ORT YERUSHALYIM 'S PRINCIPAL - MEET MICHAL DALAL

Michal was born in the German colony in Jerusalem and lives in the Gilo neighborhood with her family. She has 3 sons and a husband - Idan , Omer, and little Noam. Michal loves her sons (but says she wanted a daughter) and that one day she will be a grandmother to granddaughters.

Michal has been teaching for 25 years and says she always wanted to be a teacher. From a very young age she taught her dolls. One day she sat on the porch of the house and she answered her Barbies and talked to them and taught them things. Her mother asked her, “Michal, who are you talking to?” And she answered her: “Mother, I am teaching my class.”

TEACHING DURING CORONA

The Corona situation, she says, is a temporary matter and life has taught her that we must learn from difficulties. “From these challenges we are moving forward,” says Michal.

Michal has learned to adapt to new situations and be creative. A lot of mental flexibility has allowed her to adapt to this period. It has taught her to listen more and be more of "a leader."

“Besides,” she says “I always like to look at the glass as half full and there are many positive things to learn in this period.

As the school principal, she feels a great responsibility for the students and the teachers. She is very proud of her teachers who are learning, teaching and working together in a team in an impressive way and are of course in very close contact with their students. Everyone is creative and their coping is very brave.

Admittedly, she knows learning is very different during this period and they will have to work hard over the years in their social, emotional and academic plans.

DURING THE LOCKDOWN

During the lockdowns, Michal recommends learning and experiencing something you didn’t do before. At the beginning of the Corona, Michal began to bake. She loves to cook and now she also bakes and loves it very much. She also recommends taking advantage of time with friends and family.

Michal maintains direct contact with the students in Zoom as a teacher, or in individual lessons and more recently has started meeting with them face to face.

She thinks Corona has created a closeness between the teachers and the students, and they will come back happier.