Perlstein Perella - Secrets of great teachers: 22 strategies to energize middle and high school classrooms

with PERELLA PERLSTEIN

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

e-ISBN: 978-1-4766-3054-0

2018 Elisheva Zeffren and Perella Perlstein. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Front cover image 2018 iStock

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

To Mama

In a completely rational society,
the best of us would be teachers
and the rest of us would have to settle for something else.
Lee Iacocca

First and foremost, I would like to thank God who makes all things possible. Without Him, I would not have a single thought or experience. I thank Him for my every breath, for guiding me in teaching and writing, and for showering me with manifest blessings.

Thank you to my father, Gavriel Zeffren, an educator by profession and example, who has given me the most honest feedback in my life. Thank you, Dada, for your everyday noble inspiration.

I would like to thank my mother, Linda Zeffren, of blessed memory, whose immortal spirit and teachings are ever-present in my days. You saw the rough draft of this book, Mama. I wish you could have witnessed its completion.

My gratitude goes to my siblings, Yocheved Cohen, Dovid Zeffren, Paltiel Zeffren, Matis Zeffren, Nechama Rosenberg, Miram Zeffren, Avigayil Wolf, and Sara Muller, for the greatest family bond imaginable. Thank you to the boys for saying the usual brotherly things. Thank you, Yocheved, for living the book with me and checking up on my progress with genuine, active delight. Thank you Nechama, Miriam, Avigayil, and Sara, my insightful first editors, for reviewing chapters as soon as I emailed them and sending me exuberant responses along with candid opinions and suggestions.

Thank you to my brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and all my nieces and nephews for being my biggest fans.

Thank you to my big nieces, Yehudis Zeffren and Rivka Zeffren, for your curiosity about the book and your weekly questions and comments.

I want to thank my eleven-year-old niece, Dina Rosenberg. She knows why.

Thank you, Aunt Roz Leffler, for calling me three days before my deadline, two days before my deadline, and on the day of my deadline to wish me luck. What would I do without your support and love!

My most heartfelt gratitude goes to my current employers, Rabbi Michoel and Mrs. Esther Levi, Mrs. Shoshana Herzka, Mrs. Yentee Sonnenschein, Mrs. Bracha Wrona, and Mrs. Miriam Ungar for the years Ive spent teaching in your excellent schools. Thank you to the following colleagues for their contributions to this book: Mrs. Shavey Ephrahti, Ms. Penina Kramer, Mrs. Gitty Pultman, Mrs. Bruria Rubin, Miss Leah Rubin. Your expertise and friendship mean so much to me.

I owe a tremendous gratitude to my friend and sister, Dr. Perella Perlstein. Thank you, Perella, for the research, for your on-target examples, for reading the manuscript and verifying its positive psychological impact. My appreciation to the following principals and deans for their hospitality, warm conversation, and invaluable input: Mrs. Miriam Weiss, Dr. Morgan Koch, Dean Gerard Phillips, Dean Joseph McNight, Dr. George Cantu, Mr. Jeffrey Hinton, Mrs. Dorothy Vaughan.

Thank you, Yocheved Mahana, for your inspiration, tireless cheerful responses, vast research, and meticulous bibliography. I am forever indebted to you. Thank you, Adina Reichman, for the beautiful graphics. Thank you for allowing me to take advantage of your good nature during hectic days. My appreciation to Mrs. Vitty Moskowitz for her help throughout the years with troubleshooting, particularly with this book.

I would like to thank my former students, many of whom I keep up with today, for their camaraderie and reminiscences. Thanks for your contributions to this book.

A special thank you to my current wonderful students in Bais Yaakov Drav Meir and Bnos Yaakov for a remarkable experience this school year. Thank you for listening avidly to all my teaching ideas with feigned or real interest. I marvel at your good nature, talent, and maturity. Often, Ive been humbled by your quest for the truth, the honesty of your opinions. You keep pushing yourselves just a bit harder. I cant feel more privileged to know growing people like you who give their daily work (writing, homework, extra credit assignments, speeches) their all, never entertaining mediocrity.

Many thanks to Andrew Carnegie for establishing the first public libraries across the nation and the world. The Central Library (on Grand Army Plaza) in Brooklyn, New York, provided me with years of successful research in the SST (Society, Science, Technology) division and other departments. Aside from collecting statistical information and data on current issues, browsing through the Brooklyn Collection, Civil War Collection, cartoon books, and new books for inspiration, I have acquired robust ideas for teaching and writing.

Lastly, I would like to thank all readers of Secrets of Great Teachers! As educators, you have the most glorious job in the world. Thank you for your idealism. Thank you for your big heart. Thank you for picking up this book. I hope it makes a difference.

Elisheva Zeffren

I remember a preschool graduation song that had the audience in tears. One of the children stepped up to the microphone and sang, We had so much fun together! Oh, why cant we stay here forever? And then the rest of the children responded in a chorus, Because now weve grown so high, high, high, and its time to say goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!

Children grow up fast these days, faster than ever before. Parents send seven-year-olds to sports camp, sign up nine-year-olds for violin lessons, and stress about finding their children the right college before the kids are wearing braces on their teeth. Each year, parents send their young ones off to school with glossy folders, sharp pencils, healthy snacks, and a blessing, Have a good day! hoping that every school day will build their offsprings skills so that they will eventually emerge from the school system into the world as well-educated, accomplished, independent adults. Parents have grand expectations, and rightfully so. But what kind of education are their children really getting? Is our educational system doing our children justice?

Throughout the ages, a great many scholars have maintained that the school system does not teach or prepare students for the real world. English statesman and author George Savile (16331695) said, Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught. Fast forward a couple centuries, to read renowned American author and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882) state, We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years and come out at last with a bellyful of words & do not know a thing. Skip to the mid1900s and notice how American educator John Gardner (19122002) pretty much echoes the first two men. Much education today is monumentally ineffective, Gardner said. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.