Coverage: Whose Fault??

We keep nagging about the crammed curriculum, and how it obliges us to cover and cover and move on.

But is it actually the curriculum’s fault on? Should we surrender and move on?

In fact, we all keep boasting about this concept: avoiding coverage, but we ourselves take no real action. I don’t think it’s the curriculum’s fault; it’s ours. Guess why? In most schools, things are flexible, and all the matter needs is some awareness to explain the point to the admin and the coordinators.

A good example that actually drove me mad is the case of a grade seven English teacher who insists that she finishes the whole book and all the themes. However, especially in languages, I would go for omitting a theme or two and work more efficiently with the other themes, as long as I tackle all the required skills and make sure the students have mastered them.

This teacher is over obsessed with covering all the material, whether students are benefiting or not. Be it consciously or not, she uses drilling and memorizing sets of rules and vocabularies to make sure students “know”. Students, on the other hand, are always complaining about the English sessions!!!

I believe our role, as education students, is immense. This teacher might be unaware of what her practices reflect or lead to, but WE have no excuseJ!!

WANTED: English Sessions!!!

A couple of days ago, some public secondary students were complaining about something that has been recurring for a while: all teachers feel free to investigate the English sessions. I remembered that my class suffered the same problem when we were at a private secondary school.

In fact, this seems to be a general belief: you can always “use” the English session! The major excuse is that the curriculum considers languages as minor subjects for the secondary school. Yet, the investigation was contagious for the Arabic teacher too!

Well, I don’t know where the gap is. This problem exists in both kinds of schools, and it has been there for many years.  

It’s a problem because even the students are sensing it. One teacher told them, “I’ll use the English session to do the exam; I NEED my own sessions!” The students said, “We NEED the English sessions!” The teacher answered, "This is MY work!!"

I think we need to have a better insight into this.

What is a TEACHER?

In fact, I came to believe that a teacher is a “properly psychologically –developed” human. Else, it’s total injustice to proceed with this mission!

Why would I say so? Well, many times, teachers are recruited for their degrees. But degrees don’t make the whole formula. Some psychological characteristics need to be well founded within the teacher to make sure they’d be “well behaving”.

First, the teacher needs a true will, through which they’d be insistent to solve any kind of problem they or their students face. Second positivity comes. In fact, there is always something positive about every student, and all the teacher has to do is to carefully look for it. Being positive is a key to success, in everything.

Third, the teacher has to have love as the dynamo of their actions, love of life and love of the word “student”. As a raiser of lives, the child needs to have passion for life, believing that life always deserves to be loved, at least for the sale of those whom they’re raising.

Fourth, the teacher needs to be in love with order. I feel this is basic, for the sake of survival, of both the classroom and the teacher themselves. Organization and over preparation are the major two keys that work out with the door of success. The teacher needs to be highly prepared for the real time he/she has for investigation in class. This time is minimal, about 20 minutes out of 50 are the ones really implemented. Besides, things might go out of control anytime. As we have learned, conflicts arise when students are not busy fulfilling a task, so good preparation and organization would lead to a successful session.

What other characteristics would you add to these?

Patience and Care!

Sometimes, all we have to do is look into our students. It's amazing what we'll see!

Last semester, I was attending a grade seven, to do some observation and conduct an action research. The teacher I was working with, Mrs. Hanan, is very caring. She would try her best to match the needs of every student of hers; I am talking more of psychological and physiological ones here, more than linguistic needs.

One special student was a physically challenged one. She had one leg shorter than the other, with a slow pace in moving around, talking, reading, or writing.
If you focus, you can discover an implicit feature about this girl’s behavior. The girl seems to have some kind of slowness in her ability to express herself, whether verbally or nonverbally, rather than slowness in processing info. With careful observation, the girl seemed to be able to directly understand discussions, instructions, explanations, and questions. However, when she came to the phase of expressing her points, which seem to be clearly formulated and structured in her mind, she would go slow.

This was highly respected and adapted to by Mrs. Hanan.  She was given enough time to prepare and present, and even to answer.

A simple answer would take her double or triple the time, but Mrs. Hanan was all time motivating her, mainly nonverbally. The girl was really relaxed, and seemed comfortable and normally participating like all classmates.
The girl’s achievement is good, much better than many of her classmates. Even in the cooperative learning activity I did in their class, she was interacting all the time, although calmly.

What Mrs. Hanan has initiated, the mood of patience and caring, was reflected in the other students’ interaction with the girl. They would wait for her to finis and like to engage her in the group task they did.

Parents' Meetings: When?

    I've always thought about a real engagement of parents in school activities, practices, and school life in general.
Is there something more efficient for our students in our context than what is actually done?

I must admit that most of what is done at schools under “parents’ meetings” is mere boastfulness. Yes, they are conducted, but how efficient can they be, the way they are conducted??

I've always thought about introducing something new to our schools: a teacher-parent meeting at the very beginning of the scholastic year. As what we study at our faculty, in both graduate and undergraduate curricula, is new somehow to both parents and educators at our regions, we actually need such kind of meetings. Then, we would introduce different things to parents: modes of conduct, strategies used, how they can help us in tutoring their kids, social skills to be mastered and how, and many other things. By doing this, respectfully, parents would really feel they can effective players in the game of educating their children. This way, I believe a large portion of parents will be positively affected and motivated to give more care to their role and its efficiency, especially if things were presented in a positive, pleasant way.

Then, the cooperation in actions, directions, and beliefs will drive students to feel some conformity in their surrounding, wherever they are.

Gradually, follow up meetings are to be conducted, and things would develop throughout the year, along with matching individual needs with parents.

Little by little, a real change can be affected in society, via efficient teacher-parent meetings.  

By Us: How Much Change is Feasible?

     I didn't go "actually" into the teaching domain, and my real experience is restricted to about a month and a half, but I was actually able to sense this difficult atmosphere  at schools, one of dominance and sacred rules. For the school I taught in, this aspect was positive in many cases, as it is a deep-rooted one. However, things might not always suit what you studied, practiced, and are convinced with.

Things at school, I 'm alwas worried, might not be as rosy as they seem to be. We keep thinking about our strong will of making real advancements in our surrounding and educational system, but in reality it will be a huge struggle to win, I'm afraid.

The problem is that the majority of teachers go into the domain without getting any education at an education faculty. Here, problems might arise due to the conflict between the traditional methods they are used to and apply, and the more advanced methods that we, education students, have learned and advocate.
When I say "method", it' not only instructional ones, but those of conduct and classroom practices and management strategies.

Yes, you need to have elevated morale and enthusiasm, and I don't want to be misunderstood as having a negative attitude. But as I have not much or signficant experience, I'd like to know more about the situation on the ground.

What do you think guys? Is required  change really feasible? Which is  much more likely to appear and spread: conflicts or compromises??

Hey everyone, how do you relate this to students and classroom practices?

             Hey, check this! I know that lots of talk is boring, but, for this post, it's not!! check it, and I'm waiting for your refelections.

You know something? One lovely thing about the webinars we attended is that they keep sending you invitations, updates, and interesting news and notifications. This is one thing I received in one of the emails a few days ago: a brief video about emotions. This is the link; please check it: http://www.6seconds.org/2013/04/10/three-essential-facts-about-feelings/

It is really intersting! 90 seconds only!

A coincidence was that I read a similar article on LinkedIn.

“For example, there’s the avoidant mode, where we try to distance ourselves from feelings and people; the anxious mode, where we over-worry our relationships – and the secure mode, where we can take in emotions with calm, feel secure in ourselves and are able to take smart risks, and can focus in ways that help us be at our best.”

This is an excerpt of the article on Modes, entitled “It’s Modes, Not Personality Traits”. This article explains how the human mind is some kind of elastic. That is, things are not about a fixed ’personality mode’ for each of us; rather, our ‘modes’ might change as the circumstances we are put in change. The more helpful and inviting the environment is, the more positive our emotions, and consequently our interactions, are.

Here's the link if you'd like to read the aticle; it's not long either. http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130415121533-117825785-it-s-modes-not-personality-traits

After checking this interesting info, which the article proves through studies, how would you relate to a classroom's practices?

Many things came to my mind, but I would like to hear from you!

Before you launch: beware of the lunch!

My practical teaching experience was for one single month, last September; I was a substitutor for a teacher who had her maternity leave. However, although it was a KG1 and their first month at school ever, and although I faced many difficulties training them to be disciplined, one single thing is stuck in my mind as a negative experience: the teachers' lunch!

In fact, it was a real calamity, gossiping and nagging all day long.

Just like all careers, you have your duties and responsibilities. These one is aware of before they launch into the domain. So, you are prepared to face all this, and you know how much is required of you, especially when you are a teacher. Why keep nagging then?!

One might say it’s because we don’t receive what we deserve. I agree, but even THIS you knew before you went in!!!

Another thing is that whenever a teacher does something new, something different, something refreshing and engaging for students, others won’t like it! Yes, it might be the case everywhere especially that our world is turning more and more towards individualism and sticking to it. Yet, schools should not be prone to such a disease (I call it so because I believe it IS!); they are the place where personalities, lives, and nations are founded!

And not to forget the ‘eternal’ side talks! One might say it’s impossible to avoid those, but we NEED to learn how to control our conduct!

Yes, we are humans, we get tired and many times exhausted, and we need to refresh and have some fun throughout a long day of work, but as teachers, these should reflect our morals and superior conduct.

So, for old teachers: try to make a difference. For new ones, be prepared for the lunchJ !

Do we only preach when we teach?

I always say that what is special about teachers is that they deal with minds, souls, and hearts. No other "job" or profession does.  You'd say a psychotherapist, but I say it's not the same way. They treat. We found!







Being teachers, we NEED to play the most important role in founding human beings. I might be exaggerating for some, but this is simply: the truth!
Teachers, I believe, share their mission with prophets. We train them for life, as our real mission is in affecting a real change in building their characters. When we studied about Idealism, I thought they were exaggearting in some areas, but I totally agree with them in the point of having "character development" as one of education's aims. In fact, we owe this to our learners. We can't just keep complainig about children's misbehavior and lack of manners. It's our role not their fault. All it takes is patience.

In fact, we do need to take another thing from idealists: a teacher is a role model. We need to be a live example out there. Take cartoons for example. Kids tend to display an immediate imitation when they watch them. See, it's so practical. When we regularly display what we want them to engrave and adopt, they will unconsciously do.

As teachers, what we do is never related to us solely. Our lives are always and eternally connected to our offsprings; we have to be really ware of what we say, do, or imply. It is our duty; we owe them our honest manners.

Is the Most Powerful the Best To Do It All?

    We keep wondering: why our children disobey us, why they bare no respect to others, why they carry no responsibility towards themselves at least, why they are technology and computer addicts, and why they don't care... We keep asking why they are totally different from their ancestors!!
But have we ever figured out the real answer?

     In fact, these wonders have waked up in my mind after a discussion we had had in the Philosophy of Education course. We were arguing: what social institution plays the biggest role in our children’s education nowadays?

     We mentioned four main social institutions: family, media, school, peers, and religious institutions. We had to arrange them in the order of which influences the children’s education these days. In fact, we had different argument and different points of view.

     I myself have come up with the following conclusion: media is controlling our children’s education, especially the moral aspect of it. Our children’s values, beliefs and behavior is completely influenced and controlled by the different aspects of media they encounter on a daily basis.
Parents’ role is somehow diminishing, and they are more and more busy. They tend to express trust in their kids, and that’s the end of the matter for them.  Religious schools’ role is extremely minimal in our days. Schools, I believe, for one reason or another, are failing to play an efficient role.
Peers are actually being exposed to the same media, sharing more and more ideas and experiences.
Too many are the hours that children spend with media daily. They exceed the time spent with parents, doubled and tripled.

   This puts a huge responsibility on our side: how can we, teachers and parent, ace this dilemma? Should we try to ban, control, regulate, investigate, or implement media’s influence?
     Whatever we take, we have to be ware: media in fact IS controlling our kids’ future, so the action we take now is fateful and critical!

Would All Your Days Be Enough?

Today, humanity celebrates "Mothers' Day". Today, people buy gifts and prepare nice warm words to deliver. Today, children are more disciplined. Today everyone is kind to mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and wives.

But is one day ever enough?

This female has been a totally different thing before her fetus sprouted in her guts, but this enormous event has turned her whole existence upside down.

She used to sleep whenever she wanted, wake up whenever she felt like it, went out having fun everytime she wanted to...

She used to take good care of her health and beauty: her hair, teeth, and nails; her clothes and fashion; and her elegance all the time..

She used to spend her day laying down, watching tv, going out with friends, doing shopping...

She used to stay up late to watch a movie, and then sleep till noon the next day..

She used to eat what she liked...

In brief: she used to live the way she wanted!

Then, suddenly, she heard that announcement that changed all her life forever: "Congrats! You are a MOTHER!"
Yup this one sentence was enough to create a complete revolution in her life. From now on, she consists of  two "humans": she has split into two. But  what one of the two needs is always the priority. However, the paradox is that this priority will always destroy the other half to the same extent that it will refresh it!!

One moan will be enough to make her jump to her feet late at night, just to stick the other half to the first. Then, the warm breaths of each part will bring peace to the other, and both will fall into deep, cozy sleep!

One cry will bring her, running and out of breath, from the other end of the world, to change the other half's "dirt" (if you know what I mean :) )! And, she will do it willingly; in fact, she will be cheerfully singing then!

On this day, let's all remember how much that great woman has done to us... She's.. She's... Well.. No word can ever describe her....

Yes, we do celebrate this day, with cakes and gifts and hugs and smiles...

But let us all keep this amiability for the other 364 days, keep the values she had perished herself to raise in us, always remember " أمّك, أمّك, أمّك" and always say, "ربّ ارحمهما كما ربّياني صغيرا"...

 For sure, everyone of us has one mother in their lives, be her a mom, a sister, a grandma, an aunt, a wife... So let's promise to be there for them, forever and always..

And:

 

To all unselfish moms out there, who traded: Eyeliner to dark circles.. Salon haircuts to ponytails.. Long baths for quick showers.. Late nights for early mornings.. Design bags for diaper bags.. And wouldn’t change a thing… Happy Mothers’ Day

What about the Teacher?

Why Life-Long??

Well, I have witnessed too many teachers, throughout my learning experience as a school pupil and as a student-teacher, who are stuck to their pactices and points of view. This is actually fatal for the real learning and understanding of their students!

We have been learning so long about matching students' needs, learning styles, and multiple intelligences. We have as well been enlightened about matching our practices (techniques, strategies, activities, methods...) to our curriculum. And, no real, knowledgeable educator can actually deny the fandamentality of this matching and its great impact on the success of any lesson and its achievement of the real goal of education: ENDURING UNDERSTANDING!
However, with many of the teachers and educators, this is not the case. Traditional method are sticked to, whether they are of a real help or not! This is the core, unfortunately of many problems in classrooms.

Not to forget, in a continuously, constantly changing world, a teacher should be always learning. That is, changes are influencing all social groups and affecting everyone. And as our students are exposed to new knowledge and info continuously, we've got to be constantly learning, to survive the flow and fulfill the mission!