I’m at Kesher for about eight hours a day.  Sometimes, I have no idea what took all day because it’s so busy and interesting, particularly on long Tuesdays when the kids have early release and get here at 12:30.  Today I decided to keep a somewhat moment-by-moment journal of the day’s action.  Enjoy!

11:45 am: I roll in after a morning meeting at Baker’s Best in Newton Highlands.

11:59 am: A friend of mine re-tweets my self-titled Kesher quote of the millennium: “I just love Kesher.  Whenever I have a bad day at school and it’s a Tuesday or Thursday, I just go to Kesher and I am happy again.” 

12:10 pm: Pam and I have our weekly check-in meeting.

12:30: Kids begin arriving- early release Tuesday!

1:00: Lunch begins.  Today no one has brought peanut butter or meat by accident!

1:30: Chugim begin.  Fiddler on the Roof practice is upstairs.

2:15: Two teachers and I finish an impassioned discussion about the role of religion in the modern world.  We didn’t come to any great conclusions but debated the role of religion in world history, talked about the assassination of Gedaliah and imprisonment of Jeremiah, and a few other fascinating topics.

3:10: The Te’enim and Rimonim (grades 6-8) are outside playing “Intergalactic Samurai” and singing. I come in after watching and tweet that anecdote at 3:21.

3:40:  Snack begins.  I join the 8th graders and overhear the following joke:  “Why did the cookie go to the doctor?  Because he felt crumb-y.”  Cue the laughter.

3:45: I pop my head into the 6th-7th grade snack just in time to hear “Ohmigosh I LOVE pears,” to which I say, “agasim tovim.”  Then we sing a verse from Alejandro.

3:50: In one Nitzanim snack room, the teacher is reading a story as the kids eat mini-bagels with cream cheese.

3:55: A basketball comes crashing down the stairs.  Then two 6th grade boys come crashing down the stairs.  Crashing subsequently ceases.

4:00: Ivrit begins.  In Kitah Hey boy #1 whispers, “Psst… we’re going to spy today” in reference to the unit project.

4:02: Kitah Aleph is singing Hineh Rakevet and I chime in from the hallway with the “TOOT! TOOT!” at the end of the song.  The kids comment on how loud my horn is.

4:05: In Kitah Chet, a girl tries saying Ani Lir’iti instead of Ani Ra’iti.  She seems to have forgotten the rules for past tense for a moment.

4:10: In Kitah Gimel, I walk in as the six students are all working on the class project, a collaborative book called “Eyfo Dan.” Yael looks up an proudly boasts, kvutza chazakah” (a strong group).

4:20: I come back to the office to write down these notes and hang out with the kids getting Hebrew tutoring.  We learn the word atztitz, a small tree.

4:35: I drop off Gimel sheets, hot of the presses, in Kitah Aleph just in time.  The kids are finishing up their maps of Kesher that they are creating with the target vocabulary and pictures.

4:40: A 6th grader has confused tasni with tasti (I flew).  We figure it out.

4:45: A girl leaving Kitah Daled asks me how to say “sword” in Hebrew.  I think chanit (spear) but then remember the right word, cherev, and sing the song Lo Yisa Goy.  Another boy chimes in.

4:50: The 8th graders get to work on their illuminated manuscripts that they have begun working on.  We then debate about the correct translation of the phrase Girl Power into Hebrew.  Consensus is not reached.  Do we use the word nefesh? Koach?  Ruach? 

4:55: The Anafim begin their chevrutah study of the story of Rebekah and Eliezer.

5:00: I unleash one of the top quotes of the week, “You have to earn the right to be lazy”, to some kids in the hallway.

5:07: Liad recommends that we go with Koach Nashi for girl power.  OK.

5:09Sarah and Yael explore the story of Jacob and Esau with the NItzanim.  Soon they will begin decorating little puppets with red-faced Esau!

5:11: The Shorashim are making faux soup pots filled with lentils to simulate the adom admoni that Jacob gives to Esau in exchange for the birthright.

5:13Someone’s fingers get stepped on and I fetch an ice pack.

5:20Singing begins at 5:30… time to stop writing!

This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content are presented solely by the author, and JewishBoston assumes no responsibility for them. Want to add your voice to the conversation? Publish your own post here. MORE