As we were busily and excitedly preparing our classrooms to welcome children in September, we had the incredible opportunity to participate in a workshop led by Jonathan Shmidt Chapman, who, in partnership with our federation and Elevated, came to Boston to work with our educators. After such positive feedback from our teachers, we are delighted to learn from and with Jonathan at Yom Chadash in January.
Here are some of the reflections from our educators.
Jonathan does a great job of engaging his audience and sharing his knowledge in a fun and entertaining way! I enjoyed actually doing the crafts and activities that the kids would be doing in our classroom. I found Jonathon’s use of imaginative play to be the most impactful. I like the idea that kids can use simple objects to imagine or create different scenarios. For example, we have implemented the use of simple sensory bins for the Jonah and the Whale story. We use sand and ocean animals and allow the kids to play and imagine on their own. Overall, I enjoyed the simplicity of his crafts, because it leads to more use of the child’s imagination.
We have been putting out various items and activities related to the high holidays with a very open-ended concept, and we have enjoyed seeing how our classes have put them all together (or in some cases, not together at all).
When I attended the professional development with Jonathan Chapman, I was really inspired by the way he taught us how to share stories from the Torah. I appreciated how he used props to tell the stories and demonstrated how the kids could participate in storytelling. The session was very interactive and fun. We brought this back to our classroom and the children have enjoyed acting out stories from the Torah.
He made me see theater for young children from a different perspective. I was inspired by the words he was using and the examples of how we can modify the play for all different ages. For the younger children, you don’t have to use fancy or unfamiliar language, but rather gestures, movements, and acting. It was very encouraging to participate in. I loved it!
I found the session thought provoking.
The thing that jumped out at me the most is how much information he was able to give us on the holiday while acting and moving around. As a teacher to young students, I’m always looking for new ways to give information to different types of learners. Jonathan was able to show me new aspects of the holiday that I had not experienced in my almost 20 years of being a Jewish early educator. Not to mention, we had a great time doing it.
I felt like a kid. For the first time in my life, I felt like a person my age can play. I liked the way he was dancing and explained things to us. That training was very good.
Reflections compiled from teachers at Temple Beth Avodah in Newton, MA and Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, MA.
