Our two-year-old classes just began a unit on Homes. As I did my morning "rounds"

today, I noticed one little boy collaging items cut from magazines and catalogues that would generally be found inside our homes. To my delight I walked in just as he was glueing a mezzuzah and having a conversation with his teacher about the mezzuzah he has at his house.

There were other objects (shabbat candlesticks, chanukiah, etc.) waiting to be glued.

I asked the teacher if she would have thought to cut out objects that make a home Jewish prior to this "Jewish Environment Journey" that we are on and she thought for a moment and said "I really don't think so". It is the small steps we take that make a big difference. Todah to Kitah Yarok for taking a small step on a big journey!

Gluing Jewish ritual objects

let to a discussion about the

mezzuzah Alec has in his

own house!

The journey begins.......

We had our first staff meeting on January 14th and we dedicated the entire morning to the "The Vision". I have to say that I was met with tremendous enthusiasm by the staff. Prior to the meeting I asked the staff to write down their thoughts about the project, anonymously so I could get sense as to how everyone was feeling about the project.

Here are a few of their comments:

This is so exciting to me! We have already begun to add more Hebrew language in a meaningful way. This all feels so great, very purposeful.

As you can see from these photographs

we are beginning to add Hebrew langugage in a purposeful way. We are exposing children to the aleph bet, not just the transliteration.

"I like the idea of adding items around the classroom in a natural setting that reflect Jewish identity. I think if areas are less cluttered, those things will be noticed more. We are working to unclutter areas. I would like to add a Torah story to our Friday Shabbat celebration."

I am excited to collaborate with other teachers to discover new ideas as it relates to a Jewish classroom. I love the idea of a classroom environment always changing!"

"I was more concerned about this until you said "DON'T WORRY..." If you give guidelines - great! "Don"t get pressured - Great!"

"Vision for the room:

Prayer for snack, colors in Hebrew, kitchen in Hebrew, block area in Hebrew, paint in Hebrew

that's not it I'm confused!"

As you can see by the comments there is everything from excitement, fear, and confusion.

We started off the meeting by reviewing the article The Environment As Third Teacher.

The discussion was so joyful and productive we could have gone on for hours. The difference in attitude and productivity when you have a professional development day as opposed to a staff meeting after school is staggering. There was so much energy and passion in the room that I realize now we must convince our Boards/Lay Leaders to allow for this precious time more than 2 or 3 times a year. In the meantime: the staff collectively asked to change our monthly all staff meetings to dinner meetings, rather than meeting directly after school at 2p.m. Our first dinner meeting is February 7th !The article was a great starting point and I found that the staff was able to really reflect.

We spent some time discussing why it is so important to "declutter" and rotate materials.

We also addressed "the walls" and how important it is to change what is on the walls so that it doesn't become invisible to the children and to the parents! Utlizing all the senses was also a major focus. As a start we are now going to bake challah on Fridays!

After reading the article we answered the following questions: What are the Jewish Learning Goals in our School? This what the teachers came up with:

1. To create a connection to Israel though daily activities that children can understand and relate to through visual connections. (What is the weather today, what time is it, what are the children in Israel wearing today, what does their preschool look like, what do their homes look like, what did you have for dinner last night?) We are going to partner with a preschool in Israel school to accomplish this and eventually we would like each child to have a "buddy" to exchange emails with.

2. To look at the environment through a Jewish lens in all areas of the curriculum.

(We have changed our planning form to include Jewish lens, Hebrew vocabulary, changes to the environment).

3. To create and environment that says "Jewish learning and Jewish life happens here".

4. To create an environment that welcomes families to participate and learn along with their children.

Today when you walked into the building you knew it was Tu B'Shevat! The sights, sounds and smells were evident everywhere. The families were welcomed with

the sound of Israeli music playing, an array of dried

fruit, a card with the brachot, a newsletter explaining the significance of holiday and suggestions for activities they can do at home. Parents loved it!
Following the goal setting, we broke up into classroom teams and the teachers then surveyed their classrooms and made lists of everything that conveyed the message "Jewish Life Happens Here."

This was a very productive activity and nonthreatening because it was teachers looking with fresh eyes, at their own environments and generating their own thoughts and ideas.

Here is a partial list of what we came up with:

Creating a classroom book using photographs of the children called "My Jewish Day".

Add Hebrew to the picture schedules with photographs

All classroom names should be labeled in Hebrew and English

Mishpacha posters in the quiet corner of children and their families

All classrooms will have Israeli and American flags

Add Hebrew magnetic letters and letter stampers, etc. for writing center

Judaic catalogs and newspapers available

Israeli food in the dramatic play center

Add photographs (and rotate) of real buildings/places in Israel

Mezzuzah on every door

Hebrew and English names of children

Two clocks - Israel time and Westport time

Map of Israel

As you can see we have our work cut out for us. "We will keep you posted!"

Creating a Jewish Environment

January 3, 2011 - What’s Jewish about the environment?

The Conservative Synagogue Preschool Profile:

• 5 classrooms
• 12 teachers
• 53 children.

Jamie Klein, director:

• first year as director at this school
• over 20 years experience in Jewish early childhood education

Teachers:

• combination of teachers who have been at the school up to 11 years and teachers who joined the staff this year
• some come to the program with a strong Jewish background and a vibrant enthusiasm for infusing their classroom with Judaism.
• some have stronger enthusiasm for other things. 
• many but not all are Jewish. 

In my reflections about my visit to the school in 2008, I wrote, “You might be a little hard pressed to know you are in a Jewish place.” Jamie comes to the school with a passion for excellence and for igniting the Jewish life of the school.

Jamie’s reflections: Since I first got here my priority was to focus on the physical environment. The rooms looked tired and cluttered.  There were primary color plastic chairs that had seen better days, the bulletin boards were framed with store bought borders and posters interspersed with children’s work. The “Jewish environment” lacked intentional planning, with the exception of some Hebrew/English labeling of objects, Jewish books, mezuzot, and stuffed Torahs.

During Teacher Orientation in September, the focus was room arrangement and environment.  We viewed the DVD Room Arrangement as a Teaching Strategy (Diane Trister-Dodge,) A Study of Early Childhood Environments (Harvest Resources,  Giving Children More Languages (Harvest Resources), Respectful Displays of Children’s Work (School for Young Children, St. Josephs College) and got to work.  We started from the beginning by emptying closets and donated toys that needed batteries and toys that were not gender-neutral (lots of pink and blue). We were able to purchase all new wooden chairs. 

Initially the teachers were excited about the changes we were making, although we were pressed for time before the first day of school.  One of the most challenging changes for the staff was what goes on the walls. For example: no store bought borders (children’s work only), no posters unless very specific like the alphabet in the writing center, or posters with brachot listed.  This continues to be a challenge. [Max: When viewing slides of bulletin boards, I heard “joking” comments from some teachers: “Jamie told us we can’t do that any more.”]  Some teachers more than others have embraced this.  It is a process and we have had very little training time since school began.  I think I have not done a good enough job explaining the theory behind all the changes.

I’m excited about this journey to make our program an outstanding Jewish early childhood program.  The process of looking at all aspects of the curriculum with a Jewish lens is a bit daunting for me and for the staff, but a journey worth taking.

Jamie’s enthusiasm about the opportunities for change at The Conservative Synagogue made this school an ideal candidate for the Vision Documentation Project. Their focus on the Jewish environment is a concrete way to approach the change process.

On December 14, 2010 I spent the day at the school.  Jamie and I discussed our goals for this project.  The goals of the Vision Documentation Project are:

§   Using the Vision to meet the goals for the school, as set by the director, staff, and USCJ ECE consultant

§   Documenting the learning, and change process

§   Making the learning, and change process, visible and usable to all USCJ schools

Some of my reflections and thoughts from the day:

• Jamie’s enthusiasm for Jewish life is evident in the school. She created a poster introducing all the teachers, titled Our Preschool Mishpacha (family). She provides strong support for the teachers as they embrace Jewish life in their classrooms.  And still there is always for change and improvement – I suggested that wherever they have Hebrew words transliterated, they should also have the words in Hebrew letters also.  This led Jamie to talk with the rabbi about getting Hebrew fonts on her computer.
• The difference between the classrooms in which the teacher(s) has a strong knowledge base and/or passion for Judaism and the classrooms where the teachers have other strengths is striking.  How to work with this reality will be an interesting challenge.

  “Excellence in a Conservative early childhood program begins when the physical environment of the school and classroom make visible the Jewish life that is happening in the school.” -Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs

• So what is Jewish about a Jewish environment? The environment can act as a facilitator or support of the Jewish life happening in the classroom. Things like:
  • having Shabbat items available in the dramatic pay area all week long so children can play Shabbat any time,
  • placing a mezuzah on the door of the classroom and at the entrance to the dramatic play area,
  • always having Jewish books on the children’s book shelf
  • putting real Jewish art at the children’s eye level, instead of posters from a teacher’s store
  • integrating Jewish and Hebrew songs into the regular life of the classroom.
• Infusing the classrooms with more evidence of Jewish life needs to happen without just adding more stuff, more visuals on the walls. How can Jewish life both happen authentically, and be made visible authentically? 

  

  Sign reads: A collaborative art process: One by one the children joined
  their friends and started to bang on the paper with the dot paints.

   

  

  Hallway bulletin board describes how several 4 year olds spent a long, concentrated time sketching burning Chanuka candles.  Below is Laila's picture, which she spent over 20 minutes working on.

  
  
  
  
• Making Jewish life visible is a balance of so many things.  With Jamie’s guidance, the teachers have already begun documenting life in the classroom.  Part of improving the Jewish environment is reflecting on how to make the Jewish life visible.

Jamie, the teachers and I discussed the process of documenting their journey. We looked at examples of Jewish environments from many schools, including their own. The process ahead of being very reflective about their own environment, and the messages they are communicating through the environment is, I think, a little daunting for the teachers.  Not to mention the prospect of blogging about this process. All the teachers at Conservative Synagogue should be commended for their willingness to take part in this process, to both take the time to be reflective and make changes in how they approach their environment, and also for their willingness to make this process so transparent, and be open to comments from others both near and far.

I also met with Rabbi Jeremy Weiderhorn, and lay leaders Ilene Frost, Monique Greenspan and Linda Gordon. Their support of this project is critical to its success.

In the next many months, Jamie and her staff will work together, using the Vision as a guide, to reflect on, rethink and improve the Jewish environment of the school.  As they work, they will post their thoughts and pictures of the process.  Please join their journey with comments and questions! What can you learn from their process about your own journey?