I'm on a plane right now flying back from a great 3 day Yeshiva University School Partnership conference in NY and I have to jot down my reflections while they are still fresh in my mind.
1st and foremost, it is always powerful to get together with others and learn from one another. This conference had over 500 educational leaders from around the country (and the world) all seeking to learn new things, share ideas, and return inspired and invigorated to bring their school to the next level. There were experts giving sessions on 21st century learning, supporting diverse learners, and Day School sustainability. And there were also many opportunities to grab a coffee with a colleague and compare notes or collaborate on a project.
There were many highlights and insights from this conference, but when I reflect on the Big Idea that I kept internalizing again and again throughout the conference it was Promoting Children's Curiosity and Creativity.
It all started with an appearance by Nirvan Mullick the filmmaker of Caine's Arcade, a short documentary about an amazing kid whose dream of creating his own cardboard arcade became a reality beyond his wildest imagination.
http://cainesarcade.com/
After watching the film and hearing in person from Nirvan We had the opportunity to take on the Cardboard Challenge ourselves and build our own Jewish themed games using nothing but raw materials and our creativity. Our group created a Chesed Plinko game, not bad for a 45 minute activity.
In the 21st Century Learning Lab that I attended Heidi Hayes Jacobs exposed us to many web-based apps that kids can use to explore, observe, compare, contrast, predict, and teach. This focus on the child and inquiry-based learning was also emphasized in the presentation by Marie Alcock on the benefits and secrets of teaching through a flipped classroom.
During the conference we were privileged to hear from two amazing keynote speakers: Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Dr. Tal Ben Shahar. Rabbi Sacks focused his talks on our mission to build future leaders telling us that "good leaders create followers but great leaders create leaders." And Dr. Shahar, an expert on Positive Psychology, encouraged us to focus on the positive with our children and ask them questions like, "What are you good at? What inspires/energizes you?"
Finally, in a breakout session Rabbi Dr. Gil Perl led a session on Developing a 21st Century Judaic Curriculum in which a consensus was reached that in order to inspire our students to grow into proud committed Jewish adults we need to empower them to take ownership of their Judaic development by giving them input into the curriculum and by making the learning experiential.
There were many many other things that we learned at this IJED conference. But as I ask my students to do at the end of a class, I take with me above all else one Big Idea. That every one of our students is a future Jewish Leader, and that, just like Caine, with encouragement, empowerment, a focus on the positive, and an unwavering belief in them, our students and children will develop their own God given talents and realize their amazing potential.
