Mitkadem:

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Mitkadem

• Setting Up Your Classroom

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Overview of Tutorial

• Purpose to outline the administration of the
  Mitkadem program
• - What is needed to run Mitkadem
• - Tips and hints for the classroom

Places
Paperwork
People
Glossary
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Essential Questions

• How does a student progress through the program
• What makes for good record keeping
• What people need to be involved and in what roles
• What kinds of space do we need
• How will I organize my classroom

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Evidence of Understanding

• You will identify how the paperwork, people, and
  places will be organized in your school for
  Mitkadem to work
• You will create a plan for your own class

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Paperwork
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Where can I look for information on how to use
Mitkadem in my classroom?
Paperwork

• The Mitkadem Teachers Guides

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Some Mitkadem Teachers Guide Resources
Paperwork

• Steps to the Mitkadem Program
• Prayer Map
• Cumulative Report

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Paperwork
What process will my students go through?
Steps to the Mitkadem Program
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Paperwork
Steps to the Mitkadem Program
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Steps in the Mitkdem Program
Paperwork
Student Begins a Ramah Start with the brit
pamphlet (including contract, milon, and prayer)
and hakdamah introductory pamphlet After
completing the hakdamah activities students are
given all the remaining activities Start with
the brit
Work on Contract Activities
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Steps to the Mitkadem Program
Paperwork
Work on Contract Activities As students complete
and check off activities, teachers or
assistants sign off on the brit Activities can
be done in any order some reading should be
done in each class Students can work alone or
in groups to complete the activities CD players
set up in the room for listening activities
Complete the Ramah and Study for the Quiz
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Steps to the Mitkadem Program
Paperwork
Complete the Ramah and Study for the Quiz Once
students have completed at least the required
activities, they can be tested It is suggested
that students complete the review activities
to study for the quiz All students should study
prior to the quiz
Take the Ramah Quiz
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Steps to the Mitkadem Program
Paperwork
Take the Ramah Quiz Students are sent to the
designated place to take the quiz Each Ramah
assessment involves both a written and reading
portion The written portion tests the knowledge
of Hebrew principles and prayer content The
reading portion is a test of the reading and
chanting of the prayer it can include reading
unseen texts
Does not pass Quiz
Passes Quiz
Begins New Ramah
Study for ReQuiz
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Steps to the Mitkadem Program
Paperwork
Student does not pass quiz
Begins New Ramah
Study for ReQuiz Student studies the review
activities more Teacher may assist student with
one-on-one teaching
passes
Take the Ramah Quiz Student will either take
the whole quiz or just retake the specific
section(s)
Repeat this step until passes
Does not pass
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Paperwork
Steps in the Mitkdem Program
Student passes quiz
Student Begins New Ramah Tester gives student
the new brit pamphlet (including contract,
milon, and prayer) and hakdamah introductory
pamphlet After completing the hakdamah
activities students are given all the remaining
activities by the teacher to complete in
the order of their choice
Process continues
Back to Steps
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What will help guide my students learning?
Paperwork

• Prayer Map
• Ramot Contracts
• Mitkadem CD

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Prayer Map
Paperwork

• Shows the order of the service
• Demonstrates how their learning fits into the
  service
• Acts as a place to mark what they know

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Ramot Contracts
Paperwork

• Explain tasks to complete each ramah
• Used by teacher and student to track progress
• List required and review activities of each ramah

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Mitkadem CD
Paperwork

• Allows students to listen to the sound of words
  and prayers
• Required in the kriah section
• Consider having CD players and headsets
• - setup a listening center for student use

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Paperwork
How will my students keep organized in class?
Individual student folders
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Student Folder
Paperwork
Contains

• Materials specific to the ramah
• Materials needed throughout the program
• - prayer map
• - Milon either in a machberet (notebook) or as
  index cards on a ring or in a box

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Paperwork
Student Folder

• Keep in the classroom for students to access
• When the student passes a test the ramah
  worksheets should be sent home

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Paperwork
How will student records be organized?
Cumulative record folders
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Paperwork
Cumulative Folder
Contains

• Cumulative record
• Each ramah test the student has passed

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Paperwork
Cumulative Folder

• Stored in the school by the tester
• - the tester may be the teacher, administrator,
  or another person on staff
• Student does not use this folder

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Paperwork
Cumulative Folder
Filing Tip
Each class of students can be color coded. For
example, select blue for the 3rd grade of 2004
and keep the color across the years.
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People
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Who currently helps you with Hebrew planning and
teaching?
People
Consider
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Is your list similar to ours?
People

• No one
• Educator/Principal
• Hebrew coordinator
• Student teacher

• Another teacher
• Rabbi
• Cantor

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What are the roles for the personnel involved
with Mitkadem?
People
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The Role of the Teacher
People
The Facilitator
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What do you think the teachers role as
facilitator might look like?
People
Consider
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Teacher as Facilitator
People

• Being creative and flexible in teaching styles
• Assisting individual students
• Bringing your class together
• Other ideas?

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Assisting your students
People

• Students needing assistance list their names on
  the board
• - assist students based on the list
• Circle the room repeatedly in set order helping
  those that need assistance
• Teachers assistant circles the room while the
  teacher remains in the front for those with more
  needs

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People
Assisting your students

• Use parent volunteers to assist
• Have a person other than the teacher administer
  tests
• Collect papers and review them between classes,
  not during
• Other ideas?

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Bringing Your Class Together
People

• Discuss a prayer that most of your students have
  completed or are completing
• Teach the class about a common mistake or
  challenge
• Teach a theme from the liturgy (see the teachers
  guide for themes)

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People
Bringing Your Class Together

• Teach the structure of the service
• Teach general grammar use roots from the ramot
• Other ideas?
• Discuss any group teaching with your Director or
  Coordinator to ensure that year to year there is
  continuity

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People
The Role of the Educator/Principal/Hebrew
Coordinator
Resource
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People
Consider
How might the educator be able to act as a
resource?
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People
Educator as a Resource

• Provide for teacher training and support
• Allow time for teachers to share ideas
• Assist with program administration
• Other ideas?

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Teacher training and support
People

• Mitkadem is a new experience for teachers and
  students

The educator may

• Provide teacher development workshops and
  opportunities to
• assist teachers with implementation
• allow teachers to develop new ways of teaching

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People
Time to share ideas
Teachers need to be flexible in their teaching
styles
The educator may
Provide time for teachers to meet to share
ideas work as a team
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People
Assist with administration
Mitkadem requires administrative planning
The educator may

• Provide administrative support with the program
  by
• acting as a/the test giver
• keeping the cumulative records

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People
The Role of the Co-Teacher/Student Teacher
Assist Students
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People
Consider
How might a co-teacher/student teacher assist
students?
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You might
People

• Split the number of students that you attend to
  with the other teacher
• Have the second teacher provide assistance to
  students working at a slower pace
• Other ideas?

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People
The Role of the Rabbi/Cantor
Specialists
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People
Consider
How might you utilize the clergy in your
classroom?
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People
You might

• Have the rabbi or cantor come to class as a
  special visitor
• Have clergy teach a special class to advanced
  students (even on a once a month basis)
• Other ideas?

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People
The Role of the Tutor
Personal Attention
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People
Consider
How might tutors be helpful in a Mitkadem
classroom?
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People
You might

• Use tutors to provide special attention to those
  students needing a little more assistance
• Use teenagers as tutors
• Other ideas?

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Places
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What is the physical space needed for Mitkadem?
Places
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Physical Space
Places

• Learning space
• Testing space
• Administrative records space
• Optional tutoring center

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Learning Space
Places
When deciding how to set up the classroom,
consider

• How many students will be in the classroom?
• How much assistance will there be?

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What might the classroom look like?
Places
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Classroom Layout Options
Places

• Individual student desks with teacher in the
  corner
• Develop a reading lab learning center
• Group desks so students working on the same ramah
  can work together
• Leave space for students to work independently
  if they choose

• Allow students to move desks to be with whomever
  they might like
• Set up a listening center with headphones so more
  than one student can listen or provide walkmans
  for independent listening
• Other ideas?

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Individual student desks
Places
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Places
Reading Lab
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Places
Group Desks
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Allow students to move desks
Places
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Places
Listening Center
Center with multiple headphones
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Places
Testing Space
When your school designs the testing space,
consider

• Who is the right person to administer the test?
• Where is the best place to give the test?

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Places
Administrative Records Space
When your school decides how to keep records,
consider

• Who is the right person to keep the records?
• Where is the best place to keep the records?
• Where is the best place to keep ramot packets?

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What might your school look like?
Places
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School Layout Options
Places

• Testing room(s)
• - you may want one for written testing and one
  for oral testing
• Set up classrooms for different ramot
• - advantage teachers responsible for only a
  certain number of prayers
• - disadvantage segregates students and might
  create social issues

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Remember

• The size and the resources of your school will be
  a main variable in how you choose to answer the
  questions about Paperwork, People, and Places

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Where do I go from here?
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Questions for you to consider

• Paperwork
• - When and why will you bring your class
  together as a group?
• People
• - How will you assist all of the students in
  your class as they work independently at their
  own level?
• Places
• - How might you choose to layout your own
  classroom and use other school space?

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Where to Get More Information

• Congregational Educator
• Mitkadem overview
• More on ramot
• Teachers Guide
• Other schools using Mitkadem
• Union for Reform Judaism Regional Educator

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Glossary
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My Dictionary
Glossary
????? level ??????? student contract of
activities ??????? student dictionary for the
ramah ???????? introductory activities ????????
reading activities ??????? ?????? vocabulary
activities ?????????? grammar
activities ???????? ???????? words about
prayer activities ?????????? roots ???????
quiz

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Credits

• Cheri Ellowitz Silver, MAJE, MAJCS, M.S. Ed, RJE,
  author of Mitkadem
• Nina Price, MAJE, creator of the Steps in the
  Mitkadem Program chart adapted here
• Lisa Lieberman Barzilai, MAJE, RJE, Regional
  Educator Greater NY Council and Debbie Joseph,
  Regional Educator Mid-Atlantic Council, the
  creators of the Mitkadem retreat track session
  adapted here
• UAHC Press, publishers of Mitkadem
• Rabbi Jan Katzew, Ph. D., RJE, Director of the
  Union for Reform Judaism Department of Lifelong
  Jewish Learning
• Wendy Rapport, RJE., Associate Director of the
  Union for Reform Judaism Department of Lifelong
  Jewish Learning
• Renée B. Rittner, MSW, MAJS, MAJE, M. Ed.,
  Educational Technology Specialist, Union for
  Reform Judaism for adapting this tutorial

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Return to

• Mitkadem Hebrew for Youth
• Teacher tools
• Evaluation of the CHAI curriculum