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 ...
Kids are kids
Should it be a surprise to learn that teens in Hungary are just like teens in America? Should it be a surprise to learn that the same techniques that we know work in a classroom in Baltimore also work ...
Where does one begin?
Learning. Where does one begin? All primates learn; indeed, one might make the argument that most complex life forms learn. Yet, as educators this topic has incredibly profound and curious hurdles ...
“This I Believe”
I have not been so nervous walking into a classroom to teach since my first day at Beth Tfiloh. I have taught at Beth Tfiloh for over 20 years and I have taught every grade in the high school and every ...
Getting to know you
Our first night in Budapest. Tired and jet-lagged, we are all still so overjoyed to be here. We had expected to learn an immense amount about our partner teachers, our partner school, and Hungary, but ...
Impact of globalization
Leaving the airport in Budapest what struck me immediately was the impact of globalization. Within minutes of pulling out of the airport parking lot, I saw signs for Burger King, MacDonald’s, the ...
There are no coincidences
There must be thousands of quotes and clichés about journeys, I found one in particular that spoke directly to me: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” – or in my case 4,528 ...
The Journey Begins
I’m standing on a narrow street in what was once the Jewish Ghetto in Budapest. One of a team of seven teachers from Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, I have come to Budapest to work with teachers ...
Final Reflections
We are currently sitting in the Munich Airport, waiting for our connecting flight back to the States. We have had Shabbat to reflect on our time here in Budapest and we all feel as if we have gained ...
Let’s keep in touch
Last full day. I went with Alan, Glynis and Rachel to the Dohany synagogue this morning. We had been there earlier in the week when we toured the building, saw the memorial and assisted the curator ...
Shevet Achim Gam Yachad
Friday was an abbreviated day, although still very full. I taught four classes during the morning and will genuinely miss the opportunities I had to study with the Lauder students. Afterwards we met ...
It was, in fact, a tragic story
As I am writing this a few days after the events, it is difficult to keep track of all that we have done. We visited at the Scheiber School, which is the other large Jewish Day School in Budapest. ...
Many possibilities
Concluding thoughts
On our last day we had some free time in the morning and early afternoon. We had the option of going to Shul and eating with Rabbi Frolich and the community at Talmud Torah Building ...
Experiences and reflections
Friday night was celebrated at Moishe house, which is a place for the young Jewish people from the community to hang out together and aside from having Shabbat dinners together, organize social events ...
What a week!
On Saturday morning, I went to the Dohany Synagogue for services. We had toured the synagogue earlier in the week, but this was my first experience at a Jewish prayer service in Budapest. The Dohany ...
Jewish in Hungary
Today was our last day teaching at Lauder, and I had a great class of 10th graders, who are the equivalent age of American 11th graders. I began with my introduction to modern Jewish history and specifically, ...
Thank you!
Thank you to the Lauder School Community!
I would like to thank Ildiko Szarvas for opening up her art classroom to me and providing me with her expertise and knowledge in the fine arts and art education. ...
Power to change
Today was the last day at the Lauder School. I have been teaching every class, every moment, without a break, the whole week as students and teacher expected to make the most of our time together. However, ...
Israel and its achievements
Teaching week came to an end today. We said our good byes with a promise to keep in close touch and work collaboratively during the year using social media, blogs, google classroom sharing and more.
It ...
Takeaways of today
My morning at the Lauder school started off with a concert from a former student of Lauder. Tamas Juhasz was born blind and was determined from very early on to not let his disability define him. ...
