to stay (and become even better!)  (Orly Room)

Amy Ament & Judy Rosenblatt, New Jewish Teacher Project

This session for school leaders will focus on how to leverage the talent you already have in your school by cultivating an environment of teaching and learning among your staff. We will explore numerous ways school leaders can develop the capacity of their teachers and offer meaningful, relevant professional development for their entire faculty, veteran and novice alike. Transform your school by uncovering the untapped potential and talent you already have.

3:00-3:15pm: Break

3:15-4:30pm: Workshop, Block 3

• Building the Board - What small schools face; what small schools need (National Room)
  

Dr. Harry Bloom, PEJE & Dr. Marc Kramer, RAVSAK

Small schools in small communities face the double-barreled challenge in recruiting board members of a more limited number of candidates and an increased amount of competition from other local organizations.  How do small school boards become boards of choice, the highly appealing and highly productive boards that savvy philanthropic leaders want to join? Come prepared to learn and share successful strategies.  

• Engaging with the Community (O'Hare Room)
  

Dr. Leora Issacs, Isaacs Consulting LLC

Providing an immersive and intensive Jewish education is what day schools do and what communities need us do to… but what else do our communities need that we could provide?  How can small day schools come to understand and meet the needs of communities in ways that expand the value proposition of the school and maybe even generate new income streams? 

• Integrating an Annual Campaign into the Core of Your School (Orly Room)
  

Adina Kanefield, Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation’s Capital / RAVSAK

How do you take your school's core values, channel them, and launch an annual campaign that stems from the heart of your school?  How do you take the lessons you impart upon your students and inspire your community to make your school a philanthropic priority?  This session will provide practical tactics and inspirational guidelines to help you create a culture of philanthropy at your school and a meaningful and successful annual campaign.

4:45-5:30pm: Concluding Session: Finding our footing, finding our voice- what can small schools do together? (Grand Ballroom A)

Cheryl Hirsch, Austin Jewish Academy (facilitator)

They say that leadership is a lonely practice, but does it have to be so?  Each of our schools may be small, but together, we represent over 3,000 students in over 40 communities.  What could we do it we did it together? This session will explore ways that the small schools and join forces on

...

Goal:

To help day school educators and administrators explore effective educational practices for serving students with a variety of special learning needs and identify approaches to making their schools welcoming and inclusive of a range of students and families. 

Description:

Day schools have often struggled to meet the educational needs of students who have a variety of learning disabilities and other social, emotional, behavioral or health challenges. Gain a deeper understanding of the range of students characterized as special needs; learn new approaches to special needs inclusion from both within the Jewish day school system and from other school systems; grapple with the administrative and financial obstacles that might seem daunting and begin to develop plans and strategies to become truly welcoming and inclusive institutions.

Pre-Work:

We would like to suggest a number of videos that you might want to watch, as well as some articles that we recommend you read before arriving.

1) Videos prepared by: 

Carmel Academy, Greenwich, CT on their PALS program

The Shefa School, New York, NY, on their new school opening this coming Fall.

2) This TEDX video by Todd Rose: The Myth of Average

3) Videos by Rick Lavoi: 

F.A.T. City Workshop

 “Last one picked, first one picked on.”

Teacher’s Guide: http://www.ricklavoie.com/dos.pdf

4) Community Vision for Serving Students with Special Needs in Greater-Boston’s Jewish Day Schools

In addition, as an ongoing resource we wanted to share a number of website that our experts have found useful:

• http://www.reggioalliance.org/downloads/littlesister:thompson.pdf
• http://www.ricklavoie.com/
• http://www.allkindsofminds.org/
• http://www.socialthinking.com/
• http://projectvariability.org/

We are also starting a Reshet so that the learning that begins in this deep dive can continue after the conference. Reshets are RAVSAK’s peer-facilitated networked learning communities, which allow colleagues to post queries, share information, and collaborate.  Please subscribe today by sending an email to:  mailto:ReshetSpecialNeeds+subscribe@ravsak.org

By subscribing to ReshetSpecialNeeds you have subscribed to an email list-serv, but we hope and anticipate that this group will expand beyond email to webinars, video-chats and offline collaboration.

Agenda:

10:30am: Wrestling with Angels: Special needs and this moment in Jewish education (Grand Ballroom D)

Rabbi Shawn Fields-Meyer, Milken Community Schools

Torah is the starting place of all Jewish education. As we dive into the complexities of serving students with special needs, we will see that we are part of a long line of teachers, rabbis and community builders to wrestle with these issues. We will begin today’s journey by looking at parallels of our own challenges in the experiences of our ancient texts.

11:00am: Mapping the Journey: Where are you now and where do you want to be? (Grand Ballroom D)

Elana Naftalin-Kelman, Rosh Pina  

Come experience best practices in inclusive education while keeping focused on your own schools inclusive practices. Through self-reflection, program evaluation and sharing resources we will review where each school is on its journey towards inclusion.

12:30pm: Lunch Break (Grand Ballroom D)

1:30-2:15 pm: Understanding the Realm of Special Needs (Grand Ballroom D)

Karen Lerner, The Prentice School

Participants will review a self-assessment checklist of multi-sensory teaching practices, designed for teacher use. After a brief overview of key special education terms, we will delve into what students with that designation might "look like/sound like" in a classroom. Teachers will participate in a self-assessment checklist of their multi-sensory teaching practices. Assistive technology tools and other supports designed to enhance the learning environment will be offered.

We will then enter into a discussion of what are the cognitive, behavioral and psychological student limitations a neuro-typical classroom can support and what to do if your school does not have these resources.

Finally, we will conclude with a brief mention of the importance that active memory plays in learning, but is compromised by students with such common issues as ADHD and relay some findings from our Brain Train research with CSUSB.

2:30-4:00pm: Breakout Sessions (Participants will choose one to attend).  

• Creating Inclusive Schools: Financial Considerations and Challenges (Grand Ballroom D)

Alan Oliff, Initiative for Day School Excellence, Combined Jewish Philanthropies

Successfully implementing the vision of inclusive Jewish day schools requires serious thinking about a number of issues including financial considerations and challenges. This interactive session will focus on several key questions: What impact will an increased number of students with special learning needs have on the faculty and school support systems?  To what extent will there be the additional budgetary expenses?  Who should pay for these?  Should parents of students with special needs be responsible for paying for all, some, or none of the costs above the regular tuition? Are there resources (public, private, philanthropic) that could offset additional expenses? How can the community support schools to meet the vision?  Explore these and other questions as the workshop leaders share their experience and encourage participant engagement.  

• Of Lions and Lionesses: Working with Parents of Children with Special Needs (Room 344)

Amy Bryman

This workshop will focus on identifying the unique needs of parents and children with special needs. Participants will gain an understanding of the experience of parents when a child has been diagnosed with a disability. The workshop will cover strategies for partnering with parents in order to maximize the day school environment for the child with special needs. Learning will be experiential, using research outcomes and qualitative examples, allowing participants to actively engage in this dynamic workshop.

• What Administrators Need in Their Toolbox for Needy Students (Room 329)
  

Karen Lerner, The Prentice School

Beginning with a review of the admissions procedures needed to identify students with learning differences, we will explore the emotional climate of each school by having administrators complete a checklist. These findings will aid in determining if certain student deficits would be a good fit for a specific school.

Next, we will explore what teacher skills would be required to work with students who have learning issues, a spectrum diagnosis, ADHD and/or anxiety issues. We will also look at the topic of scheduling and how this can make or break a student's achievement. We will end with a brief overview of Common Core Standards and their potential problems for students with specific learning issues.

4:00pm: Break

4:15-5:00pm: Reflection and Next Steps: Individually and in small groups we will consider the next stops and potential destinations for your school’s journey and begin to map strategies for reaching them. (Grand Ballroom D)

Elana Naftalin-Kelman, Rosh Pina

Debbie Niderberg, Hidden Sparks

Alan Oliff, Initiative for Day School Excellence, Combined Jewish Philanthropies

Ilana Ruskay-Kidd, The Shefa School

(Facilitators to be confirmed)

Goal:
To address how tefillah fits into your school's mission, programs and educational environment.

Description:

Tefillah is undoubtedly one of the most challenging aspects in the life of a community day school, and few schools feel they have maximized their potential success in this area. Thankfully, this can change. Explore best practices in school prayer and examine how tefillah fits into the overall mission of your school. The session will serve as a collaborative space where teachers, administrators, those who fund day schools and others can share research and learn about new initiatives and successful models.

Pre-Work:

• Take no more than10 minutes to fill out this brief google survey.
• Bring with you (or have access to) your school's mission statement. (If you actually have a mission statement specific to tefillah, please bring that as well.)
• Read the following articles which will provide a common language and raise many of the questions we will explore together. (Note that we will also be sharing with you an extensive bibliography at the deep dive.) 
  • Reimagining Prayer by Wall and Markose
  • Teaching for Prayer by Yeres
  • Cain's Prayer and Abel's Prayer by Sternberg

Agenda:

10:30am: Setting the Stage (Braniff Room)

This opening session will discuss challenges, define tefilah education and identify conditions needed to enhance a prayer experience.

11:10am: Aligning Vision and Reality (Part 1) (Braniff Room)

Schools often try to achieve multiple (and very different) goals in tefilah education, without providing the scaffolding necessary to succeed. In this session, we will explore, in small groups, what diverse goals demand in terms of time, place, staffing, etc.   Representatives of schools with very specific and different goals will briefly present concrete examples.

12:30pm: Lunch- Challenges by Ages and Stages (Eastern Room)

The lunch period will provide an opportunity for participants to join facilitated discussions addressing some of the unique challenges and innovative possibilities for different age groups (elementary, middle and high school).

1:45-3:00pm: Aligning Vision and Reality (Part 2) (Braniff Room)

Having explored the issues inherent in aligning vision and reality earlier in the day, participants will reflect individually and then work in havruta to explore the degree of alignment within their own schools and identify what steps need to be taken next.

3:00pm: Break

3:15-4:30 pm: Case Studies- Addressing Specific Challenges (Braniff and Eastern Rooms)

Schools share common challenges in tefilah education. Participants will choose from a number of specific topics and explore, by way of case studies, the depth of the challenge and what must be considered in order to move forward: 

4:30pm: Wrap-Up and Next Steps

We will summarize the lessons learned from our deep dive, list the open questions, explain what participants can expect to receive in terms of follow-up, and discuss the extent to which the group may want to continue to “meet.”