Last night, I had the pleasure of hosting a prize-winning American author, Joan Leegant, at my end-of-semester meeting for faculty. We are grateful to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv for bringing Joan to the country and funding her work with our lecturers and students. What an exciting way to conclude one of our most challenging semesters. We met on Zoom to be inspired by Joan and to process our thoughts, emotions and memories in writing. Joan provided spectacular creative visuals and literary pieces as prompts. As a group, we observed unique, thought-provoking images and listened to beautiful poetry and song lyrics. In response, we took the time to reflect…
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Nice to meet you: Letters and questionnaires for building relationships with students
Teaching and learning are relational processes; building significant relationships in large classes requires planning, time, and hard work. Showing genuine interest in who my students are as individuals is crucial in developing trust and a feeling of safety in my classroom. At the beginning of each academic semester, I make sure I allow my pre-service teacher students at the Oranim College of Education to introduce themselves to me in different ways. I devote most of the first lesson to an introductory letter in a few of my courses. In the past ten years or more, I have been following a strategy I learned from Professor Julian Kitchen from Brock University…
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Student writing: Sounds in the silence
I consider my work with MEd students a privilege. I have fifteen experienced and motivated educators, joining me weekly to learn, partake in collegial conversation, write, engage with narrative, and research their classroom practice. This morning, as they crafted a memory from their school days, I listened. What does the silence of a class of writers sound like? Colourful humming creeping in, buzzing fluorescents, whirring projector. Pen scratching, pencil dragging, pen dropping abandoned. Page-turning and turning back, another tearing, banished and thrown. Buttons clicking in search of a word. A foreign tongue drifting in, curiosity lingering. Water bottles swish, a whisper and another. Children laughing from afar, a sigh. Back…
