What it's like to be a distance learning teacher: Temple Israel

Here’s to the educators—on a moment’s notice, they completely transformed how they do their jobs to make sure our kids’ Jewish education didn’t miss a beat. We wanted to know: How are they handling this? What are they learning? How can we help them? For the next several weeks, we’ll be sharing interviews with teachers at our seven partner schools. 

Ben Bitton, Temple Israel’s Israeli culture coordinator and music specialist, felt distance learning was important to giving students a sense of normalcy. 

What has been the most rewarding part of this experience? 

Being able to connect to our learners and congregants and hearing the positive feedback of how we provide them a sense of community in those challenging times. Additionally, giving our students a safe platform for reflection and processing is probably the most rewarding part.  

What has been the hardest part? 

Overcoming the technical aspect of using zoom while adapting and aspiring to keep the same standards we have in our in-person classes.  

How do you think your students would have been impacted if they had not had the means to connect virtually? 

The internet advancements have been a blessing. We continued our educational programs almost without losing a beat. Without that connection the students could have lost a big chunk of the year curriculum and feel disconnected from their peers and community. 

We would love to share some uplifting moments from this whole situation. Can you describe a moment you've felt hope during this whole process—perhaps it was a cute distance-learning moment; or two unlikely people working together to make this new reality work—or anything else!    

Through our P2G twinning program, we received a presentation of an activity that our twin school 5th graders from Israel have done with a message of good health. That presentation was heart-warming and reminded us that it is possible to build a strong connection even from 6000 miles apart. In response, we have sent them a presentation of our activity for Israel’s birthday and their teacher said that the students loved it.  

Can you share an example of a lesson that worked particularly well virtually? 

Our students got a hold on the technical side of remote learning very quickly. Activities that utilized the tools of zoom (screen share, breakout rooms, annotation etc.) were very successful. Additionally, interactive activities (such as Kahoot) were a fun way to reinforce material.  

What are you most proud of during this experience? 

I am proud of the fact that we were able to have our retreat program for our 6th graders in a remote setting. We adapted it, spread it through 3 weeks and implemented what we learned from previous online lesson (using more visuals, interactive and reflective activities).  

How have you continued inspiring and motivating your students? 

I believe that it is important to give a sense of normalcy in the midst of this pandemic. I think a big motivator and reassurance factor is the fact that most of the programs and lessons that happened before are happening now.  

Above all, what do you hope you're teaching your students during all of this? 

I believe that this is an opportunity to teach about communal responsibility and how important it is for each of us to take responsibility. I also hope that our students know that there is a community to support them even now. 

What are you most looking forward to doing when you're back in an actual classroom/what do you miss the most about being in the classroom? 

Many of the activities and lessons that I teach using music. I miss communal singing and being able to sing together simultaneously.   

What do you wish other people realized about the professional challenges you now face on a daily basis? 

I hope that people know how much effort is being put into adapting lessons and programs to an online setting. It requires flexibility and a lot of thinking outside of the box, which I’m glad to say that our teachers have plenty of.  

How can the rest of us support teachers? how can we support the students in our lives?  

The most important thing is, in my opinion, to be able to listen. It is a difficult time for everyone and listening, helping or just being there for each other, physically or electronically is our key for success.