The Outcomes of Imperfection

Last year, we were given the opportunity to observe teachers in real classrooms. I loved this experience that I want to tell you more about in this post! While we read a lot about methods, philosophies, and techniques, we tend to forget what can be really applied in a real classroom. We learn a lot in different courses but all what we learn is research-based. Nothing can be more authentic than seeing what is taught in class in real life! Fortunately, this experience opened my eyes to the real world where I could merely see  how  methods differ in different classes and with different students. I saw the techniques that I learned about in books applied in a real classroom. So, here is an overview of what I have learned, so far.

“The Outcomes of Imperfection”, many of you would ask why I chose this title. Shouldn’t it be more positive?! Well, I see the outcomes of imperfections blooming ahead to light up my future as a future teacher. All the “imperfect” moments I experienced throughout the semester had actually shown me how to improve. "You learn from your own mistakes", and when you experience things, you are more likely to learn from your own mistakes. This is commonly known, but what if you were given the opportunity to learn from other teachers' "misleading" techniques? One would be solely blessed! I was able to observe other teachers and learn from what they do, whether good or bad.

  I now know that we take in books as "a so perfect method" of teaching isn’t suitable for all learners. Students are of different interests, backgrounds, styles, levels, and cultures. Therefore, the teacher has to shape her lessons according to what best fits students’ personalities. We did learn a lot about the different intelligence, style, and way of learning but we didn't learn about our actual students, what Lebanese students (our students in our culture) like to learn about. In class, one can learn how to present certain topics in a way that our students would accept. He/she can also know more about students in this culture, what they like to read about for example...
 I’m hopeful  after this experience, I will develop my teaching skills.  Expectantly, when I gain more experience as a teacher, I will add to what I have here as a basic reference. Some other imperfect moments are ahead holding many morals that will expand my strategies in teaching and educating different students!  I have taken the first step and I’m ready to reach thousand miles of success and progress. I won’t forget all the moments that I experienced throughout the semesters.

Webinars: Where You Meet Colleagues from Different Continents!

This semester we were introduced to webinar. Webinars are seminars but they are online! Because we can't attend all the seminars around the world, we now have webinars! Now, we will stay updated with all the information we tend to miss in seminars around the world.
This experience was amazing. I personally loved how you get to attend a seminar with so many people around the world, express your thoughts, and ask questions while you are at home in your pjs! The webinar that I attended was loaded with information. The presenter was talking about spelling which I consider the most challenging task for young learners. Well, after three years in the domain, I could observe how much the students struggle in spelling. Teachers overwhelm them with huge paragraphs that they have to prepare for dictation in class. "Unlocking the Mystery of Developmental Spelling", my eyes laid on this title when I was surfing the internet to look for a topic that I would like to know more about. 
We, as teacher, usually stress students especially young learners with spelling. Our intention is to help them write and advance in writing, but are we doing the best job? Do we know our students' level of development that can highly affect their performance? In this webinar, I learned that students actually don't learn how to spell if they weren't ready for it. For each age/level, there are certain strategies that teachers must follow to help students fulfill their spelling tasks.  But first, to know student's level, there is a technique that the teacher can follow: she pronounces the word, and then asks the student to spell it. Accordingly, she/he assumes the level of development for this student. Then, the teacher starts scaffolding him/her. For example, if a student represents the word with only one letter, the teacher expands the word with him so he sees the other letters in the word...  The presenter talked about the different strategies that teacher can use while scaffolding students, like blending consonants and expanding vowels... 
I personally look forward to attending other webinars because I enjoyed the experience! Not only did I learn a lot from the presenter, I also communicated with other teachers around the world who were also answering my questions! 

Drama Teaches Social Values in Class

Siham was a student in 4th grade classroom. She was a leading member in the class who used to bully all the children and make fun of them. She has received positive praise from the class when she used to bully other children. She couldn’t join the group work successfully so she would take over the group to regain her confidence. To help students and help Siham overcome this behavior, the teacher has introduced drama in order to explore acceptance and exclusions and the image of bullies and victims in this classroom. When the drama started, Siham was working with two other boys and two girls. She was sharing her ideas and developing group work and not dominating the work. The image that was created has pictured Siham as a victim of bullying. She was thrown on the floor and crying massively begging for mercy. Siham was playing the role of a victim and has mastered the bad consequences that the bullied children fall into. Siham is now more sympathetic and showed an improvement of behavior with her peers. (Dickinson & Neeland, n.d.). Drama has successfully provided social learning in mixed ability setting for all pupils. It can heal the society and can improve the behavior of bad behaviors through putting them in the shoes of others. Drama has numerous advantages on pupils because it can heal the society and implant games to the learning objective. 
 We are facing massive problems in our society due to the hatred that is spread everywhere nowadays. Citizens lack the skills they need to interact with others so they fight all the time. For that, teachers should implement drama in the classroom that research proved can teach students social values that they need to live peacefully in class and later on in the society. We can all agree to disagree but we need to know how to disagree in a peaceful way. Drama can help you teach these skills! As new teachers, let us all try these new techniques in our classrooms. Let us teach empathy and acceptance through drama! Society will develop when citizens love and accept each other.

What Theorists Say about Classroom Management?

Teachers always complain that they can’t manage their classes! Students are very active and talkative and they can’t control all these misbehavior to achieve academic goals. Fortunately, researchers have developed ten theories to actually help teachers manage misbehavior. Also, researchers have ways to prevent misbehavior before it even occurs. Lee and Marlene are two researchers who developed the Assertive Discipline approach. In their approach, they said that delivering a positive message while having a climate where students’ needs are met can shift a negative behavior to a positive one. Richard and Allen are other researchers who developed the Discipline with Dignity approach that is meant to prevent misbehavior as well. In this approach, researchers proposed that if a student noticed the impact of school on his life, he will most likely stop the misbehavior. These researchers believe that students misbehave because they want to protect their dignity. Respecting the students’ dignity can help you discipline your class in a better way. Add to that, Rudolph is also a researcher who exclaimed misbehaviors in class. He encourages group work and believes that the misbehaving student doesn’t feel that he belongs to this group. When a student values his society, he will acquire self-discipline which will keep him aware of his actions and can prevent misbehaving. Haim, who is a researcher, recommended the Discipline through Congruent Communication approach to manage misbehavior in a class. This researcher advised teachers to stop criticizing students and focus on actions and not individuals. When they communicate positively with students, they would ignore personal character and focus more on how students feel about situations and themselves. Furthermore, William discovered the Noncoercive Discipline which sheds the light on the teachers’ task. They have to show students the relation between their behavior and the consequence of it. By that, students will \make responsible choices that lead to their personal success. Another approach was developed by Fred Jones who named it the Positive Classroom Discipline. In this approach, non-verbal communication is encouraged. Fred believed that the teachers’ gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact can tell the student a lot which will help them behave well. Moreover, Jacob proposed the Improving Discipline through Lesson Management approach which talks about how detailed instructions and planned lesson have a great impact on the appropriate behavior of the students. These also keep them engaged and focused with what is being explained. Marvin Marshall believed that when a student feels responsible, he will more likely stop this misbehavior, so he planned the Discipline through Raising Responsibility approach. Having students know the consequences of their actions would increase their sense of responsibility. Besides, Fritz and William Wattenberg clarified that the students know things better when they work in groups so they emphasized group work to manage misbehavior. They emphasized the pleasant and unpleasant moments in groups which will guide students’ behavior to positive behavior. Consequently, they will avoid unpleasant experiences in the group. At the end, Skinner developed the Discipline through Shaping Desired Behavior approach which emphasized that positive reinforcement is effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. Even though there are many theories and approaches, a teacher can always choose what suits her classroom and each case in it.

First Step: Accomplished.

The past three years were the best! I have met new people that actually became my second family. We shared special moments together, some were good and some were bad. Last year, we all graduated together celebrating all the hard work. I'm thankful for having you all in my life! Hopefully, we will stay together and we graduate together this year!

One Family!

Our forever supporter, and our role model

We thank you for all the hard work

Best friends are always together through good and bad

Thinking is a Blessing for all Humans, and Kids are Humans!

Acquiring first language has been the center of interest for most linguists who developed many theories concerning this acquisition. Skinner, who was a proponent for the behaviorist theory, believed that children acquire language through imitating what they hear in their environment and when they receive positive reinforcement, they would continue to imitate and practice until they form habits. Due to the errors that most linguists perceived in this theory, Chomsky strongly disagreed with the behaviorist’s theory for language acquisition. Chomsky considered language as an innate universal principle that every child has since birth. He gave less attention to the environment that he believed was only the case when people talk to a child and the rest is related to the biological endowment of the child. The developmental theory proponents criticized the innatist’s removal of the environment and they believed that the innatist’s supporters only depend on the final stage and not the developmental stages for language acquisition. It is true that there is an inner system that helps children acquire the language, but the environment has a major role in this acquisition. Piaget, who was a proponent of this theory, believed that when a child interacts with people and objects around him, he will express terms related to his experiences. On the other hand, Vygotsky, who is also a proponent for the developmental theory, believed that language is an inner speech and is expressed during interaction but it is not built from interaction as Piaget said.

 As teachers, it is hard to stand for one theory because they all have some errors. But I personally see the developmental theory Is the most convincing theory because I believe that the environment as well as the child’s brain play a major role in language acquisition. What made me think in this way are the countless examples I see every day while watching my younger relatives acquiring language. Kids discover, relate, and then learn! We can't oversee kids' brains and oblige them to think the way we want. Their experiences, thoughts, and environment highly influence their thinking. If we actually let our students think, they will surprise us! These small "creatures" have incredible brains that most people don't really value. As teachers, we must motivate learners to think, create, and connect.

Why teach History?

When Grade 12 students were asked about their History class, almost everyone said that they don’t need to know about what did others do in the past. (Garneau, n.d.). Students consider History as an irrelevant subject, and many educators believe that History should be eliminated from the curriculum. However, many scholars believe that History has many benefits for students because it helps them develop critical thinking, and develop aspects of problem-solving. In fact, our living rotates around past events that we haven’t created. The language we speak is inherited from the past. All the traditions, religions, and cultures were created in the past. Technology has been invented in past decades. These are all good reasons to believe in the importance of the past to understand the condition of human being. (Corfield, 2008).
 History serves as an example, a warning, and a guide; history helps us avoid the conflicts, and find accurate solutions for current problems. it is a warning for young adults to think critically before falling into unexpected results. Also, it is a guide for pupils to find their culture, family, and society. History reflects an image of critical reasons of our current living, so it is crucial that we know our history and connect it to understand our world. Not only does history influence our present but also it guides our future because understanding history will help us guide our future actions so that we act in the way that is best for humanity. And as Machiavelli said "Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results."