Every Activity – A Gourmet Activity!
Designing educational activities is a complex endeavor that requires time, knowledge, and expertise. The process of writing activities resembles the way a master chef approaches food preparation. From ingredient selection to cooking techniques to product assessment, every aspect of the creating process needs control. Likewise, choosing topics of importance, researching relevant sources, selecting the ideal pedagogy and the most suitable technology while offering adaptations for different learners are all part of the creative educational process.

Although teachers spend considerable time designing activities, much more time is devoted to teaching students in real-time in the classroom. At JTeach we are in a unique position to write activities based both on Jewish content and learning theories on how students learn best. Our team includes Jewish educators with vast experience in formal and informal education, school administration, and Jewish Studies. The JTeach site contains ready-to-use activities in 20 large categories. Each category contains numerous activities on topics of importance in the Jewish classroom designed to facilitate the work of teachers. Teachers can, in turn, utilize JTeach activities to help students become independent thinkers while discovering and gaining personal insights into a particular topic. Paulo Freire articulated this eloquently when he wrote, “Being a teacher does not mean to shape students but rather making it possible for them to become themselves.”

A partnership between teachers and the JTeach team is imperative as we both have the responsibility of educating the next generation of learned and inquisitive Jews. Many teachers rely on JTeach to find well-researched, high-quality, and ready-to-use activities. We at JTeach rely on teachers to provide us feedback on the results of the implementation. As we continue to upload new activities monthly, if there is something that you would like us to research, let us know. We are here for you!

Dr. Alicia Gejman
JTeach.org
Board of Jewish Education of Chicago
alicia@bjechicago.org