When the students at Midreshet AMIT had to leave abruptly weeks before their Passover break due to growing concern over coronavirus, what did the seminary do?
The faculty decided to teach their classes via Zoom on a U.S. schedule to make sure that the learning was uninterrupted and that students wouldn’t miss a beat.
That meant the seminary staff in Israel who began their day at 9 a.m. were now going to teach from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. to accommodate the six-hour time difference so the U.S. students would still be on their Israel schedule.
Pesha Fischer, the senior educator and coordinator of experiential education at Midreshet AMIT, said the staff inquired as to how other gap-year programs were continuing their studies in the face of the early departures.
Many schools, she said, were recording classes for students to watch online at their leisure.
“We didn’t want that,” Fischer said. “We wanted the students to be learning and not lectured at, not watching a show.
“It is very important that we stay connected. We pride ourselves on building and continuing our relationships between our students and staff.”
The lockdown in Israel continues, said Fischer, who spoke to AMIT shortly after the state issued the directive not to venture more than 100 meters outside the home except to get essentials such as groceries or medicines.
Fischer stressed that accommodating Midreshet AMIT students was a priority, even though the schedule shift presented a challenge to staff, many of whom had their own children at home because of school closures.
“Everybody’s kids are home now, so when we have a 15-minute break, I would come out just to check on them,” she said.
Like other teachers, she had to get used to a new way of teaching.
“In the classroom, I teach in a dynamic way and I don’t sit at a computer, so I had to retrain myself. Nothing is going to replace the aliveness of being in a classroom. The first-day teaching through Zoom felt faraway. But after a week of learning, the students and teachers got used to the medium. It still felt like we were talking and connecting with our students,” Fischer said.
The interactive and live Zoom lessons were also very helpful to the students, who are grappling with the emotional fallout of the pandemic.
The students were able to express themselves, Fischer said, and in her own class on Leadership, they discussed how new leaders are emerging during this health crisis.
“They shared great stories,” Fischer said. “When I asked who they thought was a leader in this situation, one student named her own mother, who she said has been shopping every day for food and delivering it to her elderly neighbors. That was great to hear.”
