Rabbi Allen Saks (asaks@brauser.us) is a veteran administrator and teacher. He is currently a faculty member at Brauser Maimonides Academy in Hollywood, FL.

Allen Saks describes how a classroom crisis forced him to reinvent himself as teacher who empowers his students.

I walk into the classroom and ask the boys to take out their Navi. This year they are learning Shmuel Aleph, which I find to be one of the best of the books of Navi to teach – the characters are fascinating and the storyline is as exciting as you can get. As the class gets settled, I ask the boys to open to Perek 2, pasuk 4. This is where we had left off since the last class. Chayim raises his hand to volunteer to read. His reading is not really on class level and he breaks his teeth to read the pasuk. As I look around the class while he is reading, I notice the following: Two students are following; five boys are on the wrong page; two boys are doing something else; five others don’t even have their Navi on their desk. I ask the class if there is anyone who can at least offer some idea of what the Navi said, and the one student who always knows the answers calls out with most of the correct translation. At this point, I try to engage the class in a thought provoking question about the Navi with maybe only three students somewhat interested in the discussion. We then continue to move on to the next pasuk, and by the time the class has ended, we have finished learning five pesukim.

If I were to ask, anyone observing this scene would guess that the teacher must be a novice educator, either just starting out or a few years in the field. This, however, would be an incorrect observation. I have just described my Navi class at the beginning of this year, with me being a veteran teacher of thirty years. One might say, “So what is the big deal? There are many teachers in the field for thirty or more years that are ineffective.” For me, however, teaching has always been successful. I have always found a way to inspire my classes as well as develop strong relationships with my students. This year, though, I met my challenge. For at least four weeks I tried many different ways to get my sixth grade boys class engaged in their study of Navi – without success. I was spending more time on discipline then teaching. What was even more devastating to me was that my strongest gift of relationship building was going nowhere. There was no connection between the class and myself. All of this came to a head, when at the very end of a lesson about seven weeks ago, one student yelled out, “Rabbi, this is really boring.” Those five words were the most devastating words that I could have ever heard. It was hard for me to imagine that I had made learning boring and insignificant to these students.

I could have easily destroyed any future hope of getting these students turned on to learning by continuing this method of the teacher-led classroom. I knew I had to change my ways or thirty years of success would mean nothing. I knew that for the class to change, I would need to reflect on the situation and find a solution to correct the problem. If I could get the students interested in learning again, then everything else would follow.

This is where the story begins to change. I thought to myself, “How could I get these boys interested?” The answer was simple. I needed to become secondary to the class and make the students the educators. I needed for the boys to become empowered to take over the class and use me for assistance. It was necessary for them to become the leaders and for me to become the facilitator. This seems easier said than done. When a veteran teacher, who has always been the center of attention and the main leader in the class, has to give up that power, it becomes a complex undertaking, but a necessary one for ultimate success in the classroom.

After reflection I quickly developed a plan of action which is still evolving. Each Sunday, I prepare my lessons for the week. It was effortless before, when all that I had previously done was just prepare the content I needed to teach. Now, however, I needed to prepare the materials that would provide the students with the ability to learn and eventually teach each other. At the outset, I decided that each and every lesson would be completed as partner, or havruta, work. After preparing what I feel the students need to gain from the Navi or Mishnah, which is the other subject I learn with them, I prepare worksheets that guide the students through the material. On the sheets are some important vocabulary words necessary to learn, fact finding questions about the material, and thought provoking questions as well. For each lesson, the students are given all of the material they will need to accomplish these goals. They have the Navi, and I give them an easy translation for the pesukim. This takes away the tedious and very monotonous goal of translating word-for-word during class, which now becomes secondary because they now have the ability to do the work assigned independently. During each lesson, all of the instructions are written on the board as well as on the worksheets. This has alleviated the need to waste valuable learning time to explain instructions.

During the class, when the partners are learning together, I walk around and become a facilitator to the groups. I now have the ability to help each student become engaged on his own level. I have regained the ability during classroom time to develop a relationship with each student. As the class time nears its end, one partner group is assigned the responsibility to review the lesson with the rest of the class.

The students empower themselves to learn at their own pace and only use me as a guide if they need to. They decide how the classroom is structured, how the desks will be arranged, whom they will partner with, what they do when the assignment is finished and how much homework is needed, if at all. The only detail that I still control at this time is when they will be tested, but even the type of test they will take can be determined by the needs of each student. I can and will offer a variety of assessments from which they can choose.

One might ask how the dynamics of the class have changed. If one were to observe the metamorphosis of the class one would now see active learning taking place. The students have learned how to empower themselves. There are no more discipline issues in class because as part of the partner work, I allow the students to talk to each other as well as to move about the classroom. The students have the ability to request help from any other student at anytime during class. Yes, I am proud to say that if one were to walk into my class at any point in time, you would hear plenty of noise as well as observe a great deal of movement by the students.

My personal relationship with the class has dramatically changed. What was at one time very distressing is now outstanding. Each and every student has reached a comfort level in which they can ask me many things they used to be afraid to. The class is now rewarded for its work and behavior as opposed to being punished for their lack of effort and constant disruption. Before the transformation, the students did not look forward to walking into my class, and presently if you ask any of them, they will respond by saying, “We can’t wait until Navi or Mishnah class begins.” Their achievement levels have sky rocketed and the ones who previously struggled are achieving success.

It would have been much easier for me as a veteran teacher to blame the students for all that was going wrong. However, it’s like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Ultimately, you might be able to do so, but something significant will have to give. The circle might lose its shape or the square peg will have to adapt, but it will be a very frustrating experience until you make it happen. In education, if one takes a step back to understand the value of self-reflection along with the desire and willingness to change, success will surely follow for both the teacher and the students.