Friday Letter - 9/28/12

When I look back on the past week, two sounds resonate in my head. The first, of course, was the final shofar blast at the end of Yom Kippur (more on that in a moment). The other was the sound of tefillah in the Middle School this past Friday.

Now, normally tefillah is filled with sounds. After all, we do a significant amount of our davening out loud. This particular Friday morning was different. New melodies were introduced and the level of our ruach was enhanced by our two guests who are up-and-coming musicians and educators from the Conservative Movement. Josh Warshawsky and Daniel Novick are products of the Conservative Movement in Chicago and Northern Virginia, both serving as international officers in United Synagogue Youth in 2008. Josh is a senior at the Joint Program between Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, an alum of the Nativ program in Israel, and during the summers  is the Rosh Musikah at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. Daniel is a rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary and was the co-creator of "Shaharit Live!," an unique tefillah experience for USY combining music and multimedia that has been utilized in Conservative Movement institutions around the country. Last Friday, was the first of the monthly visits that Josh and Daniel will be making to lead the Middle School in tefillah once a month and spend some time with students in our Upper School.

Daniel and Josh were a hit with the Middle School. Students were singing (some even dancing) as we davened our way through Shaharit. It was truly an inspirational experience and one that we hope will add to all of our future tefillot together. For taste of the sound created, click here.

The final shofar blast on Yom Kippur took on more meaning for me this year, perhaps because of the way my thoughts were primed for the holiday through the high school’s Yom Kippur workshops. After first period tefillah, the high school students broke into smaller groups to focus on one of many topics to help engage more fully in Yom Kippur. The topics ran the gambit from the practical, A Yom Kippur Survival Guide, to the more weighty, Would You Forgive a Nazi?. In each session, students explored, debated, and questioned the practices and themes of Yom Kippur. Kol HaKavod to Rabbi Josh and the faculty for organizing this experience.

Friday Letter - 9/21/12

In the 21st century, almost no one works alone. Even if you have a job that permits you to work from home, you are still connected to colleagues, regardless of how near or far they may be. While individuals may achieve great breakthroughs and have inspiring visions (think Steve Jobs), it takes a collaborative effort to turn these ideas into a reality that can change the world.

4This is why we are interested in building a culture of collaboration at the Upper School. The introduction of Moodle (see below for a short video on how to log into Moodle) is just one of the tools that we are using. Another is the introduction of Google Apps for Education.

Similar to a personal Gmail account, Google Apps for Education provides a student with a basic e-mail account. Students can use this account to communicate with teachers, as well as with fellow students when working on group projects. More than this, Google Apps includes access to collaborative documents, spreadsheets and presentations, as well as the ability to upload and store other kinds of documents (e.g. Word files, pictures). The formula for student email addresses is first initial, last name and high school graduation year followed by @ssdsnassau.org. For example, Joe Smith (a 9th grader) is jsmith16@ssdsnassau.org. The 6th and 7th grade accounts are limited to send and receive emails to/from an @ssdsnassau.org address only. E-mail accounts are accessible via www.gmail.com. Students should enter their full e-mail address as their username.

Another collaborative effort is also underway as we have partnered with Paul Effman Music to kick-off our Middle School band program. Students listened and watched examples of a variety of instruments that they will have the ability to learn and explore through the after-school band program. Interest was high as the students heard the theme from the Super Mario games played on the flute. They even broke out in song themselves as a teacher played Hava Negillah on the clarinet. We are looking forward to seeing the students take the stage themselves in the future.

Of course, the highlight of my weekend (besides celebrating Rosh HaShanah with my family) was attending the High School Shabbaton. We were blessed with glorious weather and a fabulous program organized through the collaborative efforts of Mike Hirsch, Rabbi Josh, Senora Cahn, and the Student Council. Please check out the blog post from Paw Print Now that shares the student perspective on the Shabbaton.

G’mar Chatimah Tovah!

Friday Letter for High School - 9/14/12

Not every Jewish day school shuts down its academic operations at the start of the school year to send its high school students, faculty and administration off on a retreat. Yet, each year, the Schechter School of Long Island does just that.

In a world, where academic pressure seems to always be building, why is it so important that we do this?

The High School Shabbaton provides an opportunity for us to truly emphasize one of the core pillars that makes being at a Jewish day school, in particular, our school, so important. Rather than focusing on English, Biology or Hebrew, we commit ourselves to enhancing, supporting, and growing our sense of kehillah, of community.

The walls of the classroom tumble down and are replaced by the rolling hills of Camp Ramah in the Berkshires. We sit, eat, study, daven, and play together in an environment designed to draw us closer together. The bonds formed through color war, bonfires, and just hanging out strengthen our community and help sustain us through the year ahead.

I look forward to joining the students for my first Shabbaton with them and continuing to draw closer to the entire Schechter community.

Shanah Tova v’Shabbat Shalom!

Friday Letter for Middle School - 9/14/12

When I was working in the public school system, I often struggled with clearly articulating our school’s goal of creating students who were responsible, respectful, and ethical. We were engaged in character education and providing positive behavior supports for students, but there was a word that was always on the tip of my tongue, but that I knew that the students’ parents and my colleagues would not recognize it.

The word is mensch. Here, at the Schechter School of Long Island, I can say to you that we are in the business of building mensches and you know what I mean. A mensch exhibits derekh eretz on a daily basis, moving through the world with respect for all.

Derekh eretz, however, as its literal translation infers is not a destination, but a path. Last week, Bonnie Cahn, our school counselor, and I met with the 6th graders (we will be meeting soon with the 7th and 8th grades) to discuss how to follow this path. We laid out four guideposts for them that will help keep them on their path: Respect for Myself; Respect for Others; Respect for Property; and Respect for Learning.

Together, these four Respects (kavod in Hebrew) will help our students Roar to Respect. Our sixth graders, with the help of Ms. Pitschi, worked to define how to demonstrate each of these Respects in a variety of school settings, from the classroom to the bathroom to the school bus. Soon, after we have the input of the 7th and 8th graders, we will see signs throughout the Middle School promoting our desire to Roar to Respect.

As we move into this New Year in just a few short days, our hope is that our Middle School students will recommit themselves to walking the path of derekh eretz.

Shanah Tova v’Shabbat Shalom!

An Intentional Error

In my previous position, one of my roles was providing oversight and guidance for the school's website as it went through a re-design and then serving as the site's administrator once the new site was up. We spent weeks agonizing over the nature of the content and design, often spending significant time guessing how people would experience the site. Not once, though, did we think about the user's experience when the site did not work. In other words, what happens when the user hits one of those lovely web errors?

In his TED talk, Renny Gleeson explains the origin of the 404 error that we have all experienced at one time or another when looking for a specific webpage. I almost didn't watch this talk as my initial glance at the title just didn't inspire me. Something, though, said to watch it anyway and I did. Gleeson describes the family of errors that the 404 Page Not Found error is part. Then, he begins to describe how different startups began taking advantage of these previously lost moments by adding content to their error pages.

Here are some examples.

Gleeson's examples got me thinking about how I would want to change the error pages of my school's website. Should I embed a video or share something about how the school turns its mission into reality? Rather than create a frustrating experience, how can I use this error to connect and build a relationship with the user?

What makes me marvel at this is how intent is added to a seemingly commonplace error message. By placing something meaningful on the 404 page, we tell our users that even when something screws up we're thinking about them. Intentionality is a powerful thing. If we can bring it to bear on a school website, imagine the power it could have inside the school walls.

Friday Letter - 9/7/12

With the summer days waning away, the Upper School faculty came back to Williston Park last week to set up classrooms and begin our preparations for the 2012-13 school year. Beyond these usual preparations, we sat to explore how we approach teaching and learning. In small groups, teachers reflected on their own learning experiences and discussed the implications of the changing world, particularly with technology. We continued to work with the staff on the roll out of Moodle, a learning management system that will support classes in the Upper School.

It was exciting to see the students arrive in the building and watch them greet old friends and meet new ones. We started our day with a school-wide tefillah in the High School and in the Middle School, where Rabbi Josh treated us to a visualization of the tension between the fixed routine of our davening and our desire to engage spiritually through a scene from one of my favorite movies, Dead Poets Society. 

The 9^th graders and their peer connectors headed off to the Midway Jewish Center (graciously filling in as our rainy day location) for a fun and engaging 9th grade orientation. Outdoor educators from Nassau BOCES worked with the students to help them grow together as a class while engaging in problem solving activities.

The Middle School celebrated its first bat mitzvah of the year with much nachat (joy) and energy on Thursday. Later that day, E2K kicked off its first session of the year. Elsewhere, the 9th and 10th graders in the Sci-Tech program began their first classes in this exciting new endeavor.

Looking ahead, we have the High School Shabbaton around the corner (9th grade sign-up and 10-12th grade signup). I strongly encourage all high school students to join us for this event. Meet-the-Teachers Nights are also coming up (MS - September 12; HS - September 20) and I’m looking forward to meeting parents that evening.

Thank you to everyone for your ongoing warm welcome and support as I begin this new position of Upper School Principal.