• activities,  Digital tools,  Diversity,  International collaboration,  pre-service teachers,  relational education,  teacher-education

    GatherEd: Learning and Creating Global Teacher Education

    May 17, 2023

    What does GatherEd mean to me? For the second time, GatherEd has provided an opportunity to halt the everyday race, always loaded with local worries, administration, tasks and surroundings, to zoom out of routine and into crucial issues from a different perspective. GatherEd means a chance to grapple with the complexity of education in a changing global reality, collaboratively unpacking terms like multiculturalism and multilingualism. GatherEd has given me the space to think about global teacher education, digital responsibility, inclusion, accessibility and democratic competencies alongside dedicated colleagues from Norway, Iceland, Greece, Spain and Israel. I am grateful for the invitation to attend my second GatherEd workshop at the University of…

    Read More
  • Diversity,  International collaboration,  Professional Learning,  teacher-education,  Teaching

    GatherED: Global Teacher Education “Languages as tools for developing global citizenship”

    October 20, 2022

    I am in a hotel in Crete writing to process an inspiring three-day inspiring workshop funded by the Erasmus + program. When I arrived in Rethymnon in Crete from Israel, I knew I would be participating in a GatherED international workshop about language education in multi-lingual and multi-cultural classroom environments. I immediately discovered that the learning was engrossing, and the powerful emotional connections with fellow participants extended well beyond any expectation.  I flew to Rethymno with four Oranim College of Education colleagues. I knew Janina Kahn Horwitz, the head of my department, very well, but the others were only acquaintances. Representing the college together in an international context instantly bonded…

    Read More
  • teacher-education,  Teaching

    Everyone is talking about ‘back to normal’

    November 6, 2021

    ‘Back to normal’, everyone is talking about ‘back to normal’. What is normal? Is it possible to go back after what we have experienced? None of us knows if we are in the wake of the COVID19 crisis or in the midst of another of the unfolding waves of the virus; none of us can tell if the routine we are creating at present will remain stable for an extended period. Everything is still uncertain and fragile, and we are all learning to live with unpredictability. I constantly remind my pre-service teacher students that the flexibility they are acquiring in these ever-changing dynamic times will serve them well in their…

    Read More
  • Digital tools,  Literacy,  Online Education,  Professional Learning,  Teaching

    Chat stations: Moving a favourite teaching strategy online

    August 15, 2021

    I am always searching for ways to encourage my students to be active and involved in the lesson; I aim for all to be engaged in the discussion. A whole-class discussion usually means a few students contributing, directing most of the comments to the teacher ping pong style. Even if the teacher decides to hear every group member, it can only ever be a short statement because of time limitations.I follow and deeply admire Jennifer Gonzales, a teacher blogger at Cult of Pedagogy. A few years ago, Gonzales wrote a post on ‘chat stations’, a teaching strategy that resonated with me, and I adopted it immediately. The simple idea involves…

    Read More
  • two white message balloons
    Online Education,  relational education,  teacher-education,  Teaching

    Additional space for conversation: Informal Zoom meetings

    November 24, 2020

    In this period of social distancing and online teaching and learning, we are all in need of communication with others. We all need to see unmasked smiles, hear laughter, and look people in the eye, even if it is through a screen. Students are studying from home, and many have no contact with other students outside the formal lessons. As a relational teacher educator, I firmly believe learning is based on relationships with students and between the students. Building relationships in this academic year is more challenging than usual and requires educators to be creative. I need to be present for my students, and they need to feel that they…

    Read More
  • Online Education,  teacher-education,  Teaching

    An Opportunity for Collaborative Thinking in Online Learning

    November 15, 2020

    I’m reflecting on the last synchronous lesson in the ‘Teaching English to Young Learners’ course.  I have quite a lot of thinking to do about the structure of the lessons. I have divided my 36 students into two groups and have allotted 45-minutes for each, in my attempt to free students from sitting continuously on Zoom. I’m happy about that decision, but 45 minutes is looking very short to me now if I want to present a practical activity, and then have a meaningful dialogic interaction activity in small groups.  Yesterday we had fifteen minutes together playing two games which can be directly applied in any elementary or high school…

    Read More