Copyright (c) 2009 Boston College All rights reserved. http://escholarship.bc.edu Recent documents in eScholarship at Boston College en-us Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:48:17 PST 3600 http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol5/iss6/art2 http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol5/iss6/art2 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:44:38 PST This article describes a lesson plan model that applies principles of universal design for learning (UDL) and multisensory learning centers to the framework of a traditional direct instruction spelling lesson for elementary students with learning, social, and attention problems. It reviews essential components of UDL and demonstrates how to incorporate multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression with elements of direct instruction. In a pilot project, a traditional lesson plan for teaching high frequency spelling words is expanded to account for student characteristics, their potential academic barriers to learning, and includes appropriate UDL supports for each. Three multisensory centers used during independent practice to activate auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, and visual senses and provide multiple opportunities for student access and participation are described. Step-by-step procedures for making and using whisper phones, sand trays, and magnet letter centers are presented. Also included are directions for students, a teacher checklist, and a video clip demonstration of each center. Debbie Metcalf MAED http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol4/iss1/28 http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol4/iss1/28 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:25:45 PDT This article is the first to examine the messianic Jewish movement, or Jesus-believing Jews, in Australia. It focuses on the Celebrate Messiah organization and its transplanted messianic congregation Beit Hamashiach in Melbourne, Australia. Discussed are Celebrate Messiah's efforts in spreading its message among the Jewish people, and its strained relationship with the local Jewish community. In addition, the essay offers a wide-ranging mapping of the historical emergence of Messianic Judaism, its basic tenets, growth in Israel, as well as the attendant controversy it has generated. Dvir Abramovich http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol4/iss1/27 http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol4/iss1/27 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:25:44 PDT Painter Marc Chagall and sculptor Jacob Epstein, both of whom were from orthodox Jewish backgrounds, each created a number of works of Christ. Although in Epstein's case, and only later in his career, some of these works were commissioned, both Chagall's and Epstein's works of Christ were self-driven. Chagall described himself as having been "haunted" by the face of Christ in his early years and his several crucifixion paintings were of a Jesus who was not the Christ of Christian dogma, but a "Jewish Jesus" who summed up the suffering of the Jewish people. Epstein similarly created a Christ that was beyond the conventions of the time, through his predilection for using primitive forms in his work. During his life-time, many of Epstein's Christs were met with resistance, but the more visionary critics understood the importance of his work in freeing the image of Christ from the matrix of convention and opening new possibilities of theological perception and understanding.The work of both Chagall and Epstein, who were contemporaries, is examined in relation to Jewish modernism, a movement ongoing in their formative years and before, in which Jewish intellectuals, writers and artists were engaged in efforts to work-out the relationship of Judaism to Jesus and the surrounding Christian world. The atrocities of the Holocaust effectively ended this dialogue. The potential contributions of the thought and creative works of this pre-World War II interreligious interchange to contemporary Jewish-Christian dialogue are discussed. Marina S. Hayman http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol4/iss1/26 http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol4/iss1/26 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:25:43 PDT Eugene J. Fisher http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol4/iss1/25 http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol4/iss1/25 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:25:42 PDT The crucible of the Holocaust distilled Judaism to its essence. The conception of sacred death which emerged included the elements of Akedah, physical suffering, love between God and man, and crucifixion. These elements were identified with sacred death by the Church Fathers during Christianity's formative martyrdom-period. But they were already present in Judaism and continued to be so into the modern era. The sacred death of the Holocaust is a source for intimate bonding between Judaism and Christianity, as proposed by Marcel Dubois, Franklin Sherman and Clemens Thoma. Nor does the bonding deplete the respective identities (for Judaism, the national suffering which redeemed the world, for Christianity the mystery of Christ's crucifixion which transfigured suffering and death into a crucible of resurrection) - as Juergen Moltman implies (according to Gregory Baum). The bonding also sets aside grounds for conversion to Christianity. Gershon Greenberg http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol4/iss1/24 http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol4/iss1/24 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:25:41 PDT In the wake of recent tensions in Catholic Jewish relations in the United States, this article examines the implementation of the Second Vatican Council's decision "to evaluate and define in a new way the relationship between the Church and the faith of Israel," as Pope Benedict XVI has described it. Official documents of the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and a body of papal teachings put forth by Pope John Paul have authoritatively delineated the direction according to which the Council is to be interpreted and put into practice. This trajectory of implementation has begun to articulate what could be called a "theology of shalom" concerning the Catholic Church's relationship to Judaism and the Jewish people, which includes a respect for Judaism's continuing covenantal life with God and a commitment to interreligious dialogue for the purpose of mutual understanding. However, this post-conciliar trajectory is challenged by Catholics who fear that the universal salvific mediation of Christ is being threatened. Advancing theological concepts that express a sort of "neo-supersessionist" devaluation of Judaism, these critiques necessarily disregard relevant papal and Vatican teaching. The article ends with an examination of the magisterial weight of the conciliar and post-conciliar implementing documents, concluding that their clear direction must be followed. As John Paul II declared, "It is only a question of studying them carefully, of immersing oneself in their teachings and of putting them into practice." Philip A. Cunningham http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol5/iss6/art1 http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol5/iss6/art1 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:52:45 PDT This case study of a preschool boy with Asperger's syndrome focuses on the use of video instruction for the purpose of teaching skills required for participation in classroom activities. After the classroom teacher identified four skill areas needing improvement (circle time, sharing, choosing centers, and singing), short video clips of instructions and role plays were created using a digital camera. The clips were viewed by the subject on a daily basis for eight weeks prior to selected activities. To document the effect of using the video instruction, observation notes were collected and a teacher survey was completed. Information gleaned from the observations and the survey revealed that the student responded positively to the video instruction, increasing the variety of activities he participated in. Susan Crandell http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol5/iss6/art5 http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol5/iss6/art5 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:47 PDT This article describes a sixteen-week, read-aloud intervention conducted using culturally and experientially relevant literature with 6 urban middle school youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), to facilitate prosocial skill development through opportunities for personal reflection and sharing through the use of journaling and group discussions. Key elements of this daily read aloud time included the selection and read aloud of experientially-relevant literature reflecting the lives of the students in the classroom, as well as group discussions and individual journaling related to the story content. Findings from the study indicated that through this intervention, 1) students identified with story main characters and saw them as role models for prosocial choice making in interactions with others; and 2) through opportunities for reflection on story events similar to their lives, students gained insight into pivotal events shaping their own inappropriate behavioral choices, and shared them with the teacher, who was then able to shape more effective functional behavior interventions. Findings provide the context for suggested practices. Claire E. Verden http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol5/iss6/art4 http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol5/iss6/art4 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:44 PDT When children of diverse disabilities and students with ELL rulings are included in traditional classrooms, regular education teachers face a dilemma: How to teach the standard curriculum and teach the new inclusion students? How do they teach students with different heritages and linguistic backgrounds? Differentiated Instruction (DI) is content, process, and product related to student learning. DI can be implemented through Retrofitting the curriculum or Universally Designing the curriculum for learning. This article operationalizes the terminology related to DI, Retrofit Framework, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). A student vignette contrasts how the elements of Retrofit verses UDL come to life in the teaching-learning process. After reading the vignettes, the reader will determine which pathway could lead to more positive learning environment for learners with and without exceptionalities. Barbara "Pokey" Stanford http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol5/iss6/art3 http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol5/iss6/art3 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:37 PDT The urban inclusive high school classroom is a challenge for both students with disabilities and their teachers. Pressure is intensified when a year long course of study ends in a mandated state examination in English Language Arts, required for student graduation. This article highlights the experiences of two teachers in a New York City inclusive high school serving a very diverse student body. Both teachers work collaboratively with special educators and share ways in which they successfully engage all of their students in a multicultural curriculum featuring both traditional and "modern classic" texts. Three important inter-connected topics addressed include: (1) discussing examples of classic traditional and multicultural literature; (2) creatively teaching classic literature to stimulate student engagement and original thinking; and, (3) using student knowledge about classic literature to teach sub-skills necessary for writing a strong essay that will serve them well for the state mandated exam, and ultimately, in college. David J. Connor