Humanity Failure

It breaks my heart to know that my last post for this month on my blog was going to be about this heart breaking photograph that you probably all know that it is for a Syrian child in a refugee camp.
However, what most of you might not know is that this Syrian girl in the picture above, was photographed by a Turkish photographer Osman Sağırlı and has a very special story.
Whenever we see such pictures, we get a feeling of sympathy with the Syrian people. This specific picture was supposed to be a normal one for this girl, but when she saw the camera held by the photographer, she directly surrendered and raised her hands thinking that this camera was a weapon that was going to kill her. You can see the fear in her eyes and the way she bites her lip not to cry. This girl definitely knows that cameras exist, but the fear that this ugly war has put in her heart made her involuntary surrender to anything, even other people like her with flesh and blood.
Two days ago the massacre  of Aleppo happened and the first thing that came to my mind was this girl. What was she going to do when she saw the "pictures" taken by the "photographers" holding their "cameras" on the crime seen? She was going to surrender one more time to the camera because it was the tool that put her in contact with what happened to children in her age out there. One can never escape the truth which is that the massacre actually happened and broke all of our hearts (I can't even look at the pictures), but one should also remember that children are watching their fellow children dying on social media in the ugliest most evil ways, is this fair?

Brunch

Since 2013, and at the same time in the spring semester, the School of Education at the Lebanese International University (Bekaa Campus) plans and organizes a brunch (breakfast and early lunch)
that raises money for the beloved institution that holds beloved people in the Bekaa region, Dar Al-Hanan for Orphans. The purpose behind the fund raising event this year was to complete the establishment of an audio visual library at Dar Al-Hanan. Such an event is always enjoyable to all the university students and not only for the English Education department students. Giving our share to show we care always gives us a feeling of bliss and satisfaction of what we're doing as the right thing.
Following are the certificates I received throughout these 3 years for organizing and participating in the brunch event.

Our Best Curve

From the title, it appears that this post is going to be about body shapes and fitness and whether curvy bodies are better or thin bodies. The curve I prefer to talk about is a curve we all have on our faces and we manage to show it or not. Our smile.
Smiles come in different shapes and sizes and I, personally, prefer that we always have on our faces whatever the situation we are in. Some people try to hide their smiles to preserve their personalities or their social classes so that they keep a distance from other people. However, even our religions guide us toward smiling to our brothers and sisters in humanity because it is a value. Frowning won't do us any good except using too many muscles that will cause us early wrinkles in our faces (are we ready for this, ladies?)
Here are some research-based benefits I found for smiling that might put a smile on your face while reading them because it is good for your health and your health matters:
1. Neurotransmitters called endorphins are released when you smile.
2. Endorphins make us feel happier and less stressed.
3. While the release of endorphins is increased, the stress hormone cortisol is reduced.
4. Laughing expands the lungs, stretches the muscles in the body and stimulates homeostasis.
5. A good laugh can be an effective way to release emotions.
6. Smiling is an attractive expression, which is more likely to draw people to you rather than push them away.
7. A happy, positive expression will serve you well in life.

Opportunity to Observe

One of the valuable opportunities that my university was and still providing me with is the classroom observations at Omar Al Mukhtar Educational Center. My first chance of observing a class with a cooperating teacher at school was in the Practicum course which required 40 observation sessions along with their weekly journals. My instructor assigned a grade 8 section to be the case I'm going to observe for a couple of months. During these months, I was able to be the teacher's and students' shadow and adapt to their lifestyle and schedule at school. It even gave me the opportunity to go back in time to when I was a student at school and my teacher would come to class with another teacher with him/her to observe us (we usually kept our necks turned around toward her to see what she did during the session). My experience in observations was really successful and my senior project which was a portfolio that summarized all this experience proved this success.

This semester, I was given the chance to observe the same class again but this time once every week. the students haven't changed from last semester. It gave me a great feeling of joy when I first reentered the class and they expressed how much they missed me. Such an experience gave me the opportunity to be introduced to a school's real context and not just learn about it in my courses.

Following is a picture of me while teaching grade 8 class in my practicum course with my cooperating teacher observing the session.

Actually, while typing this post I remembered that I have a journal to finalize. I have to go!

Benefits of Early Risers

I know that most of us are early risers which is mandatory for them to catch up for their work at schools and educational centers. However, some people, and I am one of them, like to wake up early even when they don't have to. It may appear that I published this post at 9:00 AM but I woke up at 7:00 (the idea of posting about this took me some time though :))

According to a study done by Forbes magazine in addition to several other studies, waking up early is correlated with success noted by several benefits:

1. Earn Better Grades:

According to a study by Texas University (2008), students who identified themselves as "morning people" gained a higher level of GPA than the ones who were "night owls"

2. More Proactive:  

According to a discovery by Christoph Randler - Harvard Biologist - (2008), early risers are proactive due to long-term goals they usually have and think about achieving.

3. Anticipate Problems:

Christoph Randler also found that such people are more able to anticipate problems and deal with them efficiently even before they occur which leads to success.

4. Better Planners:

Morning people use their "quiet" time in the morning to plan and organize their day and even their whole week.

5. Time To Exercise:

Which is the part I should really take into consideration. Morning people usually go for a jog or a walk in the early morning to have some fresh air. This activity boosts their mood and fitness and regulates their sleep cycle which will be proved in the next point.

6. Get Better Sleep:

Similar to what the Arabic proverb says, if we go early to bed and wake up early, our body will be more in tune with earth's rhythms and this will offer us more restorative sleep.

7. More Optimistic:

Studies show that morning people are usually associated with positive characteristics like: optimism, being agreeable, and satisfaction. On the other hand, night owls are usually associated with pessimism and depression.

8. Easier Commutes:

Early risers obtain less congested commutes since they leave earlier than the crowds. (Could this be applicable on our crowded streets in Beirut?)

9. A Quiet Hour:

Those who arrive earlier to work than their colleagues gain a quiet hour to focus and meditate.

10. More Family Time:

Which is last but not least. When morning people got a jump on their day, they have more time in the evening to spend with their families instead of bringing their late work home.

This is something for you fellow teachers out there to be consoled with whenever you suffer from your alarm in the early morning.

Cold & Flu

Is it just me or everyone in the world has the flu in this season?!

In fact, statistics show that the beginning of the spring season holds with it a lot of allergies and diseases that people with low immunity against them are expected to suffer from them. I am not going to talk in health or medical terms because I don't actually know a lot about them. However, the only thing I'm sure about is that it is not fair in any terms that I get the flu twice this month! I can't sleep or eat regularly nor I can have my normal voice back.

I'm sure that after you read this post you will think twice before hugging or kissing me when you see me, my friends :)

Webinar

"From Technology to Talk: Digital Resources for Deeper Classroom Conversations"

The first time I attended a webinar was on March 14, 2016. It was not until I attended Educational Media and Technology course at university that I knew what a webinar was. I was too shy to say that I didn't know what it meant, but it appeared to me that my classmates were not aware of it as well. It is an example of "seminars" that are done on the "web". Our teacher offered us links to visit and choose from different topics the one that catches us the most and register in its relative webinar.
The webinar I attended was hosted by Kevin Baird - Chairman of the Board at the nonprofit Ed Center: The Center for College and Career Readiness. More than 900 people registered for this webinar and 181 people were live on chat during the session.

The first thing Mr. Kevin talked about was Blended Learning which consists of blending technology and face to face learning with each other in the same classroom. This classroom is not necessarily a language class but could be science or math or any subject at school. The real blend occurs between technology and talk in other words. He also highlighted the importance of student-led conversation and not teacher-led (which are in a way similar to teacher centered and student centered learning)
Something that was relevant to my major in English was Reading Comprehension which was applicable in technology which make students hear language rather than only read it and thus increase their comprehension to the topic of the text. listening to the text makes it more realistic and makes students more familiar with the language accent.

Later, Mr. Kevin moved to the visual aspect in technology by introducing videos to students and have them discuss their topics in class through interactive conversations with teachers and students in order to deepen their thoughts and engage in being familiar with other people's thoughts and mentalities. These steps move us forward from our current teaching styles which are restricted in books only away from the listening and the visual aspects.

Separate courses at university during my undergraduate and my TD experience defined the topics that Mr. Kevin intended to include in a classroom. What was different was that all these aspects were blended in one session and applied by the teacher through using technology and modernized material.
This webinar was an addition to my knowledge about the contributions I am able to add in my future classroom and have it rich with all the skills that students are able to achieve.