Getting Connected

When I’m talking about education with our staff and parents, I often reference the 4 C’s of 21st Century learning - communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. It is upon these building blocks that our learning is built and developing these skills will help our students succeed in a wide variety of learning environments and life in general.

At the recent edJEWcon conference, keynote speaker Silvia Tolisano talked about a 5th C, connectivity. Often times, this means Skype conversations with people in distant parts of the world or using a Twitter account to share student work or to help with researching a topic. In a conference that had a huge technology focus, Silvia made it clear that this was not about technology, however, but about relationships.

Sometimes it is the local relationships that are most important, rather than our global connections. It can be easier to draw meaning from these relationships and as anyone who has ever been in a long distance relationship, it can certainly be simpler to maintain. Our students are truly amazing at creating these connections.

Once again, our Middle School students engaged in another of their Tikun Olam Projects  (TOPS) and scattered out into the community to help repair the world. Danielle Shainker and I took a group of 14 sixth graders to Montefiore to visit with residents. This is not as simple as it sounds. We took small groups of students into residents’ rooms for “friendly visits”. While the students had lists of questions to help keep the conversation moving, making the initial bid (i.e. knocking on the door, saying hello, and getting the conversation rolling) was probably the hardest part. The students didn’t know the residents and vice versa. Add to this some general anxiety from the students on interacting with the aged and infirm, and it could have been pretty awkward.

What was amazing was that it wasn’t. Our students were incredibly poised, articulate and engaging. They asked incredible follow-up questions (particularly to the former owner of an ice cream shop in Cleveland Heights). And, they connected with the residents.

In the fourth grade, more connections were happening this week. Next week, these students will be participating in a Bracha-a-thon as they strive to bring more blessings into the world by raising tzedakah. Students researched and presented about potential charities that could receive the money that they raised. One of the chosen groups, Bikur Cholim of Cleveland, visited the class this week. Bikur Cholim is a volunteer-based organization that annually provides over 13,000 free kosher meals, makes over 9,000 visits to help the sick, provides 5,000 medical rides, loans needed medical equipment out, has fully stocked hospitality rooms at area hospitals and even has three houses that are used to provide complimentary lodgings for Jewish patients coming to Cleveland from other states and countries for medical care. The guest speakers were impressed with the passion, sincerity and dedication shown by our fourth graders in learning all about brachot and then using that knowledge to themselves be a blessing. Because our students have connected with Bikur Cholim and now have a relationship, their engagement in the Bracha-a-thon is that much deeper.

As Silvia said, it’s about connecting. It’s about the relationships. And Gross Schechter students are proving that.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School

There is no free lunch.

When Ali and I were planning our wedding, we had a lot of things on our mind: which rabbi was going to perform the ceremony, where would the wedding be, who would do what parts? The list went on and on. Our biggest concern, though, was about the food. Years prior at a family wedding, Ali’s extended family had left hungry and had needed to go out to a restaurant before heading back to the hotel for the night. This wedding had taken place when Ali was a kid and the entire family was still talking about it. Needless to say, we didn’t want our wedding to provide similar grounds for kvetching and spent a lot of time working with the caterer to get it just right. Thankfully, everyone left satisfied and happy with the food (and with our simcha) and Ali’s family is still talking about that long ago wedding (and not the food at ours).

There are so many ways that we are proud of Gross Schechter - we have great teachers, wonderful students and a building filled with incredible learning experiences. One thing that we can all agree on that needs our attention is our school lunch. Some of us have concerns about the quantity of food available. Others have expressed concerns about the choices that students have, while others want to ensure that we are teaching our kids how to make healthy choices. And some of us want to hear about what our kids learned in school today when we pick them up (and not hear about lunch).

I am pleased to announce the formation of a Lunch Task Force whose mission is to make recommendations on what a high quality kosher school lunch program will look like. We have asked Gross Schechter parent and restaurateur Seth Bromberg to chair the task force and he has recruited a team of parents and professionals to join him and Dr. Heidi Geis, our Director of Wellness. This committee is tasked with making recommendations by March so that we can plan next year's lunch program.

We need your input. Please follow this link to a school lunch survey. Share with us your thoughts, concerns, and ideas.

We will also be asking for the opinions of our students. After all, they are the ones eating lunch. We will be meeting with students and providing activities to help them understand what goes into creating a healthy meal over the coming months.

You will be hearing updates from us as the Task Force begins its work through updates placed in the Shavuon.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School

edJEWcon CLE

How do we give our children an education for their future?

This was the central question that keynote speaker, Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano, put before the 60 plus educators and lay leaders, representing Schechter, Fuchs Mizrachi, Agnon, the Lippman School, and Hathaway Brown, who gathered for edJEWcon - Cleveland this past Sunday. It was a unique opportunity to discuss shaping an education experience in the 21st Century for children who will (God willing) live into the 22nd Century.

To drive home just how much the world is changing (and not changing back), Silvia shared with us this short video from the Onion satirical website about the Blockbuster Movie Museum. After we were done chuckling, Silvia drove home that the only thing that is constant is change.

Silvia walked us through the the 5 C’s of 21st Century learning - collaboration, connectivity, creativity, communication and critical thinking. These are skills that our students need as they learn how to learn. So much information can be Googled. For example, How many pilgrims were on the Mayflower? What is the square root of 72? Who was the first prime minister of Israel? If we continue to focus on just knowledge acquisition, our students won’t have the skills that they need to deal with future.

This was not a conference about using technology, but rather about what needs to happen in our classrooms to ensure that our students are engaged, empowered and prepared for a changing world. She encouraged us to embrace a growth mindset (insert link to Shavuon post on growth mindset) and to recognize that creating and sharing products is part of the learning process. Our relationships with our students are a critical element of this as we work to help our students become self-motivated and self-directed.

The remainder of the conference helped educators build their toolkit of skills to help our students be prepared for the future. Teachers left excited and engaged with the possibilities of growing and extending their practice. I’m looking forward to sharing their experiments and experiences in the future as we build from our edJEWcon experience.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares

Head of School

Schechter Student Ambassadors

Sometimes, during lunch, some students get a little extra work to do. We gave a small group of middle school students a writing assignment. It wasn’t for extra credit from one of their classroom teachers, but rather a writing prompt from Mrs. Gonsenhauser. Sitting together gathered around the conference table, they wrote what they would tell a prospective parent about Schechter.

Here are (in their own words) some of their responses:

I would tell them about the buddy programs, the really fun programs you get to do in the Lower School; the TOPS program, the privileges you have in Middle School and how everyone knows each other and when you are new, you are surrounded by people who want to be friends with you.

The education is unique and different to a lot of other schools in the area. The curriculum is challenging and the teachers plan the lesson so that they can help each students’ individual needs. Overall, Schechter is an amazing school that any child would thrive in.

Schechter has a great Jewish learning opportunity. I’ve grown so much and it is nice because you know most people and teachers, no matter what grade you are in. Teachers are always kind and able to help you.

Amazing, isn’t it? These students get Schechter and know the value of their Schechter education. This writing assignment was part of the initial training for a new cohort of Student Ambassadors. These notes are from the beginning of their training before we’ve helped the students practice telling the many stories that they have about their Schechter experience.

We will be working with them over the next several weeks on a variety of public speaking skills that support their role as ambassadors and prepare them to guide tours around the school. We ask each ambassador at the conclusion of a tour to send a follow-up note to the family. I’m looking forward to sharing their next writing assignment in a future post.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School

edJEWcon

In case you haven’t heard, a big name is coming to Cleveland. No, it’s not LeBron James. That’s old news. edJEWcon, the premiere professional development for educators on 21st Century learning will be hosted by Gross Schechter Day School on Sunday, November 16. “That’s wonderful news, Ari!” you might say. “What’s an edJEWcon and isn’t a little late to be starting on 21st Century education? It’s 2014.”

21st Century education is more than just a buzzword. We live in a world where it is easier than ever to look up information. Debates on content are settled by asking Siri or Googling. This means that our learning experiences need to be different. Our children are growing up in a world that is vastly different than the one that we grew up in. Don’t believe me? Check out this video.

Our focus in the classrooms needs to be on learning skills that help us access information and manipulate it by using collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, communication and connectivity to solve the problems of a 21st Century world. These 5 C’s are the building blocks of a 21st Century education. They encourage educators to shift their mindset by teaching students how to learn and serve as “guides by the side” rather than as “sages on a stage.”

These 5 C’s are at the heart of edJEWcon, a conference started at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School several years ago. They are the building blocks of creating a dynamic 21st Century learning environment. edJEWcon Cleveland will feature Silvia Tolisano as keynote speaker. Silvia is an International educational consultant and author, and a leader in modern learning and literacy.  Through this conference, our faculty will be able to continue to build their skills as 21st Century educators and sustain and grow academic excellence at Schechter.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School

Shalom Baby

When Ali and I were expecting our first child almost seven years ago, we signed up for a childbirth education class at the hospital where we would be delivering. It was informative, but it would be a stretch to call the experience transformative.  At the same time, we took a class offered by our local Jewish community and it had a much bigger impact on us. Each week, we gathered with other first-time expectant parents and a facilitator to talk about childbirth, parenting, and anything else that was on our minds as we got closer to our due dates. Babies were born, and we celebrated together. So strong were the connections from that class that, when Ali went into labor on Yom Kippur two-and-a-half years later, we dropped off our oldest with one of the families that we met through these classes. 

Starting November 4, we are offering this same kind of experience for expectant parents in Cleveland. Schechter is partnering with Carolyn Stulberg, founder of the Alexandria School for Nannies and Schechter grandparent, to offer “Shalom Baby”. These 90-minute weekly sessions will cover a wide variety of topics. Sessions will include “Mazal Tov - Bringing Baby Home - Now What?,” “Schmutz by any other name is still Schmutz!” and “Jewish Guilt and the Work-Life Family Balance.”

Each week will feature guest presenters to help participants discuss that session’s topic and explore resources to help navigate each particular area of having a new baby in their lives. Of course, the program wouldn’t be complete without some exciting giveaways each week (big ticket items like a crib mattress, Baby Bjorn, and a photography session), some nosh, and a chance to build connections with other expectant parents in the same phase of life.

We’re delighted to offer this program with the support of a Shoresh grant from the JECC. This grant program has allowed us to expand our reach within the Cleveland Jewish community as part of our multi-prong approach to admissions and recruitment. In the coming weeks, you will be hearing more from our staff, parent ambassadors, and student ambassadors about how you can help grow Kehillat Schechter.  For more information on Shalom Baby click HERE.

So, if you are expecting a new baby or know someone who is, help us get the word out about “Shalom Baby” at Gross Schechter Day School.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School

Teshuvah: Growth Mindset for Jews

Change is difficult. It requires us to admit that things might not be perfect and that we may need to look at the world differently. Having our preconceived notions challenged is anxiety-provoking and makes us uncomfortable.  Yet, at this time of year, we are faced with change all around us as the season shifts from the warmth of summer to the uncertainty of autumn. Perhaps it is fitting that Yom Kippur falls at this time of year, encouraging us to look inward for change just as the outside world changes. 

Change for Yom Kippur is embodied in teshuvah, repenting or returning, but this requires more than just changing our actions; it requires changing how we think. If we approach teshuvah without the belief that we are capable of change, our teshuvah will just be lip service, rather than meaningful. Standford University psychologist, Carol Dweck, describes this as the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

At the start of the school year, Schechter staff began exploring Dweck’s work. With a fixed mindset, a person sees effort as fruitless, gives up easily, and often dismisses or feels attacked by useful negative feedback. Growth mindset, on the other hand, sees effort as a path to success, learns from negative feedback, and persists when faced with failure. Mindset, we learned, can predict future achievement. The messages that we send can have a strong impact on the attitudes of others and on achievement.

Effective teshuvah, therefore, requires us to be in a growth mindset.

While we may collectively admit that we have sinned this Yom Kippur as we say the words of the Vidui, the confessional prayer, we approach teshuvah as an individual because our own mindset will determine the effectiveness of our actions. Dweck’s research shows that believing that we can change is a component of effectively changing. So, if we believe that we can engage in teshuvah, we have a higher likelihood of actually doing teshuvah.

As you enter Yom Kippur, think about how you are approaching teshuvah and the mindset - fixed  or growth - that you bring with you.

G’mar Chatimah Tovah (may you be inscribed for good),

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School