Teacher Resources

For all of us, the past few pandemic years have been scary and disorienting. For teens in a hunkered-down society, it’s also meant losing opportunities to develop independence.  

“What our teens need in this moment is support for finding their voice and finding their autonomy. Then we’ll slowly see the pain and fear untangle,” says Michelle Shapiro-Abraham, an award-winning teen educator and director of strategic innovation and youth programs at the Union for Reform Judaism. "We need to showing them that they can claim their power.”

Dreaming Bigger: Jewish Leadership for Teens by

For all of us, the past few pandemic years have been scary and disorienting. For teens in a hunkered-down society, it’s also meant losing opportunities to develop independence.  

“What our teens need in this moment is support for finding their voice and finding their autonomy. Then we’ll slowly see the pain and fear untangle,” says Michelle Shapiro-Abraham, an award-winning teen educator and director of strategic innovation and youth programs at the Union for Reform Judaism. 

She points to two new resources that are committed to lifting up teen voices and showing them that they can “claim their power.”

It's a new school year, and a new season of staff development opportunities.

Consider the following:

• What changes do you want to bring to your setting?
• How will you know whether your staff has the skills to actually do things differently?
• How will you help them identify and develop the new skills they might need?

If we want to teach differently, we need to make sure we and our staff have a way to identify, articulate, and then develop the new skills that will help everyone grow professionally and become reflective practitioners.

Rubrics are one tool to help us do that. Rubrics can articulate the specific skills that help teachers excel in areas such as content knowledge, classroom management, inclusive focus, family communication, work with madrichim, community building, and collaboration with colleagues. A rubric not only sets out standards to assess progress, it also

Deepen the holiday learning by focusing on the big ideas to make best use of your limited time and attention spans to create rich learning.

The pandemic has been challenging for all of us, and even as we remain creative and resilient and dedicated, these uncertain times can make us - and our students - feel mentally and physically worn out. 

Learning to practice self-care as a habit can help improve coping skills and mental health. 

Here are a few techniques to try as we settle into another atypical school year.

Practice being present

Mindfulness is a catch word these days, and with good reason. It’s a way of being in the world, the ability to pay attention to the present moment, the here and now. There’s a growing body of research pointing to the effectiveness of mindful practices on our ability— both adults and children—to pay better attention, make thoughtful decisions and calm ourselves down. Our ability to be in the moment requires opportunities to pause and slow down together and individually.