School Tefillah and Social-Emotional Learning
January 10, 2024
Teaching Boys About Emotions with A Little Spot
January 10, 2024
Mrs. Brittney Friedman and Rabbi Oren Levy
Chazal famously said, “כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה“, that all the Jewish people are guarantors (responsible) for one another. We encourage our students to have that recognition and sense of responsibility towards their peers in everything they do. In that vein, in 2021, Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh adopted a new Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) initiative to complement our Be a Mensch (BAM) program that was started in 2018. To further supplement the success of this program, we implemented a House system based on a PBIS model initially started at the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, GA.
PBIS programs have been implemented in schools across the country as a model to promote positive behavior and improve school safety. PBIS schools teach and model positive behavior strategies just as they would teach any other subject. Learning can only take place when there is a strong sense of community and positivity in our classrooms. Students can meet behavioral expectations when they are given clear guidelines on what their expectations are.
Sharing a common language throughout the school day can help our students understand and follow through on those expectations. Additionally, students are rewarded for making those good choices. The Gemara says, מתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה’. Once we start achieving Torah, Mitzvos, and acts of Chessed, even for an ulterior motive, we realize their intrinsic value and mitzva goreres mitzva – one good deed leads to the next. It becomes infectious. While students are rewarded and recognized for their good choices, in the end, the rewards lead to a realization of the intrinsic value of their good choices. Research has shown that PBIS can lead to increased positive student behavior and improvement in academic achievement.
The House System at Hillel Academy divides elementary students in kindergarten through fourth grade into separate groups, called houses. A student will initially be assigned a house when they enter elementary school and will stay with their house for their elementary school career, providing opportunities for cross-age group interaction and modeling. The houses represent different middot, including leadership, integrity, respect, unity, and kindness.
Throughout the day, teachers and peers have the opportunity to recognize students for their good choices and reward them with “menschable moments”. Cards can be given out when a child goes above and beyond baseline classroom expectations or when is deliberately working on a personal growth goal. As students collect mensch cards they place them in their houses and work together as a house to earn cards. The cards are tallied weekly, and as a house reaches new benchmarks they earn rewards. A critical component of this program is that rewards aren’t limited to teacher-student or even student-student interaction. Environmental responsibility is an integral component of our program, and students are also rewarded for maintaining a clean and orderly physical environment.
Each Rosh Chodesh, houses celebrate together so students have an opportunity to interact as a cohesive team. These meetings allow children from all age groups to interact and develop a shared house identity. This kinship encourages the younger children to feel comfortable modeling the behaviors of the older children, and it gives the older students ample opportunity to be behavioral leaders. Special activities involving chesed opportunities, programming around the chagim, and Torah learning create a sense of camaraderie and community.
Additionally, our fourth graders have a special opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the elementary school. After growing up with their houses through elementary school they will join our BAMbassador program. Fourth graders will meet weekly with our BAM coordinator and administrators to plan divrei Torah, activities for upcoming programs, chesed within our greater Jewish community and Israel, and meet with their kindergarten buddies. Leadership is an essential part of our elementary school program. It helps build character, allow our students to take responsibility and ownership of our school, and strengthen a sense of community of school spirit. Students will work on decision-making, problem-solving, public speaking, and relationship-building.
When Bnei Yisrael camped around the Mishkan, the Midrash tells us that they requested to have flags like the malachim, the angels, had flags. The Jewish people saw that the malachim were able to have flags to rally under and remain a unified group, existing without negative competition and jealousy. The house system at Hillel Academy is meant to achieve the same goals. By giving students a flag to rally around while teaching them the values of mutual respect, kindness, and leadership, we are modeling positive competition and embarking on a creative journey towards social-emotional learning through adherence to Torah values. It is our goal that the BAM House Program will create a positive climate and culture for the elementary school students and staff. A strong focus on middot education in elementary school will highlight the importance of good character, relationships, and school spirit.
Mrs. Brittney Friedman is the Elementary General Studies Principal at Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh. With 18 years of experience, she has worked as an elementary school teacher, a resource room teacher, and in administration for the past 8 years. Mrs. Friedman holds a BS in Elementary Education and Judaic Studies from the University of Miami with an endorsement in ESOL. She has a master’s degree from Christian Brothers University in Educational Leadership. Mrs. Friedman is part of the COJDS Speaker’s Bureau specializing in helping schools with classroom design and setup. Email Mrs. Friedman at bfriedman@hillelpgh.org.
Rabbi Oren Levy is the Elementary Judaics Principal at the Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, a position he has held for the past 6 years. He began teaching in 2009 at Yeshiva Har Torah in Queens, NY, and moved to Pittsburgh in 2013. Previously, he has served as a classroom teacher, student activities coordinator, and school outreach director. He received his Bachelors and Masters in Talmudic Law from Ner Yisrael and received a Master’s in Jewish Studies from Touro University, Landers College. Email Rabbi Levy at olevy@hillelpgh.org.