by Noa Cutler, Beth Am Israel Being a TAP teen has provided me with valuable strategies and skills for connecting with students and meeting their individual needs. During the first few weeks of class, I mostly concentrated on learning about my students themselves. As a teacher’s aide, it’s important to understand the students’ habits, likes and dislikes, outlooks and limits. I noticed one student in particular, while engaged in the lessons and stories, kept trying to stand up and move around as class went on. I talked to him one on one, and then reached out to the teacher about [...]

by Mic Lieberman-Burak, Mishkan Shalom The TAP Teen program has given me the opportunity to become a more effective classroom assistant, providing me with new skills and new perspectives. It has made me better able to help the kids to have the most fulfilling and memorable Hebrew School experience possible. While there has been an important emphasis on accessibility, this program has far surpassed the basic definition of this concept. Accessibility is not only adapting a space to meet the needs of a person and their abilities; it is about ensuring that the community, and the space occupied by the [...]

by Anna Danowitz, Temple Sholom in Broomall I have learned many helpful strategies from my sessions as a TAP teen. Some of the most influential approaches I use to help a child when needed include: games, visual aids, and fidgets. Usually these solutions work, but as every child is different, with a disability, or without, not every strategy will work for every child. I learned that because no two children are the same, adapting to the child’s needs is necessary in any situation. When presented with a child who has learning differences or special needs, I have learned that patience [...]