Author: Jon Mitzmacher

Dr. Jon Mitzmacher is the Head of the Ottawa Jewish Community School. Jon is studying to be a rabbi at the Academy for Jewish Religion and is on the faculty of the Day School Leadership Training Institute (DSLTI) as a mentor. He was most recently the VP of Innovation for Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools. He is the former Executive Director of the Schechter Day School Network. He is also the former head of the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, a K-8 Solomon Schechter, located in Jacksonville, FL, and part of the Jacksonville Jewish Center. He was the founding head of the Solomon Schechter Day School of Las Vegas. Jon has worked in all aspects of Jewish Education from camping to congregations and everything in between.

Habits of Kindness: “Think Win-Win”

This time we will let our 8th Grade introduce this month’s habit:

Like others of the 7 Habits, I am struck by the paradox of simplicity the habits create. “Think win-win” seems so simple, right? Yes, there are developmental examples where that not might be the case (thinking of my 5 and 8 year-old daughters) and, yes, there are issues that perhaps are not so easily resolved with two winners (someone has to win the basketball game). But as a philosophy? Sure – of course things are best if we viewed challenges as opportunities for everyone to win, not with an inevitable outcome of a winner and a loser. We might not always achieve a full “win-win”, but striving towards it will always yield a kinder result than “winner-takes-all”.

So instead of using this blog to highlight a personal or professional “win-win” of my own, I want to make a brief comment on the power of transferability utilizing the Habits of Kindness between home and school…

Our leadership team is presently reading The Leader in Me, which is the book that helps schools begin the journey of bringing the 7 Habits into the school. And as we have been reading, we are realizing the broader impacts, particularly the opportunity to strengthen the relationship between school and home. From Chapter 3,

“…observe that the same principles and approach being taught at these schools can also be taught at home. One of the great things about the leadership approach is what it is doing to enhance the parent-school partnership. For starters, it is bringing more parents into the schools to volunteer and support school and classroom activities. But even more important is what is occurring as students apply the principles to their daily tasks and behaviors at home. In other words, it is not just teachers who are reporting better behaviors and reduced discipline issues. Parents are reporting the same kinds of positive results. This is particularly true in families where parents have come to know the principles for themselves and have made conscious efforts to reinforce and teach them…If you are a parent, I promise that if you open your mind to it, you will have endless ideas of how you can apply what these educators are doing to your home.”

Excerpt From: Stephen R. Covey. “The Leader in Me.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/NPFVw.l

Now that we are a few months in, I do actually see – as a parent – my children beginning to use the language. Eliana will say that she is “being proactive” or that she is “putting first things first” which has definitely allowed her to be better organized. Because we are currently working on “think win-win”, I am hopeful it will have a spillover to our family because I think this attitude could only help siblings navigate the everyday challenges of sharing time, people and stuff in a busy 21st century family.

I have shown examples from our school of how we are putting the Habits of Kindness into effect…

…if you are a parent at MJGDS or Galinsky Academy and you are seeing the impact at home, please offer a quality comment!

…if you are a parent or educator at another school who utilize the 7 Habits, please share your experiences with us so we can continue to improve our implementation here!

We’ll keep sharing our successes and struggles…and if you keep offering advice and feedback…well we just might achieve a “win-win” of our own!

The Transparency Files: Teacher-Led Evaluation

We are into the second year utilizing our school’s new learning target. I blogged last year, as part of “The Transparency Files,” about why and how we created the target and how it would guide important decisions about how the school runs, what programs the school invests in, and about anything and everything central to questions of teaching and learning. And so far it has. Our decision to move to a 1:1 BYOiPad pilot for Grades 4 & 5, helps move us closer to the target. Creating a “Community of Kindness” position and utilizing the 7 Habits to develop the program, helps move us closer to the target. Our work in Middle School, developing a new app that will become commercially available in time for Purim, helps move us closer to the target. Our decision to expand the use of “Student-Led Conferences” to Grades 4-8, helps moves up closer to the target. Our move to Singapore Math, expansion of the Daily 5, use of blogfolios, our current conversation about homework, increasing the amount of immersion in our teaching of Hebrew – all of these decisions are framed by whether or not it will bring us closer to the target. That’s the power of having a clear and shared vision for what teaching and learning ought to look like in our school.

So it should have been so surprise that when it came time to re-imagine what teacher evaluation ought to look like…we looked to the target to guide us.

We realized last year that with the success of student-led conferences, that we are actually treating our students with greater ownership of their evaluation process that we were our teachers! If our students are supposed to own their learning, then our teachers ought to own their professional growth. And if our students can collect artifacts of their growth, organize them on their blogfolios, reflect on their growth and present to their teachers and parents…

And so we charged our faculty to form a “Teacher Evaluation Committee” to re-imagine the evaluation process for teachers and what they came up with is our new “Teacher-Led Evaluation”. It reflects what we believe is the most authentic way for teachers (and teaching assistants) to document, reflect and share their professional growth while still allowing for the accountability necessary to ensure expectations are met. In the spirit of transparency, I would like to share the process and briefly reflect on how it working out so far…

This is what teachers received a couple of months back:

Dear Faculty:

For the fall evaluation, please schedule an appointment with Jon before Winter break. You will need the following:

A completed self-evaluation packet (checklist plus narrative)

Be prepared to discuss your self-evaluation with Jon

Not required at this time: A presentation, artifacts, a video-recorded lesson or peer observation

For the spring evaluation, please schedule an appointment with Jon in April. You will need the following:

A completed self-evaluation checklist (narrative not required)

A presentation aligned with the Learning Target documenting your professional growth during this school year in a format of your choice, including the following:

Artifacts to show evidence of growth

A reflection of your video-recorded lesson

A reflection of your peer observation

Goals: Where do I go from here?

Be prepared to discuss your self-evaluation with Jon

Teacher Evaluation Committee

The self-evaluation comes straight from the target:

And the narrative prompt:

Please reflect in writing on your growth as a teacher at this point in time. Your reflection should be directly related to the Learning Target. Make sure to address your professional development goals and offer an evaluation of your progress to date. Also consider the following questions: What are my successes? Is there room for improvement? Do I have artifacts as evidence of my learning? What tools or resources do I need to continue my professional growth on the Learning Target continuum?

I have made my way through about a half to two-thirds of the faculty and I am enjoying it immensely. The conversations have been more focused on growth and less focused on what I (or others) feel is lacking. The conversations are led by teachers who are experts in who they are and not guided by me who, in the past, would have to play detective in order to have what to present. The artifacts are fabulous, the discussions are rich and – most importantly – what teachers are working on is astounding.

The accountability is still there – teachers are required to demonstrate growth in areas mutually agreed upon by them and me – but the shift in emphasis has brought a shift in attitude that brought a level of professional development we have never seen before.

All in all, this first go around has been a true success. I can’t wait to see the fuller presentations in the spring and see how much more growth there is to come!

Go to the Principal’s Office! You’ve Been “Caught Being Kind”!

Yesterday was a milestone “Community of Kindness” day at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School. I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with two parents of students who had been sent to the principal’s office because they had been caught in the act of being kind.

We had our monthly faculty meeting earlier in the week and I reminded teachers that although I have often requested students be sent to me for committing acts of good behavior, no one had taken me up on it! Perhaps I had not explained myself well enough; perhaps people thought I hadn’t really meant it; or perhaps we had not yet evolved past the reactive putting out of behavioral fires to the proactive inspiration of behavioral lovingkindness. For whatever reason, something must have struck a cord because yesterday two different teachers referred students to my office who had been “caught being kind”.

The first referral came early in the day. A lower school boy had performed above and beyond during Art and so a note came down to my office letting me know. The teacher had to scribble over our typical referral note which only has a way for teachers to indicate misbehavior. Noticing that was a useful wakeup call. If we are going to take it seriously, then we have to institutionalize it. If we use referral notes for misbehavior…maybe we need referral notes for kind behavior.

How often to principals or heads of school get to call parents with good news?

I can assure you based on the parent’s reaction that the correct answer is, “Not often enough!”

If each time the school calls it is to inform the parent that their child has misbehaved (or is sick or forgot their lunch), one imagines that when the phone rings and the school’s phone number comes up in the “caller ID”, the parent is not exactly excited to pick up. But if just every now and again we are calling to let them know how proud we are of their child?

The second referral came near the end of the day from a Middle School Math Teacher. I received a note that a student in her class had acted with “extreme kindness” towards another student in the class. I managed to catch the student in carpool to shake his hand and let him know how proud I was of him before he headed home.

If every time you were sent to the “principal’s office” it was because you were in trouble, you probably wouldn’t want to be hanging out in that part of the building. And if a principal only spent his or her time with students referred for misbehavior, there would be a significant gap in relationships. That handshake in the parking lot meant as much to me as it did to the student I can assure you…

From our Fifth Grade:

“Caught Being Kind”

In 5th grade, we have two student “kindness ambassadors.” This is a job students for which students apply and receive a salary. The jobs switch approximately once a month.

Currently, our Kindness Ambassadors are Jagger and Jeremy, and they are doing a great job noticing kindness, as well as alerting teachers to issues so they can be nipped in the bud.

Here are two “caught being kind” photos taken and shared with me by the Kindness Ambassadors.

raising hand before speaking

Helping

As part of developing a spirit of leadership in our school as part of incorporating the 7 Habits, how wonderful would it be if each of our students – and our parent and teachers – held the additional title of “Kindness Ambassador”!

So I look forward to more students being sent to my office for the right reasons, to ensuring we focus on positively rewarding kind behavior as much, if not more, than applying consequences to unkind behavior, and that when the phone rings in the home of an MJGDS parent and the school comes up in the “caller ID” that the emotion it triggers is excitement and not dread. Pick up the phone when we call…your child may have been caught in the act of being kind!

Habits of Kindness: “Put First Things First”

It is a new month at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School and that means…a new Habit!

Habits of Kindness has become our shorthand for how we are utilizing the “7 Habits” to approach our “Community of Kindness” initiative. As part of the first Habit, “Be Proactive”, I blogged about my commitment to blog each month about that month’s Habit and we spent August & September on the first Habit. October had us spending time on the second Habit, “Beginning With End in Mind”, and like many of our teachers and students, I created my own personal mission statement. (For ongoing information about our “Community of Kindness” program, please visit its blog…or even better, subscribe to it!)

November and December has us exploring the third Habit, “Put First Things First”.

There are 525,600 minutes in one year. However, when you consider that approximately 175,200 minutes of that time will be spent sleeping, 16,425 minutes spent eating, and if you’re a student, 72,000 minutes spent in school, you have less than half that total to spend on the rest of your life. Therefore, it is essential to do the important things first—if you leave them until last, you might run out of time.

You know how something is so obvious that you dismiss it?

That’s how I feel about this habit.

You have likely heard that song and/or seen that video numerous times in the past and you know that the moral of the story is to remember that your big rocks are your family and friends and to not get bogged down in the sands of workaholism.

So why did I get to work yesterday at 7:00 AM and come home at 9:15 PM?

Why do so many of us struggle with finding balance when we know where our true priorities lie?

I don’t have an answer…but I do have an opportunity! It just so happens that the theme of this year’s Day School Leadership Training Institute (DSLTI) Alumni Retreat – which is this Sunday-Tuesday – is on issues of health and wellness. I welcome the opportunity to share and reflect with colleagues about how we try to keep ourselves spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically prepared to passionately pursue our profession while remaining loving and present spouses, partners, parents, children and friends.

I look forward to updating this post next week.

And in the meanwhile, feel free to share your secrets via a quality comment on this blog!

UPDATED 12/13/13

I wish I could say I came back with a secret success to wellness. But I did come back with a commitment to take my wellness more seriously and that the only way to do that is to schedule wellness into my day. Exercise, sleep, eating well…we all know these are among the keys to wellness. Making them a priority is the trick. Here’s hoping when I re-read this blog post in a few months that I have put my time where my words are!

There is a November Dilemma: Thankful for the “Schechter Difference”

Funny Thanksgiving Hanukkah 2013 Greeting Cards from Zazzle.com

It has been too long since I have written about the “Schechter Difference”.

The Martin J. Gottlieb Day School is a proud member of the Schechter Day School Network. And because we write about what that means in our handbook, and even have a picture of Solomon Schechter on our walls, I assume that many, if not, most of our parents are aware that as a Schechter school, we adhere to the norms and practices of the Conservative Movement when it comes to how Judaism is lived in our school. I am less confident, however, that some, if any, of our parents could speak more affirmatively about what the impact of being a Schechter school has on the overall educational philosophy of our school and educational impact on our students. I am less confident, for example, that they realize that much of what our school does and stands for: 21st century learning, Hebrew language immersion, Community of Kindness, Zionism, etc., etc., come as a direct result of what I like to think of as the “Schechter Difference”.

And the once-in-a-lifetime confluence of Thanksgiving and Chanukah, presents an opportunity to see the Schechter Difference in action. Not so much on Thursday…but on “Black Friday”. Because the ease with which we conflate “Thanksgiving” and “Chanukah” into “Thanksgivakkah” provides an opportunity to refine our understanding of what it means to have an “integrated curriculum” and makes it fair to ask if the dissonance between our shared cultural heritages does, indeed, produce a November Dilemma.

What does it mean to have an “integrated curriculum” and what does the “Schechter Difference” have to say about it?

Let’s define our terms.

I have always felt it useful to think of this in terms of a dialectic between the two poles of the most common attitude taken towards curricular integration and that is to be “rejectionist”. A “rejectionist” attitude simply rejects one part of the curriculum when conflict arises. If there is a conflict between, for example, what “Science” and “Torah” say, it is clear that one is authoritative and that resolves the conflict. Whether it is the General Studies or the Jewish Studies that is viewed as authoritative depends, of course, on the school.

Other prevailing attitudes towards integration include “Judaizing” – the felt need to apply a Jewish view to every general studies topic otherwise risk students will view general studies as the more relevant – and a new attitude, not prevalent during the beginnings of the day school movement, which one could call “assimilationist”—where Jewish studies as defined in the school’s mission clearly takes a backseat to the general and any clash between values is left unmentioned and unexplored.

Thanksgiving provides us with a much better “dilemma” to see the “Schechter Difference” in action than Christmas does because regardless of which attitude a Jewish day school takes, it almost surely isn’t going to integrate the ideas and values of Christmas into its curriculum. Thanksgiving, however, especially if you take a hard look at the phenomenon of “Black Friday” and American consumerism, allows us to see how complicated integration can be. Consumerism with its focus on individual material attainment is not consonant with Jewish values. So what is a Jewish day school to do with that aspect of Chanukah in today’s America?

Being “Jewish” and being “American” is not the same thing. However proud we legitimately ought to be of both our identities, we are not being intellectually honest if we claim they are identical and never in conflict. Please keep in mind that the choice not to choose between is itself a choice. Celebrating the consumerist aspects of Chanukah without acknowledging their conflict with Jewish values is to claim that such a conflict does not exist.

The “Schechter Difference” is that we are neither rejectionist nor assimilationist. Nor do we feel so threatened by general society that we have to make everything Jewish. We strive to be interactionist—our philosophy which can be seen in everything from our mitzvah trips to our blogfolios—seeks to allow the Jewish and the general to interact naturally as it does in the real world. We believe guiding our students through authentic interactions is what will produce serious, committed, affiliated, literate and involved Jews capable of succeeding in a modern world.

So, please, celebrate the historical and secular significance of Thanksgiving with food, football, and gratitude. And please, celebrate the historical and religious significance of Chanukah with joy, festivity, and yes, presents. But this and every year, let’s not forget our Jewish values of tzedakah (charity) and kehillah (community). Along with your normal gift-giving, consider donating a night or two of your family’s celebration to those less fortunate. Our Middle School focuses on “Turkey Tuesday” – where we go out into the community and deliver turkeys to families in need – not “Black Friday”. By doing so we send a powerful message that there are times when our Jewish values command us to set aside the values of secular culture and that not only is that okay, but sometimes it is both necessary and appropriate.

That’s the Schechter Difference.

Happy Turkey Day & Chanukah from my family to yours!

The Transparency Files: Homework Wars

This is the 150th (!) blog post of “A Floor, But No Ceiling” and amazingly, to me, in a search of all my blog posts, I cannot find one that deals with “homework”. I guess denial is not just a river in Egypt…it is a river in Jacksonville, Florida!

Disclaimer: In addition to being the head of school, I am married to a public school teacher and am a parent of a 3rd Grader and an Kindergartner. “Homework Wars” do not describe my parental situation with homework. Whether that is a function of my children, their particular teachers, our particular family dynamic, or blind luck, I couldn’t say, but “homework” is not a daily or any other kind of struggle in my household. (Knock on keyboard.)

Why the disclaimer?

I guess because I want to be sensitive to any unconscious biases I may bring to the table in this conversation. We have excellent teachers who do not have children of their own. But I think it would be dishonest to suggest that lacking a parent’s perspective never has consequences for teachers who have not lived at home the impact of schooling. There are some things you can only learn through experience and if not through experience, through the willingness to learn from other’s experiences.

So I admit that as a parent, I am presently satisfied with the amount and the quality of homework being brought home by my children. That does not make it objectively true. As a head of school of a K-8, however, I am well familiar with concerns and complaints about both the amount and the quality of homework. And the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School is in an excellent position to tackle the subject…

Important Segue:

I have used this blog to document our school’s 21st century learning journey and all the associated initiatives we have taken on to get from there to here to the future. For anyone who has not been along for the ride, in celebration of my 150th blog post, here is my starter’s collection to be fully caught up with who we are and where we think we are going:

The MJGDS 21st Century Learning Journey in 13 Blog Posts

Transparency
Standardized Testing
edJEWcon
Inclusion
Financial Sustainability
Gaming Theory
Habits of Kindness
Reflective Practice
EdCamp
Learning Target
Second Language Acquisition
Experiential Education
Blogfolios

…here in year four of our work together.

It is reasonable to conclude that there are various philosophies about what the purpose of homework ought to be and that there is ample research to be found supporting just about them all. For our school, however, the conversation comes with a context. Considering who we are and what we believe to be true about teaching and learning, what ought to be the role of homework here?

Like all preceding vital conversations, this one has begun with our 21st Century Learning Team and will continue on with our teachers, parents and students before being concretized in final form.

What is our current policy?

We have a simple 10 minutes per grade level (outside of reading) formula for estimating the appropriate time it should take a typical student to complete his or her homework.

Part of the impetus for taking this on is that not only does that policy seem not to hold true often enough, it fails to address the why’s and what’s of homework. It only speaks to, “how much?” We can do better.

The purpose of the MJGDS Homework Policy, once re-imagined, will be to provide guidelines for teachers, provide for consistency through the grades, and to educate parents who have questions about homework. A school policy regarding homework, along with clear expectations for teachers as to what constitutes good homework, can help to strengthen the benefits of homework for student learning.

This policy will need to address the purposes of homework, amount and frequency, and the responsibilities of teachers, students, parents, and administrators.

The MJGDS Homework Policy will be based on research regarding the correlation between homework and student achievement as well as best practices for homework.

Without having had all the conversations we will be having, I do think based on the conversations we have had, that there are philosophical conclusions consistent with who we are that we can put up front that will inform the policy once complete.

The philosophy at the Martin J Gottlieb Day School regarding K-8 homework is that homework should only be assigned that is meaningful, purposeful, and appropriate. Homework will serve to deepen student learning and enhance understanding. Homework should be consistent with the school’s “Learning Target” and strive to incorporate creativity, critical thinking, authenticity, and student ownership.

We understand today’s busy schedules and demands on parent and student time. Most learning is done in school, but as is the case with our learning of a foreign language and learning to read, reasonable and age-appropriate practice and repetition is exceptionally beneficial in other certain subject areas.

There are also some commonsense practices we believe will help to increase the benefits of homework while minimizing potential problems. Homework is more effective when:

…..the purpose of the homework assignment is clear. Students should leave the classroom with a clear understanding of what they are being asked to do and how to do it.

…..it does not discourage and frustrate students. Students should be familiar with the concepts and material.

…..it is on a consistent schedule. It can help busy students and parents remember to do assignments when they are consistent.

…..it is explicitly related to the classwork.

…..it is engaging and creative.

…..part of the homework is done in class.

…..it is authentic.

…..feedback is given. Follow-up is necessary to address any comprehension issues that may arise.

…..it is differentiated.

…..it reviews past concepts to help retention over the course of the year.

This is not to suggest that we are not presently trying to live up to the above in our current practice. But it is to suggest that our written policy fails to provide teachers, parents or students with sufficient guidance to insure that all students in all grades are doing appropriate homework – appropriate quality, appropriate content and appropriate length.

As with every other initiative or project we undertake at MJGDS, our conversation and conclusions about homework will be done collaboratively and transparently. We look forward to our local conversations, to doing the work, and to sharing it out when done.

Martin J. Gottlieb Day School Middle School Retreat 2013 Part II – the iMovie

Martin J. Gottlieb Day School Middle School Retreat 2013 Part I – The Storify

Storify by
Jon Mitzmacher

Fri, Nov 08 2013 09:52:36

Martin J. Gottlieb Day School Middle School Retreat 2013 Part I – The Storify

Each year, we take our Middle School for a fall retreat at Camp Ramah Darom. We spend four days playing, praying, learning, adventuring and building community. This year our theme was "derekh eretz" and how to strengthen our Community of Kindness.

Nothing like a 9 hour bus ride to bring us together! #MiddleSchoolRetreat t.co/T7qleBtR5M

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Mon, Nov 04 2013 04:58:36

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It all begins with with a bus ride from Jacksonville, Florida to Clayton, Georgia!
Getting ready for roadside davening! #middleschoolretreat t.co/LkNHLFIqLw

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Mon, Nov 04 2013 07:40:58

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Sat, Nov 02 2013 17:00:00
(The days and times for the Flckr images are not accurately labeled. They are slotted appropriately.)
We leave so early that we always stop on the side of the road for some “roadside davening”!
Lunch @FuegoMundo #MiddleSchoolRetreat #SorryRabbiO t.co/geQlmrBTJK

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Mon, Nov 04 2013 10:56:38

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A meal in a kosher restaurant is always a treat!
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Sat, Nov 02 2013 17:00:00
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Sat, Nov 02 2013 17:00:00
This is @MSmjgds @CNN #MiddleSchoolRetreat t.co/szhHIKlPnS

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Mon, Nov 04 2013 12:22:57

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We take advantage of driving through Atlanta each year to take educational field trip. This year? CNN!
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Sat, Nov 02 2013 17:00:00
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Sat, Nov 02 2013 17:00:00
#IceCreamCampfire @MSMjgds #middleschoolretreat t.co/Gw8TuC39z8

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Mon, Nov 04 2013 16:31:17

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The final stop before Camp…Walmart! Here are a few girls enjoying a creative “ice cream campfire”!
Educational activity begins! #HokeyPokey @msmjgds #MiddleSchoolRetreat t.co/NyUsE8azyz

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Tue, Nov 05 2013 06:36:56

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Our theme was “derekh eretz” and we had three educational activities to explore it. The first one divided our students into “Hokies” and “Pokies” – two cultures with many differences that had to learn to get along.
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Sun, Nov 03 2013 16:00:00
The Hokies and Pokies are crossing the river @msmjgds #MiddleSchoolRetreat #CommunityOfKindness t.co/ksHdIE2k8c

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Tue, Nov 05 2013 07:27:27

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Sun, Nov 03 2013 16:00:00
Hokies and Pokies had to work together to cross the raging river!
View from our #NatureHike @MSmjgds.org #MiddleSchoolRetreat t.co/7na3UHIW2L

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Tue, Nov 05 2013 10:29:04

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Later that day we hiked to Telulah Falls…there it is!
Just another beautiful lunch on the @MSmjgds #MiddleSchoolRetreat t.co/zYJQSrqk9c

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Tue, Nov 05 2013 09:42:22

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Sun, Nov 03 2013 16:00:00
Martin J Gottlieb DaySchool is on our way to zip-line…we are doing our best to balance visual updates with edited video and pictures…be assured that all is well! #MiddleSchoolRetreat

Tue, Nov 05 2013 16:03:27
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Sun, Nov 03 2013 16:00:00
Our educational programming has begun! @MSmjgds #MiddleSchoolRetreat #PlanetKreplach t.co/Ubrf5xyGzK

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Wed, Nov 06 2013 06:53:51

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Our second educational activity required Planet Kreplach, Planet Gefilte Fish and Planet Matzoball to identify which Jewish values they needed to barter from each other to resolve serious issues facing the Council of (Jewish) Planets!
#PlanetGefilteFish @MSmjgds #MiddleSchoolRetreat t.co/hn27e7tBON

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Wed, Nov 06 2013 06:55:38

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#PlanetMatzoball @MSmjgds #MiddleSchoolRetreat t.co/XHAQsqmjWc

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Wed, Nov 06 2013 06:58:01

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Mon, Nov 04 2013 16:00:00
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Mon, Nov 04 2013 16:00:00
And so it begins! @MSmjgds #middleschoolretreat @ Scaly Mountain Snow Tubing t.co/ZoBcYnWJUm

Jon Mitzmacher @Jon_Mitzmacher

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Wed, Nov 06 2013 11:05:01

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Our second major outing was tubing! The best part was watching how many pairs of students who never really interacted prior to the retreat, sharing rides and enjoying the beautiful day.
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Mon, Nov 04 2013 16:00:00
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Sun, Nov 03 2013 16:00:00
Our third educational activity was trust walks and conversation about how one builds trust and loyalty into our community of kindness.
After a night of #Schnupencup dreams and a morning friendship circle, the Martin J Gottlieb DaySchool #MiddleSchoolRetreat is on the bus and headed home to Jacksonville!

Thu, Nov 07 2013 08:54:35
A final campfire, a night of final finding, and a final friendship circle took us onto the bus and back to school…and now the real test will begin. Will the magic stay at camp? Or will it come with us to school and help deepen our community of kindness – not just within the Middle School, but throughout the entire school? We hope so! But only time well tell.

Watch this space!

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My First Twitter Cloud

Every now and again, I find it refreshing to focus my blog post around a visual image – sometimes it is a picture that explains better than any words I could choose about a powerful experience taking place in our school. But it sometimes is a word cloud. A “word cloud” takes any piece of written text and represents it graphically in a way which highlights frequently-used words. It is a fantastic device for visually summarizing the essence of a written text. Many of the programs that create word clouds allow you to enter a website, a blog, etc., and it will go ahead and create a word cloud visually summarizing which content mattered most over a bounded period of time.

I have used Wordle to create word clouds of this blog and analyzed the results.

I have used Tagxedo to create a word cloud of our Parent Handbook and analyzed the results.

Today, I want to use Tweet Cloud to create a word cloud of my Twitter feed.

Why?

Because I use Twitter exclusively for professional development and I am interested and seeing what it reveals about what I have been interested in since the beginning of this school year.

So…what does my Tweet Cloud (“t” is for “Twitter”) look like?

What do I notice?

“Habits” and “Kindness” are big ticket items. This reflects not just what we are doing internally about this, but what I have been reading professionally and asking my professional learning network about – the two primary things I use Twitter for.

What do you notice? Anything surprising you see? Anything surprising that you don’t see?

Next week, I am off to Camp Ramah Darom for our annual Middle School Retreat. The last few years I have been able to stay awake long enough on the Friday to edit my video and publish. I hope to do the same next week!

Habits of Kindness: “Beginning With the End in Mind”

Last month I blogged about how our school had decided to attack “Community of Kindness” through the “7 Habits” – which is how I have come to the appellation “Habits of Kindness” as a shorthand for ongoing kindness activities. August & September were spent on the first Habit: “Be Proactive” and I committed to blogging each month about that month’s habit.

October has us spending time on the second Habit: Beginning With End in Mind. Students, teachers, and classes have all been charged with creating individual and class “mission statements”. I invite you to tour the MJGDS Blogosphere for examples. [For one excellent example, check out Kitah Dalet’s latest blog post.]

So…what is my “mission statement” as a head of school? I realize that “mission statements” are supposed to be brief. Any reader of my blog knows that I don’t do “brief” all that well. So let me be a bit more creative and supply a mission/vision statement…here’s my crack at it:

Statement of Educational Philosophy & Practice

Background

There is no theory or idea that when put into practice works equally well in all or even many situations. My experiences in the field coupled with my experiences in academia have lead me to conclude that pragmatism is truly the best philosophy. As I have moved on in my career – from different kinds of jobs (informal Jewish educator/congregational educator/day school head) in all kinds of different communities (Los Angeles/New York/Las Vegas/Jacksonville), I have taken that pragmatism with me. I believe that every educational situation is different, and that to be successful one needs to be willing to try anything and everything to fulfill one’s mission.

Overarching Goals for Jewish Day School Students

Students will be academically prepared for advanced and rigorous study at the next school of their choice.
Students will see education and Jewish education as life-long endeavors in which they are active participants.
Students develop a sense of independence, positive self-esteem, and are encouraged to reach their truest and highest potential.

Pedagogy – Na’aseh V’Nishma

This quotation from the Torah, “Na’aseh V’Nishma” (Exodus 24:7), has been interpreted in many ways in Jewish tradition. The meaning, which speaks most deeply to me, is: “We will do and then we will understand.” I believe strongly that children learn best by doing.

In addition, I believe the following:

Children learn best through experiences in which they are able to construct personal meaning.
Jewish children deserve the opportunity to experiment with authentic Jewish ritual practice.
Students learn in different ways and have varying needs. It is our responsibility to provide a wide array of learning experiences to meet those needs.
Each student is unique and benefits from the freedom and responsibility involved in developing his or her own identity.
Jewish tradition provides a wealth of wisdom and insight that contributes to one’s whole life; therefore, Judaic and secular curricula are treated with equal respect (if not always time).
Family and community are critical partners in a child’s education.
An experiential approach to learning compels one to aim not only for students’ minds, but their hearts, bodies, and souls as well.
21st Century Learning – technology, second-language acquisition, global connectedness, collaboration and transparency – is an essential pedagogy for today’s school.

Jewish Education

American values are not necessarily Jewish values and vice versa. Integration cannot be imposed by the school; it is constructed by the student. Jewish education does not reflect a synthesis of the secular and Judaic, but rather an interaction. Academic excellence within the disciplines only serves as a prerequisite. Schools have a responsibility to let students struggle with authentic examples of these interactions, as they exist in the world around them.

Jewish education has a stake in the choices students make. Schools must make clear which choices are considered more preferable than others and why. What those desired choices are and why they should be so desired will naturally differ from school to school. The basic pedagogic principle, however, ought to be consistent. Students learn best by doing. Jewish students learn best to make Jewish choices by choosing.

Vision of How to Lead a School

To be a Head of School is to have primary responsibility for enacting the mission of his/her school as determined by its primary stakeholders: board, parents, professionals, students, donors, and community partners. Being a Head of School requires infinite pragmatism and the ability to actualize a varied set of skills across ever-shifting contexts. One has to see both the forest through the trees (focus on the mission) and the trees through the forest (focus on the details) in order to be successful. The job requires one to be comfortable functioning as a bundle of contradictions – knowing when to listen and when to speak; when to inspire and when to be inspired; when to act and when not acting is the best course of action; when to lead and when to allow others to lead; etc. Context – and the ability to recognize contextual cues – is paramount.

Do you have have a professional or personal mission/vision statement? If you want to begin with the end in mind, you’ll need to create one!

Martin J. Gottlieb Day School Middle School Retreat 2013 Part I – The Storify

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