Hi Shalom,
How are you? I'd like to respond to Yocheved Lindenbaum's query about the best professional development class I ever attended. It was a session held in-house at HAFTR HS about 10-12 years ago. If I remember correctly the presenter was a Rabbi Silber (or Silver) from Torah U'Mesorah and his topic was Classroom Management. Instead of lecturing about the topic, Rabi Silber managed our session as if it were a real class. Every few moments he would "zoom-in" (that was the term he used) on an interaction that had occurred and we analyzed it together. For example, one of the teachers actually arrived late to the session. Rabbi Silber didn't say a word but glanced at his watch and then glared for a moment at the wayward "student". We immediately zoomed-in on that interaction and discussed a) the importance of being on time and b) the power of non-verbal communication. I remember to this day that the central message of the session was to establish "baalut" in your classroom. The topic, the presenter and the method of presentation were the keys to the success of that session.
The session was held a few days before the start of the school year. I applied many of the ideas I learned that day and I felt that they had a very positive and immediate impact on my teaching that year.
Hillel Lichtman
HAFTR HS
