Rivky Balser, Kindergarten Teacher (General Studies)
BIO: Rivky grew up in Brighton Beach on Corbin Place, then moved 2 blocks away to Manhattan Beach where she lived for the duration of her childhood. She moved to West Orange, NJ after Hurricane Sandy and now lives in Elizabeth NJ and still commutes to Mazel every day because it is the place she grew to love. Rivky is a NYS certified teacher and has a Masters degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Bank Street Graduate School. She holds a double BA in Early Childhood General Ed as well as in Children and Youth Studies, which she received from Brooklyn College. She has experience teaching in a wide variety of educational settings, working with children with special needs in an ICT class in the New York City Public Schools, at the Childhood Development Center in Manhattan, at Chabad Hebrew Sunday schools, as well as having worked in a number of classrooms at Mazel Day School for over 12 years.
I Joined Mazel because… To me Mazel Day School isn’t just a school, it is a family. It is a warm, friendly, and caring environment for the teachers and students. It is the place I joined many years ago, at such a young age, that led me on the path to becoming the teacher I am today. It is a place where everyone feels at home; a place most people call their second home. As a teacher, Mazel to me is the best place to work. It’s a place that has many resources and the highest standards for education. Mazel Day School follows all the top of the line teaching methods and educational philosophies that I have learned in Graduate school and is a model for teaching and learning. After being at Mazel Day School for such a long period of time, I have gained so much insight to their teaching methods but yet, every day I feel like I have more to discover. The school is empowered with stability, confidence, and enthusiasm for education. The staff is made up of warm, dedicated, and motivated educators that I am happy to be a part of.
I became a teacher because... I love children. Children are our future and to be able to get the chance to look into a child’s eyes and teach them about their world is gratifying. As a child, school was challenging to me. Therefore, I set out to become a teacher to teach children in a way that they feel most comfortable learning. Children learn in multiple ways and I believe it is my job to use my creativity to teach them in the best way they can learn and succeed to their full potential.
I believe that every child has the ability to learn. Trust and an emotional bond between a teacher and students is one of the key elements in doing so. A teacher's bond to her students gives them a will to strive to succeed and ultimately, opens the door for the students to experience a positive learning environment.
Why I love teaching and hope to accomplish in my classroom: I love teaching because I love children. Children are our future and to be able to get the chance to look into a child’s eyes and teach them about their world is gratifying. I believe children learn through hands on materials and by making the learning become real, and come to life in front of them. Teaching is a way in guiding the children about their world and the questions and curiosities they wish to understand. It is a way of learning by gaining information that may not be known. Teaching in my classroom is having all the children engaged and excited to learn. It’s by providing a fun, pleasant, and productive learning environment and teaching with new innovative techniques to help every child learn. As the educational philosopher Howard Gardner states “Children learn through multiple intelligence” meaning all children learn differently and all children have the ability to learn through multiple means. Therefore the focus in my teaching is on getting down to the children’s level and teaching them so they can understand.
My vision for our children… is to walk away from Kindergarten feeling confident in what they learned and are capable of doing. I want each of my students to reach their own individual goals and walk away with a sense of accomplishment.
The most difficult part of teaching Kindergarten is… nothing. I’m kidding, of course there are many challenges a kindergarten teacher faces. From teaching the children the dynamics of school to watching them grow and develop into elementary school aged kids. Kindergarten is a hard age because they are still little and yet have this huge building of older children surrounding them and so much learning to accomplish. The most difficult part of teaching for me is helping them navigate their new environment, helping them learn to be independent for themselves and through learning, and helping them mature through kindness with each other and confidence in who they are.
My best advice to parents… is to allow your kids to be kids. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m teaching 5 and 6 year olds and that they have only been on this earth for such a short time, that they find the simplest things hysterically funny, and look up at me as the most admired person in the room. When in the classroom and teaching I enjoy allowing them to be kids (while making it educational), by having the time to learn through exploration, and by trial and error. Every child has the time to learn but they are children for only so long and why not let them be while they still can.
If I can teach my students only one thing what would it be… I would teach them to have confidence in themselves. I believe that everything starts with confidence and good self esteem. As I teach, my most important goal is to enhance my students abilities by letting them feel a sense of pride, joy, and accomplishment in everything they do. There are no mistakes and no wrong answers because we learn from our struggles and through them we gain a deeper understanding of our learning. As my little Kindergarteners grow up I know that if i give them good self esteem and confidence that they can accomplish anything they put their minds too.
If I would have not become a teacher I would have become… a child psychologist or special education therapist. I truly enjoy working with children and feel that I have a natural way in forming a bond with them. I especially enjoy working with children which may be struggling as I find it accomplishing and enjoyable to understand what may be hard for them and how as a team (the child and I) can work together to work through the struggles they may be facing.
A trick I use in the classroom is… listening to music and having an organized and child friendly environment. If you walk into my classroom during breakfast or lunch you would see the lights off, light up disco speakers on, and educational music playing as background noise. Since eating time is a social setting we have some children deep in conversation while other children are singing along about various topics such as the water cycle, math, or the seven continents. I believe some children learn through song so why not play them as background music for those children to sing along.Another trick is an organized and child friendly classroom. By the room being uncluttered, the teacher modeling organization, and the children learning where everything is and belongs, it allows the children to have a space where they are in control. I believe in a classroom where they can independently navigate and use to the fullest potential for learning, exploring, and fun.
Outside of school I like to… Spend time with friends and family, walk my two dogs, play ice hockey, go out for dinner, go ice skating, bike riding, swimming, and think about what more I can bring to the classroom for my students.