It's almost time for the 4th Annual NewCAJE Conference! Which workshops will you be attending? Here are a few suggestions:
Holiday Highs: Creating High Holiday Services for Young Families that Teach and Inspire
Speaker: Treasure Cohen, Jewish Family Education Consultant
Sunday, July 28, 2:00 - 3:30pm
Through prayers, props, and puppet “sermons,” This workshop will help educators and service leaders connect young children to the essence and spirit of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services. We will focus both on content—songs, symbols, sign language, “Birthday of the World” prop box, rituals, and liturgy—as well as the logistics of dealing with space, crowds, and timing. The goal is to create a service for young families that is uplifting, engaging, developmentally-appropriate, and authentic to the meaning and spirit of the holidays.
Teacher Survival Workshop
Speaker: Amy Ripps, Director of Education and Youth Programs at Beth Meyer Synagogue
Sunday, July 28, 2:00 - 3:30pm
Join a veteran Jewish educator for a practical session on the opportunities and challenges faced by teachers in synagogue settings – from kindergarten through adult ed classes. Topics include planning innovative lessons, organizing your time and classroom, creating inviting learning environments, working with parents and more. Presented in a useful and direct “top 10” format, this session will provide teachers with some basic tools needed for a successful school year.
A New Model for Online Learning
Speaker: David Schwarz, Behrman House
Sunday, July 28th, 4:00 - 5:30pm
In this introduction to the Behrman House Online Learning Center (OLC) you will learn why over 350 education directors have set up schools in Behrman House's new platform, the benefits their students experience with online practice, the ready-to-go resources their teachers find valuable to post, and challenges education directors face in getting everyone on board. Join David Schwarz, Behrman House's lead OLC consultant, for a live demo of an active, engaged class.
Sing it! Say it! Stamp it! Sway it!
Speaker: Ellen Allard, Early Childhood Music Specialist
Monday, July 29, 9:00 - 10:30am
Join composer and Early Childhood Music Specialist Ellen Allard for a lively, entertaining, and dynamic musical workshop. You will sing and dance and laugh and cry! You will explore the wonderful world of music for young children and you will learn why it is so important to develop and nurture singing classrooms. Ellen shares her exciting repertoire of developmentally-appropriate songs, chants, fingerplays and singing games and inspires you to return to your schools committed to making music a regular part of each and every day.
Introduction to Implementing Technology in the Classroom
Speaker: Jonathan Friesem, Manager of the Media Education Lab at University of Rhode Island
Monday, July 29, 9:15 - 12:15pm
In our digital era, Jewish education needs to be aligned with the general movement toward implementing technology into the educational system. This workshop will allow educators without technological background to explore the possibilities of supporting their teaching using digital tools. After a short overview of the theoretical background, the participants will group up to explore different ways to use digital media literacies in order to redefine their lesson plans and curriculum. During the three hour workshop, participants will be able to examine the possibilities and to reflect upon their needs in their specific educational setting. The purpose of the workshop is to explore new ways in which accessible, affordable, and safe use of digital media in the class can allow the students to be engaged and learn about the connection of Jewish values with the digital revolution.
We Counted Them - A Case Study in Project Based Learning
Speaker: Max Socol, Principal at Temple Beth Or
Monday, July 29, 2:00 - 3:30pm
It's easy to forget you're part of something bigger when you live in a southern town with a small Jewish community. Using the Biblical census as their guide, our 5th grade students undertook a massive demographic survey of our congregation, analyzed the data, and made recommendations to the Temple board based on their results. This session will review the planning and execution of this project, including how the classroom teachers used formal Project Based Learning techniques. Come learn how by engaging our students in difficult work, we helped them developed deeper understandings of klal yisrael, and how Project Based Learning can fit into your supplementary school.
Hebrew in the Online Learning Center
Speaker: David Schwarz, Behrman House
Monday, July 29th, 4:00 - 5:30pm
Learn how to use the latest Behrman House Hebrew series - Alef Bet Quest and Kol Yisrael - in the Online Learning Center. Join David Schwarz, Behrman House's lead OLC consultant, who will show you how to create a vibrant and fun online supplement to your Hebrew prayer classes and extend the learning into the home. Learn how to seamlessly weave together the book and online companion, how to post assignments, and ways to assess student work online. See how Behrman House can help enrich your class with videos, quick lessons, and even your own materials.
Why Bad Things Happen to Good People – Some Traditional Jewish Approaches
Speaker: Nachum Amsel, The Destiny Foundation
Tuesday, July 30, 9:00 - 10:30am
This is THE question-- the one which causes more people to stop believing in God than anything else. How could a fair and just God allow good people to suffer and evil people to prosper? Judaism never shied away from this issue, even though, ultimately, it cannot be resolved totally. Learn about five different approaches from traditional sources that will help you in your own struggles with Judaism, and guide you when you are teaching this topic to older students and adults.
Storytelling Strategies for Marketing Your Jewish Programming
Speaker: Lisa Lipkin, Founder of Storystrategies.net
Tuesday, July 30, 11:00am - 12:30pm
These days, capturing the attention of your audience is the hardest skill to master. Jewish institutions can no longer rely on their old tricks to sustain and attract members. They need to compete with an endless array of distractions and offerings and still offer value and meaningful programming. This hands-on workshop will introduce program directors, educators, and community leaders to storytelling strategies that can be used to market and sell your programs. Participants will learn how to transform programs into meaningful, emotionally moving content that will seduce and captivate audiences. They will also learn how to find a story in even the most seemingly mundane subject, and will practice new ways of telling it that makes spoken and written language come alive.
Using Jewish Values to Combat Bullying, Suicide, Eating Disorders and Addiction
Speaker: Anne Andrew, Education Consultant to the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver
Wednesday, July 31, 8:45 - 10:15am
Bullying, suicide, addictions and eating disorders are plaguing our communities, Jewish and non-Jewish. We have a possible antidote in three simple teachable Jewish concepts that must be not only taught, but internalized beginning in Kindergarten. These are: B'tzelem Elohim (that we are created in God’s image), Teshuvah(that we have the ability and the opportunity to change, improve and right the wrongs we have done) and Gemilut Chasadim (the imperative to reach out in kindness to others). Drawing from the work of Rabbi Shais Taub, Danny Siegel, and others, this session will present the rationale for teaching these three ideas as the foundational concepts that can alleviate terrible societal problems like the ones mentioned above, before they have chance to take root in our children. Participants will take away lesson plan ideas for each of these three concepts.
This is just a selection of the many workshops available at NewCAJE4 covering topics such as alternative models in Jewish education, life-long learning, arts, technology, and curriculum development. View the full NewCAJE4 workshop schedule!
About the NewCAJE Conference
NewCAJE conferences bring together all those involved in the transmission of Jewish education and culture.
Participants come from most states and many countries. They represent every stream of Judaism and they teach every age group. They are principals, teachers, professors, clergy, musicians, artists and storytellers from across the denominational spectrum. They are layleaders and parents, entrepreneurs and social media gurus. They work in camps, Day Schools, Hebrew Schools, Jewish Centers and synagogues to name but a few.
They come together to share ideas, learn from each other and to solve problems facing them in their professional lives. They come together to advocate for Jewish education and to improve the quality of Jewish education offered in their home communities.
NewCAJE celebrates Judaism, Jewish learning and Jewish culture, inspiring us to broaden our perspectives and renew our spirits as we do the work of linking one generation to the next.
Learn more about the conference.
Unable to attend? You can still learn with us!
Even if you won’t be attending the NewCAJE conference, we can bring some of the learning to you. Here’s how:
