In a combined fourth/fifth grade special needs classroom at the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy in Greenwich, Connecticut, all eyes focus on a next-generation whiteboard.
Working her laptop, the teacher projects images of a mountain representing the Jewish morning prayer service and a human figure that traverses the mountain, as the class completes each prayer. When the figure reaches the mountaintop, the teacher taps on the
"Amidah" prayer icon displayed next to it—and
harei: the text of the
Amidah appears on the board.
The director of this scene is Jennifer Truboff MJEd'07, a student in Hebrew College's Jewish Special Education (SpEd) certificate program and graduate of the Hebrew College/ Pardes Educator's program—and a pioneering Jewish educator who is applying computer technology to teach Jewish content and Hebrew language in the special needs classroom.
Credit for special effects goes to SMART Technologies, makers of the SMART Board. Essentially an interactive, touch-sensitive whiteboard, the SMART Board enables students to access Web resources; view or manipulate images and animations of numbers, letters and words; play educational video games; and listen to audio recordings.
"We have auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners, and the SMART Board's multimedia format is a powerful way to enhance their understanding," says Truboff. "Being able to move letters and words or watch animations builds English and Hebrew language acquisition and reading fluency."
For instance, to teach her students about prepositions, Truboff writes "I walked to the store" in English on the SMART Board, and positions the corresponding Hebrew words for "I," "walked," and "store" nearby. When the kids drag and drop the Hebrew words onto their English counterparts and find that "to" and "the" remain uncovered, Truboff calls their attention to the missing lamed.
The technology also motivates students to develop their Hebrew and English handwriting skills, notes Sarah Shay-Davidson, another SpEd student who teaches Hebrew to kids with special needs at the South Area Solomon Schechter Day School in Norwood, Mass. "Only one thing can touch the board at a time or it goes off-kilter," she says. "This forces kids who have a hard time writing to hold the pen properly and write correctly."
Shay-Davidson recently asked her students to build simple sentences, such as "This is a red apple," out of Hebrew word-images color-coded according to gender. One week later, most demonstrated complete retention of the lesson. She credits the multi-sensory SMART Board for helping to hold her students' attention and accelerate their ability to recognize and combine Hebrew words and letters.
"As a kid I did everything I could to get out of Hebrew classes," recalls Shay-Davidson, who has ADD and dyslexia. "I truly believe every kid-with or without special needs-can learn Hebrew if it's presented in a way that addresses their learning style."
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Truboff and Shay-Davidson were co-presenters at the April 26-27, 2009 GISHA (Good Ideas Supporting Hebrew Access) Conference: Teaching Hebrew Reading to Students with Special Needs at Hebrew College.
—Mark Dwortzan
Mark Dwortzan is a freelance writer living in Newton, Mass.