Learning about Autism
by Lea Rubenstein, Darchei Noam In our second TAP session of the school year, we learned about what autism is and how it affects each individual differently. We began with a short video clip from Sesame Street featuring the muppet Julia, a young, nonverbal autistic girl who is friends with the other characters, Elmo and Abby. After the video, we discussed different ways Julia’s friends made her feel safe amongst them. Our group was very fortunate to have Noah, an intelligent Jewish speaker, attend our Zoom meeting and answer the questions we had about how to best address the unique [...]
The Madrichim’s Role
by Lauren Selden, Beth Chaim My name is Lauren Selden. I am a junior and a part of Beth Chaim. Sunday August 28th I had the privilege to start my first ever workshop with TAP along with other Jewish teens. We spent some of the workshop discussing the difference between our role as madrichim in our classrooms and getting a better understanding of how to best communicate and help our students feel connected to Jewish learning. We also spent time preparing bags with items that would assist in our teaching and our students’ learning. The items included: a whiteboard, a [...]