Oct. 28, 2015
Dear subscriber, 


MOFET JTEC Portal Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

We are delighted to send you the latest issue of The MOFET JTEC Portal resource listing.

The current bulletin contains a number of items dealing with teaching Hebrew, online learning resources and research papers on teacher education and many others.
 
We are very happy to include a summary of research done by Dr. Esther Kalnisky of the MOFET International staff on a teacher education program for Ethiopian immigrants.

Wishing you interesting and enjoyable reading,

Reuven Werber

The MOFET JTEC Portal Team

October 28, 2015 Jewish Portal of Teacher Education
Please note: a complete list of recent additions to the portal follows the Featured Items.
October 2015
Featured Items
Hebrew Language Proficiency Project Aims to Improve Hebrew Education by Focusing on Teachers
For years, many graduates of Jewish day schools around the world — and their parents — have expressed disappointment in their level of Hebrew proficiency despite years of Jewish education. To help solve that problem — and in the process afford Hebrew educators the same respect and status that tends to be given to other educators — Builders of Jewish Education (BJE) in Los Angeles has partnered with Hebrew at the Center (HATC), a Massachusetts-based nonprofit. Dedicated to professionalizing Hebrew language instruction, we launched a multi-year program for L.A. day schools known as the Hebrew Language Proficiency Project, which, since 2011, has had an impact on 2,000 students, 65 teachers, and 27 Hebrew coordinators and lead teachers.
Hone Your Teaching Craft through Online Courses from MOFET International
I would like to share with you some wonderful online learning opportunities through the MOFET Institute. MOFET which is based in Israel offers online courses in English on the Educational Use of Information and Communication Technologies as well as enrichment courses in teaching Jewish Studies. Full disclosure, I teach a course in each of these programs on Using Web 2.0 Tools to Transform Teaching and Learning and on Using Technology to Teach Talmud and Torah She’Baal Peh. What I find to be most rewarding about these courses is the incredible diversity of the students. I have had students from 6 continents, Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America and from various cultural and religious backgrounds. This diversity creates a rich discussion and fruitful sharing which would not be possible in a conventional course in a brick and mortar school. I welcome you to enroll in one of these courses. The Fall Semester begins on October 18, 2015 so there is still time to register.
AlHaTorah.org Launches New Online, Customizable, Mikraot Gedolot on Sefer Bereishit
AlHaTorah.org invites educators to utilize its new online Hebrew customizable Mikraot Gedolot. This edition contains a wide array of classical commentators, including newly published material from Rashbam and R. Yosef Kara, Rashi Leipzig and several other commentaries now digitized and incorporated in a Mikraot Gedolot for the first time (Dayyakot LeRashbam, R. Avraham b. HaRambam, Shadal first edition, Ibn Kaspi). The Online Mikraot Gedolot allows users to choose which commentators they want to appear on the screen, so that teachers can adapt it to their classroom's specific needs. Students will love the ease of navigation and clarity of the text. Those who want to delve deeper can turn on the notes setting and learn more about the text and its context.
About 'Journeys of Hope: Ethiopian Jews Following the Paths of Education, Academic Studies, and Success'
Dr. Esther Kalnisky of Achva College and the MOFET Institute introduces the newly published book: Journeys of Hope: Ethiopian Jews in the Paths of Education, Academic Studies, and Success by Esther Kalnisky, Shosh Millet, and Nahum Cohen all of whom have been involved in teacher education for many years, particularly in the training of students who either immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia or were born in Israel to native Ethiopian parents. The book tells the moving story of the Ethiopian Jews' journey to Israel – a journey fraught with hardships – as well as their encounter with everyday life in the new land with its dual elements of spiritual elation and disappointment.
Hebrew Is Being Taught Today in a Shanghai Primary School
Recently, the Shanghai Evergreen School, an outstanding primary school in Shanghai, became the first primary school in Shanghai to offer Hebrew classes. It is a part of their efforts to boost students’ interests in minority languages.The teachers are from SISU (Shanghai International Studies University). These include Israeli teacher Miri Beck, who is a Professor of Hebrew at the university. Indeed SISU is one of the few Chinese universities which teach Hebrew.
Strategic Directions for Jewish Life: A Call to Action
Marking the 2nd anniversary of the release of the 2013 Pew Research Center’s Portrait of Jewish Americans, a highly diverse group of thought leaders from all around the United States has framed a “Statement on Jewish Vitality,” advocating strategic responses to respond to the challenges to the Jewish future. American Jewry now stands at a crossroads. Our choices are stark: we either accept as inevitable the declining numbers of engaged Jews, or we work to expand the community and improve the quality of Jewish life going forward. Despite the evidence of deeply disturbing population trends, the community is bereft of any sense of crisis.
October 2015
All Recent Items
Trends in Jewish Education
Easy as ‘Aleph-Bet’ in public schools with SAFA
Curricular Choices of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Communities: Translating International Human Rights Law into Education Policy
Gleanings: The Meaning of Meaning in Jewish Education
School-Church/Synagogue Partnerships: A Comparative Case Study of Religious Capital Enrichment
Between Ritual and Spiritual: Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices Regarding Prayer Education in TALI Day Schools in Israel
Toward a Moral-Imaginative Pedagogy of Talmudic Narratives
Survey of Jewish Studies Professors Shows Deepening Challenges to Younger Scholars, Declining Enrollments
Strategic Directions for Jewish Life: A Call to Action

Formal Education

Teacher Autonomy Within a Flexible National Curriculum: Development of Shoah (Holocaust) Education in Israeli State Schools
What Do We Know About The Establishment of Beit Ya'akov?
Hebrew Is Being Taught Today in a Shanghai Primary School
Israeli School Builds Cool Classroom for ADHD Teens

Informal Education

Foundation for Jewish Camp Seeks Proposals for Specialty Camps Accelerator II
New York Teen Initiative: Immersive Summer Experiences Incubator Call for Second Cohort

Teacher Education

Official Policies and Teachers’ Tendency to Act: Exploring the Discrepancies in Teachers’ Perceptions
Teaching Approaches of Beginning Teachers for Jewish Studies in Israeli Mamlachti Schools: A Case Study of a Jewish Education Teachers’ Training Program for Outstanding Students
Hone Your Teaching Craft through Online Courses from MOFET International
About 'Journeys of Hope: Ethiopian Jews Following the Paths of Education, Academic Studies, and Success'

In-Service Training

Holocaust and Human Behavior Online Course for Educators in a Jewish Setting
Hebrew Language Proficiency Project Aims to Improve Hebrew Education by Focusing on Teachers

Education & Administration

Announcing the Fourth Annual Jewish Education Innovation Challenge

Israel Education

Masa Israel Teaching Fellows 2016-2017 cohort
Third Cohort of Birthright Israel Fellows Ready to Raise Level of Excellence
‘Laboratories for Life’ – The Future of Israeli Zionism

Technology & Computers

JBlend Miami: A DJLN National-Local Community Partnership to Watch

Conferences & Events

2015 Early Childhood Jewish Education Conference

Learning Resources

Jewish Learning Matters - Jewish Education Database
AlHaTorah.org Launches New Online, Customizable, Mikraot Gedolot on Sefer Bereishit
Eight Online Tools for Teaching about Tzedakah
FindYourSummer.org – Experiences for Every Jewish Teen
October 2015
 
The newsletter contains references to all the new items added to the JTEC Portal.

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