Richard D. Solomon, Ph.D.'s Blog – August 2009 Archive (9)

According to *Wiggins and McTighe (1998) in order to decide what (Judaic) knowledge should be taught in school, the following three categories or priorities of knowledge should be determined.



First priority: Knowledge that is enduring. essential information that students must know.

Second priority: Knowledge that is important, but not essential for students to know.

Third priority: Knowledge with which students should be… Continue

More Praise for Important New Publication:

Wendy Light, National Education Consultant, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism writes:



We all agree that there is a significant demand for qualified teachers in Jewish day schools and congregational schools. There is concern as to where the next generation of Jewish educators will come from. Dr. Richard and Elaine Solomon have sensitively addressed this challenge in their new book, just released, and entitled… Continue

Rabbi Dr. Moshe P.Weisblum, spiritual leader of congregation Kneseth Israel, Annapolis, Maryland and author of Ruth Talk and Table Talk:Biblical Questions and Answers offers this endorsement of Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Moving Madrichim to Mentor Teachers and Beyond.





"One of the best books on the subject...offering hope and help, this groundbreaking book is an ideal source for the transitions that… Continue

The ideal educational setting in which to be a mentor teacher is within a congregation that is committed to life-long learning, a school that is a Jewish professional learning and within a classroom that is a community of cooperative learners. Let's explore these structures and their connections more thoroughly.



A congregation of life-long learners is one that studies and lives Torah. A Jewish professional learning community is a school in which the administration, teachers and… Continue

As a mentor or mentor teacher there is a body of knowledge about learning to teach that a staff developer needs to understand in order to provide constructive assistance to their mentees. Beginning with this post, we will share some of that knowledge base.



For example, when working with novice or fist year teachers it is important to understand the kinds of instructional and classroom management problems that preoccupy their thinking.



Fortunately, *Simon Veenman (1984) did… Continue

Friends and Colleagues,



Here's a new web address to directly order Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Moving Madrichim to Mentor Teachers and Beyond: http://toolboxforteachersandmentors.com



For those interested in reading our blog on mentoring Jewish students and teachers, here is that blog's web address:… Continue

Toolbox for Teachers and Mentors: Moving Madrichim to Mentor Teachers can now be ordered by clicking on to this web address: … Continue

Think-Pair-Share (Lyman, 1981): An Equity Pedagogical Best Practice to Increase and Vary Student Participation in the Classroom



This is a three-step paired cooperative procedure created by *Dr. Frank Lyman in 1981. During step one, each member individually and silently thinks about a question posed by the teacher. During the second step, two members are paired to exchange and discuss their responses. During step three, each member may share his response, his partner's response, a… Continue

Before we define equity pedagogy, let’s share some relevant research.



There have been a number of important studies which indicate that a teacher's perceptions of students can influence their teaching. In 1968, * Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson published a famous study, Pygmalion in the Classroom, which had profound effects upon the practice of teaching. In their study, they provided teachers in an elementary school with undocumented information about several students in their… Continue