The beginning of the school year brings brightly painted walls, stacks of fresh paper and new faces. The start of school also brings students who are nervous about starting the year with a new group of peers. There may be students who are concerned about bullying or teasing. Some children may be thinking about how they are different from the others in their class. Reading aloud to students, especially at the start of school, is a great way to talk about feelings students might have…

Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, May 2019 For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Recently, after a teacher training at a local elementary school, the principal asked my colleague and I to meet with the administrative team to help them handle a conflict between a group of 6th grade boys. It immediately brought to my mind how complex a principal’s job is when they make decisions around responding to a bullying incident. I’d like to share what happened and what we…

Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Topic Summary Every day—from the schoolyard to the workplace—we hear biased, hurtful and offensive language, including slurs, epithets (defined below) and so-called “jokes.” We also see slurs written on walls, buildings, streets and in our social media feeds. Many people, especially those who have children in their lives, wonder what to do when they see…

Use this collection of resources for educators and families to help teach about and celebrate Jewish American heritage in schools, communities and at home.

Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Topic Summary In April 2019, Kyle Korver, a U.S. professional basketball player who plays with the Utah Jazz, wrote an essay about racism and white privilege that received a lot of acclaim and attention. In the essay, Korver, who is white, reflects on several biased incidents involving his African-American teammates and his reaction to those incidents. He then reflects on his own…

Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events Topic Summary On March 8, 2019 (International Women’s Day), the U.S. women’s soccer team filed a gender discrimination suit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, which governs soccer in the U.S. The soccer team’s complaint alleges pay inequities and inferior support and working conditions. In their statement released by the team, the twenty-eight players described “institutionalized gender discrimination” that…

Increase your awareness of religious obligations and ethnic and cultural festivities that may affect students, colleagues and neighbors in your community.

For Educators In fostering inclusive, equitable and safe schools, we encourage educators to develop group guidelines for respect and safety in the classroom. These classroom guidelines can be created in a variety of ways and the list typically includes recommendations such as: share air time, actively listen, show empathy, respect confidentiality, participate fully, assume good will, be sensitive to feelings, and others. However, there is often a need to go further and frame guidelines around…