SPECIAL SECTION: EDUCATION 2021
Congregation Beth Israel’s Religious School in Portland, touches the heart and soul of every student through the study of Judaism. How have you been teaching lately? In-person, online or a hybrid schedule? The high school class has been entirely online this school year.
Ben Sandler
has worked in different capacities in the field of education since 1994. He is currently the education director for Congregation Beth Israel and also teaches in the HS Midrasha program as the core teacher for the eighth and ninth grade students.
What were some of your biggest challenges teaching in 2020? What have you found to be some of your students’ biggest challenges? While our Midrasha program strives to engage students in rich Jewish content from history to social justice, the core of the experience is connecting to a unique community of Jewish teens, and making lifelong friends. Building community and meeting people has been extra challenging this year, especially for our new students. Even with all the creative possibilities technology allows, the online modality makes connecting and being responsive, especially to subtler needs and interests of the students, challenging. What are some positive takeaways from 2020 that you may utilize moving forward? We’ve forged and expanded connections to national education webinars. Our students have had the opportunity to learn from talented individuals and hear from Jewish teens from all around the country. We’ve pivoted to smaller cooperative learning style instruction for specific topics of interest. Both of these opportunities allow our kids to connect with a wider scope of Jewish learning, and utilize a small group format for certain topics we’d like to carry forward. Children are very resilient, but do you have concerns about the long-term impact of this past year on your students? What are some positive effects you have noticed? I am truly awed by our students’ appreciation for all their blessings in life, even under the tremendous fear, isolation and disappointments they are experiencing during the pandemic. As we begin to better understanding the long-term impact on the kids, our Jewish learning communities are excellent places to move forward together and do the work both as individuals and as a community to heal, learn and grow. What are you doing to prepare for 2021? As educators, we need to continue to stay creative, be reflective in the work we do with students, engage in professional development, and prepare for multiple scenarios in terms of the physical learning environment for the coming school year.
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE
