Summerhomework Summer 201 7
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
SUMMER 2017 HaYidion SUMMER HOMEWORK HaYidion HaYidion is a publication of Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools. It is published quarterly for distribution to Prizmah member schools and other Jewish and general education organizations. No articles may be reproduced or distributed without express written permission of Prizmah. All rights reserved. Editor At Large: Dr. Barbara Davis Editor: Elliott Rabin, PhD Editorial Board Alisha Abboudi, Rabbi Micah Lapidus, Politz Day School, Cherry Hill, NJ Davis Academy, Atlanta, GA Tamar Appel, Helena Levine, Maayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, Teaneck, NJ Donna Klein Jewish Day School, Boca Raton, FL Rabbi Avi Bossewitch, Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Sheva Locke, Hebrew Academy, Miami Beach, FL Valley Beth Shalom Day School, Encino, CA Renee Cohen, Rabbi Mitchel Malkus EdD, TanenbaumCHAT, Toronto, ON Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Rockville, MD Betsy Forester, Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Amy Meltzer, Chicago, IL Lander-Grinspoon Academy, Northampton, MA Steve Freedman, Hillel Day School, Farmington Hills, MI Sharon Pollin, Jewish Community Day School of Rabbi Avery Joel, Greater New Orleans, Metairie, LA Fuchs Mizrachi School, Beachwood, OH Yocheved Sidof, Richard Kellner, Lamplighters Yeshiva, Brooklyn, NY Shalhevet High School, Los Angeles, CA Liat Walker, Jill Kessler, Martin J. Gottlieb Jewish Day School, Pardes Jewish Day School, Phoenix, AZ Jacksonville, FL Prizmah Board of Directors Kathy E. Manning (Chair), Ann Baidack Pava, Candy A. Berman, Michael Bohnen, Paula Gottesman, Jodi Hessel, Bradford R. Klatt, Jocelyn B. Krifcher, Nathan J. Lindenbaum, Yehuda Neuberger, Gail Norry, Lisa Popik Coll, Yossi Prager, Lynn Sachse Schrayer, Joel Segal, Deborah Shapira, Joseph Steiner, Dara Yanowitz. Leadership Team Paul Bernstein, CEO; Jane Taubenfeld Cohen, VP, School Services; Annette Davies, VP, Finance and Operations; Dr. Idana Goldberg, VP, Field Advancement and Advocacy; Dr. Jon Mitzmacher, VP, Innovation Advertising Information Please contact Elliott Rabin at [email protected] or by phone at 646-975-2807. Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools 254 West 54th St., 11th floor, New York, NY 10019 • 646-975-2800 • [email protected] • www.prizmah.org The views expressed in this journal do not necessarily reflect the positions of Prizmah. In the Issue ELLIOTT RABIN Editor SUMMER HOMEWORK Hello Muddah, hello Faddah Here I am at Camp Granada Camp is very entertaining And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining. One of the joys of parenthood lies in introducing children to the things children to day school in the hope that the school will help shape them into that we loved when we were young. Alan Sherman’s “Hello Muddah, Hello people who are ethically alert, intellectually curious, disposed toward active Faddah” is a classic that my children have listened to over and over on participation in Jewish life and community. Assignments are a way for the YouTube. The song humorously captures the voice of a child who is attending school to ensure a continuity between the ethical and intellectual life at Jewish sleepaway camp for the first time. (The camper’s Jewishness is school and the students’ lives beyond campus. not mentioned but is patently obvious.) Suffering from homesickness, the How can summer assignments accomplish that lofty goal without camper writes a letter to his parents while waiting in his bunk for the rain squelching students’ needs for fun and exploration? In the first section, to stop. After only one day, he’s begging to go home, recounting a litany of teachers and administrators wrestle with this challenge, and offer solutions exaggerated woes designed to convince them: poison ivy, ptomaine poi- from various perspectives. Ablin advises against heeding the bogy of the soning, alligators in the lake, malaria… Crucially (spoiler alert!), after many dreaded “summer slide,” often the uninspiring rationale for summer home- hilarious episodes, the last stanza reveals a radical change: the weather work. Wise turns to Daniel Pink to tap into student motivation for summer clears and he discovers that he actually enjoys camp. Swimming, sailing, and reading. Landa proposes a host of projects that would combine ethical baseball—“gee that’s bettah, / Muddah, Faddah kindly disregard this letter.” with intellectual goals. Lubner urges authenticity, imagining ways for stu- If we look a little deeper, the song reveals some of the benefits that summer dents themselves to craft their summer study. Grebenau asks how we can and summer camp bring to the lives of our students and children. They find meaningful ways to assess student summer work, and Krieger argues learn to adapt to new environments, away from the familiarity of home and that summer assignments should be crafted with the same eye toward their literal and metaphorical comfort zones (bunk beds! bug juice!). They student differentiation that teachers direct toward classroom assignments. meet new people, learn to make friends quickly and work as a team (chores! In our spread of pieces from schools, students describe summer experi- color war!). They spend time outdoors, on walks and hikes, swimming in ences, from overseas trips to Shabbat dinners, that exerted an impact on the lake and enjoying a wholesome environment (snakes! camping!). They their Jewish identity. The next section looks at summer work for school learn to confront their resistance to new challenges, overcome fears and professionals. Andron, Markel and Solomon describe the benefits of gain resilience and confidence. Sherman captures the anxiety and the joy, administrators learning together as a team in their professional develop- boredom and exaltation that children experience at camp. Indeed, the kinds ment. Prizmah colleagues Eisen, Heller and Loewenstein suggest using of learning that students experience over the summer are as valuable as, the summer to strengthen teacher professional development, throughout but very different from, school learning. the year. Dohn proposes summer reading circles to strengthen faculty The articles in this issue begin with a recognition of the difference and legiti- learning and cohesion. Fridman and Weinstock envision the summer as macy of summer experiences, their necessity for the personal, social and an invaluable time to gear up for development work during the school year. And for parents preparing their children for college visits and applica- spiritual development of children. Authors accept the notion that children tions, Geller offers a bounty of ideas that college counselors can present. need time away from school, not merely as “downtime” but as an oppor- tunity to have experiences that will be meaningful and important to them Two concluding articles bring us back to the connection between camp for their entire lives. They need to swim, climb trees, play hours of soccer, and campus. Grinberg explores the underlying philosophical question spend time with friends and make new ones, to improvise, cope with disap- of how these two pillars of Jewish education relate: opposites, comple- pointment and exercise some control over their lives. All of the authors ments, or wholly other? O’Brien presents a vision in which educators acknowledge that there is value in not assigning summer homework. who work in day schools and camps learn from each other and strengthen each other’s practice. And yet, at the same time, day schools do not conceive of themselves as artificial boxes that students enter in September and step out of in June. May this summer be a time of refreshment and renewal, of housecleaning They are rather microcosms, model worlds that students are meant to take and new learning, of personal discovery and inspired teamwork, for your stu- with them throughout the year and throughout their lives. Parents send dents, faculty, administrators and lay leaders and everyone at your school. Students Forget the “Summer Slide” Jason ABLIN 10 Summer Reading Joshua WISE 13 Building Scholarly Habits Through Summer Experiences ALISON Landa 16 Authentic Summer Homework: Asking the Right Questions CRAIG LUBNER 18 Assignments that Count Maury Grebenau 22 Summer Assignments: One Size Does Not Fit All YAEL Krieger 33 JEWISH SUMMER EXperiences Confronting Our Past, Singing for Our Future Batya BOSIN Making Connections Across the World JONAH HEINRICH My Note at the Kotel NICOLE DINER Experiencing Learning Zack FOX A Perfect Summer Shabbat LAEL Sanders Reading Torah at Camp and at Home ELIANA Mitzmacher 30-35 SCHOOL Professionals From the CEO | Paul Bernstein From Inspiration to Implementation: The Growth of A Year Team Professional Development 7 MICHELLE Andron From the Board | Paul Bernstein, moderator; Esther MARKEL LEVI Solomon Michael Bohnen, Jodi Hessel, Nathan J. Lindenbaum, 38 Joseph Steiner and Dara Yanowitz Now that School Is Over, Let’s Start Learning! Melanie EISEN SHIRA HELLER SHIRA Loewenstein 40 Watching the Flower Blossom Books Build School Ties for 8 Parents and Teachers Hadar DOHN 44 The Advice Booth | Ilisa Cappell Cultivating Volunteers: Development Professionals: The ABCS Maximize Your Summer 21 Nanette FRIDMAN JENNIFER Weinstock 46 Innovation Alley | Jon Mitzmacher Nature’s “Makerspace” Thinking about College 24 Through a Jewish Lens Meet the Board SHERRI GELLER 50 Gail Norry 36 CAMP AND CAMPUS Commentary What Is Summer For?: Is There Value in Homework? Reflections on the Relationship 28 between Day School and Camp Wendy Grinberg Meet Prizmah’s 55 Financial Vitality Team Hands-on, Hearts-on 49 Jewish Learning: The Gift of Spotlight On... Camp for Jewish Day Schools Head Searches Kate O’BRIEN 59 54 Reshet Roundup 58 On My Nightstand 62 MEET THE Authors Jason Ablin is the principal at Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy in Beverly Hills. [email protected] Rabbi Dr. Joshua Wise is assistant principal in Melanie Eisen is the associate director for professional the upper division at the Magen David Yeshiva development, Shira Heller is the director of student and teacher Elementary School in Brooklyn. learning, and Shira Loewenstein is the program director for [email protected] teacher and leadership development, all at Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools.