Educator Profile: Keys to Teaching Hebrew with Sara Duani

Sara Duani is the Jewish studies curriculum coordinator, a teacher mentor, and an 8th grade teacher at Yeshiva Har Torah. She is also a recipient of the 2017 Young Pioneers Award.

When did you discover your passion for teaching?

I didn’t want to go into teaching at first. In college, I took a side job as a teacher, was in different classrooms and was able to see how much of an impact a teacher had on a student’s life. All of a sudden, I saw teaching through such a different lens and thought, “Wow, this is such a powerful thing. You can do so much and if you do it well you can really affect these children’s lives long term.” So I decided this is what I want to do.

What is it about teaching that inspires you?

Seeing students feel empowered when you give them the tools to be what they can and do what they can. Seeing their faces shine and be really excited. Gaining that confidence. You help them shape themselves - it’s amazing.

Many educators and schools find Hebrew language education a challenge. How do you keep kids engaged?

I agree that it is a challenge, but I think the fact that it is a challenge shows how important it is. The keys to teaching Hebrew: make it natural and part of their environment--and fun. Don’t make them feel like they’re going through something tedious or trying to memorize; make it part of their environment, a part of who they are. Show them they can have success and make progress. Once they believe that, they’re excited about it. Part of this immersion process is using Hebrew to relate to them about everything, whether I’m talking about what I did over the weekend or a telling them a funny story about my crazy morning. Hebrew is part of the environment of the classroom. It’s not “Now we have to learn this.” It’s just “This is how we function here.” I also always try to relate things to what’s happening in Israel today. I show them so they feel part of it and excited.

The keys to teaching Hebrew: make it natural and part of their environment--and fun.

How do you work with students who come with little or no Hebrew background?

First, you have to help them understand that the classroom is a safe, non-threatening environment where they can express themselves. I start off by acting things out and not using a lot of words. They can understand what I’m saying through other forms of communication and nonverbal language. They can listen and feel comfortable. Eventually they’ll progress from words to phrases to sentences until they don’t even process anymore that it’s another language.

What advice would you offer when working with students who struggle with language acquisition?

Sometimes when I’m tutoring a student, I’ll say “I know you’re really good at X, so we’re going to talk about that and put it into Hebrew.” Start by letting them choose what they want to learn about and research specific words. Then they’re more excited about it and you can use that to teach grammar and sentence structure, because they want to talk about it.  In most cases, I’ve found that the difficulty is really an anxiety or fear rather than a non-ability to learn language. Once you separate that, it opens up a world of opportunity for that child.

What have been some of your favorite lessons?

I like engaging students by having them act something out in Hebrew. For Hanukkah, they prepared a scene in which the Jews are in a cave and the Yevanim (Greeks) are looking for them. The students can really practice the words and write down what they want to say. They make it come alive.

At the end of the year, I break them into groups and they have to create a whole skit. After working on grammar and sentence structure, when they have to orally express themselves and can share what they’ve written, they’re so excited.

Another time we got balloon animal balloons and they had to be really creative and keep changing the shape into many characters and write about them in Hebrew.

For another lesson, I introduced the parts of a tree through a song and they learned how to say them in Hebrew. The kids loved that song. Then in pairs they made a tree and their partner had to answer in full Hebrew sentences what is missing from the tree.

It makes me proud that to see a focus in Jewish education on innovation and always bettering ourselves.

You’re a recipient of The Jewish Education Project’s Young Pioneers Award. What has that meant for you?

It makes me proud that to see a focus in Jewish education on innovation and always bettering ourselves. This award says, “We value Jewish education, and we are looking for young adults who are passionate and trying new things and evolving.” It’s also been fun to have people come up and say, “I recognize your face! I saw you on Facebook!”

How are you planning to integrate technology into your 8th grade class this year?

I am looking to do it in a way in which the students are learning something and then able to use technology to create their own assessment for the class and each other. They’ll have to really take responsibility for creating something that’s accurate and works well in Hebrew. That gives them the responsibility to have to think twice or three times, “Is this accurate?” They’ll feel responsible and excited about it. That’s my vision right now.

What’s one particularly rewarding experience you’ve had teaching?

I remember a student who was really having a hard time. I was in touch with her parents to see what we could do. They felt that it just wasn’t the right approach for their child to be in an Ivrit B’Ivrit (Hebrew language immersion) class. I didn’t feel this way about this student, and the parents valued my opinion and said we’ll keep trying. I saw that the Hebrew started sinking in. This was the type of student who really needed all the pieces of the puzzle together before she could understand and embrace it. Everyone processes differently. The child said to me one day “It doesn’t sound like you’re talking in Hebrew anymore.” I was so excited. It didn’t sound like a foreign language to her anymore. I asked her, “Why do you think that is?” and she said, “Because I know what you’re saying.”