Jen: As a director whose school is participating in the pioneer community of ElevatED, I have watched the ways in which my participating staff have been learning and growing together since the program launched in the fall. ElevatED’s groundbreaking collaborative initiative to transform the field of early childhood Jewish education has the potential to revolutionize the ways in which we view early childhood Jewish education and the connection between educators, families and communities. I am honored to be a part of it all. In preparation for this article, two of my mentor teachers, Brynn Klein, and Caroline Smith, shared with me their recent experience as part of their ElevatED mentor journey.
Field trip days were always so much fun in elementary school. Riding a bus with all your friends, not having to sit in the classroom, and getting to explore a new environment was the perfect recipe for a fun day at school – because we weren’t in school. As adults, we don’t have these types of opportunities very often, if ever.
On March 11, ElevatED directors, mentors, and emerging educators were invited to visit Beginnings Nursery School and the Teaching Beyond the Square Material Center in New York City. Since so much of our learning through the ElevatED community has been online, we were excited to sign up for this opportunity to take a field trip on a school day!
Brynn: The most meaningful part of the day for me was being able to see the ways in which other schools and teachers do what we do – teach young children. The experience of walking into another school environment, seeing their classroom set up and design, and the ways in which other teachers teach, encouraged me to think about the ways in which I do things in my own classroom. I came away with newly found inspiration of ways I could do things differently with my own class.
Caroline: Seeing the Reggio Emilia approach in practice in a different environment reminded me that there are so many ways that it can be done in our school. Talking to other teachers, sharing ideas and insights and being able to reflect on what each of us does in our own classrooms was the best part of it all.
Coming from a suburban town on Long Island and visiting an urban preschool in the heart of New York City, there were obvious differences between the two schools. Our school on Long Island is set on nine acres of property, with wide open spaces, grass and trees, and ample playground space. Beginnings is located on multiple floors of a building in downtown Manhattan, near Union Square. Classrooms are smaller and space is at a premium. The coolest, most impressive part of the school is their Material’s Center, which houses the largest assortment of loose parts we had ever seen. Seeing their center inspired us to think about ways we could start something similar in our school on a much smaller scale. We started coming up with items we could ask parents to start saving right now – laundry caps, coffee stirrers, carpet squares, paint swatches, bottle caps and more! We took lots of pictures of ways in which teachers use these loose parts in their classrooms, from birthday charts to counting and more.
Caroline: Being able to play with loose parts was a lot of fun. Brynn and I made a sukkah out of bag ties, straws and other upcycled materials. We were very proud of our creation! When we returned to school, we were talking about the letter T and I pulled out our loose parts and we called the activity “Trashy Treasures”.
Brynn: I was inspired talking to another teacher about sitting in circle time. This class used actual pretzels to demonstrate seating positions. The pretzel twist was used to represent “crisscross applesauce,” while the pretzel sticks were examples of legs outstretched, etc. I plan on using this when the children come to school in September. I took so many pictures of easy ways to change things up using nature and loose parts. I loved seeing numbers represented using chestnuts on a string. Such a simple, yet fun way to teach counting.
Jen: Brynn and Caroline had so much to share when they came back to school after their field trip. They sent me pictures during the day, and they were excited to share with the other teachers in the 3’s about what they saw and learned. As we look towards the fall, they are already talking about ways in which to incorporate some of their learning into new curriculum. I am already thinking about ways to make our own materials center (on a much smaller scale!) in our facility. ElevatED’s field trip was just what my teachers needed to stay inspired for the rest of the school year and beyond. I hope that we can offer staff a field trip like this yearly because the benefits of this type of learning surpass what can be learned in a conference or workshop. The best part for me is seeing my teachers inspired and excited. I am also now in conversation with other local preschools about finding days we can “swap” staff. Visiting other schools offers our educators the unique and valuable opportunity to engage in conversations on-site where they can share ideas and support one another. This is the true meaning of kehillah kedoshah!
Jen Schiffer, ECC Director
Brynn Klein, Caroline Smith, Head 3's Teachers
The Community Synagogue
Sands Point, NY
