Learn the words in Hebrew to figure out the joke below:
teacher—מוֹרָה
why—לָמָּה
jumping—קוֹפֶצֶת
pool—בְּרֵכָה
I wanted—רָצִיתִי
to test, to check—לִבְדֹּק
water—מַיִם
Solution
Student: Teacher, why are you jumping into the pool?
Teacher: I wanted to test the water!
Teacher Insight:
Stay cool and keep learning!
A simple comic I love—it says so much about what we do as teachers. We don’t just talk about the lesson—we live it. We’re not standing on the sidelines telling students how to swim; we jump in with them, fully clothed if we have to.
Testing the water means taking risks. It means modeling curiosity, resilience and the courage to make mistakes. Our students are always watching—not just how we teach, but how we learn. They pay attention to how we respond to challenges, how we adapt and how we grow.
That’s why, in my classroom, I often dive in first. Whether I’m teaching conversational skills or sentence structure, I don’t just assign a task—I model it. I answer the question first, showing my thought process, how I structure my response and how I revise along the way. I want students to see the process, not just the final product.
Sometimes they imitate what I do—and that’s wonderful. Mimicking is a natural and important part of learning. As they follow the model, they begin to build confidence, and eventually, they start to develop their own voices.
We all know that tests can be daunting. Most kids aren’t fans of them—and let’s be honest, many of us teachers feel the same way. Some students thrive during class discussions but freeze the moment a test is placed in front of them. Anxiety and pressure can turn even the brightest students into blank pages.
That’s why I believe in “demo tests”—low-pressure practice runs that allow students to dip their toes in before the real thing. These aren’t about grades—they’re about growth. “Demo tests” help students feel more comfortable and confident. They learn that a test isn’t the end of the journey—it’s a checkpoint.
They learn that a test isn’t an ending; it’s a checkpoint. A chance to look back at how far they’ve come—and prepare for the next great leap forward.
Maya Yehezkel is a Hebrew teacher at Yeshivat Noam middle school. For private tutoring, all levels, email [email protected].
