Category: Teaching Methods
In the News: The Kohelet Foundation Interviews Prize-Winning Teacher Xani Pollakoff
May 4, 2017 by
The Kohelet Foundation interviewed JPDS-NC teacher Xani Pollakoff about her work on the prizewinning Kindergarten Community Library Project, along with two other JPDS-NC teachers. The Kindergarten Community Library Project won the Kohelet Prize for Development of Critical and/or Creative Thinking. Read the interview here >
- #ThisIsWhy
- Awards
- In the News
- Project Based Learning
Students Delve Into the Mysteries of a Seceding Kingdom, Multiple Golden Calves, and Ten Lost Tribes
June 29, 2016 by
This year, our sixth graders were drawn into a mystery in their Judaic Studies class. Exploring the text of Melachim Bet, Kings II, they discovered that puzzling stories abound in our past, rich with plots, lost tribes, confounding motives, and the appearance of multiple golden calves. And with these mysteries came many opportunities to question, […]
JPDS-NC Partners with Kiddovate to Offer "Innovation in Action" Workshops for Area Teachers
May 12, 2016 by
This year, we have been offering a series of teacher workshops called Innovation in Action in partnership with Kiddovate. This professional development opportunity is open to JPDS-NC as well as other area teachers. We met three times this school year and have two more sessions to explore innovative teaching strategies. Each workshop explored Kiddovate’s Innovation […]
- Design Thinking
- STEAM
Making Thinking Visible Through the Use of Materials
May 4, 2016 by
If you walk in the front door of South Campus this week, you might see First Grade students and teachers digging through big boxes and recyclables to be used for prototypes of homes in a polar climate. You also might see Kindergarten students manipulating clay to create their final model of a queen bee. In the sadnah (studio), you might […]
- Design Thinking
- Environmental Education
- Project Based Learning
- STEAM
- Thinking Routines
- Visual Arts
Avoiding the Around and About to Teach the Text
January 6, 2016 by
I had a Bible Professor who often said about the Biblical text, “Everything else is around it or about it. This is it.” I feel that way about the various genres of Jewish texts, both biblical and Rabbinic. For our children to be educated Jews, it is not enough for them to learn around them […]
- #MiltonAdvantage
Learning and Building Connections with iBuddies
December 3, 2015 by
The Sixth Grade and Kindergarten classes at JPDS-NC participate in a program called iBuddies. Every Kindergartener is assigned to a Sixth Grade buddy who uses technology to help them research the projects they work on in class. On their last visit, buddy teams worked on finding and creating patterns for the Kindergarten math unit, and […]
- STEAM
- Student Connections
- Student Stories
Driving More Student Engagement, Agency, Collaboration, and Creativity
September 3, 2015 by
Utilizing Research-based 21st Century Approaches to Education at JPDS-NC The beginning of a new school year is always an exciting time… but this year, we are more energized by our future than ever. We welcomed 334 students through our doors a few days ago; at the North Campus, we warmly welcomed our first cohort of […]
- Design Thinking
- Differentiated Learning
- Thinking Routines
Thinking Critically About American History
May 22, 2015 by
“History gives us ideas. Let’s say something good happened. We can use it in the future to help people.” “In American History, there’s been a lot of wars, like the War of 1812 and the American Revolution. We can learn about what happened and say, ‘This was wrong’ and ‘I’ll turn it all around and […]
- Project Based Learning
The Sadnah: Creativity and Exploration on the South Campus
May 7, 2015 by
Children need the freedom to appreciate the infinite resources of their hands, their eyes and their ears, the resources of forms, materials, sounds and colours. – Loris Malaguzzi On the South Campus, we are privileged to have a dedicated studio space, the Sadnah, which is a place for creative collaboration and inspiration for all the […]
- Project Based Learning
- STEAM
- Visual Arts
STEM Learning in Action
April 27, 2015 by
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education is growing and thriving at JPDS-NC. On the evening of April 2, four JPDS-NC sixth graders attended the Grand Award Ceremony of DC STEM Fair 2015 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Esther Feron, Sami Himmelfarb, Noa Schleifer and Beri Gershwind swept the Junior Division with 1st, […]
- Project Based Learning
- STEM
