connections

connections between islam and judaism

sharia and halakha
fatwa and takana/teshuvot
muhammad/moses
mecca/jerusalem
halal/kashrut
scripture and supplements

teachers college

i recently completed my program in english education. this fall, i will begin teaching 6th grade english at ms 51, william alexander jhs. below, i list the major ideas, methods, and theories that i studied in my education program. i believe that i learned so much in school; however, i also know that i have so much more to learn.


the reading and writing workshop
The workshop method promotes student learning through balanced literacy, or parallel reading and writing instruction. Traditional instruction is wholly directed by teacher lectures and teacher assessment. In contrast, workshop teachers construct a learning workshop for students to acquire, develop, and extend reading and writing skills and strategies. Best practice includes cooperative learning, learning conferences, mini/lesson instruction, strategic reading, and the writing process.


multiple intelligences
Traditional research narrowly defines intelligence as cognitive ability, including logic or reason. However, recent scholarship constructs a more complex definition of intelligence. For example, Howard Gardner contends that individuals have multiple intelligences, including Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Logical, Musical, Verbal, Visual, Naturalist, Existential, and Kinesthetic or spatial intelligence. Multiple intelligences theory has significant implications for education. For example, research confirms that students acquire and process information in very different ways. Teachers, then, can structure lessons and units to meet the interests and needs of diverse students.


reader response
Historical or biographical criticism tries to determine the authentic intention or meaning of an author. Practical or new criticism develops formal, expert readings of an isolated work, or “the text itself.” In contrast to historical criticism and new criticism, reader response theory contends that texts and interpretations are dynamic. Reader response encourages students to uncover process readings, or the unique associations, ideas, and understandings that readers develop while reading. Reader response theory rejects authoritative or final readings of text. Rather, it contends that reading is a transaction between the culture, environment, and psychology of a reader and a text.


strategic reading
Research demonstrates that strong readers use supportive reading strategies to process and understand texts. Reading strategies are like carpenter tools: we use different reading tools for different reading work. For example, we apply reading strategies to our text in order to clarify content, connect understanding, and analyze or evaluate issues, problems, and meanings. Specific reading strategies include analyze, clarify, infer, evaluate, predict, question, and visualize.


scaffolding
Traditional assessment identifies activities and functions that students can learn or perform independently. However, Lev Vygotsky maintains that assessment should also include a zone of proximal development, or the activities and functions that students can learn with supportive assistance. Scaffolding is the specific assistance or instruction that helps students learn a target concept or skill. Teachers design strong scaffolding for beginning learners. However, scaffolding should slowly recede as students progressively apply skills or strategies without supportive assistance.


literature circles
Literature circles, or book clubs, are student centered groups that read and discuss literature. Circles promote active reading by encouraging students to select and discuss texts that they are genuinely interested in. Students can be accountable for reading through consistent small group discussions, prepared writing responses, and cumulative research project. Literature circles often define temporary task roles for students in group discussions. For example, a student might specifically focus on group questions, connections or images.


genre study
Genre study is the focused study of reading and writing categories, or types. For example, the class will read shared or model texts to help identify the features and purpose of specific genres. Genre study might be organized by culture, history, topic, or style. For example, a short fiction story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez might be classified as short fiction, Latin American fiction, contemporary fiction, or magical realism.


personal learning
Personal learning activities encourage students to connect academic, classroom learning to their personal ideas and experiences. Consistent personal learning activities promote meaningful reflection and foster an inclusive classroom community. Research also demonstrates that personal learning can increase student interest, participation, and achievement.


to be finished:
readers' theater
critical theory
authentic assessment
media literacy
backwards planning: understanding by design
grammar in context
differentiated instruction
constructivism
portfolio assessment
mini/lesson
rubric
the reading workshop
the writing workshop
gifted and talented education


suggested reading

in the middle, by nancie atwell
the literature workshop, by sheridan blau
literature as exploration, by louise rosenblatt
inside out, by dan kirby, dawn lattimer kirby and tom liner
the personal creed project, by john mcrae
teaching grammar in context, by constance weaver
strategic reading, by jeffrey wilhelm
mini-lessons for literature circles, by harvey daniels

msw portfolio: ethnic identity

in 1997, during the summer, i lived uptown in washington heights. i worked for fresh youth initiatives, or fyi, a progressive social service agency for community youths. that summer, i completed my first service with young people. together, we learned all about different kinds of art, and the youths drew and painted original artwork for a community calendar. near the end of the summer, we also designed and completed a large mural on the east wall of a major store at 171st and broadway. in the middle of the long wall, the youths painted: "who am i?" below, they drew neighborhood landmarks and highlighted scenes from their lives. they said: "i am washington heights." "i am somebody." "i am america."

i've been especially interested in identity since i was a young adult. i can remember wondering: "is this me?" "is this how i sound?" "is this what i'd say?" as an adult, i am still very invested in identity. i deeply believe that identity, identity achievement, and identity exploration, are essential for positive personal development. in fact, i focused my social work research and study on identity and youth development. my research is specifically interested in the relationship between ethnic identity and prosocial youth development. (warning: geeky stuff below)

identity theory and research is largely directed by the early research of erik erikson. erikson proposed that individuals confront specific psychological challenges at identified developmental stages. for example, major stages of development include the individual achievement of trust, autonomy, identity, and intimacy. however, the negative resolution of development stages includes mistrust, isolation, identity confusion, and despair.

erikson determined that the primary crisis in adolescent development is the exploration and achievement of a stable ego identity. erikson explained that identity is the synthesis of individual beliefs, behaviors, and experiences. in his continued research, erikson identified two primary dimensions of identity: personal identity and social identity. our personal identity constructs a private self, including our core attitudes, behaviors, and values. in contrast, the public self demonstrates our external orientation, including an active personality or social type in the context of other individuals or groups.

subsequent research demonstrates that identity exploration and identity achievement is especially important for individuals of racial or religious ethnicity. scholars followed the basic structure of psychosocial identity developed by erikson. however, they further detailed specific components of personal and social identity. for example, significant research explores ethnic identity. ethnic identity includes the individual affirmation of beliefs, behaviors, traditions, and values from a shared culture, race or religion.

in my research, i specifically review ethnic jewish identity. jewish identity has been extensively researched by community leaders, psychologists and social scientists. however, there is considerable disagreement on the specific variables used to measure jewish identity. i contend that jewish identity must be measured within the established research and theory on psychosocial identity, including ethnic identity.

in short, ethnic jewish identity does not privilege any specific belief, behavior, or tradition. in contrast, it measures the collective elements of jewish belief and behavior, including community, culture, and religion. this definition recognizes that individuals define and connect to judaism and jewish culture in very diverse ways. we can measure the relative strength and resiliency of individual ethnic jewish identity. however, we cannot marginalize specific belief or practice.

if you'd like to learn more about my specific research, follow the links below.

to view a summary of my research project, please read the "survey of ethnic jewish identity: the jewish academy of metropolitan detroit" (2004)

to learn more about the specific construct of ethnic jewish identity, please view the survey administered to students.
Part I: Student Demographics
Part II: Multigroup Ethnic Identity Survey
Part III: Ethnic Jewish Identity

i'm saying, though

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus


Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead


The flower that blooms in adversity is the most beautiful flower of all.
Mulan


In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.
Eric Hoffer


Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth.
Benjamin Disraeli


The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.
Thich Nhat Hanh


The truth is never pure and rarely simple.
Oscar Wilde


Fact of the matter is, there is no hip world, there is no straight world. There's a world, you see, which has people in it who believe in a variety of different things.
Frank Zappa


He who rescues a single life it as though he has rescued the entire world.
The Talmud, Sanhedrin


The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science.
Albert Einstein


On some positions, cowardice asks the question: ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question: ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question: ‘Is it popular?’ But conscience asks the question: ‘Is it right?’”
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr


I want to love my homeland and to love justice alike. I wish no greatness for my homeland if that greatness is made of blood and lies. I want to instill life in justice and through it instill life in my homeland.
Albert Camus


It is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of high maturity, to rise to the level of self-criticism . . . critical thinking about ourselves as a people and the course we have charted or failed to chart during this period.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.
Henry David Thoreau


What people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can.
Henry David Thoreau


Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.
Paulo Freire


If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
Henry David Thoreau


Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.
Howard Thurman


Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization. Progress is born of agitation.
Eugene V. Debs


Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory.
Ralph Waldo Emerson


As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever.
Clarence Darrow


Learning is always rebellion... Every bit of new truth discovered is revolutionary to what was believed before.
Margaret Lee Runbeck


[America is] a rebellious nation. Our whole history is treason; our blood was attained before we were born; our creeds were infidelity to the mother church; our constitution treason to our fatherland.
Theodore Parker

Perhaps it is a world that never was and never will be. But, it is a world worth working towards.
Sandra Day O'Connor

Our deepest fear Is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?" Who are you not to be? You are a child of the universe. Your playing small does not serve the world.
Marianne Williamson

naeem mohaiemen

i saw a very interesting interview with naeem mohaiemen on now, a pbs newsmagazine. naeem is the director of shobak.org, a human rights organization based in new york. i do not remember his quotes exactly. . . to this effect, he said, "there are human rights violations in guantanamo. yes, and there are human rights violations in bangladesh. we need to take care of all of them." he said, "i am not for islam before i am for america. i am not for america before i am for islam. i am for human rights."

you can view sections of his recent documentary, "muslims or heretics?"

the movie profiles an alternative muslim sect in south asia. it's incredibly interesting to learn more about diverse traditions and diverse voices in islam. reza aslan's recent book, "no god but god", also details the complex history of islam. he contends that today's violence and terrorism is the outgrowth of an internal islamic reformation. an increasingly radicalized fundamentalism is at war with . . . islam.

are there root connections to modern reformations of judaism and christianity? are there connections even to contemporary readings of judaism and christianity? to buddhism or hinduism?

in the film, an ahmadiya leader explains that hatred and violence is the consequence of "religion in politics." where politics has privilege, there are clear cultural connections between bengali, between ahmadiya, sunna and shi'a. when there are strong cultural connections, there are consistent protections for diverse voices. however, when religion has privilege above politics, there is violence. he says, "we cannot allow wahabism and talibanism to take root in bangladesh. that is my very humble request."

it's so interesting to learn from these voices.

the samantha report II

samantha says hi! i try to ask her a lot of questions about her trip. last night she said, "but, what's going on with you?" i said, "but, i want to be able to write all about your trip in our weblog!"
: )

on sunday, she returned from a weekend trip in hangzhou. she said that they had beautiful silks, there. she is looking forward to going to xuzhou this weekend. . . and she is also taking a tour of jewish shanghai on sunday. (shanghai was the one open port for jews escaping from europe during world war ii. "shanghai ghetto" is a very interesting film that documents jewish life in shanghai during this period.)


they will be in shanghai for one more week. she is super excited because she has bought 4 pairs of shoes! one night, she was shopping at the local grocery store and she ran into jie's old boyfriend. isn't that crazy?

i hope everybody's doing well!


shabbat shalom

2005

my favorite things, 2005
(and people, too)


"the usual suspects"
"kids"
"memento"
hallmark.com
the chicago cubbies

toni morrison
sonia sanchez
chicagosports.com
"the lemon", by mohammed mrabet
adobe photoshop

blogster
multiple intelligences
good, cool water
"the old man and the sea"
100% juice

nice people
john steinbeck
abraham joshua heschel
jeph loeb
batman

"persepolis", marjane satrapi
spike lee
owen wilson
charlie rose
mos def

talib kweli
the beatles
gabriele boccaccini
"the street", by israel rabon
"the blue bedspread", by raj kamal jha

pablo neruda
"the alchemist", by paolo coelho
"the four agreements", by
blanche boyd
tiger woods

bell hooks
savion glover
sean penn
the chicago skyline
"the healing", by gayl jones

batman
alan moore
joe sacco
ed young
chris raschka

philo
"stand by me"
"we real cool", by gwendolyn brooks
news.google.com
"spiritual judaism", by david ariel

raymond carver
william carlos williams
ee cummings
derrek lee
johar abu lasheen

mom and dad
paul giamatti
angels in america
chris duhon
billy beane

"when she believes", ben harper
the gorrillaz
greg maddux
edwidge danticat
tim costello

ian ruedderman
lance armstrong
bono
lucille clifton
alden brown

barack obama
john lennon
arne duncan
dave grohl
maimonides

"leaving las vegas"
morgan spurlock
moby
beck
john muir

chuck close
richard avedon
camille pissarro
amedeo modigliani
chaim soutine

farah

1996

i like to collect things, like from events and experiences. i keep lots of
things, like movie tickets and play bills and letters. i also like to collect
lists of things that i really really like.

i wrote the list below in january, 1996. i was a sophomore in college at
the time. i tried to include people and things that really influenced me.
i've included this list without edits.




jazz the memory of janah billie
holliday highland park movie the

ater anna deveare smith bob love
kids federico garcía lorca charlie rose


spike lee toni morrison elie wiesel ‘o’
easy rider gary oldman monet ray de c

arava raphael the world champion chicag
o bulls allen ginsburg, city lights, morris

sey th

e truth in silence marvin gaye mi
chealjackson r.e.m. ernesto cardenal

san francisco ‘e’ mikey
flaherty the wpa maya
angelou the grand canyon

for blanche boyd hale woodruff
lawrence arthur jones james
lesene wells

for jessica st
relec orion t

he hunter mc solaar for
farah palkhiwalla sand
ra quiles jean toomer

‘s’ for hope, i am here


the hubble telescope dwight gooden
john daly ‘5’ harry carson las

vegas my sadness

hitchhiking from maine dr. j magic
johnson pete rose michael jordan
the motion of water

the sun

job moses abraham adam

river phoenix rodney
fuller winnie the pooh

pablo neruda alan moore
todd mcfarlane ‘9’ alan

grant frank miller sandman
the usual suspects oliver sto

ne kevin spaceymor
gan freeman the res

ilience of minority
communities the big

ness of movies bell hoks
the books of the old tes

tament zora neale hurston
the brilliance of light leo

nardo davinci ‘b’ martin

luther the shine of art inside you jesse jackson
al gore william kuntsler abbie hoffman w.clement

stone sean penn blowout woody allen ‘a’ jeremy
guskin jason’s lyic the looseness of dreams

lucille clifton the silence of thought
a full moon a clear day soft clouds the biggness and b
oldness of film and to space to dream sweet dreams

bill moyers james dean elvis presley the swiftness
of trains

chicago blues nirvana
dave grohl

the distortions of lenses, the sound of one piano
playing, new orleans, mike figgis the strength of
wisdom and age leslie marmon silko sam shepard
hermann hesse ms. clements dean samson

shawon dunston the fab five

“true romance” the spirit of youth mr. hill
dr. elkun dr. herz the new york times magazine

wynton marsalis avant garde chinese art the
clarity of simple things raymond carver

robert altman the rats of nimh douglas coupland steven
jobs toy story the indian in the cupboard “the story of

light” mahmoud abdul rauf shawn kemp kevin garnett
wally kromylo dean brown jenny paz y mino

charles bukowski ned
welch uptown dizzy andrew wagner sixty minutes
20/20 public television les miserables

jack nicholson batman johnny de
pp tim burton robin williams

e. e. cummings william carlos williams langston hughes

buster douglas hoop dreams
william gates arthur agee bar

ry lopez the
power of spiritual things

photographs charlie rose quentin
tarantino ben stiller the state

lawrence joseph portishead g love
the strangeness of you
genunineness of tru friends.

ma thesis: jewish identity

jewish identity is a central topic in the professional jewish community, today. for example, research determines that connected jewish identity promotes sustainable affiliation, community participation, continuous jewish learning, and engaged jewish philanthropy.

however, identity was also extremely important during late antiquity. oppressed communities were denied full participation in imperial society. for example, subordinate groups were required to pay additional land, poll, or population taxes. in contrast, privileged communities were often exempt from special taxes and allowed the autonomy to administer local government.

this summer, i am working to complete my thesis in judaic studies: "what is jewish? jewish identity during the late second temple period". i will evaluate scholarship on judaism during late antiquity, and i will specifically focus on the development of guidelines and practice for conversion.

in the beginnings of jewishness (1999), shaye cohen evaluates the complex identity of jewish communities in late antiquity. he asks, "what is it that makes us us and them them?" in short, cohen concludes that "jewish identity in antiquity was elusive and uncertain."

"who" can be so difficult for scholars because boundaries were so fluid. daniel boyarin (2004) explains that religious authorities constructed increasingly strict private boundaries to limit open, dynamic public boundaries. the historical practice of judaism holds important insights into "what" individual jewish communities considered jewish. for example, can non jewish individuals become jewish?

historical study can also have important implications for our practice. for example, we often assume that orthodox tradition is the direct descendent of historical religion. yet, tradition changes dramatically over time. this does not invalidate any specific observance. neither orthodox judaism or reform judaism are undermined by historical diversity. however, research demonstrates that contemporary cultures have enormous influence on the social development of religion. for example, modern society has profoundly changed the interpretation and practice of judaism. today, there are 3 major streams of judaism: reform, conservative, and orthodox. but, modern judaism can be divided more precisely into humanist, reconstructionist, reform, conservative, traditional, modern orthodox, and orthodox judaisms.

this is not only true in the modern world. internal and external developments also led to substantial diversity during the late second temple period. scholars have identified more than 30 independent jewish groups during late antiquity! gabriele boccaccini (1999) explains that historical judaism is not a singular or "particular ideological system." in contrast, study identifies "many judaisms. . . active and in competition."

our wedding day

samantha and i married this past october. it was very important to us that our wedding honored each tradition- we wanted to make sure that each culture was really present. to help our guests, we designed a wedding booklet that provides brief explanations for each custom. for example, we hosted an egalitarian jewish ceremony and a traditional chinese banquet. (i can't figure out yet, though, how to link to the file.)

i remember so many things from the day. i remember that samantha looked very beautiful. i remember that the day felt really fast and i remember wishing that we could celebrate our wedding for 2 weeks. i remember the dancers from the cultural school performing. . . . and the tea ceremony. i remember that my aunts and uncles were so respectful and so kind. i was really nervous during the tish and i remember that i completely forgot what i was planning to say. i would say a real brief sentence and then look over to the cantor and the rabbi, hoping that they would start singing again.
: )

i remember visiting the guests' tables. i remember visitng the table with my friends from college and laughing alot. i felt so badly that i wasn't able to spend so much time with everybody. i remember reading my speech from my computer. i remember having dinner with our families at the deli the night before. i remember seeing samantha in her hotel room in the morning before we left for the day. i remember standing underneath the chuppah. i remember samantha speaking hebrew and placing a ring on my finger.

i remember farah. tim and i had an argument the night before over who farah loved more. i remember talking with peter and monika by the window on the side. i remember saying really silly things to people, but everybody was so nice.

the samantha report

samantha says hi! she thinks it's very funny that we have a blog, now. shanghai is a lot like new york city, she said. it's very big and modern and it has huge buildings and lots of stores to shop in. she bought a pair of shoes for $4, today. (so that's a little bit different than nyc!)

they have been taking a lot of dance class, so far. there are five students in the younger class, from 8-12 years old. samantha said that her favorite classes are the handkerchief dance and the long-sleeve dance. the classes are being taught by friends of her teacher in nyc, bei bei. the teachers all went to the same dance school together when they were younger, the beijing dance academy. (or, if you can read chinese characters, this is their homepage. )

everybody is really nice and really cooperative, she said. she wants to say hi to everybody. . . she is having fun, but she also misses home.

i miss you, too! wah ai nee (i love you!)
: )

geeky stuff

i have been a student for a minute, now. i really enjoyed studying a lot, and i think that i became a real big nerd. i mean, i think it's more okay to be nerdy as you get older. but, it's crazy because i try to think back about when i officially became a nerd. was i always a big dork and i just didn't realize it? (be nice) i mean, i have a blog now and that's way past nerdy.
: )

i still care alot about creative writing. (my creative writing dream is to be on the charlie rose show. i'll say, "thank you, charlie, for having me." he'll say, "andrew, this is a really striking work. [pause] why did you write _this_ book? what did you _have_ to say?")

but, for now, i think my geeky dream is to write wikipedia entries. (wikipedia is an internet encyclopedia wholly written by the public.) sometimes, i use wikipedia to get a brief introduction for a topic. it helps me start to understand what's going on . . . i think it would be crazy to write one of my own. what would happen if i found one of my own posts?

since i returned to school, i studied a whole bunch of topics in three different subject areas. i found them really interesting, but they're all really different. over time, i think that i'll try to post some of my research, maybe. to start, i've listed some of the topics i studied in social work. so, if you want to hear silly geekspeak . . .
: )


social work:

psychosocial identity

• ethnic identity
• racial identity
• jewish identity

social justice

• privilege and oppression
• human rights theory
• feminism
• empowerment

community organization

• developmental assets
• community strengths
• gis community mapping
• organizational analysis

research studies

• qualitative research
• quantitative research
• survey development

development

• fundraising
• grantwriting
• marketing
• policy analysis

critical theory

• structuralism
• poststructuralism
• postmodernism

hi! : )

i've heard so much about blogs, but i have never thought about writing one before. today, i received an email from my friend adina saying that she had started a blog. it was cool to visit her site, so i thought that i might try to start one, too. : )

samantha is traveling now in china. she is teaching and taking dance class in shanghai through the new york chinese cultural center. nyccc hosts several programs, including the chinese folk dance company and a cultural school for young children. samantha is leading a group of families from the cultural school on a three week program through shanghai. (hi hun. . . i miss you!) : )

i recently finished a program in english education at teachers college, columbia university. in the fall, i will begin teaching 6th grade english at ms 51, william alexander jhs. i am excited to begin making money again!!! i'm just playin, but i am excited to start teaching. i feel like my program really helped me to learn new ideas, and i'm excited to share reading and writing with the students!

so, that's the first stuff! i am not sure who will be reading our weblog, yet, so i'm sorry if you already know things or if i sound funny. ; ) if you can, remember to post comments and i can learn more about you, too!