The start of the school year is filled with anticipation and the opportunity for new beginnings. There is careful planning that goes into each school’s “Professional Development Week”, also known as “PD Week”, which is typically the week before the first day of school. During “PD Week” schools are closed for children and open for teachers to engage in orientations, professional development and classroom setup. In close partnership with the school director’s, The Efshar Pedagogical Coaching Team offered customized professional development sessions at 9 schools across the network.
The planning process for these professional development sessions begins months before, typically in June when school leaders are mapping out their vision for a successful school year. The Efshar Coaching Team, composed of Judi Morosohk, Natalie Boscoe, Yeshnaya Dougherty and Victoria Bisharat, spend time meeting with school leaders to hear about their goals for their educators for the upcoming school year. Based on these conversations, the coaches create tailored learning sessions with the vision and goals set by school leaders. Although sessions are created to support individual schools, there are common themes across our Jewish Early Childhood network of schools that indicate shared values and beliefs within our community.
There were two umbrella themes that emerged, including a strong focus on understanding and articulating values including the values of the school, Jewish values, and the values of individuals in the context of co-teaching. Read through the session titles below that focused on integrating values in a meaningful way for educators:
“Living your Values Through a Jewish Lens” Temple Sinai, Facilitated by Natalie Boscoe and Yeshnaya Dougherty
“Team Building/Getting to Know Each Other” Garden Preschool, Facilitated by Natalie Boscoe
“Jewish Lenses and Middot” HEA, Facilitated by Natalie Boscoe
“Uncovering our Rituals for Shabbat” Rodef Shalom, Facilitated by Yeshnaya Dougherty and Judi Morosohk
“Relationships Connection, and Communication” Temple Emanuel, Facilitated by Yeshnaya Dougherty and Victoria Bisharat
Another theme across the schools was the focus on the role of the teacher and the role the classroom environment plays for children. Many schools are focusing their attention on the ways in which educators co-construct curriculum alongside children to create high quality experiences each day. This includes tuning into children’s interests through intentional observation, allowing them to be the guides in their play, and learning to scaffold learning in exciting and thought provoking ways. Read the session titles below that were offered at schools in the network, focused on the role of the teacher and the environment:
“Tuning Into the Voices of Children: The Role of a Teacher as a Guide, Collaborator and Researcher” Alef Academy, Facilitated by Victoria Bisharat
“Documentation with a Focus on Picture Taking” BMH-BJ, Facilitated by Natalie Boscoe
“The Stories We Tell: Turning a High Image of The Teacher into a Collaboration” and Partnering with Your 3rd Teacher: The Environment” Phillips Early Childhood Center at the Boulder JCC, Facilitated by Victoria Bisharat and Judi Morosohk
School leaders and pedagogical coaches strive to offer professional development sessions that are applicable and create positive shifts in teaching practices. A good PD session will leave a lasting impression that results in new ways of thinking and approaches to education. Educators remarked on some shifts in their thinking and practices in the feedback surveys given after individual sessions:
“Place more importance on my patience in and out of the classroom – my biggest core value.”
“I will try to bring Shabbat in the classroom during the school year even if they are only one year old.”
“I’m going to use the questions from Victoria’s handouts during our planning meetings.”
“Asking more questions and letting kids fully investigate into their own questions.”
Over the course of 2 weeks, The Efshar Project coaches offered sessions at 9 schools, for a total of 200 educators. Each educator received a certificate of completion that will count towards their required 15 hours of professional development required by the State of Colorado. This is a total of roughly 800 hours of professional development accumulated by our educators in total. In addition to offering meaningful sessions, the coaches are committed to continuing to support the translation of these sessions into the hands-on work in the classrooms with individualized coaching support for educators throughout the school year. 97% of educators reported being satisfied or extremely satisfied with the sessions that were provided. The willingness to engage in reflective practices and be lifelong learners is what makes our Jewish Early Childhood community exceptional. We are proud to support the educators in this most important work of caring for and collaborating with young children.
