Invitation and Obligation (or “What I Learned on My Summer Vacation”)

(cross posted to TAPBB)

by Joel Lurie Grishaver

I am getting old. I learned that at the CAJE conference. We were out to dinner with a number of young educators and I got into an argument. It took a few days to realize that I was wrong (and that is sad). Sad not cause I can’t handle being wrong, but sad because more of the world I believe in is disappearing.

Lets Meet Up at CAJE!

We’re on our way to CAJE33 in Burlington, VT. Will we see you there?

Come see our latest materials and meet our authors at the Torah Aura Productions booth, #54 (as well as 55, 60, and 61… it’s more like a “mega-booth”). Also, check out these great sessions from Torah Aura:

After Israel at 60: Imagineering Israel in the Congregational School
Ira Wise and Josh Barkin
Sunday, Aug. 10 • 6:30pm-7:45pm• Kalkin 001

Going Beyond Kovah Tembel and the Western Wall: Teaching the Real Israel in the Supplementary School
Josh Barkin
Monday, Aug. 11 • 10:15am-11:30am• Davis Center Williams Family (403)

Rethinking Teaching Israel
Joel Grishaver
Monday, Aug. 11 • 2:15pm-3:30pm• Lafayette Hall 108

Jewish Education as a Conserving Activity: The Problem With Too Much Innovation
Joel Grishaver and Josh Barkin
Monday, Aug. 11 • 4:15pm-5:30pm• Lafayette Hall 108

Siddur Teaching that Creates People Who Pray
Ellen Dreskin and Joel Grishaver
Tuesday, Aug. 12 • 2:15pm-3:30pm• Lafayette Hall, 108

Teaching Jewishly
Joel Grishaver
Tuesday, Aug. 12 • 4:15-5:30• Kalkin 004

Drops of Honey: Enriching the Jewish Experiences of Families With Young Children
Idie Benjamin and Dale Cooperman
Wednesday, Aug, 13 • 11:45am-1:00pm• Rowell, 111

Teaching the Jewish Lifecycle in the Supplementary School
Josh Barkin
Wednesday, Aug. 13 • 12:30pm-1:45pm• Kalkin 110

The Annual 5 Things Extravaganza
Carol Oseran Starin, Idie Benjamin, Dale Cooperman, Adrian A. Durlester, Sharon Halper, Judy Kaskel, Fran Pearlman, Ira Wise
Wednesday, Aug. 13 • 2:15pm-5:00pm• Lafayette Hall, 108

The Pieces of the Puzzle
Joel Grishaver, Macy Hart, Rabbi Jan Katzew, Jo Kay, Rob Weinberg
Wednesday, Aug. 13 • 2:15pm-5:00pm• Royall Tyler Theatre, Theatre (210)

You Don’t Need to be Creative!
Laurie Bellet
Wednesday, Aug. 13 • 2:15pm-5:00pm• Living/Learning Bldg. B, B132

Let Me Count the Ways: Finale

Since the fall of 1996 we have had the privilege of including Carol Oseran Starin’s column Let Me Count the Ways as part of the Torah Aura Bulletin Board. The Let Me Count the Ways column has offered teachers and educations a vast array of ideas for everything from teaching Torah to dealing with parents; from building a professional library to planning for the school year. Twelve years of Carol’s columns have spawned two Let Me Count the Ways — Practical Innovations for Jewish Teachers volumes, four years of Jewish Classroom Planners, many years of CAJE sessions and thousands of ideas. We could not be more proud of the work that Carol and her crew have done.

This is Carol’s last column for the Torah Aura Bulletin Board. She thinks she is out of ideas, but we think we will hear from her in the future. To Carol we offer a heartfelt Todah Rabbah. We are very proud of you and all you have given us.

- Jane, Joel, Alan, and Josh

by Carol Oseran Starin

Let Me Count the Ways was a small idea that began as a casual conversation — and grew into a 10 year commitment. I’ve always been the kind of teacher that looks at a paper towel tubes and asks and wonders how to turn them into hannukiyot. So the idea of sharing teaching ideas with colleagues throughout the country was very appealing.

The 5 Things column quickly attracted a network of contributors – teachers, colleagues, friends – that morphed into “the 5 things advisory group.” The mega lesson I have learned is that we don’t have to be the holders of all knowledge – the answers lie with our colleagues. We need only ask. I learned that I didn’t need to be responsible for knowing all the answers to the questions I posed each week. My colleagues contributed topics, ideas, solutions, advice, resources, and humor. I think that’s my “5 things take-away.” We teachers walk into our classrooms, close the door the behind us and think we need to have all the answers. I’ve learned to leave the door open, walk across the hall, ask a colleague for a suggestion. The answers are close by. You might even use the 5 things model at teacher meetings: Given a problem, issue, or challenge, what are 5 ways to tackle it?

For this last column I’ve chosen, from the 200 columns, 5 of my favorite solutions – a story, a strategy, a resource, a project, and an insight.

Israel and Family Education

In honor of Israel’s 60th birthday (and the upcoming publication of Artzeinu: An Israel Encounter) we’re going to be taking some space in the TAPBB to talk about some real Israel issues. This is the sixth in a series of essays about how Israel fits into the school curriculum.

by Joel Lurie Grishaver
(cross posted to The Gris Mill)

My understanding of the relationship between Israel education and family education starts with two working assumptions. (1) The most important out come of any Israel education is to get students to visit Israel in the future. We’ve talked in previous postings about the research that says the only significant way to influence student’s connection to Israel is to visit Israel. Also, we know from a study of family education in Boston that (2) parental attitudes towards the importance of visiting Israel have a lot to do with whether students will visit Israel (that’s obvious) and (more importantly) those attitudes are hard to change.

One not-so-secret truth is that family education is all about getting parental buy-in. While we do have objectives about building the communications and healthiness of family, and we are interested in Jewish growth within the family, most of this happens through changes in parental attitudes. We get Shabbat celebrated in the family more because parents become willing than because students ask for it. The same is true of Israel.