Teaching Tips for Online Havruta Learning
Havruta learning affords us a particular opportunity to cultivate meaningful connections between people at a time when physical distancing is necessary. Online platforms such as Zoom enable us to pair students easily in breakout rooms to talk and learn with one another. Teachers can “pop” in, listen, and help while also giving students necessary time to direct and enjoy their own learning relationship.
Using the Havruta Warm Up Online
- Pair your students into havruta partnerships to do some learning with a text and some guiding questions that you have provided.
- Assign each pair (or group of three if needed) into online breakout rooms. Provide the breakout rooms with a link to the PoP Havruta Warm Up by copying and pasting the link into the “broadcast function” or “chat function” of your online platform. Alternatively, simply email students a file of the document. Ask students to follow the steps of the exercise. When they are finished with the Warm Up, instruct students to begin their learning together.
- When students finish their text learning, ask them to reflect on their havruta in relation to the intentions they set at the end of the Warm Up exercise.
Online Engagement Warm Ups
These are short activities you can use with your class to bring all students’ voices into the online learning space and help students connect to one another. These activities are meant to be playful and give everyone an opportunity for much-needed laughter and a sense of connection.