It is easiest to remember something when you are in the same place you learned it. This is known as the psychological principle of context-dependent memory, and it helps explain why it is so much harder to recognize a colleague from work when you see them at the grocery store. The location of learning embeds cues about the content, but…
Tag: Mishnah Avot
The Ultimate Reward of Lollipops and Stuffed Animals: Discovering Effective Classroom Management
For the past three weeks I have been observing different religious and day school classrooms on Sundays and Wednesdays. While I was supposed to be observing the teachers’ ability to teach a particular lesson, I found myself focusing instead on how the classrooms were managed. Some teachers raised their voices, some were calm and stern, some used a point system,…
Find a Day of Rest
In the Torah, God instructs Israel, “Therefore the people of Israel shall keep Shabbat, to observe Shabbat throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant” (Exodus 31:16). We are told that, after six days of Creation, God rested. Thus, according to Jewish tradition, we should all have a day of rest in our week as God did. I plan on being…
A New Kind of Song
Think back to a favorite memory of a Jewish experience. Maybe you grew up Jewish and remember a yearly Passover Seder with your family. Maybe your first encounter with Judaism was a recent Shabbat service. Maybe your child came home from summer camp excited about the friends she made. Now, think about what gave that experience the meaning to imprint…
Honoring Our Elders as They Age
How old is the oldest person you know? A bizarre question, I will grant that, but I mean it in earnest. We live in a rapidly aging society in which people over the age of 65 constitute the fastest growing demographic. Looking even closer at this cohort, the balance is tipped toward those over 85, as Rabbi Richard Address suggested…