Yay! Hebrew school went well today!

[xiphias]

Hebrew school mostly went well today. I've been having problems keeping control of my class, because, frankly, kids see me as a large furry jungle gym.

I don't normally mind this fact too much, because I like most kids I've met, but it does make controling a class a bit tough.

So I rearranged my room, added a table for everyone to work at instead of in a circle on the floor, and that seems to have changed everything for the better. So, if any of you reading this are planning on teaching ten six year olds, remember, you heard it here: putting them in chairs around a table makes it easier for them to control themselves.

We did some stuff on the blessings, and then I told them some stories of Hillel and Shammai (two Talmudic era rabbis who were friends and the heads of rival schools).

The second half of the day was a Hannukah party/lesson thingy that someone else set up, and I don't think that went as well as my part.

I'm not teaching next week (no class weekend after T'giving, so I've got a couple weeks to think about what I want to do next. Any suggestions?

Comments

[nolly.livejournal.com]

I do snack for the preschoolers (3 year olds through kindergarteners) on Wednesday nights at my church (3 year olds through 5th grade meet together, do songs and the story in a group, then split into preschool and elementary, divide into three groups, and rotate through snack, craft, and game (also together, generally)). The secret to keeping them relatively under control is juice boxes. A cup of water won't do. Give them a juice box and they sit at the table. Wet wipes are also good. After they wipe their hands, they like to clean the table, enough that it can be hard to get them to move to the next center!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, food is Not My Responsibility.

[angelovernh.livejournal.com]

:::giggles:::: at the large furry jungle gym of Xiphias..

yeah, I preferred tables to desks in teaching.. I had 6 trapezoidal tables - two pushed long sides together - a nice hexagonal table that could fit up to eight 3rd or 4th graders.