About the Yiddish Pedagogy Practicum

August 2023 – May 2024

Applications for the Yiddish Pedagogy Practicum are currently closed. To receive email updates about future iterations of the program, sign up here.
 

Overview
The Yiddish Book Center's Yiddish Pedagogy Practicum is an online professional development opportunity that offers advanced pedagogy training to current Yiddish teachers. Participants are expected to have completed the Yiddish Pedagogy Fellowship or have equivalent background in the field of Second Language Acquisition. 

Practicum participants will: 

  • Select four online or in-person professional development seminars or conferences to attend, choosing from offerings by leading organizations in language pedagogy, such as ACTFL and various Language Resource Centers across the United States.  
  • Participate in the Yiddish Book Center’s monthly online workshops with fellow Yiddish teachers between August and May. 
  • Receive support and feedback from program faculty and fellow participants on lesson planning for their Yiddish classes. 
  • Exchange ideas, share resources, and stay up to date with best practices as part of an active online community. 

"I feel that we've been able to tackle very specific issues while also learning more about general principles of the communicative approach. I appreciate seeing how other instructors think, having an opportunity to question them about their methodology, and share best practices." —2022 Practicum Participant

All Practicum participants receive a yearlong membership to ACTFL and are offered a $1,500 fund to use in support of their professional development, intended to cover the cost of seminar and conference fees, conference lodging, and conference travel reimbursement. Use of the fund must be approved by the program director.  

Please note: The Practicum is open to qualified Yiddish instructors who are currently teaching beginning Yiddish courses. If you are not currently teaching at another institution and still want to participate, you may apply to teach an online course at the Yiddish Book Center as part of your Practicum experience. See below for full eligibility requirements and for more information. 

Professional Development Seminars
Participants will attend a professional development seminar or conference (PD) on language pedagogy every other month (four total). Participants will receive recommendations for PDs and topics to choose from. PD seminar and conference fees will be subsidized by the Yiddish Book Center. PDs can be virtual or in person. We strongly encourage participants to attend at least one conference during the year as one of their PDs.

At monthly workshops, participants who attended PDs in the previous month will present on their experience at the PD to other members of the cohort.

Lesson Demos
Participants will prepare lesson plans for the classes they are teaching with guidance from program faculty. At the monthly workshops, they will mock-teach excerpts of their lessons (“lesson demos”). After these lesson demos, participants will receive feedback from faculty and peers and hold group discussions in a supportive environment. After teaching in their real class, participants will submit reflections on how the lesson went. 

Teaching at the Yiddish Book Center
The Practicum is open to qualified Yiddish instructors who are currently teaching beginning Yiddish courses. If you are not currently teaching at another institution and still want to participate, you may apply to teach an online course at the Yiddish Book Center as part of your Practicum experience. 
 
Participants selected for this opportunity will teach two twelve-week online Yiddish courses (fall and spring semesters) using the Yiddish Book Center’s communicative Yiddish textbook, In eynem. Classes will be limited to ten adult students and will meet online twice a week for 1.5 hours per class. Teachers will be provided with comprehensive, easy-to-use materials and training on the most effective ways of using these materials in the classroom (see FAQ page for more on this book). Teachers will be responsible for assigning and grading homework for each class. Program faculty will be available to support and mentor the instructors for the duration of the courses. 
 
Instructors will receive a stipend of $4,800 for teaching the two courses. 
 
Teaching dates (classes will be scheduled around major holidays): 

Fall semester: 
September 26 to November 17 
Break: November 18-26 
November 27 to December 22  

Spring semester: 
January 21 to March 1  
Break: March 2-10 
March 11 to April 19 

Eligibility Requirements
All candidates must have a minimum proficiency in Yiddish at the low-advanced level or higher.  Preference will be given to candidates who have completed the Yiddish Pedagogy Fellowship. A basic familiarity with Second Language Acquisition principles is expected. 

Candidates must either be currently teaching a Yiddish course at another institution or applying to teach for the Yiddish Book Center. Candidates applying to teach at the Yiddish Book Center must have a minimum of 1-2 years’ experience teaching beginners Yiddish at an academic or community-based institution, as well as familiarity with the communicative teaching approach and/or experience with using In eynem.  

The program will be conducted in Yiddish and English. 

I've really loved all the topics we've touched on— the brainstorming, sharing experiences, finding solutions, or just contemplating challenges that come with effectively using the communicative method.
2022 Practicum Participant

Are you a student who is interested in attending online Yiddish classes? Click here for current offerings or sign up here to receive email updates about future classes.