Thoughts for Aseret Yemai Teshuva, the Ten Days of Repentance

Something to think about this Yom Kippur when contemplating God's unity and His concern for mankind:

From Heschel's Man is not Alone:

According to Cicero: "The gods are careful about great things and neglect small ones" (De Natura Deorum. Book ii. ch. 66, 167). According to the prophets of Israel, from Moses to Malachi, God is concerned with small matters. What the prophets tried to convey to man was not a conception of an eternal harmony, of an unchangeable rhythm of wisdom, but the eternal perception of God's concern with concrete situations. Disclosing the pattern of history, in which the human is interwoven with the divine, they breathed a divine earnestness into the world of man.

In mythology the deities are thought of as self-seeking, as concerned with their own selves. Immortal, superior to man in power and wisdom, they are often inferior to man in morality. "Homer and Hesiod have ascribed to the gods all the things that are a shame and a disgrace among mortals, stealings and adulteries and deceivings of one another" (Xenophones).

The Bible tells us nothing about God in Himself; all its sayings refer to His relations to man. His own life and essence are neither told nor disclosed. We hear of no reflexive concern, of no passions, except a passion for justice. The only events in the life of God the Bible knows of are acts done for the sake of man: acts of creation, acts of redemption (from Ur, from Egypt, from Babylon), or acts of revelation.

Zeus is passionately interested in pretty female deities and becomes inflamed with rage against those who incite his jealousy. The God of Israel is passionately interested in widows and orphans.

RS Religious Identity: Some Elul Thoughts

As we approach the High Holidays, we want to contemplate the thoughts of various thinkers on why religion and the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) should matter to us. Here is Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks in his Introduction to The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning:

Science takes things apart to see how they work. Religion puts things together to see what they mean. Both are necessary, but they are very different. . . . Whole civilisations made mistakes because they could not keep these two apart and applied to one the logic of the other.

When you treat things as if they were people, the result is myth: light is from the sun god, rain from the sky god, natural disasters from the clash of deities, and so on. Science was born when people stopped telling stories about nature and instead observed it; when, in short, they relinquished myth.

When you treat people as if they were things, the result is dehumanization: people categorised by colour, class or creed and treated differently as a result. The religion of Abraham was born when people stopped seeing people as objects and began to see each individual as unique, sacrosanct, the image of God. 

One of the most difficult tasks of any civilisation -- of any individual life, for that matter -- is to keep the two [science and religion] separate, but integrated and in balance. . . .

. . . [N]eo-Darwinian biologists and evolutionary psychologists have focused on the self, the 'I.' 'I' is what passes my genes on to the next generation. 'I' is what engages in reciprocal altruism, the seemingly selfless behaviour that actually serves self-centred ends. The market is about the choosing 'I.' The liberal democratic state is about the voting 'I.' The economy is about the consuming 'I.' But 'I,' like Adam long ago, is lonely. 'I' is bad at relationships. In a world of 'I's, marriages do not last. Communities erode. Loyalty is devalued. Trust grows thin. God is ruled out completely. In a world of clamorous egos, there is no room for God. 

So the presence or absence of God makes an immense difference to our lives. (2-5)

Failing Fast and Forward

As the Sandbox participants know, I [Tikvah Wiener] hopped on a plane to Israel right after the Summer Sandbox. However, I didn't stop thinking about the wonderful three days of big dreaming, hard fun, and iterative prototyping we'd done together, and I also continued to think more deeply about the many rich and meaty discussions we'd had about education and the practices we wanted to keep or change in our classrooms.

One thing Penina, Akiva, and I spoke about right after the conference, as we were loading up my car with leftover M and M's and the Keurig machine that had been so popular, was that we hadn't had time to have participants write on the Fail Wall we'd created. We'd failed to share our Fail Wall.

Now the reason for that was we'd decided to mimic a real inquiry-based classroom at the Sandbox, and so when participants showed a desire to go deeper into a topic that we'd allotted a specific amount of time for, we quickly adjusted the conference schedule so we could allow a longer discussion to take place.

We weren't sorry about that decision, and it confirms for us the idea that failure shouldn't be seen as a negative and demoralizing word but rather one that reflects a process on a journey toward accomplishment and greater self-awareness. We've had discussions about this in JEDLAB, where we've debated whether the word failure needs to be replaced with something else or whether we -- as educators in particular -- should use it, in order to de-stigmatize it.

So one of the things I boarded the plane contemplating -- aside from what kind of dinner ELAL was going to serve (pasta and meatballs at 2 AM, if anyone needs to know) -- was failure. And that idea was with me in Israel as I . . . learned to surf for the first time.

In Haifa, about to fail spectacularly at surfing!

Now I know the big question is: how did a California girl manage to avoid a surfing lesson for 43 years, and I have no easy answer to that, I'm afraid, but I will say it was a lot of hard fun and a good lesson in failure. While my nine-year-old daughter, five nieces and nephews, stepbrother, and sister all managed to get up on the board at least once if not multiple times, my brother-in-law and I didn't get up. Not once. (At least my brother-in-law has the excuse of being English; I grew up in LA, swimming non-stop.) Our utter lack of success didn't stop us from trying repeatedly, however, with my brother-in-law commenting, "You know, it wouldn't be so hard if the water would just stop moving underneath the board."

I ended up swallowing about half the Mediterranean, getting whacked in the jaw by my or someone else's board (I still can't be sure whose), and getting tossed about the sea like a piece of flotsam. I can't remember when I've had so much fun. And I can't help thinking how glad I am not to have succeeded. Putting myself in the position of inexperienced learner was great: the surfing teachers were constantly coming over to help me, desperately trying to make me get up at least once before the hour was over. But though I really wanted to stand on that board, I didn't mind in the end that I hadn't.

I think it was more important for me as teacher and lifelong learner that I could be open to a new experience, work hard to master a new skill even though I didn't succeed at it, and feel what it was like to struggle as a student. In fact, I hope all teachers spent part time of the summer trying something new and feeling the insecurity of failing.

I also don't think all my surfing efforts were in vain. I know the next time I try the sport, I'll be further along in the process than I'd be if I'd never attempted it.

My thoughts on failure took another turn as I worked on two articles over the course of my Israel vacation. One, for The Jewish Week, was about RealSchool and the Sandbox and can be found here. The other was one I wrote with JEDLAB colleague Andrea Cheatham Kaspar for RAVSAK's journal, Hayidion. About getting started with PBL, it will appear around Rosh Hashana time. I'm an English teacher, so I'm usually the one suggesting edits and tearing apart student papers, but when I handed in the articles, it was me being told where I had "failed" to convey an idea properly. It was Julie Wiener at The Jewish Week, and Elliot Rabin at Hayidion, as well as Andrea, pushing me to clarify, refine, and hone my thoughts. And again, it was really good to be put in my students' shoes -- not only to taste what "failure" felt like but to have a chance to improve and so rethink what failure means in the first place.

I don't much care whether we think up a new term for failure or simply re-imagine it. I just think we have to be comfortable as educators with being in positions of vulnerability, not only so that we ourselves grow as people but also so that we can empathize with students about their growth as learners.

That was confirmed for me again once I returned from Israel and met with Frisch English department colleague and Sandbox participant Daniel Rosen. As we procrastinated, I mean, took a much-needed break from planning our sophomore PBL year, we scrolled down his Facebook page and found this, posted by another Frisch colleague, Rabbi Neil Fleischmann:

'Nuff said. 

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It's not too late! We can still post our summer failures, and now even those who didn't attend the Sandbox can join us. Feel free to post your summer failures:

RealSchool Summer Sandbox FailWall

Guest post by Peter Eckstein: Bringing the Sand Home: Reflections on the RealSchool Summer Sandbox

Three days of  hardfun and rewarding work. Three days of creation.  Three days of collaboration.  That’s how I’d describe the recently concluded RealSchool Summer Sandbox conference. As I wrote  here,   prior to travelling to this event in Teaneck, NJ I had no idea what to expect, or if  it would be worthwhile at all.  As I look back though,  I have to say that I got  a lot out of it.  It was a rewarding risk worth taking.

I was the only congregational educator in attendance.  The rest of the participants consisted of a  group of Jewish day school teachers and representatives of various national Jewish organizations.  This didn’t put me off, because I came with a specific agenda. I wanted to explore linkages between the world of Jewish day school and congregational education.  I also was looking forward to learning more about digital badges.  Most importantly however, I yearned for tachlis – for something real and concrete to come out of all of  this. I’ve had enough with theory. I wanted to bring something home with me.

When I arrived (late – the vagaries of air travel strike yet again!) I walked into the middle of a process that had begun that morning.  Participants were breaking into smaller cohorts, each of which focusing on a specific question, problem or project. Each group would explore an issue and ultimately create a learning experience that could be implemented in their specific environment.  What would be produced in The Sandbox was the first iteration. Everyone understood that the final product might very well look different. The idea, simply put, was to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.  I wandered around, observing this process and ran into Tzi Daum, (a fourth grade dayschool teacher, the founder of torahskills.org and in the twitterverse known as @torahskills). He and I’ve had had a cloud-based collegial collaboration for the past few years via twitter and Facebook.  This was the first time we had met on earth.  We sat down and began to talk.

Peter (left) and Tzvi Daum begin having "hard fun" at the Sandbox!

Tzvi and I shared two interests. One was exploring themes and questions that Jewish day  and congregational schools shared. We discovered a common challenge: Connecting what the kids learn in school with their home and family life. How do we get what the kids learn in school to be relevant to them, their parents and families at home? The other interest we shared was online and blended learning.  We both have worked with the Moodle learning management system, so we decided to create our project using it as one component of  our learning experience – an experiment in blended learning.

In the project we began to design, our students and their parents will be charged with determining how funds raised in a class tzedakah drive would be allocated.  The families have tasks that they need to fulfill together – both in class as well as online.  They will need to research causes and organizations and learn about the difference between tzedakah (righteous giving) and g’millut chassadim (acts of loving kindness). Most importantly, parents and kids will together reflect on this process of discovery and family education, submitting these thoughts in writing, via the moodle platform.  The culmination of this project consists of both digital and physical presentations, focusing on the family’s choice of who would receive the funds, and the reasons why. In the final assessment, one of the criteria will be the level and type of parental involvement. Tzvi and I are still working on this project – fine tuning the moodle-based lesson so that it would be appropriate for our specific learning environments. Our hope is to pilot it in the fall.

Peter and Tzvi doing "iterative prototyping," that is, planning out their PBL unit

My second goal – learning about digital badges – focused specifically on how they can be used as a tool in part time Jewish learning environments.  I first heard about this idea of cloud based reinforcement and  credentialing from Sarah Blattner  (founder and executive director of Tamritz and known on twitter as @tamritzlearning), who is doing amazing work integrating the use of digital badges in a number of Jewish day schools. I was excited to be able to learn more from Sarah, (albeit remotely – she skyped in her session). I had learned the theory back in May at Edjewcon, now I had the chance to learn more about the nuts and bolts.  From Sarah I learned what tools I would need as well as ideas  about how to  link the badge to a student’s e-portfolio – creating an added level of engagement in Jewish learning for the student AND his or her parents and family.  As a result of this experience, I have begun the process of applying the use of digital badges into my congregational school.

Peter and Tzvi present their work

I attended The Sandbox to experience a practical type of professional development that focused on practice. As I wrote before the conference,  I wanted to immerse myself in a climate of experimentation, hard work, and fun. I wanted the freedom to try something new, and to “see what happens”. But there was one more thing I was searching for: A professional development experience that I would like to try in my community, both in my congregation as well as with my colleagues from other institutions. If we truly are striving to transform part time Jewish education, then we need to also transform how we as learn, and how we teach. Playing in the sandbox might be the answer.

Cross-posted on jcastnetwork.org

"I'm Just Not Coin-Operated, Bob"

This summer, we're reading Tony Wagner's Creating Innovators, which is, of course, full of ideas we agree with. One of them is the notion that people get more satisfaction out of doing things when they're internally motivated to do so.

Wagner claims that the Millennials, as they're called, are actually motivated in different ways than those from previous generations, and he quotes Bob Compton, his collaborator on the videos for Creating Innovators, on this topic. Here is Compton, who is a high-tech venture capitalist and graduate of Harvard Business School, on working with today's twentysomethings:

Managing and motivating this cohort of young employees is almost overwhelmingly frustrating. All of the tools and techniques I learned at Harvard Business School, and all of my training and experience since, are ineffective at best. What's worse, traditional motivators -- stock options, commissions, bonus payments -- are often counterproductive with this generation. They take offense at being managed. As one of my young employees remarked when I offered stock and bonus payments as incentive for accelerating product development, "I'm just not coin-operated, Bob." Not "coin-operated"? Well, how are you "operated"? It is still baffling to me (page 19-20).

If this is true of twentysomethings, then we need to consider that traditional notions of grading in school are insufficient ways to motivate students. Grades are, after all, the carrot often dangled in front of students.

So how can we shift education so that it provides intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic motivation for kids to succeed? Another point Wagner makes in his book is instructive here. He quotes Keith Miller, who works at 3M Corporation as manager of environmental initiatives and sustainability [RS Health and Environment is a fan of that position!]: 

Younger employees at the company want to have meaning in what they are doing. . . . It's a huge challenge for my generation. I came up through 3M when you had to put in your time before you got the good projects. You had to prove yourself. This generation comes in wanting to have an immediate impact. The challenge is to connect them with projects that have value and impact for the company (page 21).

What Compton and Miller are noticing in today's young work force is really inspiring and exciting, and it seems to us, something that should be deliberately cultivated in our schools. Our classrooms need to be places where students can find meaning, value, and purpose other than good grades. 

Additional Resources

Here is more information about people's desire to be intrinsically motivated:

On people's natural desire to have autonomy -- self-direction --, mastery, and purpose, take a look at Daniel Pink, author of Drive, in this RSA Animate talk:

Here's an engaging blog post from edutopia on unleashing student's intrinsic motivation.

Finally, here's Tony Wagner on Play, Passion and Purpose:

Thoughts on Reframing Roles, from Stanford's d.school online Design Thinking Course

This summer, we're enjoying Stanford's online Design Thinking course and wanted to share these interesting thoughts on reframing the roles in which we see ourselves:

As we advance in our education and careers, we accumulate or change titles -student, graduate, intern, specialist, executive, manager, CEO. But, what are roles that, even if they are not part of your official title, we can play in an organization, company or community to foster a culture of innovation?

In his book “The Ten Faces of Innovation,” Tom Kelley, general manager of IDEO (*), describes the following roles:     

1. The Anthropologist

Anthropologists are constantly observing the world around them with a fresh eyes, and are capable of "seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one has thought." They are good at seeking inspiration from unusual sources, and reframing problems in new ways.

2. The Experimenter

Experimenters love to prototype and are creative gurus when it comes to using what is available to physically represent their ideas. Every stage of the ideation process can be prototyped so experimenters will usually be the first to suggest a prototype of a marketing or sales plan through acting out a storyboard or creating a short video.

3. The Cross-Pollinator

Cross-Pollinators draw associations between seemingly unrelated ideas, bringing in a stream of new content from other disciplines. Using a breadth of knowledge in many fields with a significant understanding in at least one field, cross-pollinators spark innovative hybrids.

4. The Hurdler

Hurdlers push through obstacles by viewing problems as opportunities. They take their passion for design and tie it with the passion to create things to help people so that when obstacles arise they are seen as opportunities rather than roadblocks. "The essence of a Hurdler is perseverance."

5. The Collaborator

Collaborators value the team over the individual, and act as facilitators that keep a constant flow of excitement and energy through a project team, while also providing the glue to bring together people from diverse backgrounds in order to make the perfect dream teams. With a huge heart, collaborators can always be counted on "to jump in when and where they are needed most."

6. The Director

Directors see the big picture and provide inspiration and empowerment to bring the best out of everyone in the organization. They keep the momentum constantly flowing by leading when it is needed and delegating when the time is right.

7. The Experience Architect

Experience Architects realize that there is no one method for every occasion; they are constantly designing experiences for every unique product or service. They keep their eyes open for "trigger points," which are the aspects of a product's design that need to be emphasized for the best possible experience.

8. The Set Designer

"Set Designers care about the intersection between space and human behavior." They adapt the physical space to balance private and collaborative work opportunities and to promote a culture of creativity. A Set Designer might be the team member prepared with markers and pens to create working spaces on the go.

9. The Caregiver

Caregivers, with big ears and big hearts, are always champions of empathizing with others. They are constantly listening to customers and take into consideration how ideas will affect their general audience.

10. The Storyteller

Storytellers understand that "stories persuade in a way that facts, reports and market trends seldom do, because stories make an emotional connection." Storytellers "capture our imagination with compelling narratives of initiative, hard work, and innovation." They not only transmit the values and goals of the organization or team, but they also make heroes out of real people.

As homework, we were asked to decide with which role we identify the most, and so we want to ask you the same. 

To learn more about Tom Kelley and The Art of Innovation, check out this video:

And what do you know? Tom and David Kelley of IDEO were at none other than the MIT Media Lab. Check out the talk they gave there here.

Day Three of the Sandbox and Next Steps!

High Tech High Sparks Discussion 

Day three of the Summer Sandbox began with participants watching the following video about High Tech High, a network of schools in California that employ passion-based learning; emphasize innovation, design, and engineering; and allow students with myriad academic and learning abilities multiple entry points into learning:

The video sparked a lively debate: about how comfortable Sandbox participants were with PBL; about their desire not to abandon tried-and-true teaching practices they find effective; about the college admission process which stokes anxiety in students and parents alike; and about the need to educate parents about different pedagogical approaches such as PBL, inquiry-based learning and student-driven learning. In fact, the discussion was the first of a few during the day that revealed that while the Sandbox was coming to a close, the conversation it had initiated was just beginning.

Finishing our Protoypes

By 10:30 am, participants were spread around the Ma'ayanot classrooms and lunch room, iterating their PBL prototypes. At this time, Emma Goldman of Innovation: Africa popped by the Sandbox to meet with educators who are interested in partnering with the organization. Innovation: Africa uses sustainable Israeli technologies to improve life in Africa, and working with the non-profit is a great way to build soft advocacy for Israel into a curriculum. We were glad that over the course of the three-day Sandbox, both Innovation: Africa and Areyvut stopped by in order to show how social action learning can be used in a Jewish educational setting.

The Coffeehouse: Big Ideas Brew

Lunchtime at the Sandbox -- the Coffeehouse, as we like to call it -- saw another thoughtful discussion, this time about ways schools can create open, healthy dialogue between administrators and faculty, particularly when school employees might be feeling edgy and scared about budget cuts. The discussion highlighted how thirsty educators are for chances to participate in real ways in discussions about the health of the institutions they work in. 

Final Presentations: The Prototypes!

After lunch, it was back to iteration and then . . . the final presentations!

Meryl Feldblum of Frisch went first, telling us she'd been inspired by her colleague Dan Rosen's suggestion that curriculum be organized in a game-based way around solving world issues. After getting suggestions from math teacher Becky Katz of Ma'ayanot and science teacher Batya Kinsberg of Moriah about how to engage left-brain thinkers, Meryl created a PBL about female empowerment, a world issue she wants her students to know more about. PBL asks teachers to build many types of skills and subjects into a unit, so in addition to honing students' reading and writing abilities, Meryl is having her students develop financial literacy and philanthropy skills, as kids learn how to assess and raise money for different charities and raise money. 

If you want to check out the PBL Planning Forms Meryl is holding in the picture above, here they are!

TABC English teachers Nancy Edelman and Lauren Burstein presented on their awesome semester of PBL and digital literacy and citizenship, which we describe here. Following are links to Nancy and Lauren's project:

Link to articles about 1984

Link to entire PBL unit

Link to reflection piece

Ma'ayanot Tanakh teacher Leah Herzog unveiled what she'd been working on for three days. After taking advantage of the human resources at the Sandbox -- Leah tapped Penina Warburg and Akiva Mattenson for their student viewpoint of PBL and curriculum; Ma'ayanot colleague Pam Ennis for her legal background; and Rabbi Aaron Ross for his PBL knowledge and Sefer Devarim expertise -- she came up with an extensive overview of Devarim, using her essential question of What is (Torah) Law? 

Leah spent her time at the Sandbox developing her complex overview of the Sefer, though she's inserted where she'd like to include PBL units:

Sefer Devarim Overview by Leah Herzog

SAR history teacher Judith Ballan and Solomon Schechter Westchester High School Tanakh Chair and English teacher Dorothy Weiss presented their work next: cashing in on the Paleo craze, they created a PBL unit that has students focus on the shift humans made from living in hunter-gatherer groups in Paleolithic times to being city dwellers in the Neolithic era. Students will see through art and history just what it meant to create monumental buildings and artwork and what the Torah's response to this building frenzy is (hint: think Babel and Sodom). Students will blog and use additional edtech tools to show their mastery of understanding textual inferences and writers' attitudes towards their subject matter. Judith and Dorothy really embraced the "anti-disciplinary" ethos at the heart of the Sandbox and worked hard to adhere to that standard in their unit.

The last presenters were Peter Eckstein and Tzvi Daum. Peter, who leads a congregational school at Temple Beth David in West Palm Beach, FL, and Tzvi, who founded TorahSkills.org and is a Jewish day school educator, came up with an extensive PBL on tzedakah that they put on a Moodle. The unit includes PBL basics such as a four-week calendar of the project; interactive quizzes asking for participants' and their parents' reflections on tzedakah; an art project integrated into the unit; and rubrics letting students know what they'll be graded on. Like Meryl, Peter and Tzvi focused on developing financial and philanthropic skills in their students, though Meryl's project is for sophomores and Peter and Tzvi's for elementary school students. Building future Jewish communal leaders seemed to be on more than one educator's mind at the Sandbox, though doing so seems a natural way for Jewish educators to build authentic purpose into a PBL unit. For authentic purpose in PBL, click here. 

You can access Peter and Tzvi's amazing Moodle using the following link and the guest login:

Peter Eckstein and Tzvi Daum's Tzedakah PBL on Moodle

Next Steps

We all left the Sandbox feeling charged for change, not only because we have projects we can implement in our classrooms and schools but also because we feel excited to share our ideas with others. Our next steps include smoothing out the rough spots of our units -- continuing to iterate -- and reaching out to members of our different communities about the exciting pedagogies that are making their mark on 21st-century learning. 

Stay tuned for more information about what the Sandbox participants will be up to next! 

Favorite Sandbox Ideas

* We echoed edjewcon Andrea Hernandez at the Sandbox, telling participants to "start the journey where they are." Those words calmed us when Andrea began edjewcon with them, letting us know that wherever we are on the journey to changing and improving our educational practices is the right place to be.

* The idea we kept returning to again and again at the Sandbox was student engagement. That's the driving reason behind our desire to constantly re-think teaching practices. We want students engaged with the curriculum; not only because they'll remember content better if they're really connected with it, but also because we want to keep deepening their spiritual, intellectual, and emotional development in as effective manner as possible.

* We got out of our comfort zones at the Sandbox. We were sometimes ("deeply") uncomfortable -- and we survived and thrived and grew. We want the same for our students.

* We saw that collaboration among educators, parents, students, community outreach organizers, and members of institutions and organizations led to truly unique and inspiring educational ideas. We look forward to creating additional opportunities for democratic creation and serendipity by design!

Thank you to all who participated in the Sandbox! Each of your voices added something truly special to the experience.