Tired of “rewarding” your children with presents and sugary treats? Do you find that you have to continually up the ante on your prizes? Last week, Dr. Rona Novick, Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration at Yeshiva University, and Co-Educational Director of Hidden Sparks presented a webinar entitled “Positive Behavior Support—Motivating With Rewards That Have No Salt, No Sugar and Cost No Money” as part of the Hidden Sparks Without Walls webinar series for educators and parents. In the webinar, now available on the Hidden Sparks website archive, she discussed strategies for enhancing self-motivation and effective ways to offer incentives. Later in the spring, Dr. Novick will be speaking on the topic of building resilience in children.

Hidden Sparks, a non-profit that offers professional development opportunities for yeshiva and day school based educators, provides educational opportunities to parents as well as teachers through the Hidden Sparks Without Walls (HSWOW) webinar series. To date, over 80 webinars have been hosted (and enjoyed by over 1,800 people), all of which are currently archived and available for viewing on the Hidden Sparks Website.

For Debbie Niderberg, Executive Director of Hidden Sparks, the drive to provide programming for parents across the country has been a major impetus for HSWOW, “The HSWOW program has enabled us to bring fantastic presenters and important subject matter to parents and teachers in Jewish day schools across North America—from the large urban centers to the small, underserved communities. Enhancing the understanding of learning and behavior for teachers and parents is core to our mission of helping children and this webinar format is so easy, accessible and valuable.”

This year’s presentations feature speakers such as Teaneck local, Rabbi Jay Goldmintz, presenting on “Making Tefilla More Meaningful for Children,” in which he will guide participants towards a better understanding of the development of prayer in children and adolescents and provide them with some practical strategies for enabling students to find their own voice. In addition, local Educational Technologists Rabbis Efraim Clair and Dov Hochbaum from Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey will be presenting on “Digital Parenting Tips in the Age of Social Media” in February.

Hidden Sparks Without Walls Webinars 2016-17

Teacher Series and Parent Connection

Past webinars for parents and teachers are archived on the Hidden Sparks website, HiddenSparks.org, and are accessible through a link on the homepage, where parents and teachers can also add themselves to the Hidden Sparks mailing list and find out more about the Hidden Sparks programs. For more information, please contact Sara Diament, Director of School Services at [email protected].