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. 
Enjoy the pictures and give me your opinion !

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 !

Libraries are no longer about books

I just received my LAU monthly magazine .. Skimming through the various articles one of them got my attention .. The title is " It's not just about books anymore .. LAU Libraries evolve as dynamic centers for online resources and social activity". Indeed .. Libraries and schools of education are becoming more advanced and thus more revolving around technological advancements . Books can be downloaded via internet no need to buy a book and hold it with you .. you can simply download it on your smart phone or ipad . Libraries don't use anymore the old index cards to search for a book .. you can just look throughout the system provided by the library itself . No more wasting your time looking for a specific book . Your book is just one click away. Libraries now are competing to have the best online databases. The library becomes more important and more popular if it provides the readers with accurate and feasible online information. It crossed my mind whether my kids and the next generations will be able to hold a book or how to handle a book. Many are emphasizing the role of technology in education but is it right to start putting books aside and focus on technological devices ?

Crazy Hat Day

Throughout the years we have noticed that students are becoming demotivated when it comes to school. They would rather stay at home and  not attending school. So at the school the teachers and I decided to make the school a more interesting and fun place for students so that they will come motivated to school and thus affecting their personalities and behaviors.
We then created a "crazy hat day". Students use their creativity to create a hat and come to school wearing it and then the most creative one wins. Students from all over the school came for days wearing these hand made hats Parents started calling asking us to extend the days for this activity because their children finally wake up by themselves to school. I think that every school should implement such activity that encourages the students' motivation and creativity

Social Media Era

Social media is becoming a very important aspect around the world. Almost everyone has a Facebook account ,a twitter account, live space and many other accounts. These social media sites made the people captivated with their mobile's and computer's screens. Even celebrities are now relying on such websites to gain more and more popularity . Justin Bieber is an effective example of that . Regardless of the fact whether we like him or not but this guy reached popularity through YouTube . Popularity is no longer a hard thing to achieve it's only one click away. Many people opposed the revolution of the social media sites and looked at its drawbacks only. Well I think that sites that can bring people together like that and that can grasp people's attention for a long time can be used in a way or another to regain the students' attachment to school and education. It is time for us to manipulate what we have and take a deeper look. Look across the limited minds we have and disregard the commonly known disadvantages and start to get these sites into our sides. Humans created these sites and they can decide how to use it whether effectively or not .. I say start using social media sites to regain students' love to school and learning .. Use them to motivate students ! we are in a new era .. the social media era and we (as teachers) should take advantage of that.

Robo-builders presentation

The presentation done by Robo-builders is now on youtube .. 
Check it out and give me your feedback 
thank you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDx-BY5OLeM

Lebanese teams in FLL competition

Lebanon teams gained SEVEN awards after their participation in 6th Arab Robotics Competition - البطولة العربية المفتوحة السادسة للروبوت-
 

Dawn Of Innovation  (Iman Schoold - Sidon) is the champion runner-up and gained the Missions rank 1

Fast and Curious (Arz School) gained the third position in the competition 

Tic Tac Toe Lebanon (Hasan Kasir High School) won the Project Award for the second year in a row

Sabeel Al Rashad School team "RoboBuilders" won the Presentation Award
TechnoFuture Lebanon team "Roboticians" won the Inspiration Award.
 

This shows that Lebanon is on the right track to change the world of education from a traditional one to a world full of technological advancements. Special thanks to Mr. Ghazi Mtaweh who introduced the FIRST Lego League contest to the Lebanese society.  

Robo- Builders : The story of winning

The team Robo-Builders won the Arab Champions award on the presentation they gave. In order to win this award the referees look at these specific points : Problem Identification - Sources of information - Problem Analysis- Review of existing solutions - team solution including (innovation -implementation & understanding) - Sharing (with multiple individuals\ groups & professionals) - creativity and presentation effectiveness. The team decided to make the presentation as a small sketch of "the doctors" show . They entered all wearing doctors' outfits along with the music of the doctors show. They then acted receiving a skype call asking about the problem pressure sores . The doctors gave a detailed definition of it and showed a video to illustrate more and used various visual aids to keep the judges attentive. When they finished their presentation the doctors were supposed to ask questions for only 5 minutes but with our team they took 12 minutes . The students were able to answer all the questions and prove for them that they worked hard and understand every single word of it. The judges then stood up for them and gave them a heavy clap . On the day of the results the judges had to pick 4 teams for a call back so that they present it in front of all the judges and teams and we were shocked that our team wasn't called . The team members were disappointed especially after they saw the low average of the teams chosen for the call back . We fought with the organizers issued a complain and no response was given for us. Other teams collaborated with us and issued complains as well a Saudi team quit the tournament - the Jordanian team sent their ministry representative to calm us down and all the Lebanese team supported us. When the results were coming we were cheering for a Lebanese team because they got a call back . We wanted a Lebanese team to win and the total shock was that they called our name to get the award . The robo-builders members were shocked stayed calm for about a minute until the Lebanese teams and Jordanian teams came to hug them and congratulate them. We got the cup not believing what happened until one of the judges came and told us " you didn't even need a call back to win it .. the award was yours from the beginning". Another Jordanian judge ran and congratulated us and told us that almost all the judges agreed that we should win and we did and she even asked us to participate in a science fair she organizes . Dear this is the story of winning .. this is the product of hard work ! Champions .. YES WE ARE