JSkyway -- Online Professional Development for Educators in Jewish Schools

JSkyway’s professional and highly convenient courses are receiving rave reviews from the most important audience: teachers and administrators in day schools.

Read what others are saying about JSkyway:

Rabbi Shimon Herskovits from Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn, NY. “The beauty of this program is that the educators are not limited by geography or time – any teacher, anywhere can be part of a professional learning community. Making [JSkyway’s] professional development available to teachers will improve the general and Judaic education that our schools are able to offer, and will create a new level of educational collaboration.”
Pamela Rohr of The Nash Family Foundation. “Jewish day schools seem to be realizing the need for improved professional development to create excellent schools. We are happy to be able to help improve Jewish education using the advances of modern technology."
Jonathan Woocher, President of JESNA "Having long-term, interactive courses which allow teachers to integrate their learning into their teaching has been proven to be a more successful model for professional development." “I was very reluctant at first to take an on-line course. It turns out that it was like eating potato chips! I could not get enough of it!”
“All Judaic teachers should be required to take courses like this one”
“I have learned that I really like this forum for learning. I began and ended inspired by reading teachers' reflections on their own practice. Thank you.”
“It is only now, through the course, that the ideas and words are coming together. This course continues to broaden my knowledge of the "art of teaching."
“This course has been wonderful. I am coming in as a brand new Judaic studies teacher, with no real educational background (except adult lectures). The course has been an eye- opening experience, generating a lot of thought and ideas.”
“Online suits my time schedule to a tee. I look forward to additional courses.”
“Thank you so much to everyone for the fantastic ideas. The course has been an incredible way of picking up a ton of information in an easy manner. (I don't have the time or patience to sit through hours and hours of lectures). Without a doubt my teaching has improved and will continue to do so!”
"This course taught me that I did a lot of right things when assessing my students. I hope that I will be able to do some teacher training using the materials given in this course that will improve teacher's assessment. Thanks to everybody for sharing. I learned with and from you.”
“As good as a teacher as I think I am, this course has catapulted me forward in terms of how I have begun to teach and assess over the past few weeks, and how I expect to continue to move in this direction in the future.”
“Today, after using one of the techniques I learned from the course, one of my juniors said, "This class was really fun!" They know something's different, even if they can't put their fingers on it.”
“I have learned so much from the other teachers who took this course, both through their insights and responses and from the projects which they presented in their postings.”
“I have learned so much from this course, that after tape-recording myself, I realized how differently I present my lessons as compared to the same lessons from last year. “
“Its is amazing how the assignments have really changed my way of thinking and teaching.”
“These eight weeks have been unbelievably eye-opening from a teaching perspective.”
“Since [my colleague and I] started taking this course, both of us have commented to each other that the one thing that has changed is that we now continually question our behaviors and methodologies in teaching and in the classroom.”
“I will be spreading the word about this course and it's value. I think not enough people are aware of the potential in doing such a thing.”
“This course has definitely made me conscious of the things I am doing in class now. After I leave a lesson I'm kind of recording it in my mind and process.”
“I just have to share with you how delighted I am with what’s happening in Skills for Effective Teaching. We have arrived! [My students are] not just responding to assignments, but really discussing the topic.” "The information that was presented was so interesting and exciting and so were the assignments. To be with all of you, my on-line colleagues, was terrific! Thank you for all that you put into making this course the success that it is! I have learned SO much from each and every one of you. Todah Rabah!”
“I found my experience with JSkyway to be both educational and enjoyable. This sort of interaction appears to have added a new dimension to education and learning. Being a working mom with limited time on my hands, the flexibility afforded to me by this form of instruction, has been uplifting. Thank you for all your help in this regard.”
“I just wanted to let all of you know that I tried out one of the math activities [discussed in this week’s module]… I tried with all 3 of my grade 6 math classes and the students loved it. They though it was a lot of fun…It’s great for the special needs students who like to work with their hands, because this is a very hands on activity. It’s also great for the gifted, because it is a great challenge to solve the entire puzzle.”
“I recently noticed a dramatic fringe benefit of the cooperative learning. My eighth grade English class was suffering form the early signs of “graduation-it is”. I had a lesson that depended heavily on cooperative learning. I had been concerned that this could only do me in and lost total control over the class. To my most pleasant surprise, the program instantly corrected itself. Suddenly, all of the students had been assigned active roles and everyone was on task. Of course, I was encouraged to make this style a more substantial piece of my lesson planning.”
“I loved this assignment and would like to try the technique. Comparing the film and the text was fascinating and helped me remember the details of both. Obviously each type of media needs its own reading of material and what works well in print does not necessarily work well on film. Had I been doing this on my own, I do not think that I would have been as creative."
“What a fun technique. I have been teaching this text to 8th graders and this opened my eyes to all kinds of possibilities. The students could even re-write the material from several perspectives and then, assuming the character through whose eyes they wrote, have a debate. I am going to try this.”
“I just had a discussion with my supervisor who wanted to know how the course is going. I told him, in so many words, that I love, that I am learning much and I would love to take similar courses. This is the first time in my life that I took a course online.”

Interested in learning more? Contact Monique Cuvelier, Project Manager at info@jskyway.com or call 617-581-6847.