Every child has a unique learning style, personality and life story. I love working in a school where, as a culture, we honor that uniqueness on a daily basis. Here, children become who they are genuinely meant to become.
At Mirowitz, students experience many ways to “be Jewish” through text study, prayer and Torah services, middot practice and holidays celebrations. I am so fortunate to teach Judaics in a pluralistic day school where students have an opportunity to ask deep questions, learn how the Torah and our sages answer them, and then formulate their own interpretations through art, writing, debates and role play.
I want Mirowitz students to be proud to be Jewish and to understand that Israel belongs to them. I’m excited to share my favorite songs and games, to talk about cities and kibbutzim, to connect them to special places like the Kinneret and the Kotel. I’m excited to share my own family’s story of leaving Russia as refuseniks, and to explain the diversity of the Israeli people.
I love this quote from Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus: “Take chances, make mistakes and get messy!” I seek to create a classroom that allows for chances, mistakes and messiness, where children feel safe in their vulnerability, and where creativity, enthusiasm, and joyful learning are possible.
I feel I’m giving kids a skill that is not only academic. Being able to communicate with confidence translates into personal relationships, and my greatest moments are when I see a light bulb go on, and the flood of progress that follows.
What inspires me? Children! I am grateful to be in a position to put a smile on a child’s face every day!
I look at each student as a puzzle, and it is my role to put the pieces — the skills — together. The most rewarding moments are when those pieces finally fit, and a child can say with confidence, “I am a reader,” or “I am a mathematician.”
