Alfie Kohn quotes ME in his new book!

[boongirl]

I just started reading his new book, The Homework Myth, and I am quoted in it! I won't say exactly where but I will say that it just my experience teaching and trying to do less homework. I have only read a bit of it but it is a good book.

[Mirzam]

Wow, I might just have to get the book now!

[Ruthla]

Were you quoted in a letter you wrote to him or something you posted online?

[boongirl]

I was quoted from an email letter I wrote to him about his (then) upcoming book. He solicited comments from teachers and parents. He liked what I had to say and asked if he could quote me in the book. I wrote a long email to him but he only quoted me on how whenever I tried to give less homework or shorter, more meaningful homework assignments in my classrooms, there were always parents who got on my case about how I was not preparing their children for future school years, that they were getting shortchanged somehow when they did not have a ton of homework in 5th grade.

[mamaverdi]

This is shamelessly OT: So is he Jewish?

[boongirl]

I am not sure. Why do you ask?

[mamaverdi]

It came up in a thread on religious studies. He cites some things about religion in a book, includes Judaism, but really doesn't seem to know too much about Jewish teaching. So we were "discussing" whether he was Jewish or not.

Evidently his website says: Knowing too much about him would take away from his message.

So, though, I want to know. Cuz if he is, it takes away from his message to me since he hasn't very thoroughly learned about his own religion. If he's not, well , a lot of people don't know much about Judaism.

Maybe I should just email him.

[boongirl]

Are you implying that if he is Jewish but does not know much about it then he could possibly be equally poorly educated on other issues? I am not sure how one could make a connection like that. It is possible to be an expert in one area and still not know a lot in a whole of other areas. No one is an expert in every area.

But, isn't being Jewish a matter of birth? Technically, he could be Jewish but not know much about it if he had not spent time immersed in the religion. My dh is technically Catholic but don't ask him anything specific. He stopped listening to sermons back in elementary school and stopped going to church in middle school. He is as much an agnostic as I but he is still Catholic since he was baptized.

[mamaverdi]

I was not intending to imply that. I was saying that he doesn't seem to know much about Judaism based on his comments, but does seem to be, from what I can tell, Jewish. Sooo...it left me wondering why he would even include Judaism in the comments he made in the book at all. Sort of like throwing in Hinduism when it's completely irrelevant. I wonder why he did that. I wonder whether or not it's an educated or uneducated opinion he holds about certain religions. Tis all. Sorry to derail.

[boongirl]

Hmmm...I will try to spend less time at MDC and more time reading new book. Then, I will come back and comment.

[flyingspaghettimama]

Hey, I just found this post - cool! Are you the "teacher from Washington State" he refers to a few times? I kept reading that and wondering, "hmm, I wonder which classroom she's in...and how I can get my daughter in there..."

OT: Alfie Kohn is totally Jewish. He just is. Which book specifically has the questionable comments?

[boongirl]

: I have not read enough to have seen that in print a few times. Do you know page #s? I will read more tonite, I promise, and post again tomorrow.

No, there is just one from me. The other teacher in WA is also a Kathy! I guess one can conclude a correlational relationship between Kathy's who hate homework and Alfie Kohn. Or, do we love Alfie Kohn because we hate homework?