July 2013- Hidden Sparks’ partner organization in Baltimore, SHEMESH, offered the Learning Lenses Course for the first time. Participants included classroom teachers, special education teachers and school psychologists from five local Jewish Day Schools (Bais Yaakov, Bnos Yisroel, Krieger Schechter Day School, Ohr Chadash Academy, and Talmudic Academy). Together with facilitators Gila Haor and Faye Friedman of SHEMESH, they explored strategies for effectively teaching to all types of learners. "I have learned so much from this course. I wish I had learned this 20 years ago!" was typical of the extremely positive feedback from participants.
The Learning Lenses course was developed by Hidden Sparks and The Churchill School and Center and serves as the core curriculum of the Hidden Sparks professional development program. It is designed to help teachers learn how to observe, reflect and plan for all students in their classrooms. Using the lenses of neurodevelopment, temperament and ecology, as well as utilizing real-life case studies, participants develop strategies for all learners, including those who struggle academically and present challenging social-emotional issues.
Congratulations to SHEMESH for a successful Learning Lenses debut! And special thanks to the Covenant Foundation for providing support for Hidden Sparks’ expansion to Baltimore.
More quotes from the Baltimore participants:
“It was eye-opening to break down each of the neurodevelopmental terms to see that when we describe a student, we often use terms that are too broad. Focusing on exactly what problems the student has will make it so much easier to work on a strategy to help that student.”
“The strategies we discussed really helped.”
“One of the “extras” of this course is hearing everyone’s strategies! Nothing can compare with the “been there” advice.”
“I felt there was a lot that can be directly applied to the classroom.”
"I liked bringing in actual cases and students who we are working within our own schools.
"Looking at my learning profile and making one for my students, put a whole new light on looking at strengths and weaknesses."
“Looking at student work was interesting. I think that it is a part that is often overlooked, but as we saw, it can give us a new dimension of understanding about our students.” I enjoyed the jigsaw activity with the articles about ecology. The articles had good points. It was also interesting to learn in a different setting with new people with their own experiences.
“The activities done among us in the group, all of us from a different perspective, taught me a lot. I learned how important it is to focus in as much detail where the breakdown is happening in as much detail as possible so we can focus on specific strategies to help.” Getting strategies from everyone was fantastic.
“The casual, yet structured environment that you created was so inspiring! Thank you so much.”
“The days flew by!”
