R Josh Grajower

Gemara 5774/2013-2014

Gemara Syllabus
Welcome to Gemara class! This year will be learning . Our main focus will be on ( topics) from .-. . Some major topics that we will cover are: Topics within o Womens (lack of) obligation o Fathers obligation to teach his son o The exact obligation of a man to learn Torah Different people one has to respect o Parents o Elders o Rabbis

My Contact Information: E-mail: RJG@wyhs.net Home Phone: (561) 756-7791 (IMPORTANT NOTE: Please feel free to e-mail me at any time. However, if you email me after 9pm do not expect a response before the morning.) Learning Expectations and Goals: 1. To master the content learned throughout the year 2. To deepen our appreciation for the process of learning Gemara. 3. To develop our critical thinking skills and our ability to learn independently. 4. the same way how in English we would be able to make sense of sentences and paragraphs even if they did not have periods or commas or any other way of letting us know when once sentence began and the other ended by the end of the year it is my hope that each and every one of you will become more comfortable with the text of the gemara and how it flows from one sentence to the other and switches topics even though there are no periods or commas or new paragraphs I know this seems like a large impossible goal but by mastering a few pages of the gemara I think you will all realize it is within each and every one of your grasps I am excited to work towards this goal together it might get a little difficult and dare I say boring at times but the end goal I believe will be well worth it we will challenge each other and

R Josh Grajower

Gemara 5774/2013-2014

impress ourselves by how much we can accomplish I am having fun writing this so I do not really want to stop as a teacher though I must be disciplined and end it here so we can get on with things Classroom Rules: 1. When one of us is talking everyone is listening a. Track me 2. Students may use the bathroom without asking for permission. Students may not be out for more than 5 minutes at a time. (If a student abuses this privilege they will be warned. If it happens again, the student will lose this privilege.) 3. No eating during class. Drinking is permissible. The official judgment on apple sauce is pending a Supreme Court ruling. 4. No cellphones during class unless explicit permission has been granted by the teacher for the lesson. a. For disciplinary actions please refer to the student handbook Assessments:

Formative Assessments

These are assessments done during the learning process. The goal of these assessments is to give feedback to both the student and the teacher in order to improve learning (e.g. an exit card). These are never graded.

Summative Assessments 1. A significant portion of your grade will be based on class participation.
2. Throughout the year there will be many assessments of your knowledge (e.g. projects, presentations); however, there will be no tests. 3. One major form of assessment will be reaction papers. These will be one page papers that you will have to do throughout the year reacting to one thing we learned that was of particular interest to you. It can be a discussion, source, video etc. The idea is for you to be able to express how you feel about something specific you read or heard. The paper should be personal. (More details to follow)

Class Core Values:

R Josh Grajower

Gemara 5774/2013-2014

1. Humility and being open-minded 2. Learning for the sake of learning 3. Active engagement in the learning process 4. Respect for teacher, peers, subject and the
learning environment