New Beginnings

It always amazes me that very close to, or this year coinciding with, the time when the leaves change color, our Jewish calendar starts a new year. Beginnings are good – a clean slate and a new start. A new year offers us an opportunity for changing, for setting priorities, for trying to do things better this time around.

The problem is that we often revert right back to our old ways – over/under-eating, over/under-exercising, watching too much tv, ignoring our promise to ourselves to better balance work, family/friends, and fun. Still, even though we know it will be difficult, we tell ourselves this time will be different and we’ll be more successful!

It’s something we should remember about our students. They, too, want a new start – to shed their old labels, to begin anew and try to do better. This time they will hand in their homework; they will complete projects on time; they will pay attention in class. Even though it’s hard to change, they will attempt to live up to their own promises.

Teachers and students may not have difficulty with the same behaviors. Usually, teachers had positive experiences in school – otherwise why would they choose to spend their working days in schools? So teachers tend to be good readers. We like to learn. We are at least fairly well organized. But these are important school behaviors that many students, especially those with special needs, find difficult. Disorganization is a common issue for students with learning disabilities, AD/HD, or executive functioning issues.

As teachers, we must remember how difficult it is to change one’s behavior. Then we should give our students the positive reinforcement and encouragement they need to change their own behavior. No matter how small a change, it could be first step towards school success.

Structure in Ritual and Special Education

I've been thinking about how teachers handle behavior issues because this semester I’ll be teaching “Behavior Management for the Inclusive Classroom,” at Hebrew College. While I've taught this course before, each time I start to prepare the class, it's a new beginning. I may take out previous notes and PowerPoint presentations, but then there's new research to read, information to add, and ideas to consider. This semester I am adding a focus on Jewish ritual, considering what lessons we can learn from that perspective regarding improving behaviors in the classroom.

Behaviors play an important role in leading a Jewish life and in being a special educator. Looking at life through each of these lenses, we can learn from our Jewish heritage about the importance of structure and routines.

Structure provides security and safety. It is commonly accepted that structure offers a person a set of boundaries within which it is possible to function; without prescribed boundaries a person may be at a loss to know what behaviors are expected and accepted. Judaism provides many opportunities for structure. Judaism provides many ways for structuring our environment. Our Jewish laws and practice suggest (at times fairly strongly) what should and should not be done; often laws outline consequences for non-compliance. These laws and practices provide a structure for how and when to pray, eat, and treat others. While we see differences in practice based on denomination, the basic structure for living a Jewish life remains similar across denominations. Special educators can draw on this perspective in emphasizing the role of structure in providing a safe and secure classroom environment where students can learn.

Judaism also offers routines for people to implement. Preparations for Shabbat and holidays involve cleaning, cooking, lighting candles, washing hands, offering blessings and singing. These routines are examples of specific behaviors that get repeated week after week, year after year. The consistency and repetition of these actions help reinforce the behaviors and support their implementation. There is a midrash (story) that when the angels appear at a Jewish home just prior to Shabbat and see a home clean and ready for Shabbat, the angels say, “it should be just the same next week.” And when they see the next home but it is in disarray, they repeat the same comment. This story holds an important lesson for special educators about how behaviors easily become repeated and habitualized.