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The Ten Plagues of Programming

By Moses (with help from ISJL Education Fellow Shira Moskowitz)
 
No matter how awesome of a teacher you are, something is bound to happen that will upend your plan and leave you scrambling to keep your program on track. Whether it’s a hail storm, a lice outbreak, water pollution, or a frog infestation, it is impossible to account for the plagues of programming. Trust me, I know. I was in Egypt back when God sent the ten plagues to convince Pharaoh to let my people go, and let me tell you it wasn’t pretty. But, if we can anticipate the Ten Plagues of Programming, we will be better prepared to weather the storm.
The 10 Plagues of Programming (as described by Moses, transcribed by Shira Moses-kowitz):

1. The Weather - It is nearly impossible to account for the weather. We plan an outdoor program for Tu Bish’vat and it rains, or the wind makes it impossible to light our Hav’dalah candle.
2. Limited Space - Sometimes our buildings limit what types of programming we can run.
3. Limited Resources - Unfortunately, we cannot always buy all of the supplies we want for our programming. Sometimes this is a result of finances, but other times it is because Michael’s has run out of the specific red stickers we know we need for this program.
4. Time Constraints - Sometimes an activity in our program runs longer or shorter than we expect and we must quickly cut out activities or make up a new one.
5. Limited Support Staff - For a program to be successful, we often want more than one staff member, but as the ancient biblical wisdom goes “you can’t always get what you want.” We can get stuck leading the program and supervising the students.
6. Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen - There are too many staff members to help run a program, which can lead to stepping on each other’s toes or not participating at all.
7. Age Appropriateness - Even within a single class, there are students who learn at various levels and in unique ways.
8. Repetitive Programming - When you’ve been leading the people for 40 years, it’s hard to make your programming new and exciting.
9. Low Attendance - What do you do when no one shows up?
10. Unrealistic Expectations - We all have big dreams for our students, but if we set our expectations too high we may sacrifice the kavanah from our time at religious school.

These plagues make the hard work of programming sound ominous; but we have a few tips and tricks to help you avoid the Ten Plagues of Programming.

First of all, always have a backup plan. Know what your game plan will be if the weather gets bad, the space is not what you expected, or if you finish early (that’s why the ISJL curriculum always include optional activities).

Second, communicate with your team. If you have an abundance of staff give each one a specific role so that they too are engaged.

Next, know your audience. If people are not coming to your events, perhaps you are not planning appropriately for your crowd. Similarly, if you have a wide range of ages at your program, make sure that there is developmentally appropriate content for each demographic.

Last but certainly not least, set realistic goals. If your goal for a program is that the students will know the entire Torah by the end of the day, you are sure to be disappointed. I’m Moses for goodness sake and it took me 40 days and 40 nights just to write the whole thing down. 

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