CROWN FAMILY CENTER FOR JEWISH AND ISRAEL STUDIES

Since moving to the United States from her native Israel in 2015, Ronit Avitan Alexander has held numerous teaching positions, faculty appointments, and fellowships at esteemed institutions around the world. She is currently a lecturer in the Hebrew faculty at Northwestern University (Illinois) and a teaching fellow for the School of Hebrew at Middlebury College (Vermont) as well as an instructor of Hebrew language at the Academy of Jewish Thought & Learning in South Africa. Her work with primary education includes serving as a Hebrew teacher at Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School (New York), Solomon Schechter Day School (Illinois), Bader Hillel High School (Wisconsin), and Derech Emunah High School (Washington).

Ronit’s graduate thesis on language anxiety and ways to increase participation in the language classroom has led her to continue researching how best to provide meaningful feedback to language learners. Now, while back to being a student, in the Doctor of Modern Languages program at Middlebury College she engages a variety of language research methodologies to develop new insights and approaches to Hebrew language instruction.

Ronit regularly receives invitations to present her research at events, such as the National Hebrew Teachers’ Conference, and is often consulted on how to improve Hebrew language curricula for schools. She also conducts workshops and webinars for Hebrew teachers on topics such as language anxiety, error correction and meaningful feedback, and technology tools in the language classroom.

Ronit holds an MA in Teaching Hebrew as a Second Language from Middlebury College and a BA in Psychology and Ancient Near East & Biblical Studies from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. She is passionate about all languages and has had the opportunity to study and learn six foreign languages. With experience teaching Hebrew at all levels and ages and strives to create engaging lessons focusing on communication and modern, authentic materials.