Check This Out

• Camp Alonim
  Session 3: July 24 – August 12
• Open Israeli Folk Dancing
  Wednesdays, July 11 – September 19, 7:00PM – 9:30PM
• The Currents in Current Events - Day
  Wednesdays, July 25 - August 15, 10:00AM – 11:30AM
• The Currents in Current Events - Evening
  Wednesdays, July 25 - August 15, 7:30PM – 9:00PM
• Introduction to Judaism
  Sundays, July 18 – November 28, 6:30PM
• University Women Presents Judea Pearl
  Thursday, September 13, 9:30AM – 12:00PM
• Laurie Levenson: Keeping Elections Kosher
  Thursday, October 18, 10:30AM – 12:00PM

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On the Shelf

Books related to Why Don't Students Like School available at the Ostrow Library

NON-FICTION:

Educational Psychology
by John W. Santrock.
LB1051 .S262 2011

International Handbook of Jewish Education
edited by Helena Miller, Lisa D. Grant and Alex Pomson.
LC 715 .I58 2011

The Benderly Boys & American Jewish Education
by Jonathan B. Krasner.
LC3571 .K73 2011

Passionate Pioneers: The Story of Yiddish Secular Education in North America, 1910-1960
by Fradle Freidenreich.
LC724 .F68 2010

The Women Who Reconstructed American Jewish Education, 1910-1965
edited by Carol K. Ingall.
LC741 .W66 2010

Teaching as Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher's Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap
by Steven Farr
LB1025.3 .F37 2010

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Click to learn a new
Yiddish expression

Yiddish vignette by Estelle D. Abraham

A Word to the Wise

Murphy’s Law

"If anything can go wrong, it will.” That is Murphy’s Law. But who was Murphy? The standard story is that the term was coined in 1949. The Murphy in question is Captain Ed Murphy, a development engineer assigned to Colonel J.P. Stapp’s research on the rocket sleds that tested the limits of human endurance to acceleration and deceleration at Muroc Field, California (later renamed Edwards AFB). Murphy was referring to a particular technician, whose name has been lost to history, who had wired a piece of equipment incorrectly when he remarked, “If there is any way to do things wrong, he will.” A few weeks later in a press conference, Stapp allegedly credited his program’s safety record to planning for Murphy’s Law. The rest was history.

interview

One Author's Perspective

Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson DHL holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University. A member of the Philosophy Department, he is particularly interested in theology, ethics, and the integration of science and religion. He supervises the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program and mentors Camp Ramah in California. He is the author of 10 books and over 250 articles.

Question: What was the impetus for your new book, Passing Life’s Tests?

Answer: When I was in rabbinical school, the rabbi who taught the course on senior homiletics (giving sermons), Rabbi Simon Greenberg, who was also a founding President of AJU, told us on the first day of class that there is one subject that a rabbi should never preach on, and that’s the Akidah, the sacrifice of Isaac.

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AT THE LIBRARY

AJU Libraries to Open Fall 2012

        When American Jewish University’s libraries open in the later part of 2012, they will become a significant addition to AJU’s already notable appeal as an enchanting destination for residents and visitors to the region.
        Together, the Bel and Jack M. Ostrow Library and the Burton Sperber Memorial Jewish Community Library of Los Angeles will provide 22,000 square feet of unique exhibits, rare collections, and interactive multimedia experiences that can only be found at AJU.
        The Ostrow Library will hold the main collections, with the architectural crown jewel being the Lowy-Winkler Rare Book Center, which will house the Maslan Collection of approximately 4,000 Bibles from as early as the 16th century. The libraries will also be home to the Kahlman-Friedmann Collection of Italian Judaica, German Jewish pre-World War II periodicals, and 2,000 individual rare books.

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BOOK REVIEW

Why Don't Students Like School:
A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom by Daniel T. Willingham

Reviewed by Lauren Applebaum, the Associate Dean of the Fingerhut School of Education in American Jewish University’s Graduate Center for Education.

       Anyone who is engaged in the process of teaching and learning in formal settings – as a teacher, as a student, or as a parent - aknows that education is a complicated, messy endeavor. Those engaged in trying to make school work better for children try to learn from as many resources as possible. Daniel T. Willingham’s Why Don’t Students Like School attempts to use insights from cognitive science research to shed some light on teaching and learning. As he says, “We all read stories in the newspaper about research breakthroughs in learning or problem solving, but it is not clear how each latest advance is supposed to change what a teacher does on Monday morning.” This book is Willingham’s attempt to make those connections clear for teachers, and to help others think about policy arguments around educational philosophy and practice. He explains how students’ minds work and how this knowledge can lead to better teaching and learning.

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