Let me go home, please! (SCP Blog)

I went to bed last night grateful that I was going home today and now on a flight back to Toronto, I am thankful that this conference is over. I am so overwhelmed by the wealth of information I’ve collected over the past seven days that I just can’t take another day of it; my notebook and brain are full. I have sheets of contacts and suggestions for my education projects, at least 30 business cards complete with notes scratched on the back, and tips to myself on how to further relationships in the best way possible. I’m excited for what’s to come.

My last full day of at CAJE was spent well – I checked out David Bryfman’s session on making Israel a central part of Jewish Identity. I couldn’t leave the conference without hearing Peninnah Schram tell a story, and I attended one of her master classes to that end – she is a remarkably approachable and insightful woman. Idle Benjamin’s session on learning disabilities was useful too.

The highlight of the day however was the series of concerts that evening, including Rick Recht’s during which he brought the youth program participants on stage with him. We got a chance to see some new Jewish performers as well – Sheldon Low and Todd Herzog.

It’s been fantastic. To those that I’ve had the chance to speak to – thank you for your help and motivation. To those I haven’t – see you next year in Vermont!

And now, a word from our Sponsor…

I’m currently sitting in Lambert (St. Louis) Airport writing this blog post as I wait for my plane to board. The last 24 hours have been overwhelming in everyway possible – and for that reason, I’m going to write two separate posts…

First off, I want to just make mention of the facilities that the Schusterman College Program and CAJE took advantage of at Washington University over the last week. Our program was fortunate enough to have exclusive use of an entire floor of the Danforth Residence Hall. As a result, we were able to do much of our program within the confines of one place, making for easy and seamless transitions, along with built in time for additional socializing amongst group members. In addition, we also had two spaces allocated for specific uses: a formal Beit Midrash room, along with a more informal workshop/seminar room. As the week progressed, it was this workshop room that became our catch-all room for hanging-out as a group and creating group identity between sessions and into the evenings and nights when people could often be found noshing, talking, singing, and more than anything, bonding.

Similarly, the outdoor spaces on campus were also for conducive bonding as an SCP group (that is, when temperature conditions allowed for it). In an interesting twist on campus design that I’ve never seen anywhere else, WashU has several hammocks set up, and our group utilized them, often late at night (who says college students sleep?).

When I first looked at the map of the campus, I felt daunted and overwhelmed by the magnitude and extent of buildings that I would have to conquer in order to attend sessions. This was not the case. Sessions were held in buildings close to one another, which were no more than an 8-10 minute walk from the Wohl centre (where the dining hall was located).

Oh, and food! We Jewish learners have to ear, right? For a conference of CAJE’s size, the food couldn’t have been more varied, nutritious and delicious! Frozen yogurt, salads, fish, delicious pastas, and of course, the incredible late-night snacks of cookies and brownies that kept us energized as we discussed and debated with one another.

The reason I’ve written this post is not to advertise Washington University (although it’s a gorgeous campus – particularly at sunrise!). What struck me most about the campus was it’s staff, and how they would do nearly anything to ensure that CAJE attendees had the most positive experience possible. It all comes back to creating, establishing and building upon relationships that we have with our students, our teachers and our peers. Furthermore, in establishing credibility as an organization, CAJE needs to prove and uphold their commitment to excellence by providing their members with conference facilities that meet the needs of attendees. In my opinion, Washington University in St. Louis certainly did this – and if the high caliber of conference facilities is any indication of what is to come at Vermont next August, there are very exciting things in the works!

(Stay tuned for my next post, which will address some of Iris’ questions, which she shared with the CAJE community in a previous blog-post!)

From the President – #3

It’s hard to believe it is already Wednesday! I hope each one of you has enjoyed 3 days of amazing study – days and nights of learning, of engaging, and of wrestling with the questions that Peter Eckstein, Iris Schwartz and their amazing conference team laid out for you, as well as questions of your own.

As a people, we are never seem to lack questions, so I have some for you.

• What has been your greatest insight this week?
• What will you take home and share with others?  
• What will be shared with students? With colleagues? With parents?
• What have you determined you will do differently as a result of the learning you did this week?
• What will you want to continue to explore AND how can CAJE support you as you continue to study?

I am so sorry to have missed the experience that so many of you enjoyed (despite the heat).  Please sign into Word Press and add your thoughts so that I, and the over 1300 other members of the Coalition who are not there will learn from you. And, most importantly, share your thoughts so that the Coalition, your professional organization, can continue to support you and your professional growth.

I look forard to learning from you now and with you in the future.  Please stay involved with CAJE; share your successes, your ideas, and your questions so that we can, together, support the growth of a vibrant Jewish future.

L’shalom,

Iris

Professional Conferences for Professional Amateurs

I had a blinding realization this afternoon when it occurred to me that it’s Tuesday – and my flight leaves on Thursday afternoon. I’m not ready to go home. Although I’ve attended lots of learning sessions within the context of SCP, and a few other interesting sessions since Sunday morning, I haven’t gone to as many as I’d planned to. The reality of CAJE is that unless I figure out a way to clone myself (or send spies into all the interesting sessions), I have to make decisions about what i’m interested in, and then follow through by walking across the campus and sitting down in a lecture hall. The same thing can be said about narrowing down my choices about professional opportunities in the field of Jewish education.

Until I got to CAJE, I had no idea that so many options existed for future careers! To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t planned on a career in Jewish education to start with – I was planning to work in a very different field completely unrelated to anything Jewish! But now I’m here. And I’ve heard about the joys (and the pitfalls) of working in a rewarding field like Jewish Education – but questions remain: how do I take the knowledge that I’ve learned and integrate it to enable me to work in Jewish Education? How do I stay sane working in a field that can be very challenging at times? And how do I weigh the costs and benefits of working in a profession that at times appears to have very few perks and lots of challenges – especially when the salary at times (and especially when starting out) leaves much to be desired?

I highly doubt that I will leave CAJE on Thursday afternoon with answers. Rather, I believe that over the next several months, these questions will be the basis (or building blocks if you will) for a very personal internal conversation about what my personal and professional goals are (and should be) in relation to Jewish education. I do believe that my relationship with my mentor, along with the relationships I’ve built and developed with fellow SCP participants, staff and other CAJE members will enable me to work through these very challenging issues. If there’s anything I’ve learned while at CAJE this week, it’s that when a question is asked, generally, I don’t have an answer. Instead, I have 5 more questions in response, and it’s these questions that enable me to start thinking more critically about education, Judaism and my role in Jewish Education.

We’re in the News

We found ourselves in the St. Louis Today today!

Click here to check out the article!

The Golden Opportunity (SCP Blog)

This has been a ridiculous few days. With this entry, I mean to convey the hardly-imaginable kind of opportunities that have been available here for me — I am truly beside myself at what I have been able to do this past four days, and only two since the main conference began. In that time, I’ve formed an introductory understanding about various types of Jewish education and the serious issues educators are dealing with — from the very people that experience them. I’ve learned about this issue broadly with conference sessions on the subject, and more intimately with speakers like Jeff Lasday, Iris Schwartz and Peter Eckstein. I’ve had instruction on how to teach Jewishly from Fran Perlman, a first time for me as most of my experience has been in programing and participation. I’ve explored graduate options through the opportunity fairs here, even in one case sitting down with the Dean of the Fingerhut School of Education at the American Jewish University for an hour long one-on-one discussion.

Particularly exciting to me has been the progress I’ve been able to make with an program I’m developing. I’m working on a scuba-diving Israel-trip educational add-on program (better program title coming soon), and networking at CAJE for that purpose has been a priority for me. Let me take this opportunity now and say that there can’t be a better place to network within the field of Jewish programming and education like CAJE — it’s way too easy here. Due to the sheer number of Jewish educators and organizations that are here, most networking referrals are to participants in the conference. No phone introductions — it’s a face-to-face process here, and those I’ve already met are able to personally introduce me to their recommended people-to-talk-to — its been extraordinary. I’m not prepared to leave just yet, but when I do, I’ll be ready to continue my relationship with the JNF, Oranim, Israel Experts, and other organizations I’ve met while here. This place is a golden opportunity.

Yesterday I caught a neat* session with Joel Grishaver on his revolutionary approach to teaching Talmud, and also listened to the extraordinary Joel Hoffman as he destroyed (I mean this in a positive way) my perception of Hebrew as a relatively historically intact language, and explored Jewish-religious influence on language.

Today, among other sessions, I heard Lori Erickson demonstrate “Teaching Science Jewishly”. Although it was focused on early-childhood and not terribly relevant for my particular needs, it was great fun and we will be speaking later on about ideas she has for the age group I’m looking for in my program.

This afternoon Daniel Siegel gave me some of his time to discuss texts for my program, and I had dinner with emerging Jewish musician Todd Herzog. He’s performing his acoustic Jewish pop music tomorrow night in the Mallinckrodt building — it was interesting to hear his journey becoming a Jewish artist, and you’ll definitely find me there tomorrow.

*commentary from another SCP Fellow: Jonathan is soooo Canadian!!! Who says “neat”? I suppose this may be why we love him. That or his ridiculously good looks.

Check out these SCP photos!

Lori Erickson demonstrates “Teaching Science Jewishly”