About

The short version

Hi! My name is Elana. I am a student at Towson University, where I study elementary and special education. I've adapted the resources and ideas I learned in college to help me become an effective religious school teacher.  This blog provides Hebrew School and Religious School teachers with free resources and ideas for their classrooms. This blog focuses primarily on the early childhood and early elementary years (grades K-2). However, feel free to modify and change these ideas to fit your needs.

The long version

Teaching Hebrew School has always been a dream of mine. And when I was offered a job teaching Kindergarten at my home shul, I took it right away! 

It took me only a half second to fall in love with my students and the working environment. I learned many things my first year--- but there was a single moment that changed everything for me. 

About half way through the year, the workbooks disappeared. I'm not kidding. On that morning, I waltzed into my classroom at 8:30 am, set up my activities, and then went searching for our class set of workbooks. 

Only, the workbooks were nowhere to be found.

By the end of the day I had pieced together three important clues:
  Someone (I’m not saying who) accidentally threw out the workbooks.
Retrieving them was impossible .
And replacing the workbooks was not an option

Well……

My first reaction was dread. How were the students going to learn their Hebrew letters? How could I be a Hebrew School teacher now? My main resource was gone!

But then…..

I paused. It took only a fraction of a second for me to realize something wonderful.

My workbooks had been thrown out, which meant I didn’t have to use them. I could teach the letters in a different way, a more authentic way, and I wouldn’t even get in trouble. I would get to do what I always dreamed of doing—actually facilitating knowledge (and not relying on a silly workbook to do it for me).

I went home and I began to think. I poured over my Universal Design for Learning textbooks that I had bought for my education classes at school.  And then, over the next few months, I began to develop my own resources for teaching the Hebrew letters to my kindergarten class. I got creative. I thought outside of the box.

In a nutshell, this blog has grown out of that single moment. I want to share everything that I’ve made with other Hebrew School and Religious School teachers (free of course).In addition to addressing the Hebrew Letters, I also created resources about the Jewish Holidays.

Feel free to download and use any of the resources that I’ve posted.

Teaching Hebrew School brought me so much joy and happiness this year! And now I would like to share it with others.