By Gloria Becker, Director, Learning Initiatives in Jewish Education Jewish Learning Venture is taking on a bold, new program for our agency and for the educators in the greater Philadelphia area. On June 8 and 9, Education Directors and experienced teachers from Part-time Jewish schools will work together to learn to create curriculum. Most directors and teachers have "tweaked" an existing curriculum, but only a very few have had the opportunity to create curriculum from scratch. We will be applying the principles of "Backward Design" to prioritize goals, learning targets, content, and student assessments. We will also learn about "Universal Design for Learning" [...]

By Nicki Pollock, Executive Administrator at Jewish Learning Venture In contrast to my coworkers, I didn’t grow up with the celebration of a seder being a central family tradition. So, my recipe for an epic and notable seder includes just a few key ingredients. Among the most meaningful are those I source directly from my children and their experiences at the early childhood center, religious school, and junior choir at Congregation Beth Or. Whether it's an elaborately decorated floral center piece from an ECE center Seder gone by, a sprig of Karpas from a seed planted during an in an class activity, [...]

By Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, Director, Whole Community Inclusion Reesa shares about autism in school and in social settings Did you know that 1 in 68 children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)--a neurological condition that affects social understanding, communication and sensory integration? April is #AutismAwarenessMonth, a time when extra attention is focused on both raising awareness about autism and also taking action to better support and integrate people with autism and their families into our communities. The amazing teens in the Reta Emerson Fellowship/Teen Assistant Program (TAP) have been learning best practices for working with students who have autism [...]