Teachers from all levels of Jewish education, from junior high through post college teaching, often have a hard time finding the time to adequately prepare. It is tempting to use secondary works that prepare the shiur for us, without attribution. When I was younger, chumash teachers often used Nechama Leibowitz’s material and just assumed that none of their students would know better. In recent times, there has been a proliferation of sources that teachers can use. Beyond the classic achronim who line up sugyot, there’s the VBM, yutorah etc. While I believe that these resources can be valuable as a supplement, I think lifting entire, or close to entire, shiurim from these resources is troubling on several levels. 1] I think that we ought to be teaching our students how to find things themselves. Our goal is not to make ourselves look impressive; it is to take our students to the next level. If we think that these resources are valuable, we should be showing our students how to use them. 2] If all our class consists of is verbatim repeating what is in a VBM shiur or the harrei kedem, etc., then why do our students need us, why can’t they just read the article themselves? 3] If we are so busy that we are unable to prepare without relying so heavily on these resources, perhaps we have lost sight of what our priorities ought to be. Didn’t we all go into chinuch in order to give quality shiurim? If it is the case that we don’t have the time, shouldn’t we at least admit where we get it from, instead of giving the misleading impression that we did all the heavy lifting ourselves? http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20601#msg-20601 Fri, 24 May 2013 07:08:32 -0600 Phorum 5.2.19 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20634#msg-20634 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20634#msg-20634
Assuming preparation time is limited, I would prefer a set curriculum, where someone determines which texts are to be studied, over saddling the individual teachers, who have several classes to prepare, and (for younger teachers, all for the first time).

I say this in the name of creativity and freshness, not to the detriment of individual initiative. My reason is that if you have to spend a large part of your time deciding WHAT to teach, you have less time to think about how it should be approached. When you actually teach the class, you cannot get Nechama or your principal or department chair to substitute for you. If you haven't thought the issues through you have nowhere to hide. Regarding the selection of sources, you can allow others to make the choice for you.

Of course, if you do the job well, students are likely to raise questions that force you to do research on your own, and for that you can't rely on the work of others.

I am not touching the question of intellectual honesty here. I recall being disappointed when it turned out that a brilliant high school teacher of mine was very often doing production numbers on books that were fairly easily available. On the other side, I found it refreshing when David Berger, who seemed to have read everything and digested everything, remarked casually that he knew some parts of the course better than others and that in some cases particular books had a heavy impact on the structure of his lecture.]]> Shalom Carmy Lookjed List Archive Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:43:31 -0600 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20623#msg-20623 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20623#msg-20623
Rabbi Blau is a master chef who can cook from scratch and probably doesn't need to follow a cook book when preparing a meal. There is no doubt that I would love to attend one of his shiurim if the opportunity presented itself.

I, on the other hand am a less accomplished cook who often will follow a recipe word for word especially when preparing a complicated dish, take something out of the freezer to serve, and when desperate I will even call for a pizza delivery.


I assume the requirements of ones class topics and schedule, the quantity and quality of shiurum level one needs to give, and how well and how quickly one learns all inform to some degree what level of original course preparation a teacher will be able to provide in a classroom.

Just because someone has Smicha doesn't mean they are prepared to answer a Shaylah on the spot in all four sections of Shulchan Aruch. This is the reason many Smicha certificates were given with Rav Moshe's phone number included. The same is true for a Rebbi or Morah.

Shalom,

Elisha]]> Elisha Paul Lookjed List Archive Sun, 10 Jun 2012 11:43:33 -0600 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20622#msg-20622 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20622#msg-20622 Yaakov Blau Lookjed List Archive Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:42:36 -0600 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20619#msg-20619 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20619#msg-20619
Regarding your second point of "why do students need us," my experience has been that the manner in which the content is presented in these resources is not always the most pedagogically sound way to present it to our high school students. Therefore, even if the students have access to these resources, they are likely to gain much more from them if we reorganize the materials in a way teaches them not only interesting content, but skills as well.

Tova Warburg Sinensky
Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls]]> Tova Warburg Sinensky Lookjed List Archive Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:50:44 -0600 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20618#msg-20618 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20618#msg-20618
Second, even if you are only giving over someone else's shiur -- I have no problem with that. As Rabbi Fohrman has said, no one expects the math teacher to be making things up herself. It is enough just giving it over in a way that imparts knowledge and skills to students. We are not paid to be cutting edge researchers but rather teachers. Finally, they won't read the article themselves! That is why they are teenagers and come to school.

I do believe that I am giving quality shiurim!! Bottom line- I try and use good stuff wherever I can get it from. Just credit it! I feel that Rabbi Menachem Leibtag is my rebbe in learning pshat, Dr. Bonchek is my rebbe in learning rashi. Nechama Leibowitz teaches you how to handle rishonim and compare them. Sharei Aharon brings the topic clarity. Nachshoni gives you source material. Dr. Sokolow just gives nice and easy lessons. I could go on and on.

It is my creativity, however, that puts it together the way that I do. The lessons that I bring out are based on who I am. I create my own worksheets. My own tests.

I have my own method of going through a sefer...
I could go on and on but I think that you get my point.

Danielle Bloom
Ateres Bais Yakov of Monsey]]> Danielle Bloom Lookjed List Archive Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:53:22 -0600 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20616#msg-20616 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20616#msg-20616
Having taught both limudei kodesh and English, I am in complete agreement with R. Blau that in teaching, as in writing, failure to attribute a source is indefensible.

Having said that, I must take issue with the rest of his posting.

When I taught nach for the first time, I was asked to teach the Eliyahu narrative. In my research, I came across Rabbi Samet's פרקי אליהו. I was floored by his shiurim: his derech, his logical thinking, his argumentation, etc. And while I did not use him as an exclusive resource, I did rely very heavily on him. I announced that fact to the students on the first day, made copies of his shiurim available to them, and went through a number of them during the course of the semester. Based on that experience, I would respond, seriatim, to R. Blau's points as follows:

1) Teaching students to think for themselves.

Using existing shiurim need not preclude showing students to think for themselves. In my class, I had the students read the texts first, discuss them, come up with their own questions and observations, where appropriate referring to mefarshim who raised the same issue, but in any case engaging all comments. It was only after these initial discussions that i would introduce R. Samet's analysis which, more often than not, would address the very issues we had already identified, amplify them, pull in other texts and other critical (in the benign sense) commentary, before pulling it all together in a way that was cogent, intriguing, instructive, and usually persuasive. (Where not, that, too, became a tool for teaching students to think for themselves.) With this respect to this first point, I would add that not the least of the "lessons" drawn by exposing the students to R. Samet's analysis was showing them that there are serious, contemporary parshanim writing about nach in a sophisticated way without stepping outside the parameters of tradition.

2) Why not just read the book?

The same argument can - and is -- often made about history or biology classes: Why not just have the kids read the book? The answer to that question is that the students' level of understanding is enhanced by discussions of their readings in class.

Additionally, with respect to R. Samet, my students were, at the outset, by and large incapable of making it through one of R. Samet's shiruim on their own -- the modern Hebrew, the range of references and citations, the sophistication of his argumentation, etc., were generally beyond what they could handle on their own. And, even if they could, the level of understanding can only be enhanced by point-by-point discussion in class. (See: above.)

But, in some way, היא הנותנת: It would be nice if, after leaving my class, they would then be interested in, and capable of, reading his books on their own.

3) Priorities (?)

I've already partially responded to this by decrying the failure to identify one's sources. But beyond that, R. Blau's objection seems based on a certain academic hubris -- i.e., that a teacher's primary function is to personally craft impressive shiurim. For those more experienced teachers than I, I can also say: מה טוב ומה נעים. But I don't see how my students would necessarily be better served by hearing my own lesser shiur than they would be by my exposing them to, and helping them grapple with, a shiur that is a cut above. (Although, to be fair, watching a teacher struggling with the text has pedagogical value as well and, believe me, nothing I have said to this point should be interpreted to mean that I have not modeled such struggles.)

I invite your readers' thoughts on or offline.

ברגשי כבוד

Michael Pariser]]> Michael Pariser Lookjed List Archive Thu, 07 Jun 2012 11:56:27 -0600 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20615#msg-20615 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20615#msg-20615
I certainly agree with him that lacking citation teaching someone else’s thoughts as one’s own is problematic; however, I think that we could add an important point to this discussion. Teaching someone else’s work, properly acknowledged, can be very positive and more significant that teaching one’s own ideas. Why should teachers continually reinvent the wheel? Is our job to convey our own “chiddushim” to our students? Who says our novel interpretations are any good? Sometimes I come up with what I believe are good new ideas – but only sometimes. In his work, Real Presences, George Steiner complains that he can’t imagine a graduate student writing something new on Kierkegaard or Shakespeare. Many people have already written and written well on every topic. How often does one come up with something new and interesting about Bereshit that hasn’t already been said and probably said better?

Hopefully, and this is often the case, what is published is the author’s best work and something of value. Certainly the publishers think so. I don’t know Tanach as well nor do I think as creatively as Rav Yoel Bin Nun. However, my students can’t conquer or appreciate much of his writing. Several times I taught his interpretation of Yosef utilizing his sources and questions. On the top of the page I clearly stated that this was based on RYBN’s article in Megadim. I remember a relatively high level student thanking me for the wonderful idea. When I reiterated that it wasn’t mine, he replied that I helped him find it and by setting the argument up allowed him to appreciate it.

But even if we are discussing the writing of another teacher who is not of the caliber of RYBN, using other’s work is important. Take the VBM for instance; a teacher’s extensive background should enable him or her to appreciate what a friend or colleague has researched and written. Our students will simply not walk away with the same quality experience by quickly reading a VBM shiur or article in English. Learning the sources inside with them, setting up the topic properly, and guiding them through the reasoned argument should enhance both their understanding and appreciation for what is written. By citing the source, we also enable them in the future to find similar types of articles on their own.

To be sure, Rabbi Blau is correct that to do so without properly acknowledging where the sources originate is dubious at best and cheats our students of learning how to research on their own; however, with proper acknowledgement, utilizing existing work of other master teachers potentially increases Torah in the world. I would suggest a slight nuance to Rabbi Blau’s final statement. I think most of us went into Chinuch “LeHagdil Torah U’LeHa’adira”. That can be achieved by teaching our own Torah but also the Torah of others. Of course “HaMevi Davar BeShem Omro” brings redemption to the world as well as to the learning experience by giving our students the tools to continue learning. I think that is what teaching is all about.

Rabbi Todd Berman
Associate Director
Admissions, Technology, & Development
Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi]]> Todd Berman Lookjed List Archive Thu, 07 Jun 2012 04:49:05 -0600 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20607#msg-20607 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20607#msg-20607
The very model of "shiur delivery" seems questionable to me in a school setting where we have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to think through our learning goals in the specific subject.

If we have done that, if we are really clear about why we are studying whatever we are studying with these particular students, then things start to look different. Instead of "preparing" by casting about for material in Nechama or VBM or YUTorah or elsewhere, we would ignore all the things that we *could* say about a perek or a sugya and instead focus on what we want the students to do, what questions we want them to ask and grapple with, what we want to learn from this experience -- and how we would know if they're learning that. That doesn't take outside research, so much as inside research: paying attention to what the students know and can do relative to the goals that we've set, what sense they are making of the subject and what progress they are making towards those goals, what difficulties they are having with the material, and developing ideas about how to help them overcome those particular difficulties in order to help them grow in the subject.

I do not pretend that this is easy. On the contrary, in my view, it's actually harder than finding something to say, and "delivering" it, and then testing whether the students remember the particular pearls of wisdom. But if we want to get away from idiosyncrasy and move our teaching towards a more effective model, that helps students develop both content-knowledge and subject-specific skills in some kind of coherent sequence over time, we have no choice.

There may well be a time and a place for delivering a shiur, in the sense of a teacher-focused exposition of a topic. In schools, however, learners and learning should come first.

Jon A. Levisohn
Brandeis University]]> Jon A. Levisohn Lookjed List Archive Wed, 06 Jun 2012 13:01:37 -0600 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20606#msg-20606 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20606#msg-20606
In the current issue of Educational Leadership, there is an article about how new teachers are overwhelmed with new responsibilities in the classroom. They welcome lesson plans because it frees their time so they can concentrate on those skills that are not yet automatic like classroom management. As teachers mature, they appreciate increased autonomy to be creative in the class. So giving teachers resources helps make good new teachers better.

But even more importantly, what is the goal of a chumash shiur? Is it to be a mechadesh?

I have specific goals for teaching chumash post- Junior High. First, I need to evaluate if there are any commentaries that are particularly important to know for a unit. There are "famous rambans"or a particular machlokes which are important to know as literate Jewish adults.

Some of the famous commentaries are too difficult for the students to learn without a lot of frustration. The frustration level for literacy begins when students understand less than 90% of the text. So I need to provide scaffolding so students can learn these commentaries joyfully. Aside from these must-teach, I choose commentaries that are age appropriate that can be understood without a lot of scaffolding.

I also must think about what skills my students need to develop such as how to 1. read with the appropriate punctuation, 2. translate a grade appropriate commentary 3. be able to articulate what is the thesis of the commentary, what proofs are cited, and how that analysis compares to other commentaries. 4. be able to state whether that thesis is reflected in other passages from that commentary. 5. Reflect on how the commentary relates to the passuk.

For each unit of study, I also chose what were the main themes. (Essential Questions).

With these goals in mind, I then had to decide on what content to teach. I could only choose important OR age appropriate commentaries that had specific themes and emphasized a particular skill. Most of the time I could not go to Nehama Leibowitz and lift a shiur from her, or go to VBM and take a class from there. But if all my other conditions work out, why shouldn't I?

Shira Hochheimer
Rochester, NY]]> Shira Hochheimer Lookjed List Archive Wed, 06 Jun 2012 10:44:02 -0600 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20601#msg-20601 http://lookstein.org/lookjed/read.php?1,20601,20601#msg-20601
1] I think that we ought to be teaching our students how to find things themselves. Our goal is not to make ourselves look impressive; it is to take our students to the next level. If we think that these resources are valuable, we should be showing our students how to use them.

2] If all our class consists of is verbatim repeating what is in a VBM shiur or the harrei kedem, etc., then why do our students need us, why can’t they just read the article themselves?

3] If we are so busy that we are unable to prepare without relying so heavily on these resources, perhaps we have lost sight of what our priorities ought to be. Didn’t we all go into chinuch in order to give quality shiurim? If it is the case that we don’t have the time, shouldn’t we at least admit where we get it from, instead of giving the misleading impression that we did all the heavy lifting ourselves?]]> Yaakov Blau Lookjed List Archive Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:42:12 -0600