Taking part in “Torah Freeze” at StorahLAB, held July 14-20 at Brandeis University, are, from left, Devorah Klar of Chabad of West Orange, Mindy Schreff of Temple Sha’arey Shalom in Springfield, and Sandra Bernoff of Morristown Jewish Center-Beit Yisrael. In the exercise, teachers freeze a moment in the Torah — in this case, Moses approaching the burning bush. Klar covers her face as her peers react.
Photo courtesy StorahLAB
September 18, 2008
Five local religious-school teachers spent a week this summer gaining “cool tools” for the classroom.
In workshops held at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., July 14-20, the five learned methods to incorporate theater and storytelling in their lessons.
Running the workshops was StorahLAB, the teacher-training program of Storahtelling, a New York-based group that fuses theater, Torah, and interpretation in its performances at schools, synagogues, and community events.
The teachers’ participation was fully funded by a $6,500 grant from the Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life; they were accompanied at StorahLAB by Suzie Wainer, the Partnership’s director of professional practice.
“Teachers don’t always want to do frontal learning, but they don’t know what else they can do. This gives teachers tools they can use,” said Wainer.
Mindy Schreff of Temple Sha’arey Shalom in Springfield has already put one “cool tool” to use at her school’s first faculty meeting. She asked participants to role play with one another as biblical characters. “It was amazing what insights everyone had,” she said.
Similarly, she plans to encourage students to offer their own loose translation for each word of the Sh’ma, which yields new, hip versions like “Yo! Peeps! Listen up! There’s only one God!”
Each participant is required to mentor two other teachers — one from their respective schools and one from somewhere else. “Our Storah mentors will embed the methodology in the community, and we don’t have to send people to the training every year,” said Partnership director Robert Lichtman.
The Partnership, the educational arm of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, has begun to focus strongly on experiential education. The seminar marked the third program it offered through Storahtelling. The grant was made possible by the Partnership’s Fund for Innovation.
Schreff had participated in a previous workshop and had already begun implementing the ideas; the other teachers came to it completely fresh. At least one said she was totally transformed.
“When I think of my StorahLAB experience, I am reminded of Dorothy in the movie The Wizard of Oz,” wrote Gail Nalven of Bnai Keshet in Montclair in an evaluation. “Her entire life is in black and white until the tornado changes everything. Although I have been teaching in Jewish education for over 10 years, StorahLAB has given me the tools to add vivid color to my teaching.”
Also taking part in the training were Sandra Bernoff of Morristown Jewish Center-Beit Yisrael, Judith Jaffe of Shomrei Emunah in Montclair, and Devorah Klar of Chabad of West Orange.
StorahLAB was held in collaboration with the Institute for Informal Jewish Education’s BIMA and Genesis program.
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