Originally published in the New Jersey Jewish Standard, July 27, 2012
Written by Larry Yudelson
Participants in the Matan Institute for Congregational School Teachers in Montclair next Sunday will have plenty of ways to take in the schedule.
They will have a handout. It will be projected on the wall. And it will be announced orally.
What might seem like communications overkill is designed to illustrate an important principle for religious school teachers, according to Dori Frumin Kirshner of Closter, Matan’s executive director. “You need to make sure every time you’re teaching a concept that you’re using all those different ways of presenting the material” to engage students with different learning styles, she said.
The institute aims to “empower the teacher with real tools for how to plan lessons that will impact all kinds of learners,” Kirshner said.
One of Matan’s central goals is promoting the inclusion of all students in Jewish education. The organization’s upcoming day-long institute in Montclair, presented in conjunction with the NewCAJE conference on Jewish education, is in part the result of a grant from the Adler Family Innovation Fund of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey. (Read more…)