Educators are a strange group of people...
(Famous professors from Hogwarts)
They stay up late at night marking students' papers and creating lesson plans. They are constantly reading, web-surfing and attending conferences to keep up-to-date on the latest in ED trends. They sometimes get abused by students/parents of students/administrators. They never get enough time to sleep, are notoriously poorly paid and yet, they remain in their profession!!
Yep, very strange group of people indeed!
I should know... for the last 30 years I have been a part of that group and I wouldn't give it up for anything!!
Well, yes, there was one year where the new 9th grade almost drove me to insanity and made me think of leaving... but I didn't! Oh, there was that parent whom I almost got a restraining order against, but they live in another country now! Ah, the stories I could tell if you buy me a nice glass of wine (or a scotch!) at an Ed Conference, but the bottom line is that I keep on returning to being an educator.
Now that I am a "teacher educator" and not working in the classroom trenches everyday, here is a HUGE shout out my colleagues who still are! You are amazing, dedicated and, yes, a little crazy!! :-)
I wanted to do something nice for you all so I went to my management at CIJE (Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education) and asked if I could set up a special Professional Development day where educators in my area could come together for networking, great workshops and - every teachers' favorite - a bagel lunch!! So that everyone could attend, it had to be for free. To make it even more difficult, in order not to miss a school day, it had to be on a weekend and being that CIJE works with Jewish schools, it could not be held on Shabbat (Saturday). That left only one day - SUNDAY!
Much to my joy, they said YES! (Thanks Mr. Jason Cury - CIJE President and Dr. Jane Willoughby - VP West Coast) My bosses did have one caveat though... the presenters at this PD day had to be experts in their field with a national or international reputation.
So I approached my good friends at the EMEK school here in LA and they agreed to provide the venue - thanks Rabbi Shifman and Michelle Andron! I then approached my colleagues at COJDS (Consortium of Jewish Day Schools) and they agreed to help - thanks Dr. Shapiro and Rabbi Glass! A quick email to the internationally known Dr. Camille McCue and she agreed to do the introduction keynote address - thanks Camille. Another quick email to my friends at Apple ED in LA and they agreed to do workshops and before I knew it, I had a jammed packed event all arranged!! (Thanks to all of the presenters!!)
The event will be running THIS Sunday, APRIL 30th! I still have a few seats open, so if you want to attend you will need to register right away at: bitl.ly/cijestem2017 and, yes, there is NO CHARGE!!
- If you wanted to hear about all the new Apple stuff for EDU, you need attend!
- If you want to learn about Ji Tap and Ji Calendar for your school (amazing products),you need attend!
- If you want a full briefing on the CIJE Engineering and Science programs that are available for your school, you don't want to miss this!
- If you have always want a great introduction to Blended Learning, accessing Higher Order Thinking Skills, Designed Thinking, Holistic STEM in Limudai Kodesh, Digital Citizenship (a must for everyone) and access to one of the original "shakers and movers" in Tinker Space and 3D Printing, then you need to come to this event.
Here is a link to the list of sessions and workshops. Here is the link to register.
I hope to see you all on this Sunday, April 30th, 2017. The fun starts with coffee and cookies at 8:30am!!
Oh yes, before I forget - go hug an Educator! Without them, we would be nothing!!
Regards,
Yossie
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