Remember me? I haven't been here in a very long time. My life has taken me in wild and unexpected directions, and unfortunately I have been obliged to cut down significantly on my Hatrack time in favor of other activities.
For those of you who remember me as a struggling and immature high school student, those days are long behind me. I am now, in fact, a high school TEACHER. (Well, middle and high school.) I got accepted into the Israeli version of Teach for America, and am currently living in Tel Aviv, teaching at a particularly difficult school in a nearby town.
I applied here to be an English teacher, and after a harrowing 6-month application process (during which there were 1400 applicants that were whittled down to 90), got accepted. It wasn't until two weeks before the beginning of the school year that I was informed that as well as teaching English in the 7th and 11th grades, I was also going to be a mechanechet for the 7th grade sports class.
Now, those of you who are Israeli or familiar with the system (or the language, perhaps) will know what that means. You will please bear with me while I explain to the rest. Thank you.
The literal meaning of the word "mechanechet" in Hebrew is "educator." My task, in this case, is to be a mentor/mother/authority and trust figure for the kids in my chinuch class. Any disciplinary/health/other problems related to the kid are passed through me, and I take care of them. I speak almost daily with parents, I collaborate consistently with other teachers to try and solve problems, and of course I am the person that the child turns to if he or she has something to discuss. It is an immense responsibility, and a challenge to get the class to trust and respect you enough to be able to fill those shoes (especially challenging since they are a sports class, and I... well needless to say, I am not well versed on the subject).
On top of this, though, I am also obligated to spend 4 hours a week with them in the classroom. This means that I have to come up with material -- way outside of the English curriculum -- to share and discuss with them in class. This is where I need your help.
7th grade is a pivotal time in an Israeli child's life. This is the age when each child goes through a bar or bat mitzvah - a rite of passage from childhood into adulthood. To commemorate this, Israeli kids are given an assignment in their 7th grade chinuch classes (enter Raia), a "roots project," in which they delve very deeply into their family histories and ancestry.
It is my responsibility to give this assignment to them in stages so that they can successfully complete it by the end of the year (this is not the only purpose of the chinuch class, but it's a major percentage). As I have learned from other Israeli familes (ones in which the children were actually raised here, unlike my own), this is a project that they take with them for years to come, a delight for the whole family, something that is to be invested in completely.
Right now I'm trying to come up with topics. There are a few that are dictated, but I want to mix my chinuch classes with materials that will later prove useful. For example, I am planning on giving a lesson on names -- where did my name come from? What does it mean? What does it say about me? (For example, my own name means "scarlet" -- it was chosen by my mother thirteen years before I was born, written firmly in her diary... and it was by complete coincidence that I was born a flaming redhead.)
First and foremost, though, I want to introduce this project by getting them to think -- why is it important to know where we come from? And here I'm having some difficulties. I'm having a hard time thinking about this in the mind of a twelve year old, especially one in a difficult community (many of my kids are immigrants, mostly Russian, from low socioeconomic backgrounds). How do I sell this topic? How do I rouse an interesting discussion? This is especially difficult for me to do as I never had chinuch classes myself, having grown up in the states, and am basically trying to re-invent the wheel with every class. Any input (both on the roots question and any other ideas for chinuch lessons/discussion) that you have will be extremely welcome.
I have always relied on jatraqueros for deep, insightful commentary and discussion and I turn to you all once again for help.
I reckon it helps to draw on something contemporary, like some sort of popular story all the children are familiar with and then use that to get them going about themselves?
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
It might be interesting to do a unit of creative non-fiction. Have them read excerpts from a memoir that they might be able to relate to (especially for the immigrant kids, there are TONS of memoirs out there about moving to new countries and adapting). Maybe even have them write a brief CNF piece to get them thinking about how to conceptualize a personal story and narrative.
How you tell your personal story, what you choose to focus on, what gets emphasized and left out, what we find fascinating, all these things are choices, and it might be valuable to make them aware of those choices and their options.
Surprisingly powerful stories can often come out of utterly mundane lives.
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posted
Hmm. Absolutely. Any ideas? (I've been known to bring songs into class... and by that, I mean, I bring my guitar and sing with them. They LOVE it.)
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posted
Just remember that they're a sports class, full of twelve-year olds... that's maybe an advanced move for further down the line, when they're a bit more motivated. But I love the idea!
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posted
In Israel, unlike in the States, classes are constructed and kept, cohesive, in their own classrooms while teachers walk around and come to them. As a result, they are often grouped by interest -- in the 7th grade there's a music class (and it's really unfortunate that I was not given that class to work with), a science class, and a sports class. The other classes are heterogeneous and grouped according to some other system, but still remain intact for almost all of their subjects. The benefit (amongst the many many disadvantages) of this system is that a specific group, such as the sports class for example, can easily work sports practice, training and other such activities into their schedule, since the schedule for each class is individual and personalized.
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quote:Originally posted by Raia: Hmm. Absolutely. Any ideas? (I've been known to bring songs into class... and by that, I mean, I bring my guitar and sing with them. They LOVE it.)
Let me ask around. Off the top of my head I'm not really sure what would be appropriate for a 12 year old.
Off the top of my head the only memoir I read at that age was October Sky, and while I didn't relate to it at all, I found it an intensely interesting story about Homer Hickham's childhood in a small coal mining town.
Let me see if I can find something age and subject appropriate.
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posted
At that age, I think an excellent topic to delve into is that of personal identity. That's right when they're starting to decide "what defines me as me?" At that age I was in a special program 6th grade class of gifted and talented students and it was great timing for me - we had a lot of self-directed projects where we got to choose the topic and we were encouraged to really delve into who we were.
Journalling might be good for this? Or some sort of project where they choose the subject and proceed in stages, getting deeper and deeper into it - first start out at the shallow "book report" level, but then have subsequent stages where they have to analyze, synthesize and create.
I also love the family history idea. In 6th grade we also had to put together a family tree and it was one of the coolest projects I remember doing. Especially in a pluralistic society like Israel where it's important for kids to feel some sort of connection to who they are and not get lost in the melting pot.
I don't know … but cool situation. I love hearing of your adventures Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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It's just important to remember that while you were in the gifted and talented class, my kids are... not. In fact, this school represents something that is quite the opposite.
But maybe a toned down version of this project could be quite fun for them! It's definitely an idea. Thank you!
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posted
I sometimes teach that age. I agree you should start with them and only then reach back. I like the name idea.
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What about looking into sports heroes' lives? How did they get where they are going? What challenges did they face? How did they overcome those challenges? etc.
Then compare the sports heroes with themselves: What challenges have you had to face, etc.? I think this might take away some of the pressure of having to think first and foremost about themselves.
To shrink down the workload, let them present it any way: on sports cards, as a written report, in pictures (either literal or interpretive) and a few words etc.
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Most children enjoy drawing a family tree and it's something everyone can easily do. They can ask their parents about their grandparents and great-grandparents and then slap it on a decorated piece of paper. Creative types can do things like drawing a tree, or illustrating it with images that represent the people (e.g. a car for someone who was a chauffeur).
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If they are mostly immigrants, they may want to tell their immigration story. You may be able to hide this in "the most important day in my life" so that everyone is included but I moved places when I was a child and that was a very important day for me at that age.
Also, it's not as daunting as writing your entire biography.
This could be extended to the most important day in their parents' life (which, if they were born in Israel, might be the immigration story). Obviously don't emphasize it has to be any day but you should give suggestions based on your own and (real or imaginary) friend's lives.
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Another idea similar to the above, which could get them going further back is having them find something that's come from their grandparents or parents that's important. It could be a piece of clothing, a necklace, a phone with which an important call was made, a suitcase, a photograph, or something quite old that's been passed down along with a story (although emphasize that your object can be very new or you might be alienating some kids). Many families might have something that a child can write about that gives them a link to a time B.T. (before them!).
For ease of presentation it could be: draw your object (or bring it in) and do a mind map with blurbs sticking off it.
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I'm not sure how much futher back you could find personal information, especially if they are living in a different place from their ancestry.
My last piece of advice is that if you are expecting them to give you this personal information you have to model it for them so you will have to, for example, bring in something that is important ot you, share your family tree, the meaning of your name and the most important day in your life. Obviously you can edit this for personal comfort, but I think it's only fair and will set them a clear idea of what you expect and that you were willing to do the work!
posted
Oh, if you wanted it to be build up into a book there's no reason why you couldn't, for example, start them off with a scrap book or binder and then simply have them include each additional piece of work in the book.
At the beginning they could make a cover for it and at the end maybe write something about what they have learned or know, taking something from each piece of work they completed.
e.g.
I now know my name means scarlet and that my Mom chose the name before she knew I was going to have red hair.
I now know that (e.g.) my great-grandfather was a farmer.
posted
Teshi, actually, building it up into a final book is the "roots project" that every 7th grader in Israel has to complete -- that IS the ultimate goal.
As for myself, I've already decided that I'm going to do this with them... I didn't grow up here, and therefore do not have a roots project of my own. So, I'm going to make one too! And therefore, I have no problem at all sharing information with them as they share it with me.
Your ideas are great. I especially like the heirloom idea, the object with a history that they have to describe and think about. Definitely adopting these.
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I haven't been here in a very long time. My life has taken me in wild and unexpected directions, and unfortunately I have been obliged to cut down significantly on my Hatrack time in favor of other activities. 
