Talent Show

Many students have talents but are shy to reveal them in front of the teachers and classmates.Due to this extreme shyness and hiding the inner talent within them , students can destroy their talent and vanish it for good. So as a way to reveal the covered talents , and after the popularity of talents shows in the Arab world, our school decided to make its own talent show .  Very few were courageous enough to come and sign up for the show. Teachers helped the students who signed up their names and parents were invited to come and watch the show. Students revealed their hidden talents like playing on the piano , singing , poetry , magic tricks , acting and others. During the show around three more students asked to present what they have . A young 6 grade girl asked to sing a song . She was nervous at the beginning and her sound wasn't coming out but we asked an elder girl to help her singing and the young girl forgot about her anxiety and started singing. Such activities helps in building a strong character for the students and help them know that their talent is appreciated by their school and teachers. Many students presented poetry written by themselves and presented it in a very beautiful and charming way. The winner of the talent show was a young pianist who actually made all the crowd stand for him and clap . The second place was for a student who made music mix on his laptop in front of the students, and the third place was for a student who wrote a very touching poem about Palestine. This show really helped us as teachers to know what our students are capable of . I hope that all the schools will be able to detect the talents of the students and helps in nourishing them. 
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Breaking the Ice

Breaking the ice between the students and the teachers is a very important aspect in building a good relationship between both. Students come in to school having previous thoughts about the teachers and that might cause some problems in the upcoming school days. Well I came up with an idea to break the ice between the teachers and the students in our school and to build a friendly relationship between them. I realized that most of the teachers and the students at the school love football . So i asked the teachers if they accept to have a football match against the students and they highly welcomed the idea. Each class picks a team and have a day to play a football match against the teachers team, and other students form the audience. Students were practicing and preparing themselves for the game, and joking with the teachers about it. During the match you would hear the students' laughs because they never saw their teacher they way they did before.

When the teachers team needed backup they would call some students from other classes to help them. This activity built a friendly atmosphere in the school and made the students react with the teachers in a totally different way. Both teachers and students loved because it helped both to overcome the ice built between them and get more closer to each other.

Culture Day !

As I mentioned in many other posts before, education should not always be about learning the curriculum. In our school having a new graduated teachers made the experience of learning a better one. As a way to make students more attached to school and having more fun during their learning experiences, teachers and I decided to make a culture day at the school. Students would benefit from it and have fun at the same time . Students were given the guidelines and each class started preparing the materials for the big day . Students were really working hard . In a simple activity like this one students were learning geography - history - presentation skills and social studies as well. Parents were invited to visit the culture day at our school and the students really nailed it . They worked in a very professional way , and worked upon the guidelines given by the teachers. This activity was done last year and we are preparing a new one for this year . Students from the early beginning of the year were demanding to have a culture because they loved it . Students are able to work when we make things fun and interesting for them. I hope that this year's culture day will be a great one as well. Seeing students working hard on it makes me proud of them and makes me have hopes that one day learning can always be fun in students' point of view. 
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A ranking that Lebanese people should be really proud of !

The World Economic Forum’s 2013 Global IT Report, ranked Lebanon in the top 5 countries of the World for Maths and Science education.Out of the 144 countries surveyed, Lebanon came 4th after Singapore, Finland and Belgium. A ranking that Lebanese people should be really proud of !
This made me thought that the curriculum is built up well in mathematics and sciences but then why don't we have students loving these topics? If sciences program is that good why aren't we witnessing new inventions made by Lebanese people?
Why our students are demotivated and don't have the urge to work and explore things ?
Is it that we kill their motivation ? Is it the teachers' fault ? the parents' fault or the government fault ?? 
Don't get me wrong . I am really proud of this finding but it hurts to know that and not seeing any improvement in our youth . I really wish that sciences and mathematics become more fun as much as they are complicated . I'm dreaming of a new Lebanon where students and teachers work to find out new medicine , new theory , or a new invention. 

Application is more affective than lecturing

Throughout the years the teaching and learning process was sadly viewed as a process of lecturing and then having some sort of assessment . Although we have been witnessing various changes and technological advancements in the world , the field of education is still attached to the traditional roots and ways of teaching . Many teachers still enter to the class lecture for 45 minutes , give homework to students and the leave the classroom. The next day they correct it and continue with the same old routine . Having the students be a part of the lesson makes them understand it more and make i more memorable to them. We applied that in a social studies class about elections. The teacher explained what's needed and then she modeled it to them. She brought the election box, the police outfits, names lists, and all the requirements for the elections. She then asked two students to act as the candidates and give a speech to the class. The classroom turned into a small example of election rooms with people responsible for their roles. Students started the election process and the teacher elaborated more on the steps to make sure that the students got it all. Students were really having fun and I am sure that this lesson was one of the most memorable lessons for them because they applied and experienced it. Every teacher should be able to make her students a part of the lesson so that they get more interested and grasp it more.

Education is not only about learning .. it's about caring

As part of the extracurricular activities done in my school , the student council and I decided to give the school a new meaning of caring and empathy. The student council members decided to start helping poor families by giving them specific amount of basic food needed for a family . For about 15 days all the grades in the school started bringing canned food , rice , sugar , salt , milk and other essentials. Student council members pass by the classes everyday and encouraged other students to participate more to make those families happy even for a while . They stayed after school everyday organizing the coming amounts of food . I was really impressed by their dedication to this cause . They were working having a smile on their faces and not a single one nagged about it . Students from outside the students council asked to help in organizing the work as well. At the end of the 15 days the students managed to prepare boxes for around 85 families. Students then divided themselves and went to each village and asked officials to get lists of families in need. They took a look on the size of the family and their situation as well. They started the give away by giving the 1st box to the school workers. Then the students and I went at night to the homes of the people knocked the doors and gave them the boxes. I can still remember the families smiles and the students smiles as well. One student started crying when seeing one old lady thanking him. I believe that all schools must try doing something like that . It plants passionate personalities in the souls of the students, and makes them interact with the world around them and see what's going on. Most of the students were shocked when we entered some of the houses and saw the deteriorating situation of some of the families. I call this event a very successful one because it achieved it's goal : putting a smile on a face of 85 families. Students really loved this activity and asked to make it an annual one. At the end this is what education is all about ; building a good character in the students. 

Just dreaming of a new Arab world

إذا لم يكن لديك الخيول فكيف ستفوز في المسابقات معناها : إذا لم تمتلك الأمة أصحاب المواهب والمبدعين فكيف ستتقدم في التنافس العالمي

A very interesting quote taken from Dr. Tarek Suwaidan. 

This quote hits deep hard on the Arab world's reality . Arabs used to be the leaders of the world for centuries and others used to learn from us. Unfortunately Arabs did not raise again while other countries and societies raised by the help of the inventions and findings done by the Arabs. I believe that the Arab world is not raising again because people didn't focus on the roots of the society anymore. In my opinion education is the solid base for every revolution because schools are what give the world talented and well motivated citizens that are eager to the change the current situation in the Arab world. Our school systems are the ones to be blames for not being able to point out the talented people , not being able to help them improve and demotivating them . I believe if schools started to focus again on motivating the students to work, explore and invent our Arab world will raise again . We as teachers should build the students ' personalities on the love of knowledge and invention . Motivate students so that they can become the future Eben Sina and Khawarizmi of the Arab world ! Don't you miss having Arabs to be standing still again ? Personally i'm sick of seeing the Arab world played by outsiders !