One of my favorite children’s Chelm stories is “Malke’s Secret Recipe,” by David Adler which tells the story of Malke, who was known for her delicious, succulent, and soft latkes. The only problem was that she would not share the recipe…
Rethinking Prayer and Jewish Education from a Neurodiverse Perspective
My neurodiversity is likely a form of ADHD, partially due to brain surgery. Some of my distractions are due to wandering thoughts and others to sensory stimuli. I also have Irlen syndrome and irregular auditory processing. Irlen syndrome causes visual distortions due to inefficient perception and processing of light and is treated using colored spectral filters.
All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten
Thirty-five years ago, a short book of essays called “All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” was published by a Unitarian Universalist minister named Robert Fulghum. Fulghum argued that he learned life’s most valuable lessons in Kindergarten…
Teaching History: Why the Facts Matter
I’ve been heading up the Israeli division of the education, research, and documentation unit of the Holocaust Claims Conference since 2019. We fund Holocaust museum exhibits…
Summertime Advice for Leaders Entering New Positions: Build An Entry Plan
Before I assumed a new headship a few years ago, I was given some excellent advice: to read a modest-sized booklet entitled “Entry Plan Approach: How to Start a Leadership Position Successfully.”
Ending the Year with Hebrew Language Games
The school year is coming to a close in the northern hemisphere, and in-class parties (to the extent they are not on Zoom) have begun.
Engaging Souls: Bringing Elementary Tefillah to Life
Ask a teacher to teach the same short story to children every day for eight or more years, and they will likely look at you like you are crazy! Yet, in a sense, that is the challenge of teaching tefillah (prayer). We have the same tefillot, more or less, that we use with our children day after day for their entire school career. Unless there is a conscious effort to create a rich tefillah experience, group prayer is at risk of becoming a mindless task, with children (and adults!) on autopilot.
A Pesach Reflection: “Everything I Learned about Engaging the Silent Child I Learned from Nechama Leibowitz”
There are always a few students who are the first to raise their hands in response to a teacher’s question even if they have no answer in mind. At the same, many classes have a handful of students who prefer to remain silent during classroom discussions….
Owning Our Texts
I’ve always been envious of my father who can recite by heart the Preamble of the United States Constitution (“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility….”), much of the Gettysburg Address…
Holocaust Remembrance After the Survivors
The linchpin for Holocaust remembrance is Holocaust survivor testimony. The direct meeting with the survivors creates an emotional experience for the student and the pairing of the remembrance with this emotion ensures its retention.