A Dog, a Dance and a Discussion
The running joke among the Beth Tfiloh group in Budapest is that any time I see a dog walking along the street, sitting at a crosswalk, waiting for a traffic light to change or playing in the park, ...
Hi Rebbe
On day three of our visit to the Scheiber Sandor Gimnaziyum I had the class that I had been dreading since I first saw my schedule. I was assigned to a 5th grade Hebrew language class. Now keep in ...
Having a voice
After two days I feel there’s enough water under the bridge (the chain bridge of course) here in Budapest to circle back to my 1st blog, which voiced my concerns about adolescents losing the spark ...
Still Not a Tourist
Today was our first day here not working at Scheiber Sandor. I had anticipated feeling more touristy now that we are no longer going to work all day, but this was not the case. I have traveled a lot, ...
The Best and the Brightest
It has been a long and wonderful final day with the Scheiber Sandor kids. It’s 10:15pm and I am only getting to the blog now, so tonight’s will be short and sweet. But there were two things that ...
KISSES ALL AROUND!
My first group of students for the day are the seniors of the school – Grade 13, and much like the 12th grade students at Beth Tfiloh, this is a very stressful time in their lives. My plan had been ...
“I was just doing what I’ve seen you do.”
I am 48 years old and I have never overslept and been late for work—until today.
We are supposed to meet in the lobby at 7:45 to board the bus to take us to the Scheiber Sandor School. At 7:47 my phone ...
Art is communication
“If you make music and no one listens to it, is there any reason to make music?”
This was a question I received from one of the students at Scheiber Sándor. It’s not too dissimilar from the ...
Telling our Truths
On my last day of teaching at the Scheiber Sandor School in Budapest, I have asked my 7th year students to do what many adults find impossible – reveal their truth. Perhaps because they are in the ...
World history is a chronology of cause and effect
Yesterday I wanted to talk about the teaching and what was different and what was the same. Today I want to spend a few moments thinking about our host city Budapest (which I will now correctly, and ...
Spontaneity and Creativity
I’m told that many of the English classes in Budapest consist largely of rote, and very still, learning. Students sit at a desk with a grammar book and do grammar exercises. Granted, that certainly ...
Ah ha moment!
Each night after dinner we would have the opportunity to share our thoughts from the day, our viewpoints from the classroom, or our feelings and reactions to the landmarks that we saw on our tours. ...
Thank you!
This morning at 8:15 I taught the same year 7 students that I taught yesterday afternoon for two periods. The difference was night and day. A few minutes before class started, I stood outside the ...
Chiga
As an arts educator, I am familiar with how the arts can facilitate a connection between human beings, both as individuals and communities.
Here in Budapest, many of the students do not speak the same ...
Falling in Love
The young man in my 10th year English class slinks down in his seat at the back of the room and looks out at me from under the lid of his NY Yankees baseball cap. The Yankees? Seriously? Does he not ...
Lasting Connections
The first day at any new school (job for that matter) is always a little stressful and intimidating; today was no different. Of course none of my previous first days were in front of students who may ...
First day of school
The first day at a new school is always a bit scary, especially when you don’t speak the language. I certainly do not think I was the only one who was nervous to start teaching today. But I was surprised ...
Who am I?
My first students of the week at the Scheiber Sandor School were a group of sixth graders who seemed as nervous about me, as I was about them. But, as I greeted each student with a hand shake and smile, ...
Same mission
For my first official blog post of my SOS International’s Morim Project, I could tell you how privileged I felt to be in a school in a foreign country teaching classes about music composition, or ...
The American teacher has arrived
Emily, a vivacious 11th year student with flawless English, ushers me up and down hallways, in and out of the classrooms and library and stops in a spacious lobby adorned with a row of lovely stained ...
