Renovating Dar- Al Hanan Library

One of the closest activities to my heart, one thing that I'll always be proud that I did and that I was a participant in. 
Once Mrs. Hala Hashem came up with an idea of renovating a library, all agreed and the journey of real hard work started. First of all we had to go search for some money, we visited some banks, some people that we knew they would donate money and other big institutions that we thought might help. Actually people we reacting positively and we collected a good number of money.

After that we had to empty the shelves!! The library was a huge one that contained many and lots of books. The number was gross. we emptied the shelves and then we started sorting the books, we divided the books into cycles and we had that part of really bad books; those books were missing some pages or the covers. Others were really of a very high level that shouldn't be found at schools. So we sorted these books into 3 cycles and then appeared a collection of books for the same author so what we had to do id to group them together.  

After that we had to put the books back in their places after the shelves and the tables were changed,and the walls were repainted. We put books of low grades in low positions so kids can reach them and we went up as the level increased. This renovation was done over a period of 1 and a half month of real hard work and perseverance. After this we were rewarded by Mr. Abdulraheem Mourad, he distributed certificates for the participants in the opening ceremony and the library was then named after Joumana Zebian (My her soul rest in peace).  

This experience is one of the closest to my heart. I would repeat it over and over again with no hesitation and with no doubt that we can do it. It feels very nice to see that you are able to do something beneficial to the society especially if it is related to orphans. 

Students now are spending most of their times in the library where they can easily find the book they need and sit in a comfy place to read it. 
Thanks to our instructors who allowed us to experience such a thing and be a part of it. 
Always happy that i belong to this big family, the English department of the LIU. 

Brunch 2015

One of the most heart warming events, Brunch 2015. As almost everyone knows as an undergraduate I've always been a part of all the activities done by the English department. Here is a throw back to one of my favorites.
On such days the English department aims for gathering some money for charity and that usually goess to Dar-Alhanan. All the participants of this day bring a certain type of food and sell it in the university. The food that is usually sold is of all kinds; Lebanese, American, Sweet, Salty and sour. People tend to buy and many invitations are sent to schools so kids from nearby schools can come and buy some of our products.
Another part of this day is the fun part, where I used to be the most active. In this part we used to prepare some fun activities and game like activities for kids who come from different schools. We had the part of face painting where we turned most of the kids into cats :). The other activities were simple but fun and productive. Kids had to play for a certain gift.
Such activities brought us closer to each other, we shared the smiles and the laughs, we learned together the importance of giving and that by making others happy we become happy. 

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars is one book i never feel bored reading it over and over again. The reason I'm writing about this book is that I usually recommend it to anyone who asks me about a book. 

In this story a teenage girl named Hazel who has cancer hated to go to a certain support group, and there she met a very handsome boy Augustus who is a survivor of cancer as well. With time they started to like each other's company and then they fall in love with each other.

 Hazel was in love with a certain book that had no ending, Augustus arranged a meeting with the one who wrote this book so he and Hazel can go and figure out what would happen next in this story. The man who wrote the book disappointed Hazel and they came back to their home town. With time, Augustus health started deteriorating so he wanted Hazel to write him an eulogy and say it for him before his death. Hazel did but the day he died she said totally different words. At the funeral, Hazel saw the writer and she talked to him, she then knew that Augustus had written her something before his death, so she went crazy searching for this thing thinking it was the ending of the book. 

At the end of the story it's shown that the writer of that book was broken and disappointed because his daughter died with cancer. The book ends with an eulogy that Augustus had written for Hazel before his death and that was given to that writer so he ends his books with. 

This book is a well written one. while reading you can sense the love between Hazel and Augusts and you can't but tear down when Hazel says her eulogy for Augustus. The settings in this book are very well described  that in some parts I could smell and see some places.

This book is one of my favorites that I have read three times by now. 

Ice-Breaking Activities

Ice -breaking activities, or ice breakers are on of the most important activities that help teachers get an idea about their students since day one. They are important activities because they help us as teachers to introduce ourselves to students and get to know more about them, especially if they are new to the school or to the class we teach. In addition to that ice breakers give the chance to students to know each others more especially if there are any new students. 

some examples of Ice- Breaking activities and the way they work    M & M's: your students will definitely LOVE this activity. What is better than serving them chocolate since day one!! in this activity you should prepare a poster in which you design a group of questions for each color of the M &M's. Students would pick a random color introduce themselves by mentioning their names, and then he or she would answer the questions related to each color. for example for green you may ask about a time when this student laughed really hard, a birthday gift he/she will never forget.... So each one would talk about a certain point.      

                                                                                              

  The Yarn:     The Yarn is another fun ice breaking activity. In this activity you should ask you students to sit in a circle and then give them a yarn. Tell them that each person of them should ask the other person a question about their lives or about something the'd like to know about each others, then toss the yarn to this person. After this person answers the question, he or she should toss the yarn again and ask the others another question. By the end you'LL end up having a web like the one shown in the picture, this web might resemble the way student should always work AS A UNITED GROUP. 

The hidden Question: 

This activity should be prepared before students come to class, in which the teacher should prepare some question, print them out or write them on strips of papers and then paste them under each student's desk or chair. Once students com to class, the teacher may ask them to briefly introduce themselves and then take the hidden question and read it aloud. Some of these questions might include: When might you slap the door? Tell us a secret only you and your best friend know. Who is the closest family member to you heart? why? 

Bingo: Bingo is the game we played on the very first day of   this course.  It requires students to move around and find people with some interest. The winner is the one who finishes first. This way students get to move around a bit and at the same time know a bit about each other.

Ice breaking activities are real fun activities that help teachers a lot in knowing their students since day one.                              

My Greatest Achievement

My greatest achievement is not getting high marks, not graduating, not being a teacher, not even getting a job. All of these achievements are really minor, my greatest achievement is way bigger than this. It's keeping Shady in his place happy and SILENT :)  

You are probably wondering who shady is right?
well, Shady is the struggle all the teachers lived since kindergarten. Shady can never sit down, copy something from the board or even raise his hand to talk. At the beginning of the school year he drove me crazy, he used to stand up in the class, scream out loud for no reason, push his friends, scratch on others notebooks and say bad words.

For the first week I came home every day much more desperate than the day before, I had to do something about Shady. I ignored him for a session but he kept on screaming and saying bad words, I asked him to stay for the reassess and I talked to him. I asked him if he finds my sessions boring he told me not, then I asked him about the reason that makes him scream and yell he told me he gets bored. I came up with a list of things that Shady and I had to agree on. Whenever Shady is bored I allowed him out for a walk. Shady became my helper, he would put things up on the board, he would bring the tape recorder and distribute anything I need to give to his classmates.

 I started telling shady about the part he would be reading so he can prepare it and about the question he would answer she he can check the answer with me before answering, this way Shady gained more self confidence and he trusted me.  Sometimes Shady would raise his hand to ask a very silly question and all I get to do is to stop whatever I am explaining and answer Shady's question. 

Once he stopped me to ask about my age I told him 23 and then he said how many years do you need to teach before you retire? I stopped and made a calculation on the board and then he was fine and quite for the rest f the period. I really love Shady, and I show him that I do. Now Shady writes, reads and participates in my class but sure without raising his finger ! I'll have to work harder on this. 

Shady is my greatest achievement

Group Work Inside the Classrooms

Group work might be one of the hardest task a teacher can ask her students to do, if the teacher is not aware of the way to start a group work inside the classroom. In this post I'd like to talk about my experience in group work and what helped me make it a successful one. According to me any lesson or activity can be taught in groups.My students usuallyunderstand better when I ask them to work in groups and this always reminds me of  Benjamin Franklin's quote "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn". students work better and give great results when they are involved in the work they are supposed to do. If you stand in front of them for decades and give them they same information, or you asked them to find it out through a group work, they'll perform better in their groups, they'll come to a better result and they'll understand more. Here are some steps to make the group work experience a successful and an enjoyable one:      

• Assign each group members before coming to class and in this avoid best friends and worst enemies in the same group. 

• Explain what you want your students to do before assigning your groups, so students won't waste time gossiping with their group members. 

• Assign the role of each group member so students won't fight for their roles. You know better who should take each part/role according to their different abilities. Of course you wouldn't give a hard part for a low achiever.

• keep track on their work while working, walk among them and ask for any questions and clarification.

• Make sure every person in the group is working, and that they are not throwing their tasks on each others.

• Provide your students with positive feedback and help them feel responsible. 

Group working is really tiring to be prepared and accomplished, but very beneficial for both the teacher and the students, because students understand better when they work.

Teaching Teenagers

I've been teaching grade eight for two consecutive years. It is really tough to deal with group of people aged 13-14. As they see that they started having grown up features, they start ignoring everything related to learning and education.

To them, they are the center of the universe, their long hair means much  more than a math equation, matching with each others in clothes is essential while knowing the simple present tense and its uses is not.

Those people really need a special treatment, I always try to make them feel appreciated and respected, more often than not I give a compliment about a new hair cut, a nice sweater or a new pair of glittery shoes knowing that they really look weird in their different styles.

We might see them tall, huge and fat but in fact they have little minds that need lot's of love and care. they are always anxious to know more. This age group is the one teachers can influence the most, especially if the teacher is a young one that can understands what is going inside their minds.

They ask weird questions, things that you never expect to hear from teens.  "Do you like teaching?" my answer is always " I love teaching". "Do you love you mother?", "Do you love your fiance?" and a student would at the end of each and every session to ask you "Was I good today?" and someone who misbehaved during the session would come to ask you at the door step so nobody would hear him/her "Do you still love me?" "I'll always love you but I dislike the behavior you do"

I wouldn't have loved to teach any other class. I enjoy being in the Four sections, each and every person of them holds a different story and has a different personality that he/she wants to reveal to the world.

My Philosophy of Teaching

Today we lead the classrooms, tomorrow our students will lead the world! to my students I might be regular teacher , but to me they are the knights that will bring the world out of darkness. That is what I truly believe in. All people around the world have the right to learn, and it is the
teachers responsibility to pave the road for them and direct them to achieve their goals and become the leaders of the world. I believe that each and every person can do a change in this world, but it takes a teacher to help students discover who they really are, and what they want to do in this life. Teachers should work on making their students the best "QUALITY" of people, those who know the meaning (NOT THE DEFINITION) of respect, love and passion. 

Students may forget what you teach them, but they will never forget how you made them feel. That I am teaching now, I believe in this more than any time in the past. Our classes should be cozy and lovely atmospheres where each student can blossom and grow, a place where their hard work and inner beauty are highly appreciated. If you want your students to be polite, respectful and honest be a model, ask them to do things in a polite way, respect them and show them that being honest people is the best thing they can come to in their lives. 


If you can't do it, it is because you didn't give the effort needed not because you can't do it. I believe that we should implant this sentence is our students minds, it'll lead them to try over and over knowing that they can do it. We should expect good things from them and show them that we believe in their abilities, so they feel appreciated and gain a high self-esteem.

Motivate them! it is the key for success, it is the way to your students heart and minds. It's the only way to make your students confident to tell and participate, they will always remember that you once motivated them and brought out the best in them. 

To be a teacher is an honor. we should work really hard to deserve being teachers who shape the future and draw an everlasting impact in this world. You may be the only one standing there and trying but for students you are "the one" needed for them. 

Equipping Educators with Effective Violence Prevention and Crisis Response Strategies

The webinar I attended was titled "Equipping Educators With Effective Violence Prevention and Crisis Response Strategies" by  Dr. Amy Klinger who thinks that we need to empower, not intimidate, educators to prevent violence and appropriately respond to crisis events.

The Idea of this webinar emerged after many students shot, and killed many of their friends and instructors in the United states in the school year 2016-2017. Studies done by The Educator’s School Safety Network (ESSN), a national non-profit school safety organization, showed that violent actions happened in high rates in each of the following states; California, Texas, Ohio, New York and New Jersey. For that Dr. Klinger decided that educators should undergo training sessions not only to know how to act in the case of a violent action but also to diagnose the person who is trying to do a violent action before he or she harms others. 

In addition to that she said that it is important that Those educatosr attend sessions of preventing crisis not dealing with them, for the safety of the students. She insisted that we need to avoid the problem  not to find solutions for it .

This webinar wasn't really important because such things rarely happen in our society but it would be beneficial to know that there are training centers for dealing crisis and violent in cases in case we'll have to deal with them in the future. This can be applicable in our schools mainly on preventing bullying and gross misbehaving that sometimes lead to threaten the safety of others.

 People were chatting about different topics that seemed more interesting than the main topic itself, someone mentioned a story of a seven year old girl who was asked by the teacher to change her LED shoes because it wouldn't help her hide in case of a shooting, instead the shooter would spot her easily. I had to attend it because the first webinar I registered in didn't work.  The person who was giving this webinar was very monotonic that for a period of time I felt like listening to a prerecorded audio!

educ560

Educ560

This course is a really nice and interesting one. t seems like it is going to help me in my teaching and educational journey. So far I've learned how to make a test of different types of questions and how to share this test with people. I am really EXCITED to start my blog!

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