If you search online for virtual ed programs, the results are overwhelming: there are a huge number of programs out there.
Here's a place to start.
All virtual ed programs have their frustrations, but these are the ones that people I know (or correspond with) have used and either still use or recommend to others as strong candidates for consideration.
Programs I heard about from school administrators:
Connections Academy
FLVS (Florida Virtual) - merged with Connections
Edgenuity (I proctored students using this one -- let me know if you want details)
ALEKS (a math program)
Fuel
Someone told me she wants to try Bonim b'Yachad; at this writing I don't know of anyone who has used it.
The following three are the programs that come recommended by parents homeschooling their kids on sailboats:
Laurel Springs
Calvert Academy
Oak Meadow
There are a couple of other programs out there that people I know have tried and cautioned me against using. They aren't mentioned in this post.
Craft activities for short occasions
I've been running craft workshops recently.
All of these are easy crafts for youngish (7-year-old and up) children, can be completed within an hour (or dragged out into more elaborate projects as necessary), and don't require a lot of advance training for the facilitator.
I like these crafts because although they are good activities to do with kids when you have an odd 40 minutes to fill, they teach craft skills that are more sophisticated than the average glue-something-to-something-else craft project.
All of these are Google-able for instructions and examples.
1.) Yarn dolls
2.) Polymer clay -- millefiori techniques
3.) Paper quilling
4.) Make candles (roll or dip; I've never tried using molds)
5.) Build forts in the woods, or fairy houses. Or, bring a bunch of twigs into the house and hot-glue them together to make fairy furniture.
6.) Needle felting
7.) Sew tiny bags, turn them right side out, stuff them with rice, and then sew buttons on them: several basic sewing skills in an hour.
8.) Paper marbling/suminagashi
9.) Basket weaving
9b.) also pine needle basket weaving, but you have to have time to boil the pine needles before you use them
10.) Daisy chains
11.) Weaving potholders
12 & 13.) Macrame/kumihomo, and origami. I separate these from the rest of the list because they demand a little more precision, so some kids have trouble with them.
14.) Pysanky. I separate this from the rest of the list because, while it is a kid-friendly craft that is a great way to fill an hour, it involves fire and specialty equipment, and you have to prepare lots of eggs ahead of time.
I haven't tried making temari balls. It really looks like too complicated a craft to be on this list, but it is such a little-known one that I think it deserves mention.
15.) Lemon crabs. This one isn't a craft, just something fun to do while babysitting: twist each corner of a paper towel a little, put a lemon under the towel, and roll the "lemon crab" gently across the floor. The crab-like way it scuttles across the floor is peculiarly charming.
All of these are easy crafts for youngish (7-year-old and up) children, can be completed within an hour (or dragged out into more elaborate projects as necessary), and don't require a lot of advance training for the facilitator.
I like these crafts because although they are good activities to do with kids when you have an odd 40 minutes to fill, they teach craft skills that are more sophisticated than the average glue-something-to-something-else craft project.
All of these are Google-able for instructions and examples.
1.) Yarn dolls
2.) Polymer clay -- millefiori techniques
3.) Paper quilling
4.) Make candles (roll or dip; I've never tried using molds)
5.) Build forts in the woods, or fairy houses. Or, bring a bunch of twigs into the house and hot-glue them together to make fairy furniture.
6.) Needle felting
7.) Sew tiny bags, turn them right side out, stuff them with rice, and then sew buttons on them: several basic sewing skills in an hour.
8.) Paper marbling/suminagashi
9.) Basket weaving
9b.) also pine needle basket weaving, but you have to have time to boil the pine needles before you use them
10.) Daisy chains
11.) Weaving potholders
12 & 13.) Macrame/kumihomo, and origami. I separate these from the rest of the list because they demand a little more precision, so some kids have trouble with them.
14.) Pysanky. I separate this from the rest of the list because, while it is a kid-friendly craft that is a great way to fill an hour, it involves fire and specialty equipment, and you have to prepare lots of eggs ahead of time.
I haven't tried making temari balls. It really looks like too complicated a craft to be on this list, but it is such a little-known one that I think it deserves mention.
15.) Lemon crabs. This one isn't a craft, just something fun to do while babysitting: twist each corner of a paper towel a little, put a lemon under the towel, and roll the "lemon crab" gently across the floor. The crab-like way it scuttles across the floor is peculiarly charming.
Finding Books for Boys: a Growing List
One of my challenges as an English teacher is finding books that meet the school standards for appropriate content and that appeal to adolescent boys.
I went to the public library and said, "My students want to read about war and sports; what can you recommend?" and not ONE book that the librarian recommended met our school standards -- including Endurance and Hatchet.
I did find a great adventure memoir called In the Land of White Death, by Valerian Albanov, about a failed 1912 expedition in the Arctic.
The collection in the school book closet includes
Tom Sawyer
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Around the World in 80 Days
Animal Farm
Profiles in Courage
Johnny Tremain
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
The Phantom Tollbooth
To these I would add The Twenty-One Balloons, The Golden Goblet, and My Side of the Mountain.
Lord of the Flies is an ugly, violent story about the triumph of evil; but there is no romance in it. (The afterword published in the edition I see everywhere is not up to school standards.)
The Invisible Man is another ugly, violent one with no romance or profanity in it.
I have one student who has been very happy with Moby Dick but I haven't been through it recently to check for content.
A lot of kids are enjoying Sherlock Holmes -- same caveat.
Short stories:
There are a lot of good short stories (and very short stories) by Kafka. I gave the class My Neighbor and we got interested in whether the narrator is paranoid or reasonable -- that was fun.
I also gave out a few chapters of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. Much of the book is not appropriate; but each chapter can stand alone. These are slightly dystopian prose poems about imaginary cities: very boy-friendly.
Nabokov's Pnin consists of several chapters, each of which can stand alone as a piece of literature; some of these are appropriate.
There are a few appropriate short stories by Hemingway -- e.g., The Old Man at the Bridge, The Good Lion, A Day's Wait; I have one or two more here but I have to find them.
I went to the public library and said, "My students want to read about war and sports; what can you recommend?" and not ONE book that the librarian recommended met our school standards -- including Endurance and Hatchet.
I did find a great adventure memoir called In the Land of White Death, by Valerian Albanov, about a failed 1912 expedition in the Arctic.
The collection in the school book closet includes
Tom Sawyer
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Around the World in 80 Days
Animal Farm
Profiles in Courage
Johnny Tremain
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
The Phantom Tollbooth
To these I would add The Twenty-One Balloons, The Golden Goblet, and My Side of the Mountain.
Lord of the Flies is an ugly, violent story about the triumph of evil; but there is no romance in it. (The afterword published in the edition I see everywhere is not up to school standards.)
The Invisible Man is another ugly, violent one with no romance or profanity in it.
I have one student who has been very happy with Moby Dick but I haven't been through it recently to check for content.
A lot of kids are enjoying Sherlock Holmes -- same caveat.
Short stories:
There are a lot of good short stories (and very short stories) by Kafka. I gave the class My Neighbor and we got interested in whether the narrator is paranoid or reasonable -- that was fun.
I also gave out a few chapters of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. Much of the book is not appropriate; but each chapter can stand alone. These are slightly dystopian prose poems about imaginary cities: very boy-friendly.
Nabokov's Pnin consists of several chapters, each of which can stand alone as a piece of literature; some of these are appropriate.
There are a few appropriate short stories by Hemingway -- e.g., The Old Man at the Bridge, The Good Lion, A Day's Wait; I have one or two more here but I have to find them.
Memos from the We Would Never Have Guessed Dept.
Whoa!
Rabbi Oppenheimer (the rav who kicked off Portland's transformation into a model of a thriving Torah community) wrote this week here:
I have heard Rabbi Yissochor Frand שליט"א say on several occasions that when he was growing up in Seattle, they considered the Jewish community in Portland, Oregon to be a virtual עיר הנדחת. The community seemed so irredeemably lost to Torah-true Judaism that there was no hope that anything positive would come from it. Surely that was meant hyperbolically; it has been proven quite wrong...
Portland is now a community that other communities look to to find out how to grow a Torah community.
...
The other item in this vein is that I recently caught up with a middle school classmate who was able to fill me in on what the rest of our class is doing.
Pretty much every one of us is doing something that could not have been predicted from who we were in middle school.
The boy who slouched in the back of the room with his hair in his eyes is a rising star in the fashion industry.
The girl who never went anywhere without two spare pairs of high-fashion shoes is in rural South America organizing a farming commune.
The list goes on and on like that. Almost none of us seem to have proceeded in a straight line from who we were in middle school.
I look now at the class of middle schoolers I taught this year and realize that everything I think I know about them could be wrong completely.
Rabbi Oppenheimer (the rav who kicked off Portland's transformation into a model of a thriving Torah community) wrote this week here:
I have heard Rabbi Yissochor Frand שליט"א say on several occasions that when he was growing up in Seattle, they considered the Jewish community in Portland, Oregon to be a virtual עיר הנדחת. The community seemed so irredeemably lost to Torah-true Judaism that there was no hope that anything positive would come from it. Surely that was meant hyperbolically; it has been proven quite wrong...
Portland is now a community that other communities look to to find out how to grow a Torah community.
...
The other item in this vein is that I recently caught up with a middle school classmate who was able to fill me in on what the rest of our class is doing.
Pretty much every one of us is doing something that could not have been predicted from who we were in middle school.
The boy who slouched in the back of the room with his hair in his eyes is a rising star in the fashion industry.
The girl who never went anywhere without two spare pairs of high-fashion shoes is in rural South America organizing a farming commune.
The list goes on and on like that. Almost none of us seem to have proceeded in a straight line from who we were in middle school.
I look now at the class of middle schoolers I taught this year and realize that everything I think I know about them could be wrong completely.
Book Review: Never Work Harder than Your Students
I spotted Never Work Harder than Your Students, by Robyn Jackson, on a friend's bookshelf, but didn't have time to read much of it; took it out of the library; didn't have time to read much of it; and finally ordered a copy, which I am now quickly skating through.
First impressions.
The form of the book is self-helpy. It starts with a quiz; it has its own website; it occasionally breaks out with a term like "Master Teacher" that you sense the author is just waiting to trademark.
But:
The content of the book is great. Some of it is obvious but all of it is getting good ideas crackling.
So, so far, I recommend it.
(The title is misleading -- it's not a book about keeping teachers from working too hard; it's a grab bag of pedagogical insights.)
First impressions.
The form of the book is self-helpy. It starts with a quiz; it has its own website; it occasionally breaks out with a term like "Master Teacher" that you sense the author is just waiting to trademark.
But:
The content of the book is great. Some of it is obvious but all of it is getting good ideas crackling.
So, so far, I recommend it.
(The title is misleading -- it's not a book about keeping teachers from working too hard; it's a grab bag of pedagogical insights.)
Demographics
Someone recently quoted to me an insightful comment by a teenage girl. She had been asked to describe her transition from attending a cozy small-town high school to attending a much larger high school in a larger community.
She summarized,
"I lost my mentors, and in their place I gained role models."
...
It doesn't sound to me like a value judgment in favor of one or the other. Others may read it differently.
The Sewing Books to Take to a Desert Island
I've been wanting to list a couple of how-to-sew books which, between them, cover everything any home dressmaker could possibly want to know: sewing; drafting patterns and draping without patterns; troubleshooting machinery.
It's tricky to make such a list, though: there are a lot of great beginners' "how-to-sew" books out there but most are not comprehensive.
Cal Patch's Design-It-Yourself Clothes, for instance, has beautiful sunlit illustrations, but teaches only how to sew knits. If you want to know how to use anything other than stretchy fabric, this is not your book.
Chinelo Bally's Freehand Fashion is also a friendly introduction to sewing; but she assumes that you want darts in all your clothing. Darts are a modern invention; I want to know how to create a fitted garment without them; ergo, this book also has its limitations for me.
A surprising number of books omit sleeves entirely.
At the end of the day, there are three sewing books in my library. These are the ones that work for me.
1.) I received the Singer Complete Photo Guide to Sewing book as a present. This is the one that explains, in its section on sewing machines and sergers, how to check and correct machine tension; it explains the construction of several types of seams; it's a good all-around reference. There is an extensive section on home decor, as well as instructions for using commercial patterns effectively.
2.) I added to it Elizabeth Stewart Clark's Dressmaking Guide. Yes, this book is self-published and written for Civil War reenactors; yes, it walks you through the creation of a number of garments the average 21st century civilian has no interest in wearing. BUT -- I still recommend it as an exceptional how-to-sew book, because it encompasses basic hand-sewing technique, the number one best way ever to sew on a button (a level of detail most books do not include), and touches on how to drape. The sewing projects in this book, 19th century or no, teach you how to construct fitted garments without ever drafting a pattern, which is unique in sewing books for beginners. This is the book I consult most often.
3.) I did, however, want to learn how to draft garments with darts and other modern details, so I added Dorothy Moore's Pattern Making and Dressmaking to the collection. There is a comprehensive review of it here. This explains how to draft pretty much anything, including menswear.
The three together do a fine job of covering sewing by hand or machine, draping, and drafting.
I have other books on the shelf - Claire Shaeffer's Couture Sewing Techniques (which will teach you something like the twelve best ways ever to sew on a button instead of the one - did you know Yves Saint Laurent braids its button shanks?), and The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking, which is good for oddments like perfectly ruffled sleeves - but the three that are coming with me to a desert island are the three listed above.
It's tricky to make such a list, though: there are a lot of great beginners' "how-to-sew" books out there but most are not comprehensive.
Cal Patch's Design-It-Yourself Clothes, for instance, has beautiful sunlit illustrations, but teaches only how to sew knits. If you want to know how to use anything other than stretchy fabric, this is not your book.
Chinelo Bally's Freehand Fashion is also a friendly introduction to sewing; but she assumes that you want darts in all your clothing. Darts are a modern invention; I want to know how to create a fitted garment without them; ergo, this book also has its limitations for me.
A surprising number of books omit sleeves entirely.
At the end of the day, there are three sewing books in my library. These are the ones that work for me.
1.) I received the Singer Complete Photo Guide to Sewing book as a present. This is the one that explains, in its section on sewing machines and sergers, how to check and correct machine tension; it explains the construction of several types of seams; it's a good all-around reference. There is an extensive section on home decor, as well as instructions for using commercial patterns effectively.
2.) I added to it Elizabeth Stewart Clark's Dressmaking Guide. Yes, this book is self-published and written for Civil War reenactors; yes, it walks you through the creation of a number of garments the average 21st century civilian has no interest in wearing. BUT -- I still recommend it as an exceptional how-to-sew book, because it encompasses basic hand-sewing technique, the number one best way ever to sew on a button (a level of detail most books do not include), and touches on how to drape. The sewing projects in this book, 19th century or no, teach you how to construct fitted garments without ever drafting a pattern, which is unique in sewing books for beginners. This is the book I consult most often.
3.) I did, however, want to learn how to draft garments with darts and other modern details, so I added Dorothy Moore's Pattern Making and Dressmaking to the collection. There is a comprehensive review of it here. This explains how to draft pretty much anything, including menswear.
The three together do a fine job of covering sewing by hand or machine, draping, and drafting.
I have other books on the shelf - Claire Shaeffer's Couture Sewing Techniques (which will teach you something like the twelve best ways ever to sew on a button instead of the one - did you know Yves Saint Laurent braids its button shanks?), and The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking, which is good for oddments like perfectly ruffled sleeves - but the three that are coming with me to a desert island are the three listed above.
Ugly Ducklings in the Schoolyard
There are two common weeds which grew in our elementary school yard for which, as a child, I never had any use. They were not good for mashing between rocks, like grass; they were not good for making into brooms, like the more feathery grasses; they did not have attractive flowers; they were not edible; and no one ever told me their names or anything interesting about them.
I'm writing this post so you can teach your students so they won't be so benighted; because it turns out that these two uninteresting plants that were always in the way when we wanted to make dandelion chains are actually some of the more interesting weeds in this region.
1.
Common Plantain (Plantago major)
You can see pictures of this plant and read a little about it here: White Man's Little Foot.
Apparently, chewed up (preferably by the afflicted party) and held for some time on the afflicted area, it is immensely useful for mosquito bites, bee stings, and closing wounds. Do not take my word for it - do not ever take my word for plant use; I don't want that liability - visit the link above to read more about this and other plantains.
I heard about it from AyoLane Halusky.
2.
Pineapple Weed (Matricaria matricarioides)
Pineapple Weed <-- read about it here.
The flowers look a little like pineapples; if you pinch them they smell a little like pineapple; and the flowers, which are apparently edible (according to the site above - please visit it to read about look-alikes and allergy warnings), taste "like a plant," said my daughter, shrugging; but, I would say, like a plant inspired by pineapple.
It was embarrassing to learn that this plant that I disdained through my entire childhood smells like pineapple. Who knew?
I'm writing this post so you can teach your students so they won't be so benighted; because it turns out that these two uninteresting plants that were always in the way when we wanted to make dandelion chains are actually some of the more interesting weeds in this region.
1.
Common Plantain (Plantago major)
You can see pictures of this plant and read a little about it here: White Man's Little Foot.
Apparently, chewed up (preferably by the afflicted party) and held for some time on the afflicted area, it is immensely useful for mosquito bites, bee stings, and closing wounds. Do not take my word for it - do not ever take my word for plant use; I don't want that liability - visit the link above to read more about this and other plantains.
I heard about it from AyoLane Halusky.
2.
Pineapple Weed (Matricaria matricarioides)
Pineapple Weed <-- read about it here.
The flowers look a little like pineapples; if you pinch them they smell a little like pineapple; and the flowers, which are apparently edible (according to the site above - please visit it to read about look-alikes and allergy warnings), taste "like a plant," said my daughter, shrugging; but, I would say, like a plant inspired by pineapple.
It was embarrassing to learn that this plant that I disdained through my entire childhood smells like pineapple. Who knew?
The Power of Knowing that You Know Something
One of the lessons I learned in my first year of teaching - fortunately before the end of the year - was that it's not enough for students to learn; they have to see clearly that they are learning; and for this purpose, it is not enough to give them ways to apply the new knowledge & skills; you have to really spell out for them here is what you have learned.
This morning, I saw an interesting illustration of the power of feeling that you do know something, in Oliver Sacks' account of one of my favorite stories of scientific discovery.
Dmitri Mendeleev had been playing with arranging and rearranging cards representing the various known elements, trying to discern the underlying pattern; one night he fell asleep and dreamed the Periodic Table, more or less as we know it.
Here is Sacks' footnote to the story:
This, at least, is the accepted myth, and one that was later promulgated by Mendeleev himself, somewhat as Kekule was to describe his own discovery of the benzene ring years later, as the result of a dream of snakes biting their own tails. But if one looks at the actual table that Mendeleev sketched, one can see that it is full of transpositions, crossings-out, and calculations in the margins. It shows, in the most graphic way, the creative struggle for understanding which was going on in his mind. Mendeleev did not wake from his dream with all the answers in place but, more interestingly, perhaps, woke with a sense of revelation, so that within hours he was able to solve many of the questions that had occupied him for years.
(Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten. New York: Random House, Inc, 2001. p. 198)
This morning, I saw an interesting illustration of the power of feeling that you do know something, in Oliver Sacks' account of one of my favorite stories of scientific discovery.
Dmitri Mendeleev had been playing with arranging and rearranging cards representing the various known elements, trying to discern the underlying pattern; one night he fell asleep and dreamed the Periodic Table, more or less as we know it.
Here is Sacks' footnote to the story:
This, at least, is the accepted myth, and one that was later promulgated by Mendeleev himself, somewhat as Kekule was to describe his own discovery of the benzene ring years later, as the result of a dream of snakes biting their own tails. But if one looks at the actual table that Mendeleev sketched, one can see that it is full of transpositions, crossings-out, and calculations in the margins. It shows, in the most graphic way, the creative struggle for understanding which was going on in his mind. Mendeleev did not wake from his dream with all the answers in place but, more interestingly, perhaps, woke with a sense of revelation, so that within hours he was able to solve many of the questions that had occupied him for years.
(Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten. New York: Random House, Inc, 2001. p. 198)
"Where is the next Torah frontier?"
From an article by Rabbi Feigenbaum of Toronto; the full article is here.
A student once exclaimed to me, “I wish I would have been alive during the Holocaust – I could have been a hero and someone would have written a book about me. Now I am just another good girl who does chesed.” Everyone wants to move up a step, improve on the past, and feel they have conquered new heights and done something for the greater good. But what is left today? Taliesim will never slip again, no one is forced to work on Shabbos, everything is kosher, and chesed is institutionalized. Where is the next Torah frontier to conquer?
The easiest way to get that feeling of growth is to focus on the external – anything you can do I can do stricter, and the school with the most rules wins. Why? Because internal growth is hard to measure and, for societal reasons, frum people are not comfortable talking about “connections to Hashem” and “spiritual growth.”
A student once exclaimed to me, “I wish I would have been alive during the Holocaust – I could have been a hero and someone would have written a book about me. Now I am just another good girl who does chesed.” Everyone wants to move up a step, improve on the past, and feel they have conquered new heights and done something for the greater good. But what is left today? Taliesim will never slip again, no one is forced to work on Shabbos, everything is kosher, and chesed is institutionalized. Where is the next Torah frontier to conquer?
The easiest way to get that feeling of growth is to focus on the external – anything you can do I can do stricter, and the school with the most rules wins. Why? Because internal growth is hard to measure and, for societal reasons, frum people are not comfortable talking about “connections to Hashem” and “spiritual growth.”
Book review: Good to Great
I like looking outside education-directed sources for insights that may be useful in the classroom; and I've met some nice people recently who are CEOs of things and I was curious about what they do all day (it sounds like fun); so I spent some time this year in the business aisle at the library.
Until this year, I think the only book I'd read on business was Rav Dessler's Kuntres haChesed; and I still think if you're going to read one book on business that should be the one.
Anyway, I found two books that have good practical information -- Your Idea, Inc, which explains how to start a business; and the Nonprofit Kit for Dummies, which explains how to start a nonprofit - and the other interesting item was Good to Great, which is a study of what makes a corporation sustainable.
Most of the other books I found on business say, "Set your goal and pursue it aggressively!" but the Good to Great study found, it says, that the corporations that achieved lasting financial success are the ones that took a couple of years of experimentation to allow their ideas to gel; and then focused closely on what they found they could do well; and I think that rings truer.
Other factors mentioned are personal humility, and starting with having the right people rather than the right business plan ("get the right people on the bus, and then decide where you're going to drive it").
Something to think about.
Until this year, I think the only book I'd read on business was Rav Dessler's Kuntres haChesed; and I still think if you're going to read one book on business that should be the one.
Anyway, I found two books that have good practical information -- Your Idea, Inc, which explains how to start a business; and the Nonprofit Kit for Dummies, which explains how to start a nonprofit - and the other interesting item was Good to Great, which is a study of what makes a corporation sustainable.
Most of the other books I found on business say, "Set your goal and pursue it aggressively!" but the Good to Great study found, it says, that the corporations that achieved lasting financial success are the ones that took a couple of years of experimentation to allow their ideas to gel; and then focused closely on what they found they could do well; and I think that rings truer.
Other factors mentioned are personal humility, and starting with having the right people rather than the right business plan ("get the right people on the bus, and then decide where you're going to drive it").
Something to think about.
Toward a Qualitative Reading Incentive
I had this discussion with my high school students recently.
Every reading incentive we've seen is based on the idea that children should be encouraged to read - a lot. -- e.g., the local elementary school awards prizes based on number of pages, and per book completed; and the local library does something similar.
We haven't seen any incentive programs that seek to direct children toward reading good books, only toward reading lots of books.
In fact, when I look at the lists of what the kids are reading, the worst possible writing seems to predominate.
We agreed that there is a difference between books and good books; and that it's worth encouraging children to choose the latter.
"What do you think?" I asked. "Is it possible to make an incentive program for children to read good books, or is the definition of a good book too subjective?"
Hm.
They suggested that you could give students a list of books to choose from.
Keep thinking about it.
Every reading incentive we've seen is based on the idea that children should be encouraged to read - a lot. -- e.g., the local elementary school awards prizes based on number of pages, and per book completed; and the local library does something similar.
We haven't seen any incentive programs that seek to direct children toward reading good books, only toward reading lots of books.
In fact, when I look at the lists of what the kids are reading, the worst possible writing seems to predominate.
We agreed that there is a difference between books and good books; and that it's worth encouraging children to choose the latter.
"What do you think?" I asked. "Is it possible to make an incentive program for children to read good books, or is the definition of a good book too subjective?"
Hm.
They suggested that you could give students a list of books to choose from.
Keep thinking about it.
Libi baMizrach in Chinook Wawa
This really has nothing to do with education (except perhaps to illustrate the idea that one of the best ways to learn a foreign language is to mess around with it) but someone just surprised me by asking for a copy of it, so I'm putting it where people can find it.
I translated R' Yehuda haLevi's lament "My heart is in the East..." into a language of the uttermost West, Chinook Wawa: the trade jargon of the peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast region.
Thanks to Wawa enthusiast Craig Delf for smoothing out some wrinkles in the translation.
I translated R' Yehuda haLevi's lament "My heart is in the East..." into a language of the uttermost West, Chinook Wawa: the trade jargon of the peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast region.
Thanks to Wawa enthusiast Craig Delf for smoothing out some wrinkles in the translation.
Nika mitlite tumtum siah
kopa sun-get-up illahee, pe nika mitlite siah-siah kopa klip-sun-illahee.
Howkwutl nika mukmuk, pe howkwutl mukmuk chaco tsee?
Howkwutl nika mamook huihui nawitka, pe
Tsiyon kow Pil lope, pe nika kow Alap lope?
Klah mahsh konaway kloshe Spanyolillahee, kahkwa
Hyas ticky nanitch polallie kokshut Hyas-Tyee-wawa-Home.
Howkwutl nika mukmuk, pe howkwutl mukmuk chaco tsee?
Howkwutl nika mamook huihui nawitka, pe
Tsiyon kow Pil lope, pe nika kow Alap lope?
Klah mahsh konaway kloshe Spanyolillahee, kahkwa
Hyas ticky nanitch polallie kokshut Hyas-Tyee-wawa-Home.
Anatomy of a Learning Initiative: What Worked, What Didn't
I'm always interested to hear about people's special learning or middos initiatives for kids - particularly those that sustain momentum. I'm deeply interested in what makes an initiative last.
This is the story of one special learning initiative for kids. I thought it might last a couple of weeks. It's been going on now for, gee, almost five months.
Here are some factors that seem to contribute to the success of the program:
1. The task is simple, small, and specific: read a perek of Navi in English and tell me what happened in it.
2. The prizes are varied, cute, and very low-key -- on the order of magnitude of M&Ms, but not edible. The girls pick out one prize per perek. They not infrequently spend several minutes deliberating over which one they want to choose; but - this is my criterion for prizes - although some girls are drawn in by the prizes, I think they take more pleasure in the mastery of the material.
3. The initiative is public. The narrations take place in the shul social hall after davening on Shabbos, so when a girl comes up to tell me about a perek, her friends see and are reminded about the program. As long as someone is doing it, the other someones are interested.
Also, I put the prizes in a translucent bag, so they're in everyone's face. A number of girls have gotten involved because they came over to ask what those are, and can they have one?
Here are a couple of things that surprised me:
1. The e-mail I sent to parents explaining the initiative (with the graphic above) never went further than the parents. The only way communicate with the girls is to speak with them directly.
2. The fact that the initiative is l'ilui nishmas someone significant in our lives, while it is a nice thing and I'm glad we're doing it, seems to make no difference in anyone's motivation.
3. I need to remember not to underestimate the attractiveness of bite-sized anything. I now have several girls who've started learning Pirkei Avos instead of or in addition to Navi. It isn't any easier -- but the bites are smaller.
4. We've had tremendous surges in participation from all ages around Purim and Shavuos, because Megillas Esther and Megillas Rus are particularly user-friendly Navi.
5. We also have higher-than-average participation rates on Shabbosos or yamim tovim when the girls come to shul more than once, e.g. on two-day yontifs.
6. The age range surprised me. Girls who can't read yet are now participating because they get their sisters to tell them the stories in Navi. There is a sharp cut-off in participation at age 11: no one older will condescend to play with us (although several have said they want the prizes). I thought we might have one playful adult or even teen from this whole community, but no: it's turned out to be strictly a kid thing, ages 4-11.
So.
To sum up, I attribute the fact that what I thought might be a three-week program is still running five months later to
(a) nissim v'niflaos
(b) the fact that it's so low-key. It's an easy task and the prizes are tiny and consistent. There's absolutely nothing splashy about it... except that
(c) the content is real. The accomplishment is real. The girls really appreciate that they are learning something.
The one outcome I am still hoping to see that I haven't seen is whether the girls' interest will spill over to others in the community. We are starting an outreach kollel here in Elul but it would be pretty cool, if equally unlikely, if a group of 4-to-11-year-old girls can get the whole kehilla talking in learning before that.
Now that a lot of the girls are learning Pirkei Avos, when they come to tell me a Mishnah I suspect they don't really understand, I tell them they have to find an explanation for it. So they are engaging their parents, which is great.
Artist: Stephanie Law
I heard of Stephanie Law because she has a following in sci-fi/fantasy circles; but I like her botanical work best, for its brilliant details.
You can see more of her work here.
You can see more of her work here.
Bhutanese fashion
My mother sent me, as something that particularly moved her, this film about a man who seeks to promote pride in traditional Bhutanese dress in Bhutan by taking pictures of people wearing it (which is what they just do in Bhutan) and putting them online. Bhutan Street Fashion
And my question is - what are the applications of the idea for day schools?
The fact that someone comes up to you and takes an interest in some aspect of your life that you take for granted is, I think, the useful point here -- not all the tangents we could go on about what tsnius means.
And my question is - what are the applications of the idea for day schools?
The fact that someone comes up to you and takes an interest in some aspect of your life that you take for granted is, I think, the useful point here -- not all the tangents we could go on about what tsnius means.
Oregon's Early Rural Schools Web Exhibit
Oregon's Early Rural Schools Web Exhibit - courtesy of the Oregon Blue Book.
That is, lots of photos of tiny little hand-built school buildings in gigantic sweeping landscapes.
Makes you think about what a school is and what a school might be and what a school ought to be.
That is, lots of photos of tiny little hand-built school buildings in gigantic sweeping landscapes.
Makes you think about what a school is and what a school might be and what a school ought to be.
Irlen Syndrome: my investigation
Someone sent me an article about a girl who ordinarily found reading difficult and fatiguing; but when she tried laying transparent colored plastic over the page or screen, she was able to read normally.
Well, that sounded intriguing; so I started looking up more about Irlen Syndrome...
...and what I read made me suspicious.
If this is a real syndrome, why does it have its own diagnosticians? And what is behind the claim that a high percentage of the population (and the vast majority of the prison population) has a reading problem that I never heard of?
There are a lot of articles online, like this one, quoting parents and teachers who say they've seen colored overlays make a big difference.
And there are a lot of articles written from a scientific perspective, like this one or this one, claiming that Irlen Syndrome doesn't exist and the overlays don't work.
So, I asked around: Who has some insight into this?
The responses that I got from people I know paralleled what I found in the articles: I heard from parents and teachers, telling me about students who found the overlays effective ("when she started wearing glasses with yellow lenses, she suddenly went from a D to an A+ average"); or about some who maybe sort of did but they weren't sure; or about a rare light-sensitive student who actually did among many with reading disabilities who didn't; and I heard from an optometrist who said she thinks it's all a very expensive placebo effect; and my friend the nurse sent me another article....
...and then the reading specialist, who happens to know everything about everything, gave a brief answer that explains everything, including the discrepancy between the scientific findings and the anecdotes.
He wrote:
For reading difficulties: if it works, and in most cases it doesn't, it fixes a symptom, not the source of the problem. Multi sensory reading is the answer.
For light sensitivity or vision loss, it can help.
So, that's my answer.
Here are links about multi-sensory reading:
Multi-Sensory Kriah - he didn't send me this link; I am promoting him; and
Multisensory Structured Language Teaching Fact Sheet
As a side note, one thing all the Irlen pro and con studies seem to agree on is that children enjoy experimenting with reading through colored cellophane.
Well, a novel kriyah activity is also something...
Well, that sounded intriguing; so I started looking up more about Irlen Syndrome...
...and what I read made me suspicious.
If this is a real syndrome, why does it have its own diagnosticians? And what is behind the claim that a high percentage of the population (and the vast majority of the prison population) has a reading problem that I never heard of?
There are a lot of articles online, like this one, quoting parents and teachers who say they've seen colored overlays make a big difference.
And there are a lot of articles written from a scientific perspective, like this one or this one, claiming that Irlen Syndrome doesn't exist and the overlays don't work.
So, I asked around: Who has some insight into this?
The responses that I got from people I know paralleled what I found in the articles: I heard from parents and teachers, telling me about students who found the overlays effective ("when she started wearing glasses with yellow lenses, she suddenly went from a D to an A+ average"); or about some who maybe sort of did but they weren't sure; or about a rare light-sensitive student who actually did among many with reading disabilities who didn't; and I heard from an optometrist who said she thinks it's all a very expensive placebo effect; and my friend the nurse sent me another article....
...and then the reading specialist, who happens to know everything about everything, gave a brief answer that explains everything, including the discrepancy between the scientific findings and the anecdotes.
He wrote:
For reading difficulties: if it works, and in most cases it doesn't, it fixes a symptom, not the source of the problem. Multi sensory reading is the answer.
For light sensitivity or vision loss, it can help.
So, that's my answer.
Here are links about multi-sensory reading:
Multi-Sensory Kriah - he didn't send me this link; I am promoting him; and
Multisensory Structured Language Teaching Fact Sheet
As a side note, one thing all the Irlen pro and con studies seem to agree on is that children enjoy experimenting with reading through colored cellophane.
Well, a novel kriyah activity is also something...
What Size Is Your Canvas?
Today we attended a child's birthday party (great party; thanks!) held at a local museum of modern art.
Participants were handed a canvas, a tray of paints, and some yarn for creating resist-work; and given some basic instructions.
Children were handed a small canvas. Adults were handed a large canvas.
I stared at that canvas and couldn't figure out what to do with it.
Mind you, I am the art teacher and the free spirit and the etc. etc. but before I use up something fancy like a huge stretched canvas I like to have a plan for what to do with it.
I took one of the small canvases, which seemed better proportioned to under an hour of winging it.
I was explaining this to a friend sitting next to me.
"Yes," put in mine host; "my wife asked the museum staff whether the canvases for children weren't rather small; and they said that children tend to be intimidated by larger canvases and would enjoy the small ones better."
...
I would like to see some information on the average age at which children cease to be intimidated by large canvases -- and what causes that transformation.
If, indeed, that particular transformation ever takes place. There were plenty of adults (no children) who declined to paint at all: "I have no artistic talent."
...
I am reminded of a certain historical reenactor who once wrote that whenever she visits a historical site, she instinctively looks for the servants' entrance.
What makes us become the lords and ladies of the manor, and the users of large canvases?
Participants were handed a canvas, a tray of paints, and some yarn for creating resist-work; and given some basic instructions.
Children were handed a small canvas. Adults were handed a large canvas.
I stared at that canvas and couldn't figure out what to do with it.
Mind you, I am the art teacher and the free spirit and the etc. etc. but before I use up something fancy like a huge stretched canvas I like to have a plan for what to do with it.
I took one of the small canvases, which seemed better proportioned to under an hour of winging it.
I was explaining this to a friend sitting next to me.
"Yes," put in mine host; "my wife asked the museum staff whether the canvases for children weren't rather small; and they said that children tend to be intimidated by larger canvases and would enjoy the small ones better."
...
I would like to see some information on the average age at which children cease to be intimidated by large canvases -- and what causes that transformation.
If, indeed, that particular transformation ever takes place. There were plenty of adults (no children) who declined to paint at all: "I have no artistic talent."
...
I am reminded of a certain historical reenactor who once wrote that whenever she visits a historical site, she instinctively looks for the servants' entrance.
What makes us become the lords and ladies of the manor, and the users of large canvases?
Artist: My Right Honourable Mother
Well, this one is self-explanatory.
My mother does not have a website. She knocks these out for her own amusement while she's talking on the phone.
My mother does not have a website. She knocks these out for her own amusement while she's talking on the phone.
 |
| My mother's version on top here is made entirely of fabric scraps. |
 |
| These are bottles of vinegar. |
 |
| The "Liberace Tricycle" was red when she bought it |
 |
| She made these costumes for the shul's Purim shpiel. She also made the house. |
Instructions for the Total Unknown
I've always been charmed by Thomas Jefferson's instructions to Meriwether Lewis in preparation for the Lewis & Clark expedition.
It is such a clear bit of writing, meant to cover every contingency of a totally unknown situation.
You can read the letter here: Jefferson's Instructions to Meriwether Lewis.
I've since read that others have found this letter equally intriguing and it is often held up as an example of good management.
It is such a clear bit of writing, meant to cover every contingency of a totally unknown situation.
You can read the letter here: Jefferson's Instructions to Meriwether Lewis.
I've since read that others have found this letter equally intriguing and it is often held up as an example of good management.
Elokai Neshama
This flew in today on a mailing list for teachers.
The mailer asked me not to share her name, since it's not her original thought. She said she thinks she heard the idea from Chevi Garfinkel.
I once heard someone say so beautifully that the Bracha of “Elokai neshama she’nasata bi...” can also be interpreted not only as our own individual neshama given to us by Hashem but also as the neshama meaning each students neshama that Hashem has placed in our hands for the year is tehora and Hashem formed that student exactly how they should be and Hashem specifically chose me to be the Morah of this student and eventually the student won’t be under my care yet kol zman that the student is with me Modeh ani...etc. it was a beautiful thought and perspective of the zechus, privilege and responsibility it is to be a Morah.
(Here is the text to which this refers, with a translation: Elokai Neshama)
The mailer asked me not to share her name, since it's not her original thought. She said she thinks she heard the idea from Chevi Garfinkel.
I once heard someone say so beautifully that the Bracha of “Elokai neshama she’nasata bi...” can also be interpreted not only as our own individual neshama given to us by Hashem but also as the neshama meaning each students neshama that Hashem has placed in our hands for the year is tehora and Hashem formed that student exactly how they should be and Hashem specifically chose me to be the Morah of this student and eventually the student won’t be under my care yet kol zman that the student is with me Modeh ani...etc. it was a beautiful thought and perspective of the zechus, privilege and responsibility it is to be a Morah.
(Here is the text to which this refers, with a translation: Elokai Neshama)
Hey, look! Andrea has ANOTHER blog!
I couldn't find Andrea Hernandez's current education blog so I searched for it, and found a different one instead.
This one hasn't been updated as recently, but I really like it.
She even analyzes the publicity about Finland.
All kinds of good plums here:
EdTech Workshop
This one hasn't been updated as recently, but I really like it.
She even analyzes the publicity about Finland.
All kinds of good plums here:
EdTech Workshop
A big-picture view of modern hareidi communities
R' Ahron Lopiansky on the growing pains of the American Jewish community at large, and the idea of kehilla:
Are We a Klal?
Are We a Klal?
Many of the writers in this forum (and possibly readers) grew up in the post-war years in America. The Charedi community was miniscule and insignificant, its continuity uncertain. The stature and vision of a handful of great men, the tenacious and heroic efforts of a few capable askanim, and an extraordinary amount of siyata d’shmaya produced in half a century an incredible tzibbur. It would seem to us that we are in for a whopping kal v’chomer: if we could do it when the cards were stacked against us, certainly we can do it today when we have such incredible resources and such a wonderful track record.
But the reasoning is as flawed as that of the fellow who tried to turn his mom and pop outfit into a national corporation....
Thanks, Tiff
This random memory of good teaching just surfaced.
Once when I was in about 4th grade, we were playing baseball, and I became completely overwhelmed because people were stealing bases and I didn't have a clue what was going on. I think I was fielding second base.
The P.E. teacher, Tiffany (but the cool kids called her Tiff), noticed that I was upset, halted the game, came over, asked what was wrong, and explained what it means to steal a base.
"Do you understand?" she asked.
"No," I said.
She repeated her explanation.
"Do you understand?" she asked.
"No," I said.
She repeated her explanation.
"Do you understand?" she asked.
And this time, I did.
Triumph! Relief! Joy! The game went on and now I understood it.
...
...
I once got roundly scolded by an administrator for repeating an explanation to a student. "If she didn't understand, you should explain it a different way," she said.
Which is true; so I try to do that now.
But sometimes all you need is someone who will halt a game for you and say the same thing three times.
I don't know where Tiff is now but I still appreciate that she did that.
Thanks, Tiff.
Thanks, Tiff.
Japonisme
Leaving aside the political and moralistic thrusts of this article, I was intrigued to see someone else voice the idea that American popular culture is becoming increasingly Japanese.
This trend, if it exists, does not explain what the Torah answers will be to the next generation's questions --- but it does provide some interesting food for thought about what those questions might be.
This trend, if it exists, does not explain what the Torah answers will be to the next generation's questions --- but it does provide some interesting food for thought about what those questions might be.
Artist: Dena Ackerman
I keep wanting to link to artists whose work I like, even though their relevance to the rest of the blog is debatable.
Maybe that's because blogs are supposed to be spattered all over with pictures.
Let's call it a feature.
Today's artist is Dena Ackerman. You can find more of her work here and on Facebook.
I like how much she experiments with style and medium. The fact that she still ranges so widely despite being an established talent makes me feel better about still being in an experimental phase with... things.
I also like her work.
Maybe that's because blogs are supposed to be spattered all over with pictures.
Let's call it a feature.
Today's artist is Dena Ackerman. You can find more of her work here and on Facebook.
I like how much she experiments with style and medium. The fact that she still ranges so widely despite being an established talent makes me feel better about still being in an experimental phase with... things.
I also like her work.
 |
| This is an Edward Gorey-style illustration she did for one of Rebbe Nachman's stories. |
A Montessorian on Motivation
"But do you think it can really be done, to have students studying different material simultaneously in one classroom?" the principal asked.
"Absolutely!" I said, and started ticking off - Montessori, and Sudbury, and the local middle school math class, and the entire history (and present) of the one-room schoolhouse in America, and -
"But," she said, cutting into my description of Montessori, "what if you have a student who just doesn't want to learn?"
I have some memories of what I've observed Montessori teachers doing for specific kids, but - does Montessori have a general prescription for this? I was curious.
So, I wrote to one of my Montessori teachers to ask her.
Here's her answer.
Her phone inserted its own line breaks; I've left them in because I like the found-poetry aspect of it.
You asked about discipline at the High School level — this probably will sound elitist but
It all begins with 2 1/2 year olds and builds on what is learned at that level through
Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary and into Jr High.
As you might remember one important aspect at any level of Montessori is learning to make good choices.
At all levels, students make mistakes and
***learn from these mistakes — are encouraged to work through them, talk them out and decide to try again.
Another important aspect is adult guidance to steer EACH INDIVIDUAL toward exactly what s/he needs (academically, socially,
and as an individual).
Montessorians try to instill a love of learning
In each student while guiding each student toward learning the basic skills needed in life.
Learning how to learn is VIP. As well as discovering what turns each person on
— what is their passion? But also realizing
that those disciplines that are not so interesting/more difficult, must be tackled as well.
At all levels our Montessori students are encouraged to pursue their interests;
work hard to overcome their weaker areas;
learn how to work with others in a variety of activities; and really care about the world around them.
My inner mantra was always:
Everything is connected.
We are connected to everything.
Anyway, I found this info from Cleveland
about their High School program and thought it might be of interest.
https://www.
"Absolutely!" I said, and started ticking off - Montessori, and Sudbury, and the local middle school math class, and the entire history (and present) of the one-room schoolhouse in America, and -
"But," she said, cutting into my description of Montessori, "what if you have a student who just doesn't want to learn?"
I have some memories of what I've observed Montessori teachers doing for specific kids, but - does Montessori have a general prescription for this? I was curious.
So, I wrote to one of my Montessori teachers to ask her.
Here's her answer.
Her phone inserted its own line breaks; I've left them in because I like the found-poetry aspect of it.
You asked about discipline at the High School level — this probably will sound elitist but
It all begins with 2 1/2 year olds and builds on what is learned at that level through
Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary and into Jr High.
As you might remember one important aspect at any level of Montessori is learning to make good choices.
At all levels, students make mistakes and
***learn from these mistakes — are encouraged to work through them, talk them out and decide to try again.
Another important aspect is adult guidance to steer EACH INDIVIDUAL toward exactly what s/he needs (academically, socially,
and as an individual).
Montessorians try to instill a love of learning
In each student while guiding each student toward learning the basic skills needed in life.
Learning how to learn is VIP. As well as discovering what turns each person on
— what is their passion? But also realizing
that those disciplines that are not so interesting/more difficult, must be tackled as well.
At all levels our Montessori students are encouraged to pursue their interests;
work hard to overcome their weaker areas;
learn how to work with others in a variety of activities; and really care about the world around them.
My inner mantra was always:
Everything is connected.
We are connected to everything.
Anyway, I found this info from Cleveland
about their High School program and thought it might be of interest.
https://www.
Charlotte Mason on Report Cards
This (Victorian-era) approach to grades makes a lot of sense to me:
"The good marks should be given for conduct rather than for cleverness -- that is, they should be within everybody's reach: for punctuality, order, attention, diligence, obedience, gentleness."
"The good marks should be given for conduct rather than for cleverness -- that is, they should be within everybody's reach: for punctuality, order, attention, diligence, obedience, gentleness."
Telz
Rabbi Y. G. Bechhofer's article on the Telz yeshiva is here:
Telshe: 120 Years Since the Founding of the Yeshiva
"Rabbi Bar Shaul writes that in Telshe there were no mussar shmuessen, rather shiurei da'as. A shmuess is emotional, inspirational, and often informal. It is an experience of the heart. A shiur da'as is intellectual, educational, and covers a topic in a formal and systematic manner. It, too, reaches the heart, but via the mind."
Telshe: 120 Years Since the Founding of the Yeshiva
"Rabbi Bar Shaul writes that in Telshe there were no mussar shmuessen, rather shiurei da'as. A shmuess is emotional, inspirational, and often informal. It is an experience of the heart. A shiur da'as is intellectual, educational, and covers a topic in a formal and systematic manner. It, too, reaches the heart, but via the mind."
Artist: Sarah Swett
There's a textile artist named Sarah Swett who wrote a great book on teaching kids to weave (Kids Weaving, published 2005). I mentioned her pipe loom here.
I wanted to mention her in her own post because she's been very helpful and I enjoy a lot of her work -- like these self portraits.
I pulled these images with her kind permission from her blog: A Field Guide to Needlework.
I wanted to mention her in her own post because she's been very helpful and I enjoy a lot of her work -- like these self portraits.
I pulled these images with her kind permission from her blog: A Field Guide to Needlework.
A few paragraphs on R' Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan from Dayan Grunfeld's Three Generations
I've read this paragraph before, but somehow this time it particularly resonated with me.
It is difficult to describe now, a generation later, the impression which the sudden death of Kaplan made on his contemporaries in Germany. And yet it is important for the understanding of the inner development of German-Jewish orthodoxy during three generations after Samson Raphael Hirsch to recapture that impression of more than thirty years ago. This can best be done by reproducing here a literal translation of the beginning of a memorial essay which appeared in "Jeschurun" soon after Kaplan's passing away: "It is generally agreed that never has there been witnessed in Berlin a similar scene of lamentation as on the day when Avrohom Eliyah Kaplan was laid to his eternal rest. (16th Iyar 5684-1924). The expressions of desperate grief, the continued sobbing of West-European men trained in self-control cannot be explained merely by the tragic event that a young father had been torn away from his family and that a very promising career had been cut short. It was far more than that; from the depths of our sub-conscious minds a feeling arose, breaking with elemental force through all conventional behavior and telling us that this death was a blow which had struck down everyone of us and had put an end to a sacred conviction which we all shared: that this man was destined to bring about a revival and renewal of German Judaism." ("Jeschurun" Vol. XI (1924) p.234.)
Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld, Three Generations: The Influence of Samson Raphael Hirsch on Jewish Life and Thought. London: Jewish Post Publications, 5718/1958, p.77.
You can read more about R' Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan here.
It is difficult to describe now, a generation later, the impression which the sudden death of Kaplan made on his contemporaries in Germany. And yet it is important for the understanding of the inner development of German-Jewish orthodoxy during three generations after Samson Raphael Hirsch to recapture that impression of more than thirty years ago. This can best be done by reproducing here a literal translation of the beginning of a memorial essay which appeared in "Jeschurun" soon after Kaplan's passing away: "It is generally agreed that never has there been witnessed in Berlin a similar scene of lamentation as on the day when Avrohom Eliyah Kaplan was laid to his eternal rest. (16th Iyar 5684-1924). The expressions of desperate grief, the continued sobbing of West-European men trained in self-control cannot be explained merely by the tragic event that a young father had been torn away from his family and that a very promising career had been cut short. It was far more than that; from the depths of our sub-conscious minds a feeling arose, breaking with elemental force through all conventional behavior and telling us that this death was a blow which had struck down everyone of us and had put an end to a sacred conviction which we all shared: that this man was destined to bring about a revival and renewal of German Judaism." ("Jeschurun" Vol. XI (1924) p.234.)
Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld, Three Generations: The Influence of Samson Raphael Hirsch on Jewish Life and Thought. London: Jewish Post Publications, 5718/1958, p.77.
You can read more about R' Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan here.
Textile Melachos Demonstrations for Non-Textile-Makers
This is the second year I've gone into my daughter's school to give a presentation on fiber arts for a class studying the 39 melachos.
It occurs to me that there are probably other teachers out there teaching these melachos who could use a hands-on demonstration, but don't know how to give one.
Here you go.
I'm sure fiber artists will see plenty here to correct (please add your comments!); but this is what I've done that has worked for us so far.
Melaben
I pass around a bag of unwashed wool and the kids (or anyway the ones who aren't grossed out by it -- unwashed wool is amazingly... unwashed) all feel it.
I ordered two ounces of unwashed sheep wool (and one ounce of unwashed goat hair, for fun) from this supplier: Flintstown Fibers. I like that she put the names of the animals on the bags of wool. (I tell the kids to "Reach in the bag and pet Polly.")
I ask the kids: what's the first thing we need to do with this wool?
"Wash it!" they all scream.
Menapetz
Now I pass around another sample of wool from the same supplier, this time a washed one; and the contrast is amazing.
The next thing we have to do is comb out the tangles.
I use two wire-bristle dog brushes because the same tool is used for sheep wool, but the mini version sold for dogs costs much less.
I lay a little bit of the washed wool in one brush, and drag the other brush through it. This is carding, and it produces a fuzzy, fluffy wool.
Now we have a nice, detangled wool. What's the next thing we need to do with it?
Tzovea
I had some jars of dye in the house (from here); it's not formulated for wool but it worked for the demonstration. I took the little bit of carded wool and dunked it in the dye jar, and patted it in a paper towel until it was dry. It came out a very pale blue.
(Making your own natural dyes would not be hard. Here are instructions for dyeing with onion skins.)
(Fun fact - if you have the disposable income of an emperor you can still buy argaman pigment.)
Now I have nice blue wool. What's the next thing we need to do with it?
Toveh
I take my little piece of blue wool and twist it between my fingers so that it looks like a piece of yarn. Just twist -- that's it.
If you let go of the wool after you've twisted it, it will untwist: it has to be held in hot steam to stay twisted. So, I press it on a towel with a hot clothes-iron, pushing the steam button. Now it's yarn.
I like to show the kids how much faster spinning is with a spindle; they all can't wait to try it but the truth is that just twisting the wool between their fingers is easier for them. If you want to play with spindles I recommend (as both inexpensive and easy to use) this Mini Bottom-Whorl Spindle.
Here is a tutorial that explains how to spin on a spindle: Mielke's Fiber Arts Drop Spindle Tutorial.
Technically at this point I would take a couple of strands of yarn and twist them all together -- this is called plying -- but I skip that part.
What's the next melacha?
Meisach
At this point you need a loom.
A children's potholder loom (like this or this) is fun to use; maisach is putting on the loops in one direction. (These are called the warp threads.)
Or, take an empty picture frame, wrap a lot of thread or string around it (I wrapped eight times) so it looks like a two-sided guitar, and tape the ends to the frame.
Or, this is the kind of loom I use, just because I have one in the house already.
Oseh Shtei Batei Nirin
I show the kids how I weave potholder loops, or pine needles (easier to see in a demonstration than thread) over one string and under the next, all the way across.
(These are called the weft threads.)
I ask them whether they think that weaving curtains for the Mishkan this way would be a quick job or a slow one.
"It would take forever!" they say.
Enter heddles (batei nirin).
A lot of simple children's looms don't have heddles. There are also many that do, like this one and this one. Potholder looms don't.
You can make heddles. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't work on a potholder loom (the warp loops slip off their pegs easily) so you'll need a picture frame or a beading loom or something else that lets you secure the warp threads well.
One way to make heddles is to make a heddle bar; but I just tie thread loops around every other warp thread and tape them together.
This is enough to show what a heddle does; to actually use the loom I would need a second heddle, which is slightly more complicated.
The best instructions I've seen for making an inexpensive loom with two sets of heddles are in Sarah Swett's book Kids Weaving, published 2005. The whole loom is made of PVC pipes (about $4 worth of pipe plus some fittings) and it's got cool moving parts.
If you want to make the kind of loom that (I think) was used for the mishkan, there are instructions here: How to Build and Use a Warp-Weighted Loom. (Ms. Swett's instructions are written for children and therefore more user-friendly.)
Oreg
When you pick up those heddle loops, every other warp thread rises. You can slip your weft thread (or pine needle...) in the space underneath.
When you release the loops, the warp threads drop back into place, and you'll see that your weft thread is held neatly between the warp threads, as if you had woven it over-under-over-under one thread at a time.
Now You Try
At this point I pinch off a piece of washed wool for each kid and pass out the carders and spindles; they card the wool and spin it, and bring it to me to steam it for them with the iron.
Today when everyone had spun a little strand of wool I dyed it for them also. We did tzovea last because I'm not sure this dye washes out of clothing. We would have gotten more even color had we worked in order.
If we would spend all day spinning we would end up with enough yarn for the kids to weave also; but we stop with spinning. The whole demonstration takes half an hour.
A lot of elementary school teachers keep a big loom in their rooms for kids to weave on during down time, which I think is a nice idea.
I have read that in art from certain parts of the ancient world, Jews are often recognizable as the nation depicted wearing striped textiles.
Total Shopping List for a Demonstration of the Textile Melachos
Melaben - unwashed wool. You can wash it yourself if you want to.
Menapetz - washed wool (two ounces of washed wool has lasted me through about 30 kids and we haven't used it up yet); two dog slicker brushes (or more pairs so lots of kids can try it at once - each needs to use two at a time)
Tzovea - commercial dye powder (or a pot of onion skins)
Toveh - clothes iron (I tried once to steam spun wool by holding it over the spout of an electric kettle. This was not pleasant - find an iron); spindles (optional)
Weaving melachos - a loom. Despite the fact that you have to buy the pipes and assemble it yourself, I think the best option for an affordable loom with batei nirin that has clear instructions is the DIY pipe loom in Sarah Swett's book Kids Weaving.
It occurs to me that there are probably other teachers out there teaching these melachos who could use a hands-on demonstration, but don't know how to give one.
Here you go.
I'm sure fiber artists will see plenty here to correct (please add your comments!); but this is what I've done that has worked for us so far.
Melaben
I pass around a bag of unwashed wool and the kids (or anyway the ones who aren't grossed out by it -- unwashed wool is amazingly... unwashed) all feel it.
I ordered two ounces of unwashed sheep wool (and one ounce of unwashed goat hair, for fun) from this supplier: Flintstown Fibers. I like that she put the names of the animals on the bags of wool. (I tell the kids to "Reach in the bag and pet Polly.")
I ask the kids: what's the first thing we need to do with this wool?
"Wash it!" they all scream.
Menapetz
Now I pass around another sample of wool from the same supplier, this time a washed one; and the contrast is amazing.
The next thing we have to do is comb out the tangles.
I use two wire-bristle dog brushes because the same tool is used for sheep wool, but the mini version sold for dogs costs much less.
I lay a little bit of the washed wool in one brush, and drag the other brush through it. This is carding, and it produces a fuzzy, fluffy wool.
Now we have a nice, detangled wool. What's the next thing we need to do with it?
Tzovea
I had some jars of dye in the house (from here); it's not formulated for wool but it worked for the demonstration. I took the little bit of carded wool and dunked it in the dye jar, and patted it in a paper towel until it was dry. It came out a very pale blue.
(Making your own natural dyes would not be hard. Here are instructions for dyeing with onion skins.)
(Fun fact - if you have the disposable income of an emperor you can still buy argaman pigment.)
Now I have nice blue wool. What's the next thing we need to do with it?
Toveh
I take my little piece of blue wool and twist it between my fingers so that it looks like a piece of yarn. Just twist -- that's it.
If you let go of the wool after you've twisted it, it will untwist: it has to be held in hot steam to stay twisted. So, I press it on a towel with a hot clothes-iron, pushing the steam button. Now it's yarn.
I like to show the kids how much faster spinning is with a spindle; they all can't wait to try it but the truth is that just twisting the wool between their fingers is easier for them. If you want to play with spindles I recommend (as both inexpensive and easy to use) this Mini Bottom-Whorl Spindle.
Here is a tutorial that explains how to spin on a spindle: Mielke's Fiber Arts Drop Spindle Tutorial.
Technically at this point I would take a couple of strands of yarn and twist them all together -- this is called plying -- but I skip that part.
What's the next melacha?
Meisach
At this point you need a loom.
A children's potholder loom (like this or this) is fun to use; maisach is putting on the loops in one direction. (These are called the warp threads.)
Or, take an empty picture frame, wrap a lot of thread or string around it (I wrapped eight times) so it looks like a two-sided guitar, and tape the ends to the frame.
Or, this is the kind of loom I use, just because I have one in the house already.
Oseh Shtei Batei Nirin
I show the kids how I weave potholder loops, or pine needles (easier to see in a demonstration than thread) over one string and under the next, all the way across.
(These are called the weft threads.)
I ask them whether they think that weaving curtains for the Mishkan this way would be a quick job or a slow one.
"It would take forever!" they say.
Enter heddles (batei nirin).
A lot of simple children's looms don't have heddles. There are also many that do, like this one and this one. Potholder looms don't.
You can make heddles. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't work on a potholder loom (the warp loops slip off their pegs easily) so you'll need a picture frame or a beading loom or something else that lets you secure the warp threads well.
One way to make heddles is to make a heddle bar; but I just tie thread loops around every other warp thread and tape them together.
This is enough to show what a heddle does; to actually use the loom I would need a second heddle, which is slightly more complicated.
The best instructions I've seen for making an inexpensive loom with two sets of heddles are in Sarah Swett's book Kids Weaving, published 2005. The whole loom is made of PVC pipes (about $4 worth of pipe plus some fittings) and it's got cool moving parts.
If you want to make the kind of loom that (I think) was used for the mishkan, there are instructions here: How to Build and Use a Warp-Weighted Loom. (Ms. Swett's instructions are written for children and therefore more user-friendly.)
Oreg
When you pick up those heddle loops, every other warp thread rises. You can slip your weft thread (or pine needle...) in the space underneath.
When you release the loops, the warp threads drop back into place, and you'll see that your weft thread is held neatly between the warp threads, as if you had woven it over-under-over-under one thread at a time.
Now You Try
At this point I pinch off a piece of washed wool for each kid and pass out the carders and spindles; they card the wool and spin it, and bring it to me to steam it for them with the iron.
Today when everyone had spun a little strand of wool I dyed it for them also. We did tzovea last because I'm not sure this dye washes out of clothing. We would have gotten more even color had we worked in order.
If we would spend all day spinning we would end up with enough yarn for the kids to weave also; but we stop with spinning. The whole demonstration takes half an hour.
A lot of elementary school teachers keep a big loom in their rooms for kids to weave on during down time, which I think is a nice idea.
I have read that in art from certain parts of the ancient world, Jews are often recognizable as the nation depicted wearing striped textiles.
Total Shopping List for a Demonstration of the Textile Melachos
Melaben - unwashed wool. You can wash it yourself if you want to.
Menapetz - washed wool (two ounces of washed wool has lasted me through about 30 kids and we haven't used it up yet); two dog slicker brushes (or more pairs so lots of kids can try it at once - each needs to use two at a time)
Tzovea - commercial dye powder (or a pot of onion skins)
Toveh - clothes iron (I tried once to steam spun wool by holding it over the spout of an electric kettle. This was not pleasant - find an iron); spindles (optional)
Weaving melachos - a loom. Despite the fact that you have to buy the pipes and assemble it yourself, I think the best option for an affordable loom with batei nirin that has clear instructions is the DIY pipe loom in Sarah Swett's book Kids Weaving.
Chitzonius
Chitzonius means, literally, externality; or perhaps superficiality is a better translation.
I was looking through some notes and I came across this --
Rebbetzin David observed that nowadays there's more chitzonius. Not more materialism -- more chitzonius.
...
Q.
What does that mean practically?
Why should that be?
What is there to do about it?
I was looking through some notes and I came across this --
Rebbetzin David observed that nowadays there's more chitzonius. Not more materialism -- more chitzonius.
...
Q.
What does that mean practically?
Why should that be?
What is there to do about it?
Remembering R' Naftali Soloff, z"l
"...and you know her husband was niftar," said my friend.
What? -- I exclaimed.
"...Oh..." said my friend.
Maybe it will not be amiss to say a few words here about R' Naftali Soloff, who was a truly remarkable person.
When I lived in Jerusalem I liked to visit the Soloffs for Shabbos and yontif, I suppose because (a) their home was overflowing with Torah; and (b) they always made me feel special.
I could end the entry here and leave those as the two take-away points for education.
But, I won't.
Every family I visited was exemplary in a hundred things but the Soloffs stood out in having carefully created (calmly, happily) an atmosphere of extraordinary yiras shamayim.
This manifested in part as extraordinary refinement.
I remember R' Soloff telling a story to his children about Mr. Right Hand and Mr. Left Hand, who got into an argument. The argument escalated, until one hand gave a smack to the other. Then suddenly both hands heard, "Ouch!" from Mr. Head. The hands realized that they were really part of one body: what one does to another, he really does to himself. It's an analogy for the Jewish people.
It's a good analogy; I had heard it before; what stood out to me in R' Soloff's retelling was that he couldn't bring himself to say that one hand hit the other. Someone had to fill in that detail for him.
My friend told me that she heard from Mrs. Soloff that the two had arranged that R' Soloff would call from the hospital in America any any hour if he had any good news to share.
One night the phone rang.
What could be the good news?
R' Soloff was so happy, he said. The treatments he had been receiving generally clouded his mind but he had finally managed, that day, to learn a daf of Gemara.
This was his great simcha that he had to share.
Someone else I once brought to the Soloffs' said to me, afterward, "They probably never talk in that house about who's going to take out the garbage." They probably don't.
You wouldn't either, if you were standing before the King, would you?
That's where R' Soloff was always standing.
יהי זכרו ברוך
What? -- I exclaimed.
"...Oh..." said my friend.
Maybe it will not be amiss to say a few words here about R' Naftali Soloff, who was a truly remarkable person.
When I lived in Jerusalem I liked to visit the Soloffs for Shabbos and yontif, I suppose because (a) their home was overflowing with Torah; and (b) they always made me feel special.
I could end the entry here and leave those as the two take-away points for education.
But, I won't.
Every family I visited was exemplary in a hundred things but the Soloffs stood out in having carefully created (calmly, happily) an atmosphere of extraordinary yiras shamayim.
This manifested in part as extraordinary refinement.
I remember R' Soloff telling a story to his children about Mr. Right Hand and Mr. Left Hand, who got into an argument. The argument escalated, until one hand gave a smack to the other. Then suddenly both hands heard, "Ouch!" from Mr. Head. The hands realized that they were really part of one body: what one does to another, he really does to himself. It's an analogy for the Jewish people.
It's a good analogy; I had heard it before; what stood out to me in R' Soloff's retelling was that he couldn't bring himself to say that one hand hit the other. Someone had to fill in that detail for him.
My friend told me that she heard from Mrs. Soloff that the two had arranged that R' Soloff would call from the hospital in America any any hour if he had any good news to share.
One night the phone rang.
What could be the good news?
R' Soloff was so happy, he said. The treatments he had been receiving generally clouded his mind but he had finally managed, that day, to learn a daf of Gemara.
This was his great simcha that he had to share.
Someone else I once brought to the Soloffs' said to me, afterward, "They probably never talk in that house about who's going to take out the garbage." They probably don't.
You wouldn't either, if you were standing before the King, would you?
That's where R' Soloff was always standing.
יהי זכרו ברוך
Embroidery
Well, here's another one to add to the list of ways to integrate a school with its community...
I believe I read once years ago (in Minhagei Frankfurt) that it was the custom in Frankfurt for the oldest girls' grade in the school to do the embroidery for the shul.
The Beecher Sisters on Education
Here are two thoughts on education from Harriet Beecher Stowe and her sister Catharine, from the textbook they co-authored, The American Woman's Home, first published in 1869, and apparently widely read at the time.
I. A Caution on Classroom Management
(Actually, they're addressing parents, not teachers; but this is how I read it.)
"In regard to forming habits of obedience, there have been two extremes, both of which need to be shunned. One is, a stern and uncompromising maintenance of parental authority, demanding perfect and constant obedience, without any attempt to convince a child of the propriety and benevolence of the requisitions, and without any manifestation of sympathy and tenderness for the pain and difficulties which are to be met. Under such discipline, children grow up to fear their parents, rather than to love and trust them; while some of the most valuable principles of character are chilled, or forever blasted.
"In shunning this danger, other parents pass to the opposite extreme. They put themselves too much on the footing of equals with their children, as if little were due to superiority of relation, age, and experience. Nothing is exacted, without the implied concession that the child is to be a judge of the propriety of the requisition; and reason and persuasion are employed, where simple command and obedience would be far better. This system produces a most pernicious influence. Children soon perceive the position thus allowed them, and take every advantage of it. They soon learn to dispute parental requirements, acquire habits of forwardness and conceit, assume disrespectful manners and address, maintain their views with pertinacity, and yield to authority with ill-humor and resentment, as if their rights were infringed upon."
II. A Lament on Curriculum
"The race of strong, hardy, cheerful girls, that used to grow up on country places, and made the bright, neat, New-England kitchens of old times---the girls that could wash, iron, brew, bake, harness a horse and drive him, no less than braid straw, embroider, draw, paint, and read innumerable books---this race of women, pride of olden time, is daily lessening; and in their stead come the fragile, easily-fatigued, languid girls of a modern age, drilled in book-learning, ignorant of common things."
I. A Caution on Classroom Management
(Actually, they're addressing parents, not teachers; but this is how I read it.)
"In regard to forming habits of obedience, there have been two extremes, both of which need to be shunned. One is, a stern and uncompromising maintenance of parental authority, demanding perfect and constant obedience, without any attempt to convince a child of the propriety and benevolence of the requisitions, and without any manifestation of sympathy and tenderness for the pain and difficulties which are to be met. Under such discipline, children grow up to fear their parents, rather than to love and trust them; while some of the most valuable principles of character are chilled, or forever blasted.
"In shunning this danger, other parents pass to the opposite extreme. They put themselves too much on the footing of equals with their children, as if little were due to superiority of relation, age, and experience. Nothing is exacted, without the implied concession that the child is to be a judge of the propriety of the requisition; and reason and persuasion are employed, where simple command and obedience would be far better. This system produces a most pernicious influence. Children soon perceive the position thus allowed them, and take every advantage of it. They soon learn to dispute parental requirements, acquire habits of forwardness and conceit, assume disrespectful manners and address, maintain their views with pertinacity, and yield to authority with ill-humor and resentment, as if their rights were infringed upon."
II. A Lament on Curriculum
"The race of strong, hardy, cheerful girls, that used to grow up on country places, and made the bright, neat, New-England kitchens of old times---the girls that could wash, iron, brew, bake, harness a horse and drive him, no less than braid straw, embroider, draw, paint, and read innumerable books---this race of women, pride of olden time, is daily lessening; and in their stead come the fragile, easily-fatigued, languid girls of a modern age, drilled in book-learning, ignorant of common things."
Rav Hirsch -related Links
Here is a miscellaneous basket of Rav Hirsch -related resources online.
Some are Torah; and some are just candy for those of us who like to peek a little more into Rav Hirsch's particular place and era. I think the distinction is important.
Miscellaneous essays by Rav Hirsch online in English: Dr. Levine's list
The German Jeschurun archives, as well as a great many other fabulous items of a similar vintage, are online at Compact Memory.
Here is a nice collection of articles about Rav Hirsch: Dr. Levine's collection of TIDE articles
Someone once started a website to serve a purpose similar to Chinuch.org but for limudei chol; I thought it was a good idea. I can't find it now.
Looking for the niggunim employed in the shul in Frankfurt (as I did recently for a music teacher here) is its own rabbit hole; here are some links:
I M Japhet on Wikipedia
the sheet music of I M Japhet
some notes on the KAJ choir including a list of composers
Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz, which presumably is up on all this
the recordings of Mr. Benno Weis in the Dartmouth archive.
The Leo Baeck Institute has some great paraphernalia.
Museum Judengasse, about the history of Jews in Frankfurt
Here (veering sharply into fangirl territory) is a virtual tour of Rav Hirsch's house (because Schopenhauer also lived in the building): Schopenhauerhaus
Some are Torah; and some are just candy for those of us who like to peek a little more into Rav Hirsch's particular place and era. I think the distinction is important.
Miscellaneous essays by Rav Hirsch online in English: Dr. Levine's list
The German Jeschurun archives, as well as a great many other fabulous items of a similar vintage, are online at Compact Memory.
Here is a nice collection of articles about Rav Hirsch: Dr. Levine's collection of TIDE articles
Someone once started a website to serve a purpose similar to Chinuch.org but for limudei chol; I thought it was a good idea. I can't find it now.
Looking for the niggunim employed in the shul in Frankfurt (as I did recently for a music teacher here) is its own rabbit hole; here are some links:
I M Japhet on Wikipedia
the sheet music of I M Japhet
some notes on the KAJ choir including a list of composers
Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz, which presumably is up on all this
the recordings of Mr. Benno Weis in the Dartmouth archive.
The Leo Baeck Institute has some great paraphernalia.
Museum Judengasse, about the history of Jews in Frankfurt
Here (veering sharply into fangirl territory) is a virtual tour of Rav Hirsch's house (because Schopenhauer also lived in the building): Schopenhauerhaus
Well, That Worked: Mediation on the Playground
I was helping out the usual recess supervisor this week when Phosphorus (not his real name) ran up to tell me that Francium something something something.
"Go get Francium," I said. "You cannot tell me about something Francium did without him here."
Francium came over.
"Francium," I said. "Phosphorus says you did something. Phosphorus is going to speak, and you are going to listen, and then you will have a turn to speak. All right, Phosphorus."
Phosphorus: "He pushed me down the slide, and then he poured water on me, and..." etc., etc. --
Francium: "I didn't! You --"
I: "Wait, Francium. You will have a turn in a minute."
P: "and then he, etc., etc."
I: "All right. Francium, what did Phosphorus just say?"
F: "He said that I, etc., which isn't true -"
I: "Wait, Francium, before you say whether it's true or not, just say what he said."
F: "He said that I, etc., etc."
I: "Phosphorus, is that what you said?"
P: "Yes."
I: "All right, Francium, your turn. What happened?"
F: "He asked me to push him down the slide, and..." etc., etc.
I: "Phosphorus, what did Francium just say?"
P: "I don't know."
I: "Francium, can you say it again? And this time, Phosphorus, listen."
F: "He asked me to..." etc., etc.
I: "All right, Phosphorus, what did Francium say?"
P: "He said that I asked him to, etc., etc."
I: "Francium, did he get it right?"
F: "Yes."
I: "All right, now, how would you like to resolve this?"
Both burst out laughing. "We're tired of standing here. Let's go play."
And they did.
"Go get Francium," I said. "You cannot tell me about something Francium did without him here."
Francium came over.
"Francium," I said. "Phosphorus says you did something. Phosphorus is going to speak, and you are going to listen, and then you will have a turn to speak. All right, Phosphorus."
Phosphorus: "He pushed me down the slide, and then he poured water on me, and..." etc., etc. --
Francium: "I didn't! You --"
I: "Wait, Francium. You will have a turn in a minute."
P: "and then he, etc., etc."
I: "All right. Francium, what did Phosphorus just say?"
F: "He said that I, etc., which isn't true -"
I: "Wait, Francium, before you say whether it's true or not, just say what he said."
F: "He said that I, etc., etc."
I: "Phosphorus, is that what you said?"
P: "Yes."
I: "All right, Francium, your turn. What happened?"
F: "He asked me to push him down the slide, and..." etc., etc.
I: "Phosphorus, what did Francium just say?"
P: "I don't know."
I: "Francium, can you say it again? And this time, Phosphorus, listen."
F: "He asked me to..." etc., etc.
I: "All right, Phosphorus, what did Francium say?"
P: "He said that I asked him to, etc., etc."
I: "Francium, did he get it right?"
F: "Yes."
I: "All right, now, how would you like to resolve this?"
Both burst out laughing. "We're tired of standing here. Let's go play."
And they did.
Undivided: a Computer Game about Consideration
My husband found this game.
I never thought I would recommend a computer game, but we've both found it useful in teaching consideration.
The game must be played by two players simultaneously. The two need to collaborate to push each other toward the goal.
One controls the right & left arrows and can move its character only sideways; the other uses only the S & W keys and can move its character only up or down.
The game is here:
Undivided
I never thought I would recommend a computer game, but we've both found it useful in teaching consideration.
The game must be played by two players simultaneously. The two need to collaborate to push each other toward the goal.
One controls the right & left arrows and can move its character only sideways; the other uses only the S & W keys and can move its character only up or down.
The game is here:
Undivided
Torah Sources Online
Here is a collection of some major sefarim available online.
Wikipedia has Mikraos Gedolos in Hebrew and some in English. It also has a bunch of other sefarim in Hebrew and in English translation, including, apparently, Tur, Shulchan Aruch, and Aruch haShulchan. I also noticed Ayil Meshulash.
You can download a lot of sefarim (with editable text) as a free program called Toras Emes.
HebrewBooks.org is a more extensive treasure house of PDFs.
The Soncino translation is available for free download, one masechta at a time, at Halakhah.com.
E-daf.com is my other resource for insta-Gemara.
Sefaria.org is a new one: a mixed bag with a lot of classic sefarim in the mix.
Here's another extensive online Mikraos Gedolos: Al HaTorah
The Aspaklaria encyclopedia is online!
Part of the Gemara is indexed here: WebShas
Mesillas Yesharim, Chovos haLevavos, and some others are in both Hebrew and English on this site: Daf Yomi Review
Chabad has kindly put up the entire Tanach with Rashi in both Hebrew and English.
The Mishneh Torah (along with Tanach & Gemara) is for some reason online here: Mechon Mamre
Daat.co.il is another mixed bag with a lot of classic sefarim in it. Here, for instance, is its (big) collection of mefarshim on Tanach.
Wikipedia has Mikraos Gedolos in Hebrew and some in English. It also has a bunch of other sefarim in Hebrew and in English translation, including, apparently, Tur, Shulchan Aruch, and Aruch haShulchan. I also noticed Ayil Meshulash.
You can download a lot of sefarim (with editable text) as a free program called Toras Emes.
HebrewBooks.org is a more extensive treasure house of PDFs.
The Soncino translation is available for free download, one masechta at a time, at Halakhah.com.
E-daf.com is my other resource for insta-Gemara.
Sefaria.org is a new one: a mixed bag with a lot of classic sefarim in the mix.
Here's another extensive online Mikraos Gedolos: Al HaTorah
The Aspaklaria encyclopedia is online!
Part of the Gemara is indexed here: WebShas
Mesillas Yesharim, Chovos haLevavos, and some others are in both Hebrew and English on this site: Daf Yomi Review
Chabad has kindly put up the entire Tanach with Rashi in both Hebrew and English.
The Mishneh Torah (along with Tanach & Gemara) is for some reason online here: Mechon Mamre
Daat.co.il is another mixed bag with a lot of classic sefarim in it. Here, for instance, is its (big) collection of mefarshim on Tanach.
Aus der Schuetzenstrasse: Memories of Frankfurt
This is one of the best treasures I ever found lurking in a dusty corner of the Internet.
Memories of Frankfurt (Aus der Schuetzenstrasse) -- by Hermann Schwab, reprinted with permission from the Mitteilungen and the author's family.
Memories of Frankfurt (Aus der Schuetzenstrasse) -- by Hermann Schwab, reprinted with permission from the Mitteilungen and the author's family.
The Parking Lot Minyan
Rabbi Ilan Feldman's essay on being part of a community:
The Parking Lot Minyan
"...Why is someone with your abilities spending his time in the back of the shul dreaming about parking lot minyanim to save twenty minutes on a Friday night instead of dreaming big dreams for this shul...?"
The Parking Lot Minyan
"...Why is someone with your abilities spending his time in the back of the shul dreaming about parking lot minyanim to save twenty minutes on a Friday night instead of dreaming big dreams for this shul...?"
Monkey School
My daughter informs me that her stuffed monkey, Monkey, attends Monkey School.
In Monkey School, she said, instead of being in a grade, when the monkeys know the material, they graduate up to the next level.
Apparently, Monkey School differs from a typical K-8 school in that the default assumption isn't that students will spend a year in a grade; instead, units are smaller and students are constantly moving up, as if in a video game.
I like it.
In Monkey School, she said, instead of being in a grade, when the monkeys know the material, they graduate up to the next level.
Apparently, Monkey School differs from a typical K-8 school in that the default assumption isn't that students will spend a year in a grade; instead, units are smaller and students are constantly moving up, as if in a video game.
I like it.
My Quest for the Best Chemistry Book Ever
I have been searching for the world's clearest explanation of chemistry.
I divide the books into two categories.
Books that Align with a Standard Chemistry Curriculum
Actual chemistry textbooks are supposed to be more or less equal. The one we used in high school was Zumdahl's World of Chemistry; I remember I liked it and could rely on it to explain clearly whatever I needed to know. Prentice Hall's is the other widely used chemistry textbook; I haven't read it.
Chemistry for Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chemistry, which are written to cover the same material but in a less formal voice and without pretty pictures, are equally clear, though I don't think they offer anything a textbook doesn't. The latter is the more comprehensive of the two.
The author of the Idiot's has a website where he has published his own, humorous, free chemistry textbook, Chemistry: The Awesomest Science. It covers a standard high school curriculum and it's clearer than any other textbook I've seen. The trouble with it is that the language is not appropriate, so I can't give it to my students. The author gave me permission to bowdlerize it, but due to the nature of the course I'm teaching I don't have time, so there's a project up for grabs if someone wants it.
CK-12 Chemistry is another free, complete textbook that looks like a good resource, but since you have to read it on a special app and cannot print it out, I didn't look at it too closely.
The best explanation I've seen of basic chemistry ("an atom is...") is still Everything You Need to Ace Science in One Big Fat Notebook but since it's written for middle school it's only an introduction (e.g., it stops before getting into the difference between ionic and covalent bonds).
Chemistry: Investigate the Matter that Makes up Your World, from Nomad Press, goes further. It doesn't contain everything in the high school curriculum but it comes close to covering the Florida state high school standards. It's the clearest of the books on this list. If I were writing a textbook-based high school chemistry course from scratch I might make this slim volume the textbook (since it covers everything you need to know to be a basically chemistry-educated adult, with no extras) and teach everything else without recourse to a textbook at all.
Another book I have flipped through but haven't looked at too closely is The Joy of Chemistry, by Cobb and Fetterolf. It's not a simple book to look things up in; it's designed to take the reader on a journey. It looks good, though. I imagine there are a lot of homeschoolers who adore it.
Books that Don't Align with a Standard Chemistry Curriculum
There are some wonderful children's introductions to chemistry. My favorites are, as usual, the Victorians (who, fortunately, are free online):
The Wonder Book of Chemistry by Jean Henri Fabre (an excellent children's science writer - he has books on several sciences) and
The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday.
There is a brief chapter on chemistry in Edward Holden's The Sciences, which is a good book to know about; but Fabre goes deeper.
The genius of these old books (besides the mellifluous writing) is that they start off with the world that surrounds us. The Wonder Book of Chemistry, for instance, doesn't start off with the definition of an atom; it starts off with a chunk of sulphur. Faraday introduces chemistry through looking at a candle. It's (pedagogically) a very elegant approach.
Theodore Gray has a trilogy of books on chemistry. I've read only the first, The Elements. It wouldn't stand in place of a textbook but it's a nice resource. I showed it to a chemistry student who had been plodding through a lab-less course and she exclaimed, "Oh! This makes chemistry look interesting!" - It's very good for that.
The Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments, by Robert Bruce Thompson, explains in tremendous detail how to set up a safe chemistry lab at home, and gives instructions for a number of intriguing-sounding experiments. Companion materials are sold here.
There are other books that lay out a number of suggestions for one-off science fair projects, but Thompson's is the book that assumes the reader wants to get seriously into the subject.
There are some books out there that present entertaining chemistry anecdotes for a general audience (Napoleon's Buttons, The Disappearing Spoon, The Radioactive Boy Scout, Mauve) but it would be a demanding job to extract much chemistry knowledge from them, so they don't make my list.
I cannot, however, resist linking to Ruskin's essay on The Work of Iron, on p. 453 of this PDF, as a charming presentation on chemistry.
I asked around for "the clearest book on chemistry ever" and my friend's husband wisely responded, "Bereishis 1:1-31," which is the best answer.
There are several board games out there that are designed to teach chemistry. The two that sound high school student-friendly to me (as opposed to having been designed for gamers) are Elementeo, which is based on Magic: the Gathering and assigns each element a personality; and Science Ninjas: Valence Plus. Elementeo is pretty but I suspect that Valence Plus involves more science in the actual game-play. (There's also a chemistry-themed version of Fluxx. Fluxx is a great game; but it offers less educational content than the other games listed here.)
There is a fabulous collection of labs here: Flinn Scientific: Chemical Demonstrations.
Conclusion
If someone would like to write a chemistry textbook that takes all the material of a standard high school textbook and presents it using the sensible approach and superb writing of The Wonder Book of Chemistry, the clarity of Chemistry: the Awesomest Science, and the attention to detail of Chemistry: Explore the Matter that Makes up Your World, I would buy a copy; and if you pull it all out of Bereishis, I will be your best friend.
I divide the books into two categories.
Books that Align with a Standard Chemistry Curriculum
Actual chemistry textbooks are supposed to be more or less equal. The one we used in high school was Zumdahl's World of Chemistry; I remember I liked it and could rely on it to explain clearly whatever I needed to know. Prentice Hall's is the other widely used chemistry textbook; I haven't read it.
Chemistry for Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chemistry, which are written to cover the same material but in a less formal voice and without pretty pictures, are equally clear, though I don't think they offer anything a textbook doesn't. The latter is the more comprehensive of the two.
The author of the Idiot's has a website where he has published his own, humorous, free chemistry textbook, Chemistry: The Awesomest Science. It covers a standard high school curriculum and it's clearer than any other textbook I've seen. The trouble with it is that the language is not appropriate, so I can't give it to my students. The author gave me permission to bowdlerize it, but due to the nature of the course I'm teaching I don't have time, so there's a project up for grabs if someone wants it.
CK-12 Chemistry is another free, complete textbook that looks like a good resource, but since you have to read it on a special app and cannot print it out, I didn't look at it too closely.
The best explanation I've seen of basic chemistry ("an atom is...") is still Everything You Need to Ace Science in One Big Fat Notebook but since it's written for middle school it's only an introduction (e.g., it stops before getting into the difference between ionic and covalent bonds).
Chemistry: Investigate the Matter that Makes up Your World, from Nomad Press, goes further. It doesn't contain everything in the high school curriculum but it comes close to covering the Florida state high school standards. It's the clearest of the books on this list. If I were writing a textbook-based high school chemistry course from scratch I might make this slim volume the textbook (since it covers everything you need to know to be a basically chemistry-educated adult, with no extras) and teach everything else without recourse to a textbook at all.
Another book I have flipped through but haven't looked at too closely is The Joy of Chemistry, by Cobb and Fetterolf. It's not a simple book to look things up in; it's designed to take the reader on a journey. It looks good, though. I imagine there are a lot of homeschoolers who adore it.
Books that Don't Align with a Standard Chemistry Curriculum
There are some wonderful children's introductions to chemistry. My favorites are, as usual, the Victorians (who, fortunately, are free online):
The Wonder Book of Chemistry by Jean Henri Fabre (an excellent children's science writer - he has books on several sciences) and
The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday.
There is a brief chapter on chemistry in Edward Holden's The Sciences, which is a good book to know about; but Fabre goes deeper.
The genius of these old books (besides the mellifluous writing) is that they start off with the world that surrounds us. The Wonder Book of Chemistry, for instance, doesn't start off with the definition of an atom; it starts off with a chunk of sulphur. Faraday introduces chemistry through looking at a candle. It's (pedagogically) a very elegant approach.
Theodore Gray has a trilogy of books on chemistry. I've read only the first, The Elements. It wouldn't stand in place of a textbook but it's a nice resource. I showed it to a chemistry student who had been plodding through a lab-less course and she exclaimed, "Oh! This makes chemistry look interesting!" - It's very good for that.
The Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments, by Robert Bruce Thompson, explains in tremendous detail how to set up a safe chemistry lab at home, and gives instructions for a number of intriguing-sounding experiments. Companion materials are sold here.
There are other books that lay out a number of suggestions for one-off science fair projects, but Thompson's is the book that assumes the reader wants to get seriously into the subject.
There are some books out there that present entertaining chemistry anecdotes for a general audience (Napoleon's Buttons, The Disappearing Spoon, The Radioactive Boy Scout, Mauve) but it would be a demanding job to extract much chemistry knowledge from them, so they don't make my list.
I cannot, however, resist linking to Ruskin's essay on The Work of Iron, on p. 453 of this PDF, as a charming presentation on chemistry.
I asked around for "the clearest book on chemistry ever" and my friend's husband wisely responded, "Bereishis 1:1-31," which is the best answer.
There are several board games out there that are designed to teach chemistry. The two that sound high school student-friendly to me (as opposed to having been designed for gamers) are Elementeo, which is based on Magic: the Gathering and assigns each element a personality; and Science Ninjas: Valence Plus. Elementeo is pretty but I suspect that Valence Plus involves more science in the actual game-play. (There's also a chemistry-themed version of Fluxx. Fluxx is a great game; but it offers less educational content than the other games listed here.)
There is a fabulous collection of labs here: Flinn Scientific: Chemical Demonstrations.
Conclusion
If someone would like to write a chemistry textbook that takes all the material of a standard high school textbook and presents it using the sensible approach and superb writing of The Wonder Book of Chemistry, the clarity of Chemistry: the Awesomest Science, and the attention to detail of Chemistry: Explore the Matter that Makes up Your World, I would buy a copy; and if you pull it all out of Bereishis, I will be your best friend.
Lavon
Rabbi Oppenheimer, the "Portlander Rav," put this up today.
"We... are thrilled to be the first Shomer Shabbos family in this beautiful Yishuv..."
Here's the link: Pesach: Confronting the Struggle
"We... are thrilled to be the first Shomer Shabbos family in this beautiful Yishuv..."
Here's the link: Pesach: Confronting the Struggle
All Lessons as Music Lessons
A speaker I once heard, on the subject of growth mindset, illustrated his point by describing how music lessons are taught.
The emphasis is on using feedback. The student plays; the teacher listens and offers direction; and the student tries again.
What would school look like if all lessons were structured like music lessons?
The emphasis is on using feedback. The student plays; the teacher listens and offers direction; and the student tries again.
What would school look like if all lessons were structured like music lessons?
Al Pi Darko Explanation No. 2
חנך לנער על־פי דרכו גם כי־יזקין לא־יסור ממנה
Mishlei (Proverbs) 22:6 -- 'Educate a child according to his path; even when he ages he will not turn away from it.'
The first explanation of this verse that I posted involved baby kangaroos.
Another explanation, I heard from Rav Kook of Rechovot at the 2015 Torah uMesorah convention. He said the Alter of Kelm explains "ממנה" as "מלהתחנך" --
That is:
The "it" that the child will not turn away from when he ages is the practice of educating himself.
Mishlei (Proverbs) 22:6 -- 'Educate a child according to his path; even when he ages he will not turn away from it.'
The first explanation of this verse that I posted involved baby kangaroos.
Another explanation, I heard from Rav Kook of Rechovot at the 2015 Torah uMesorah convention. He said the Alter of Kelm explains "ממנה" as "מלהתחנך" --
That is:
The "it" that the child will not turn away from when he ages is the practice of educating himself.
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