Issue 1 - Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls

“The Stream“ August 30, 2013/24 Elul 5773
Teachers Teaching Teachers
Playing Hard in the Summer Sandbox-by Mrs. Leah Herzog, Tanakh Faculty and Israel Guidance
For three days in July, Ma’ayanot hosted a new kind of professional development program called The
Summer Sandbox. The Sandbox was the brainchild of Mrs. Tikvah Wiener, coordinator of interdisciplinary
studies, chairman of the English department at The Frisch School and a founding member of JED-
LAB, which is a Facebook group comprised of and open to all the partners in Jewish education engaged in
an ongoing, bottom-up effort to improve all kinds of Jewish education.
I found out about the Sandbox from Mrs. Weiner, through JEDLAB and through an email that was sent to
Ma’ayanot faculty by Mrs. Pam Ennis. This was to be an “un-workshop”: there was no keynote and no
workshops to choose from. Instead, we learned together—through discussion and debate, through Skype
and through demonstration by experienced practitioners. It was a place to “play hard”—to learn a great
deal and to have fun doing it.
I was joined in the Sandbox by Mrs. Pam Ennis, Ma’ayanot’s Director of Community Relations, and by
Mrs. Becky Katz of our Math Department, and by almost 20 other people from the tri-state area and beyond
(as far away as Florida!). Our group was religiously pluralistic, and comprised of people from day
schools, supplemental schools, Jewish communal work and philanthropy. Tikvah Wiener, together with
Akiva Mattenson and Peninah Warburg, both 2013 graduates of Frisch, organized and largely facilitated
the three-day event; nevertheless, with the exception of a few previously-organized sessions, what we
learned was left to us. The goal was both amorphous and exiting: at the end of the three days, each of us
was to complete a “project” that we would share with the group and, hopefully, with our students or parents
or schools or communities. We would choose the project based on our passions and needs. I chose to
re-frame and revise the curriculum for the study of Devarim, part of our Grade 12 Bible class. I also
worked on ways to integrate more PBL (Project Based Learning) into units I teach in grades 9 and 12.
We worked how and where we wanted: in pairs, trios, solo, even at home (as I did for one afternoon). We
were able to stay in whatever “configuration” we were in, or to collaborate with other individuals and
groups at other times. Ideas and expertise where shared freely and fertilized the soil to grow new perspectives.
Lunch was designed to be more “coffeehouse meetup” than just a time to eat. There was paper on
the tables so we could sketch or jot ideas down as they came to us. Over three days, in a style that definitely
resembled the Beit Midrash, we learned together about the MIT Media Lab’s model of “serendipity
by design” and “hard play” and “fail fast to fail forward,” about student-driven and inquiry-based learning,
and about project-based learning. We talked about the needs for digital citizenship, and debated the competing
models of 21 st Century education. We spent three days deeply engaged in thinking about and working
on education.
Each of us walked away with something unique and personal, and each of us left with ideas, projects or
goals to work on during the upcoming year. It was invigorating and exciting; since teachers are perpetual
students, it was a great place to play! To read an article about the “Sandbox” which appeared in the Jewish
Standard this summer, click here.
Professional Development for our faculty is coordinated by Mrs. Shifra Schapiro of our Tanakh Department
and Mrs. Merav Tal-Timen, Ivrit Chair. In addition to arranging monthly “Lunch and Learn” programs
for faculty, Mrs. Schapiro and Mrs. Tal-Timen are working with faculty this year to develop opportunities
for Professional Learning Communities (PLC). PLC's are interdepartmental, created based on
teacher interest, and meant to encourage teacher reflection and experimentation with techniques learned
through collaboration with colleagues.
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