I am head of a small (150 students) K-8 school. The administrative team consists of a Judaic studies director, a business manager and me. Budgetary constraints prevent us from hiring additional administrative staff. The board of directors wants to see continued growth of the school, not only in enrollment, but in curricular and programmatic offerings, use of technology and professional development of staff. While I agree with these goals and know I can achieve much in any one of these areas, the expectation that I will accomplish much in all areas at once, with no additional professional support, is unrealistic.

It is a daunting task but a real privilege to be writing my first column as chair of the Board of Trustees of RAVSAK. With a circulation of nearly 4,000, HaYidion is no small forum in which to express my opinions. It is an honor to have a voice in this superbly crafted professional publication.

I read a wonkmeme today to see if what a wonkblogger concluded from crowdsourcing was trending in the twittersphere.

Flipped learning is usually evoked as a tool for the classroom. The authors, leaders in the training of Hebrew educators, developed a method of flipped instruction for PD that can serve as a model for schools and other programs.

To enable teachers to succeed in incorporating new tools and methods into their practice, administrators need to put in place frameworks for teachers to engage in shared reflection and inquiry.

To undertake the kinds of changes described in this issue, one school created a new position, “director of innovations,” whose mandate is the cultivation of faculty development to reorient pedagogical practice.

Online learning options are divided by one main criterion: time. Is the offering ready made, accessible at all times, or is it live with real people teaching? This article maps this territory and explains the differences in cost and benefits.

Day schools have the responsibility—and opportunity—to lead their community in demonstrating respectful norms for tech and social media use. Heitner offers helpful guidance in this area.

This article aims to demystify social media by encouraging simple, concrete steps that will enable faculty to start using these tools while ensuring that technology serves the school’s educational goals and vision.

The authors demonstrate how the Common Core standards can be an ally to day schools, providing benchmarks against which they can be evaluated by prospective parents, and offering a framework for faculty collaboration and professional growth.