For school directors who plan to integrate ICT in their schools

Towards Strategic Leadership in Information Communication Technology is a manual that I prepared with Mrs Samia Abu Hamad,head of English department at CERD.A three day workshop was delivered to train principals on it.The project was funded by the British Council.If you are interested in reading the manual,you can visit the blog that i specially started for it:

http://strategic-ict-leadership.blogspot.com

We Got The International School Award :)

All during this year, our school was working on International School Award project where we made link with Cauldeen Primary School in Scotland. We made many international activities (as Recycling - Nutrition - Climatic Regions - Dances Around the World - Water - Circassians - Tolerance etc...) with our students and parents. We were not the only school, but many other schools, from Lebanon and the region shared. During the Connecting Classroom Conference in Egypt , the British Council Project manager, John Rolfe, announced that our school won the International School Award. So, we got an accreditation as an international school from the British Council for three years. HOORAY!

Our Aim of the school link:
- to enhance the quality of education- to increase global awareness- to raise standards in education

The Award Gave us:
• Accreditation for three years as an international school
• Certificate, trophy and use of logo
• Acknowledgement from British Council of high standards of international work
• We were announced as ‘champion ambassadors’ for internationalism in education

Benefits of Getting this Award:
• Framework for developing international work
• Involvement of teachers and students
• An enriched curriculum; a whole school ethos
• Sense of recognition
• Public relations

What did we do to get it?
• We wrote a whole school International policy
• We assigned an International Coordinator with job description
• We did collaborative work with Cauldeen Primary School
• We did curriculum based activity
• We did 15 International Activities over one school year, which overall must involve:– Majority of students involved across all ages– Year-round activity (one academic year)– Evaluation of impact (teacher, pupil, etc.)– Collaborative work with partners in other countries (teacher, pupil, etc.)

SO LET'S CONGRATULATE KHALIL SHEHAB TEAM!!!

My Foreword to our School Magazine-Una Mirada

The 21st century has announced the death of an old era of traditional teaching and the birth of a new technological era. The world is rapidly changing. Technologies become now a must if schools are to compete in a global village. At Khalil Shehab School, we believe that we should prepare students for life in global technological society. That’s why we ran fifteen projects with international themes all around the year covering all subject areas and all grade levels. These projects have been done as part of the Innovative Approaches to Teaching project run by the British Council. Our goal is to ensure that students are better prepared culturally, linguistically, and emotionally than ever before for tomorrow’s world. Implementing international activities requires technology so massive technological changes have taken place at school. Makassed Financial Directorate has generously provided us with infrastructure needed for integrating technology- rehabilitated computer suites, laser printers, voting machines, internet connections (WAN & LAN) just to mention few… & our future plan is that technologies steadily increase in presence.

As you flip the pages of our magazine you’ll see examples of international projects done at school, some exchange letters and projects, and an article by George Glass, principal of Cauldeen Primary School- our link school in Scotland. Such projects gave lessons at our school a decidedly international flavor. We need to teach children that there is more than one way to build a house, cook food, dress, dance, measure and travel…. We must teach them to think critically about viewpoints presented to them…And we must show the world the civilized facet of Muslims and Arabs. Our children must see the unique and valuable difference between cultures as well as appreciate the similarity we share. We hope that with our international projects we widened our students’ vision, deepened their understanding, improved their language, and extended their experiences with diverse cultures. We are establishing the classroom of today and tomorrow and our main focus is to improve teaching and learning so that your child who is ours will benefit…

Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading our third issue of Una Mirada…

كلمة حفل التخرج 2008/2007

حضرة رئيس جمعية المقاصد المهندس امين الداعوق
مدراء ومديرات المدارس والشؤون
منسقو البرامج في المركز الثقافي البريطاني
الأهالي الكرام، الحفل الكريم
عدنا والعودة احمد، كما كل عام مواسم الخير ومواسم الخير أطلت علينا حقولا مزهرة، سنابل المستقبل.... القطاف آت، إنهم أبناء المقاصد، براعم خليل شهاب وعثمان ذي النورين.....
بداية أود أن أرحب بكل من الضم إلينا ليشاركنا فرحتنا في يومنا المميز هذا، حيث نكرم خريجينا ونودعهم. فبالرغم من إنني فخورة بانجازاتهم ونجاحاتهم إلا أنني اشعر بغصة وخاصة انه اخر مجموعة علمتهم.
عندما انظر إلى العام الذي مضى اشعر انه هناك العديد من الأشخاص الذين وجب شكرهم من القلب.... فببسمة عريضة على وجهي اشكر الإداريين والمعلمين والأهالي وبفؤاد يرقص فرحا اشكر إدارات الشؤون ورئيس الجمعية... رئيس الطاولة المستديرة " ففنحن جميعا يد واحدة وقلب واحد" ( كما في نشيدنا).
وكعادتي استغل الفرصة لأسر لكم وللأهالي بعض أخبار المدرسة. لقد كانت هذه السنة سنة التدريب بامتياز. فجميع الأساتذة خضعوا لدورة تدريبية مدتها أربعة أشهر حول حل النزاعات ، وجميع أساتذة الروضة خضعوا لدورة تدريبية حول دمج التكنولوجيا بالتعليم مع شركة اديوور وإدارة شؤون المعلومات ومديرتها مشكورة. والآنسة زينة شهاب قامت بدورة تدريبية على تعليم اللغة الانكليزية للأطفال في جامعة مريلاند من خلال منحة من السفارة الأمريكية، والسيدة عبير الكوش شاركت في معسكر السلام من خلال الرياضة في الأردن من خلال المركز الثقافي البريطاني، وبالإضافة إلى ذلك قدم المركز تدريبا لخمسة من معلمينا حول دمج التكنولوجيا بالتعليم..... ولم تسثنى الإداريون من التدريب فالآنسة زينة الجمل شاركت في تدريب مدته سنة في الجامعة اللبنانية الاميريكية وذلك فضلا عن الدورات الكثيرة والتي يصعب عدها والتي تنظمها إدارة الشؤون التربوية ويشارك فيها معلمونا جميعا.
والهدف من هذا التدريب كله هو ولدكم وإيجاد أفضل الوسائل الإيصال المعلومة والمهارة إليه.
ولماذا هذا التدريب كله؟ انه تدريب للانطلاقة
فهذا العام هو عام المئة والثلاثون للمقاصد، انه عام الانطلاقة.... انطلاقة قائد مسيرتها رئيسنا
أمين الداعوق قائد التطور والانفتاح.
وكيف تتجسد الانطلاقة في مدرستنا؟ سنشعر بها عندما ننال جائزة المدرسة العالمية من بريطانيا. فقد قمنا هذا العام بخمسة عشر نشاطا عالميا شاركتم جميعكم في واحد منها أو أكثر. فتواصل تلاميذنا مع تلاميذ مدرسة كولدين وتبادلوا المشاريع العلمية والرسائل الالكترونية وقام تلاميذ الصفوف الأخرى بأنشطة لا منهجية من الرقص الاسباني للطبخ الشركسي، لغناء الجاز، والتعرف على التراث الإفريقي النيجيري، والتمثيل المصري والقياس الأوروبي.
فسياستنا التي أعدنا صياغتها تتمثل بإعداد تلميذ مواكب للتطور ومنفتح على العالم
هذه هي الانطلاقة.... هذا هو المستقبل المشرق الذي ننظر إليه في مدرستنا.... فانا أراكم ي تلاميذ خليل شهاب/المقاصد شمس المستقبلززز فلنرسم وإياكم البسمة على وجوهنا... ولنواكب الانطلاقة ولنتحضر لمجموعة جديدة من التحديات....
سنبقى نضيء شمعة وراء شمعة لتشرق شمس المعرفة ولندخل القرن الواحد والعشرين من أوسع أبوابه.

Blog no evil :)

Mr. Mohammad
A smile...
An answer 4 ur request : )

Recycling Project on e-languages site

A Recycling Project on e-languages site done by our second grade teacher Miss Rawya Shatila

http://www.elanguages.org/view_pagecontent.php?resourceid=20749;id=r20749#r20749

Voice of America Interview

The link below provides you with a Voice of America interview with me about international perspectives on teaching English.This interview took place February 2006 at the TESOL convention in Florida. TESOL is the international association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
It's entitled:
'Shifting Sands' of English Teaching Bring Changes to Schools in Middle East
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/archive/2006-07/2007-10-31-voa1.cfm

Capacity Building, Teachers’ Professional Development for ICT in Education

This is a presentation I gave in in ICT in Education Conference in Jordan in February 2007.It tells about the approaches of the private in the public sectors in Lebanon to ICT capacity building.If you are interested to know more about it click the link below and you'll find the ppt.You'll also have the chance to see and download the presentations of all presenters in the conference:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/jordan/jordan-ict.htm

Success with Presentations

• Key principles: credibility,clarity,voice ,and visuals
• Know your audiemce
• Introduce yourself & your topic:name,position,topic overview,objective,duration ,questions....
• Open with abang: humorous anectode,provocative statement, audience involvement,audio/visual gimmik
• Add the human touch
• Use Body language:descriptive,emphatic,counting,attitude
• Emphasize: repeat,rephrase,pause,gesture,question,give example...
• Close with a bang: link to opening,summarize,question to provoke...,

To President Amine Daouk

Thank you all for all that you have done.
Hard times will hopefully turn into times of pride.
All this will be managed with you by our side,
You give with love, not merely out of duty.
Our days are daily colored by that beauty.
Upon your appreciation we will proudly stand.
Success is reached when hand in hand
Success walks slowly, with a cane.
Although inside I'm dancing to the moon,
Nearby many obstacles remain.
Kind help like yours those thorny thickets prune.
You are our willing ear,the peaceful sea
On which we sail our thoughts and plea..
You are a person who makes life easier and better for everyone around you
Your continual acts of thoughtfulness and kindness brighten each day.
Believing in me will glow in my memory,
Reviving pleasant feelings every time I think about it.
I appreciate you,
and I thank you.

How to Create a Simple Teacher Mark Book

- Open Microsoft Excel; on sheet 1 type your needed data.

How to calculate the total?
- In cell E1 type: Total.
- Select E2 – Go to functions – choose Sum – press OK.
- A new window will open (Function arguments).
- In number 1: select cells: B2:C2:D2 – then press OK.
- Now the total of the first student will appear – select this student's total cell & drag it till the last student's total cell – all totals will appear

How to calculate the percentage?
- In cell F1 type: percentage.
- Select F2 – Right click – choose Format cells – Choose percentage – press OK.
- Now in cell F2 write the function = E2 /50. This means Ali’s total grades divided by the total grades (50)
- Press Enter.
- Now the percentage of the first student total will appear – select the student's percentage cell & drag it till the last student's percentage cell – all percentages will appear

How to know the result directly?
- In cell G1 type: result.
- Select F2 – Go to functions – choose IF function – press OK.
- In the logical test select the cells: F2 till F12.
- Now look at the picture:
- The logical test must be F2:F12>50. Since 50% is the average.
- Value if true (if the percentage >50% then the student’s result is “success”).
- Value if false (if the percentage<50% color="#006600">How to highlight the results by colors?
Select the cells G2 till G12 – Go to format – choose conditional formatting
- Cell value is: - Choose “equal to”- “success”.
- Choose format – patterns – choose the green color & press OK.
Press “Add” & repeat the above steps for choosing the red color to “failed”.

How to Use the Hotspotting Technique in your PPT

- Open Microsoft Power Point.

Inserting a picture from the internet:
- Go to Internet Explorer – Type: http://www.google.com/ in the Address space.
- Type the title of the picture you want in the empty box.
- Press Images & then press Google search .
- You will get so many images referring to your title.
- Now right click on the preferred picture – choose copy – go to Microsoft power point – paste.
- Now select the picture – Go to view – Toolbar – Picture.
- Choose text wrapping – Behind text.
- Now you can move the picture as you like.

Hot spotting:
- Draw a circle around the part you want to spot on it.
- To draw it: just click on it, & using the mouse
draw it on any part you want.
- Select the circle – Go to Insert – Hyperlink.
- From “link to” choose “place in this document”.
- From “select a place in this document” choose slide one
- Press “Screen Tip” to write your question.
- Don’t forget to press OK.
- To erase the color of the circle: Select the circle - Go to fill & line colors & choose no fill & no line respectively.

and now the part you want to identify is hotspotted.

My thesis

My thesis is entitled :
The Effect of Jigsaw II Versus Whole Class Instruction on EFL Students’ Reading Motivation and Achievement.It was published in the journal of Educational Psychology in the United Kingdom .If you are interested to read more about it,click on the link below: http://ghinathesis.blogspot.com/

Acknowlegements:

I owe a debt of gratitude to my professors for their invaluable assistance and profound direction. My very special thanks go to my dear husband, Bilal, whose love and sacrifice made me overcome all the obstacles that I encountered when writing this thesis. Special recognition and appreciation also go to my sweet mother, Adido, who encouraged me, every step of the way and was always there when I needed her. I would also like to extend my deepest appreciation and gratitude to my dearest brother, Habib for his continuous support and for believing in me. I would like to thank all the people who encouraged and supported me. And I would like to say to Mom, Bilal, and Habib, thank you for being the wind beneath my wings!

Shaping the Way We Teach

Shaping the Way We Teach English" is a 14-module video series for training English as a Foreign Language . The series incorporates classroom scenes from around the world and is accompanied by a teacher trainer manual along with additional readings.
The U.S. Department of State Office of English Language Programs, in cooperation with the University of Oregon's American English Institute, offered this online course for EFL educators during the Fall of 2006 and I joined it. Modules from "Shaping the Way We Teach English" product form the basis for observations, interactions, discussions, and the creation of teaching plan projects.
Examples of projects produced by me and by participants from 5 countries throughout the Middle East, Near East, and Central Asia are available in the format of Adobe Acrobat Reader files or MS Word files on the following URL:
oelp.uoregon.edu/shaping_course.html
you might find them interesting

Leaders and Managers

" The terms leader, manager, and administrator tend to be used interchangeably. However there are differences. Manager and administrator are practically synonymous, except that the former tends to be more contemporary and carries the implicit connotation of possessing some significant degree of decision-making authority. An administrator, on the other hand, may be little more than an organization functionary carrying out routine tasks.
The concept of leader concentrates on two areas: the leader’s strategic vision about the direction the organization should go and the leader’s noncoercive skill at drawing subordinates into the active pursuit of the strategic view. The concept of manager, on the other hand, focuses on the nuts and bolts of making the organization work, such as hiring, evaluation, distributing resources, and enforcing rules. As a footnote to the irony of history, Richard Nixon points out that leaders “do the right thing” while managers “do the things right.”
Edgar Schein argues that a principle function of leadership, as distinguished from management and administration, is shaping and directing the organization’s culture. “What the leader needs most is insight into the ways in which culture can aid or hinder the fulfillment of the organization’s mission and the intervention skills to make desired changes happen.
The terms leader and manager can be conceptualized as two lines with an interesting axis. The polar position of each of the lines are labeled strong and weak. Considering the leader-manager axis, we have the potential of encountering strong leaders who are weak managers. In education we often see this individual generating grand ideas about sweeping reforms or innovative new programs. He or she effectively whips up enthusiastic support on all sides. Unfortunately ideas and enthusiasm are not enough, and not long after execution of the changes is attempted, the vision begins to crumble. By that time the strong leader, more often than not, has a better job somewhere else and is creating vision for another audience. Meanwhile, those who were left behind are in deep water.
The strong manager who is a weak leader also exists in education. This is the person who keeps his or her nose to the grindstone, ear to the ground, foot on the throttle, and finger to the wind. Trying to make all subordinates emulate that posture earns such a manager the title of “the one you love to hate.” This individual usually can get a job done but has trouble sustaining quality performances over the long run.
Reflecting on the two concepts, Mintzberg writes, “It is in the leader role that managerial power most clearly manifests itself. Formal authority vests the manger with great potential power; leadership activity determines how much of it will be realized. What is needed, therefore, is strong leaders who are also strong managers"."

Reference:
Hanson(2003) Educational Administration and Organizational Behavior

The International Visitor Leadership Program

This program was two weeks long and was divided into two parts. The first one was the International Visitor Leadership Program which took place in Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania and the second one was the TESOL Conference which took place in Tampa, Florida.

The International Visitor Leadership Program:

This program gave our group a wonderful opportunity to actively participate in discussions with American ESL specialists and explore the US system of teaching English to nonnative speakers. It also gave us the opportunity to be personally acquainted with the USA society. It helped us to better understand the American culture and to establish relationships with Americans and fellow participants in the program. I have now acquaintances from Saudi Arabia , Sudan , Morocco , Tunisia , Thailand , Mexico , Romania , South Africa , Colombia , and of course America, and we kept in touch through e–mails and phones messages and calls . The advantages of such programs are obvious and numerous.


In Washington D.C
In Washington D.C., we visited the following places:
Thomas Jefferson high School for Science and Technology: There we discussed its curriculum & the special teaching methods they use to improve education in science, math, and technology.
The American University where we discussed the ESL support programs for international students at university level.
The Academy for Education Development, where we were introduced to the U.S. Culture.
The United States Department of States where we joined a reception and had the opportunity to meet our RELOS, exchange contacts with them and with other TESOL professionals around the world as well as with senior staff of the State Department Public Diplomacy and Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureaus.
The American Federation of Teachers where we discussed issues related to teacher’s rights and obligation such as collective bargaining, teacher certification and evaluation, and educational reform.
The Library of Congress where we saw the rarest and most interesting items related to America’s past such as the world’s oldest map. This visit also gave as the chance to learn how to access the library’s online exhibitions so as to benefit from them when returning back home.
In addition to that, we had home hospitality with the Alexander’s family with whom we spent a wonderful time at dinner. We also joined in a federalism tour around the major landmarks of Washington D.C. such as the White House, the Capitol and the memorials of U.S. presidents, in addition to various Smithsonians such as the National History , the Air and Space , and the American Indian Smithsonians .

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
We spent two days in Pennsylvania. There we stayed in Philadelphia, the safest city in U.S.A., and saw the famous Liberty Bell, the Independence Hall, and learned a lot of information about the Constitution, its history and contemporary relevance. Then we visited Penn University and discussed the current trends of TEFL, in addition to discussing online courses, distance learning, and American studies courses for foreign students. We also discussed the education system in USA, and the linkage between education institution and the society and how society support the educational system through giving funds and through taxation. In our free time, we visited the Human Body Museum and saw how plastination is done. We also went sightseeing and I was glad to see the Lebanese flag in Benjamin Franklin Boulevard. We also visited Kirkebride Elementary School and were greeted by a Japanese Folkdance done by seven year old students. There we discussed the No-Child-Left–Behind Act and how it affects the level of teaching. We also discussed how the American school raises funds and how teachers are evaluated. We also attended some foreign language classes for short periods of time .Our last visit in Philadelphia was to Drexel University English Language Center where we discussed American studies , the use of cross cultural training , and the new technologies of teaching English as a Foreign Language.


THE TESOL CONFERENCE

The sessions in TESOL I was especially interested in are the following:
1– Are they Good Speakers? Evaluating Conversation Skills.
2 - Games Students Play.
3 – Shifting Sands of English in the Middle East.
4 – Increasing ESOL Parent Involvement.
5 – Using Wordless Books in ESOL Classrooms.
6 – Practice from Research, How to Teach Conversation.
7 – Community Partners Creating an After School Program.
8 – Welcome to the Drama Club.
9 – Developing a Strong Teaching Portfolio.
10 – Reflective Journal Writing in Teacher Education.
11 – Using Films to Teach and Motivate.
12 – Using Literature Learning Centers for Teaching EFL.
I was also especially interested in getting future visions of computer assisted language learning CALL, and how to adapt CALL to support teachers and learners in the EFL classroom , especially that we have started in our school a program that integrates language instruction and technology. I spent lots of time at the Electronic Village, learned about new materials, and attended sessions on the following topics:
1 – CALL in Elementary ESOL Classroom.
2 – Intercultural Communication / Video and Digital Media.
3 - Using Technology to improve language learning Outcomes.
4 – Connect the Verbal and the Visual with PowerPoint.
On the other hand, this conference enabled me to develop my skills as a principal and a leader. I got the chance to attend sessions that discuss educational management issues such as:
1 – Issues in Student Teacher Supervision.
2 – Fundraising 101.
3 – Opening Communication between Administration and Teachers.
4 – Dealing with Difficult Principals/Teachers of ESL
The TESOL convention also gave me the chance of networking, exchanging messages with other TESOLers, and building relationships with them. These relationships continue till this day as I mentioned earlier in this report. Furthermore, this convention let me gain insight in research on language teaching and learning and gave me ideas of studies that could be conducted in Lebanon. I also had the chance to attend the book exhibition and buy supplementary materials. The Voice of America Radio Channel even conducted an interview with me at the book exhibition.

Thus, I can say that my participation in the program enabled me to:
Explore different methodologies, materials, and technologies.
Engage in meaningful interactions with American and international colleagues.
Develop intercultural understanding.

Visit to Scotland

First, I would like to thank everyone who made my participation in the program possible: the British Council for funding the visit, Ms Fatima Al Masri, the British Council project coordinator who invited me to join the program, Mr. Baldev Singh and Mr. Fadi Abilmona who facilitated the link, and President Amine al Daouk who gave me a leave from work. Thanks a million. You are really great people who made a difference in my life.

My visit could be summed up with three main things:
1. Visit to Cauldeen Primary School
2. Visit to Inshes Primary School
3. Meeting Quality Assurance Officers

The visit to Scotland benefited me a lot in my work and strengthened the link between our school and Cauldeen Primary School. I spent one whole day with the students with whom we have a direct link (Primary 5-6).I gave them the souvenirs and the letters that our students wrote. We watched together a video about Lebanon and answered their questions. They wrote letters to our students, and we worked on an ICT project related to the water project on a program called Photostory. I also spent two days at the school attending classes and especially at the nursery level to see how curricula are delivered there. In addition to that attended a French classroom and saw how second languages are taught in the Highlands. In fact this visit provided me with an excellent opportunity to share expertise especially that the head teacher, George Glass, organized a program to meet prominent leaders in the field of education. I had the chance to meet two Quality Assurance Officers (QCAs)-John Murr & ---------.With the two QCAs, I discussed the French curricula since French is newly introduced to my school and through a club. We also discussed the audit system on schools, school development plans, and they gave me a handbook on the criteria that are used to assess how good a school is. We also discussed extra curricular activities and our activities for the International School Award (ISA); especially that John Murr was an international coordinator and that Cauldeen Primary School is also running for ISA. I also had the chance to visit Inshes Primary School, which is a new high tech. school. I spent half a day there also attending classes and discussing with the headteacher issues related to integrating technology and teaching. My visit to this school gave me first hand knowledge on how to adopt ICT to support teachers and learners in the classroom. Finally, I was interviewed by the local newspaper, Inverness Courier, regarding my visit and they were interested to know more about the water project and the international link.

It’s definite that participating in this program was an exceptional experience for me. I hope this international link would help improve my school. I would also like say that I greatly appreciate the support I got. I hope I was up to your expectation and reflected a good image of the Makassed Association and Lebanon.

Khalil Shehab Elementary School

If interested to know more about our school, please visit our blog:
http://clover-khalil.blogspot.com/

Khalil Shehab Elementary School Tradition & History

Khalil Shehab Elementary School Tradition & History is a post that tells about the school I run. It tells a bit about WHY we do what we do. It also seves as an introduction to HOW we do what we do.It's written by Dr. Kamel Dallal, director of educational affairs at Makassed.

Khalil Shehab Elementary School is a not for profit, English-language day school that has been providing an exceptional educational programme for the local and Ras Beirut community since 1950.
The School is committed to excellence in education; it strives to fulfill the unique potential of each student in a supportive and challenging holistic learning environment that prepares him or her for continuing education and an active and responsible role in a multicultural world.
Our school has been delivering quality education here in Ras Beirut since 1950. Khalil Shehab Elementary School has a proven record of academic excellence and leadership among Makassed schools in Lebanon. We were early adopters of the ICT Programs, which have built a world-wide reputation for rigor, high standards, international perspective and effective Elementary Education preparation. Through generous consultancy and collegial collaboration, Khalil Shehab’s Elementary School curriculum ideas include many co-curricular and extra-curricular activities offered to enhance the programme, and are being implemented at many of the Makassed schools around the country.
Khalil Shehab Elementary School is an English medium, PreNursery-Grade 6 school dedicated to the intellectual and personal development of each student in a caring and supportive environment. Its challenging program prepares our student body to excel in the world's finest schools and universities.
Khalil Shehab Elementary School has a rich history that spans more than a single lifetime. Our story is bound up in the stories of our students who have gone on to use the discoveries made here, the teachers who made daily investments in lives, the administrators who have led with wisdom, the parents who took ownership of their children's education and all the others, from secretaries to maintenance staff, who have helped make Khalil Shehab Elementary School what it is today. It's all of these people's individual stories that make up our story.
Are you one of these people, an alumnus, a former teacher or administrator, a parent of a Khalil Shehab Elementary School student, an employee? If you are, we'd like to know your story and how it's connected to ours. We are in the process of a research project to better document the school's rich history and share it with all of you who helped write the story.
Please share some of your memories of your time at Khalil Shehab Elementary School (even if it was not yet called Khalil Shehab Elementary School). Any photographs you could send along from your days here would also be very helpful. You contributed to the story while you lived here, and now you can contribute to our collective memory no matter where you are now. Send text and photos via email to the school office at makedu@makassed.org.lb
Khalil Shehab Elementary School has provided a sound education to its students for more than 67 years. In 2003, with a new phase in its history just four years away and a school evolving quickly, it seemed appropriate to undertake a comprehensive analysis and to plan in our new school. Each year, since then, we have updated our strategic plan in the light of our achievements and our aims for the future.
The secret of success in any “business” is said to rest on four key points:
· A culture based on aiming high
· A structure that is flexible and responsive
· Strategies that are clear and focused
· Smooth execution of the strategies
Our aims at Khalil Shehab Elementary School are the same.
Our Mission at Khalil Shehab Elementary School is to:
1. Offer each student a nurturing and supportive environment, which treats each student as a unique individual and challenges all students to excel academically and, at the same time, model the behaviors expected of responsible citizens of both the school and society.
2. Give each student the opportunity to learn the value of and to become involved in Creative Arts, Athletics and Technology.
3. Impart to each student essential knowledge and skills, a joy of learning and the intrinsic motivation to become a life long learner.
4. Develop a social climate in the school, which models international understanding, community service, and the acceptance of and cooperation with the diverse cultures represented by the school's community.
5. Emphasize the importance of collaboration between parents and the school so that all parents are actively involved in their children's education. As a parent owned rather than corporate entity, our organizational structure reflects our commitment to this principle.
6. Continue to assess our professional standards by maintaining our membership in local and international organizations.
7. Focus on building each student's self-esteem.
8. Ensure that our faculty will apply current educational research and practices. The school's curriculum will be guided by a goal of thorough student mastery and achievement rather than merely covering content.
9. Develop a school community, which believes in and acts upon these Principles.
The spirit in Khalil Shehab Elementary School has always been special. I believe that it offers a stimulating, caring and positive environment characterized by its international outlook. Parents invariably notice this very quickly and comment upon the happy, well-motivated students and teachers that they see. We take pride in our school as a sound academic institution and community centre.

Benefits of Attending the TESOL Convention-Florida

Being the principal and the English coordinator of two elementary schools which belong to the Makassed Philanthropic Association, my main goal is to utilize second language instruction to develop the Lebanese student intellectually, technologically, emotionally, socially, and culturally, as well as to develop intercultural understanding. My participation in the TESOL conference in Tampa Florida during the winter of 2006was an expetional experience for me to to pursuit my goal.It provided me with an excellent opportunity to acquire first-hand knowledge and skills related to the teaching of English as a second language, as well as meeting prominent leaders, teachers, researchers, authors, editors, and publishers in the field of English as a foreign language. Meeting these leaders gave me the chance to engage and seek advice on issues related to teaching foreign language such as special methods of TESOL, reading strategies for ESL students, literature-based instruction, communicative approach to teaching grammar, computer assisted language learning, cooperative learning, and multiple intelligences…. It also gave me the chance to gain insights on how language teaching and learning can cultivate essential intercultural skills and how a language teacher can promote a culture of global understanding in a climate of conflict and insecurity worldwide. Moreover, it gave me ideas for planning and implementing a professional development program as a part of teacher training at Makassed, in addition to instructional programs, especially that I am interested in an effective instructional program for low performing students. It gave me insight on how to choose or design and implement an up-to-date curriculum that integrates teaching reading, writing, speaking, and listening, in addition to designing supplementary materials including video, cultural agenda, grammar games ,projects and songs. I was also interested in getting future visions of computer assisted language learning CALL, and how to adapt CALL to support teachers and learners in the EFL classroom , especially that we had started in our school a program that integrates language instruction and technology. The TESOL convention also gave me the chance of networking, exchanging messages with other TESOLers, and building relationships with them. This was beneficial especially that we have started designing a website for our school, which includes a forum for discussing educational issues. This forum would provide teachers with a great tool to collaborate with other teachers as well as experts and parents. The convention gave me the chance of meeting English teachers who were looking for international opportunities, and that benefitted the association I belong to as well as my country. Furthermore, this convention let me gain insight in research on language teaching and learning and gave me ideas of studies that could be conducted in Lebanon. I had the chance of sharing the result of my experimental study on cooperative learning and reading motivation and achievement, which was accepted for publication in a refereed journal. I was interested in participating in post-presentation discussions and panels that discuss issues related to language teaching and learning, as well as meeting publishers and attending book exhibitions.
Thus, I can say that my special points of interest were to:

• Explore different methodologies, materials, and technologies
• Engage in meaningful interactions with American and international colleagues.
• Develop intercultural understanding and international exchanges

On the other hand, this conference enabled me to develop my skills as a principal and a leader. I got the chance to attend sessions that discuss educational management issues, in addition to participating in programs such as the Leadership Development Certificate Program which is offered in the TESOL convention. I was also introduced to an expert in elementary school management and child-centered school management with whom I discussed innovative approaches to school management and other issues such as strategies to improve communication in the workplace, home-school connection, extra-curricular activities, resource management, school restructuring…

It’s definite that participating in this convention was an exceptional experience for me. Attending this conference also benefitted my school, the association I belong to, as well as my country, since I brought this intercultural experience back home and shared it with fellow teachers, coordinators and principals. I greatly appreciate your support I got from President Amine Daouk , Ryan Gliha, and Edith Bitar . Without it I would definitely miss the opportunity of participating in this international convention.

What I Learned from TEYL - an Online Course at University of Maryland

In the fall of 2004, I got a grant from the American embassy to do an online course at the University of Maryland entitled Teaching English to Young Learner with professor Joan Shin. Alot of people in my country underestimate distance learning. However in such a well-organized course I feel that I’ve worked and learned more than in any other course that I’ve taken in a classroom.

While I was working on this course I felt that I was on the right track regarding teaching young learners. I learned more about the characteristics of young learners and that gave me a deeper understanding of the approaches and activities to use when teaching them. I learned that young learners like hands-on activities and variation. The activities should stress on communication. Teachers shouldn’t focus on teaching the rules of grammar explicitly. What teachers can do to facilitate children’s learning of language rules is to expose them to many listening and reading activities and to give them the chance to interact and engage in meaningful language tasks to bridge the gap between knowing language rules and using them.

Second, when teaching vocabulary, teachers should use gestures, movements, facial expressions, flashcards, pictures, realia etc… Students should meet the word in different contexts and use it to ensure understanding. What was new here for me is that in my country we were taught that we shouldn’t ever use our native language when teaching a foreign language, while I learned that it is possible to do that. I also learned that students benefit a lot from the things they’ve learned in their native language. Moreover, stories are a great vehicle to teach young learners because they are motivating and they provide a context for language.

As to teaching reading, writing, listening, and speaking, I learned that it’s a good strategy to integrate two of these skills in a lesson. I can start a lesson with reading or listening activities and then these activities will lead to speaking and writing activities. Of course, a teacher may focus her lesson on one skill such as writing. Anyways! When teaching any of the skills, a good way to start the lesson is to motivate students with a warm up activity. Then teachers should build students’ schemata by asking them personal questions and relating the content to their background knowledge. Students can also preview and predict what they’re going to read about. During this stage, teachers should pre-teach key vocabulary words. Students may guess the meaning of other words from context clues. Then students start reading. In this stage students read more than once. They discuss events and point to problems. In the after reading stage, teachers can start discussion circles in which they give a discussion starter and students discuss what they’ve worked on. During this stage, students may also revisit the text, work over grammatical structures and so on. Students may also write or present something based on their reading. As to teaching listening, the steps of pre-listening, during listening, and after listening should be followed. Teachers can use the top down or bottom up strategy to teach listening.
As to teaching writing, the teacher can follow the writing process. Students pre-write, write drafts, revise, edit, proofread, and finally publish their writing. Students may also write in the journals or do independent writing. It’s a good idea to display their work on the bulletin board or put them in the classroom library for others to read. Young learners need extra resources to read beyond their books. It is useful to start a classroom library and encourage independent reading.

Checking understating should be done frequently. To check understanding, teachers shouldn’t ask students questions like “Did you understand?” Checking understanding should be done through meaningful questions which are directly related to the objective worked on. Students may also produce a written work or do an activity to show their understanding.

As to planning there are certain elements of a good lesson plan. A good lesson plan must include clear behavioral measurable objectives, warm-up activities, presentation, practice, production, assessment and follow up activities. It is also good to mention the materials needed for implementing the lesson plan. It is beneficial to incorporate the five Cs of communication, culture, connections with other disciplines, comparisons with students, native languages and cultures, and use of the foreign languages in communities outside the classroom. So when planning lessons it’s better that they revolve around a common theme. Content – based instruction enriches foreign language teaching. It promotes higher levels of thinking, gives the students the opportunity to use the language in a meaningful context, and provides a framework for teaching language.

As to the strategies to teach language in the classroom it’s good to vary the instructions. The teacher shouldn’t rely solely on teacher – student or teacher – class interactions. Pair work and group work should be used as often as possible. Studies showed that cooperative learning has a great effect on promoting achievement and language acquisition. Thus it should be used as often as possible.

This is a summary of the things I have learned in this course. In it I have mentioned things related to my students profile. If I have to write that I have learned in this course, I wouldn’t stop. I feel that I’ve developed a philosophy for teaching young learners and have professionally grown a lot and although there’s still much to learn and grow by.

Managing Large Classes

To teachers who are having management problems……


New teachers often face problems in keeping some students on task and having them pay attention to the explanation of a lesson. They do not often follow classroom rules. This problem aggravates when working in groups or working with low achievers. That’s why there is a need to develop a system to better manage classes especially large ones.


Have a look at these techniques; they are fun to do, unlike the rigid old fashioned ways of managing classes. You will use different techniques for the different problems you have.

- For the class as a whole, write with your students a classroom pledge. It is much better than the ready made classroom rules. Then use the class point chart and add one point every time the students in general are behaving well. When the class collects fifty points, do all together an activity after school such as inviting them to your house or going together to a fast food restaurant.

- For students who have behavior problem do the parent-student-teacher contract. Then give each of them two cards a red one and green one. Punch the red card when they misbehave and the green card when they follow the rules. When the student has 10 punches in the green card they get a prize and when they have 10 punches in the red card, call their parents and review together the contract to get the consequences that are written.

- As for group work use the idea of pasta discipline. Put plastic jars in front of each group. Then add pasta to the jars of the group whose members follow the rules (talking softly, everyone participates). The group whose jar is the fullest will receive behavior awards or extra points.

- Concerning group work form a homogeneous group for low achievers and work with them on their weaknesses. You could also assign a peer tutor to teach them. You could motivate them to achieve better by giving Popsicle sticks with positive comments to the student who improves.

In fact there are hundreds of techniques, you can even be creative and invent your own techniques.

If such a system is properly followed, student will pay more attention. They care for the reward so they will try to follow classroom rules to earn it. Students usually care for going out with the teacher so they will try to please her. When working in groups they will stay on task and work quietly and everyone will participate to have their pasta jar filled. Low achievers will get more attention from the teacher and from peer tutors and they will achieve better (too idealistic… this is what I hope…) .The benefits from this applying such a system are numerous. Students’ achievement will increase because they will stay more on task and because there are no distractions. Their motivation will also increase because of the use of positive reinforcement.

The change to be completed needs around two months. From the first days of starting the new management plan you will see changes. However, students need time to feel that the teacher is consistent and that they are rewarded and that there are rewards or consequences for their acts. Establishing routines also takes time.

The degree of your success of implementing such a system is both visible and tangible. You can see if your class is behaving in a better way and can notice if they are following the rules or not. The number of awards given students is also an indicator of success of the new management plan.


A final word:
This management system focuses on extrinsic motivation techniques. You know that there is a debate on the issue of intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation- that students should behave properly because this is the way it should be, not because of the reward. However, in this case, where the learners are young, it works a lot to use extrinsic motivation techniques.

Educational Web Sites

The web is full of resources but remember not all of them are good, educational useful or even true!


Web sites with e-learning resources for use in schools

http://www.jidaw.com/certarticles/freeelearn.html

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/edu/packetville/index.html

http://www.quiz-tree.com/

http://www.chemcollective.org/find.php

http://www.chemcollective.org/create.php

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/eds/tools/

http://www.juniors.net/

http://www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org/

http://education.buildcontent.com/education/tmpl.asp

http://www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/maths/intermathsindex.html

http://www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/maths/mpsaindex.html

http://www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/tables/frame1.html

http://www.mathsnet.net/

http://www.funbrain.com/

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html

http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/glob/glob1.htm

http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/


Websites for collaboration with other schools and countries

http://www.britishcouncil.org/montageworld

www.innovativeteachers.com


Websites to improve your ICT skills

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010559221033.aspx

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/index.htm

http://www.ukindia.com/zar1.htm


Websites in Arabic

www.bakaloria.com
www.c4arab.com
www.daralfajr.20fr.com
www.moe-edc.org/a/tec/etc/S1
www.absba.com
http://www.ukindia.com/zar1.htm

The International School Award

When teaching is more than teaching… When teaching is serving others, using innovative techniques, and creating special programs… When teaching is bringing the world to our classroom, building character and promoting global awareness and international understanding..

This is how we view teaching at Khalil Shehab School, and that’s why we signed up for “School Links Project”, funded by the U.K. government and managed by the British Council. This project links our school to a school in Nottinghill in the United Kingdom. The idea behind it is simple: bringing together teachers and students from different countries and enabling them to share their learning, culture, language and experiences with the aid of ICT and exchange visits. Through this program our students will exploit a variety of global learning partnership. This includes doing activities with students in the U.K. through video conferencing, e-mails, and internet projects. Exchange visits will also occur at least twice a year.

The benefits from joining such a project are numerous. This project must move our students linguistically, socially and culturally. We are promoting these links to ensure that our students are given opportunities to broaden their horizons and to raise their achievements especially in the foreign language. This project will also promote the use of ICT in a meaningful context. The contact of our students with students of similar age in the U.K. encourages them to be familiar with different customs, thus encourages intercultural awareness. Our students will practice social interaction & form friendship. Even more importantly we hope that this international partnership will raise educational standards and students’ fluency.

You are never too young to start understanding other customs, tradition and cultures. You are never too young to speak fluently as a native speaker. This is our philosophy at Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association. This is our philosophy at Khalil Shehab School. We are living in an interconnected world, a global village. Cultural visits, partnership with a school in the U.K., a diverse range of language teaching staff exchange & online collaboration are some of the opportunities on offer by the British Council. Not only that, but also the International School Award (ISA) only if we prove to be up to its standard. We’ll work for it, and hopefully we’ll deservingly get it. It will be an International badge of honor to us, and for our students a passport to the world - an opportunity of learning beyond the classroom…

Ghina Al Badawi Hafez
Principal

The Importance of Online Education

University administrators and technology sales people have announced the death of an old era of traditional universities and the birth of a new era of virtual higher learning. The inventions of technology and the advancement of information communication technology (ICT) caused drastic changes in the way people learn and teach. Actually, online education is prospering and online education can not be stopped. Although, it can not replace traditional in class education, yet it supplements it. Academic institutions are integrating an element of online education because it improves curriculum, responds to the needs of different learners, and improves the educational level of students.

International education which includes virtualization, globalization and borderlessness has an impact on curriculum teaching and that is one reason why academic institutions integrate it. Mangan (2003) even suggested that online education is the only solution to free up the curriculum so that it is not a decade behind. She criticized traditional academics, planning procedures, and inflexible course requirements and old faculty members. She stated that they delivered an out of touch curriculum, and since businesses nowadays depend a lot on internet, future businesses leaders should be taught with updated curriculum which is flexible and matches students interests and the requirements of the employers. It should provide thoughtful integration of knowledge skill and attitude in order to develop an individual to his full potential. Online education answers these needs. It gives students more freedom to customize their degrees and choose subjects that match with their interests. Moreover, the online courses might include students from far away countries and this gives international dimensions and richness to the curriculum.

Another main cause of the need of online education is that it responds to the needs of different learners. Let us begin by part time learners. They need to learn quickly, have little time, and are interested in advancing their career. Many adults have a feeling of time poverty and worry about the lack of time to pursue their education. So online education gives them the chance to study and work from home or work at their leisure. In addition, students who like multimedia delivery are greatly attracted to online courses. Online education also gives the students the chance of studying or working in the virtual classroom anytime of the day or the night. Moreover, people who are interested in specific courses that are not available in their hometown will definitely find them online .Actually, Daifallah (2000) stated that more than 17000 courses are already available online. Finally, shy students, who are uncomfortable when sharing thoughts in a group, are less inhibited when participating in online discussions.

The third main cause of the need of international education is that it broadens the horizon of learners and improves their skills in reading and writing, thus developing independent learners. Online learners must do reading assignment on their own and must produce written products. Actually, students in their dialogues would offer "global comparisons and perspectives, pose questions to one another from an outsider's perspective, respond to questions from those abroad that frequently challenge taken for granted assumptions, and be encouraged to take a reflective attitude toward their own society, culture, and politics" (Little,Titarenko,Bergelson,2005,p.362). In fact, Little et al (2005) stated that regular writing activity leads to writing improvements. When students write frequently their level increases and they produce better learning outcomes.Moreover, students interact in online courses with students from other countries for at least an entire semester and for international students, an online course taught in English offers them an opportunity to improve their foreign language.


Online education is a worldwide advancement that no one can curtail. So institutions should integrate an element of it because it improves curriculum, caters to the needs of different learners and improves their skills and educational level. As far I am concerned, I believe that online learning did not replace traditional classrooms but it should definitely supplement it since it is an important part of training delivery in today's global village.


References:

1-Wood, B.J.W, Tapsall, S.M, Soutar, G.N. (2005).Borderless education: some implications for management. The International Journal of Educational Management.Bradford:2005.vol 19, pg. 428, 9 pgs.Retrived in Feb. 27 (2008) from online databases, Proquest

2-Daifallah, A. (2000) .Online learning in faceless degree factory. Peterborough, pg. A.4.Retrieved in March 27(2008) from online databases, Proquest.

3-Little, C.B, Titarenko, L, Bergelson, M. (2005).Creating a Successful Distance-Learning Classroom. Teaching Sociology, Vol.33, NO.4, PP.355-370.Retrived inMarch.28 (2008) from online databases, Jstor.

A Cooperative Learning Experience

Cooperative Learning (CL) is an instructional method that has received considerable attention in educational research and practice at various grade levels and in various subject areas. The methods and structures of CL can be categorized into five models, namely the Structural Approach, Group Investigation, Student Team Learning, Curriculum Packages and Learning Together. They all follow the principles of positive interdependence, individual accountability, heterogeneous groups and equal opportunities for class participation and success. Cooperative learning is extremely useful for young learners. Incorporating cooperative learning has many advantages. Slavin (1991) conducted a synthesis of research on cooperative learning. He found out that sixty seven studies measured the effect of cooperative learning on student achievement. These studies established that when students work in heterogeneous groups and are rewarded they achieve more than students who are in traditionally taught classes. He also found out that, cooperative learning methods work equally well for all types of students. Research studies also showed that cooperative learning has an effect on variety of thing such as “liking school, development of peer norms in favor of doing well academically, feelings of individual control over the student’s own fate in school, and cooperativeness and altruism”. (Slavin 1991, p: 80).


I would like to share with you my experience in implementing Jigsaw II, a cooperative learning method, in my classroom. I have implemented as a part of my thesis which is entitled The Effect of Jigsaw II on Fourth Graders’ the Reading Achievement and Motivation. I was interested in Jigsaw reading because it is a humanistic approach to teaching languages. The second reason is that I’ve read a lot of literature about its effects on achievement. I thought of implementing and trying it in a country where it is still a novelty. Therefore, rationale for my study is based on several factors. First, CL has only recently been introduced to schools in Lebanon. The results of its use have not been thoroughly investigated yet. It is important to check whether CL methods are feasible and effective in a country where there's a pressure on students to compete against each other from parents and teachers. Second, this study attempts to explicate the connection between CL, specifically Jigsaw II, and EFL learners' motivation and achievement. Finally, this study has pedagogical implications. On the practical side, teachers will benefit from the results of this study and become more informed whether to use this method in their classrooms or not.

Before the beginning of the school year and before classes were scheduled, students were randomly assigned into one of two sections A and B. One of the two sections was randomly chosen to receive cooperative learning. The other received traditional instruction. I taught both classes. The study was designed to last two months. The control group was taught using traditional method. The students read individually inside the classroom or at home. Class discussion followed their reading. Pair work and group work were occasionally used. With the experimental group, I followed the same stages. The difference is that I applied Jigsaw reading instead of individual reading every time I had a reading lesson. In Jigsaw II, the students participate in expert groups and learning teams. In expert groups, students read part of the lesson and become experts in its content. Then, they return to their teams and share their information with their teammates, so that all of them master all the content. Students then do individual quizzes .The group whose members improved the most receives The Super Team Award. To be clearer, the steps involved in Jigsaw II are forming learning and expert teams, developing expertise, sharing expertise with learning teams, assessing individual achievement and finally calculating team improvement and recognizing team accomplishment. My role was a facilitator and a guide. Throughout the study the same subject matter was covered and the two classes used the same book. Both classes had the same homework assignments which were corrected in class the next school day. Academic objectives were the same for both classes and all tests and quizzes were identical for both classes

After two months, i.e. during the first week of December, the two groups did the Motivation to Read Profile(Gambel, Palmer, Codling, Mazzoni.1996) and Gates–McGinitie Reading Test,4Th edition to check whether the treatment, i.e. the use of Jigsaw II method, has an effect on their reading motivation and achievement or not. Descriptive statistic, that is the means and the standard deviations of the experimental and control group were computed. Then a Multivariate Analysis of Variance MANOVA was conducted to compare the results of both groups. The students' responses to the semantic differential scale and the Likert-type questions were tallied and the percentages were computed to indicate the value students place on reading and their self concepts as readers, which are two dimensions of reading motivation. The results showed that jigsaw II had a positive effect on students’ achievement and motivation

The difficulties which I faced in using Jigsaw II as a teaching method are not many. I prefer to call them challenges. The preparation of material, especially the expert sheets and the quizzes took a lot of time. Moreover, children needed time to learn how to control their behavior and some teams needed time to adjust and accept each other.

To ensure success I advise you, English teachers of Makassed, to take these tips into consideration:

1-Before starting to implement jigsaw II, do some team building activities to foster productive team work. Your teams should definitely be heterogeneous, including children from different abilities. When selecting the teams also make sure that there is an equal number of boys and girls if possible, and try to avoid best friends or worst enemies. Don’t change your teams often unless there is something exceptionally urgent
2-Let the teams solve their problems on their own. Don’t interfere unless there is something that can’t be solved unless you interfere. Also don’t answer questions unless no one knows the answer. As it is often said,” Don’t be a sage on the stage. Be a guide on the side.”
3-Always prepare your material beforehand, because it takes much time and effort to prepare them. Your efforts, however, will be rewarded when your students show better results 4- Don’t be late in correcting the individual quizzes, calculating the improvement points and giving awards. Children are waiting for your recognition. Remember, it’s often said,” Rewards make group work work.”




References
Gambell,L.B.,Palmer,B.M..,Codling,.R.M.Mazzoni,S.A.,(1996)Assessing Motivation to Read. The Reading Teacher , 49, 518-533.
Slavin,R.E.,(1991,a) Synthesis of Research on Cooperative Learning Educational Leadership, 71-82

Interesting Books

Hilda L. Jackman (1999). Sing me a story I tell me a song! Crowin Press, Inc.

This book is especially useful for teachers of young learners since it includes creative activities especially designed for children. The author described her book as "a newly found teaching friend that will offer creative curriculum activities to help new teachers, teachers already practicing in early childhood education, administrators, supervisors, college educators and students". The book is made up of 6 sections (All about me, the senses, seasons, environment, animals and more, and transportation). Each section is comprised of at least four themes. Each theme suggests a set of vocabulary words, shows a children created bulletin board, a bibliography of children's book, parents letters in addition finger, plays, poems, stories, dramatic play, music, art, math, science and social studies A CD-ROM accompanies this book and includes thematic outline, lesson plans, parent letters and charts.


Cunningham. P.M., Moore S.A., Cunningham J.W., Moore D.W. (1995) Reading and Writing in Elementary Classroom: Strategies and Observations Longman Publishers USA
.
This book is very helpful for teachers of young learners because it contains authentic reading and writing activities along with appropriate strategies to use. The book also includes narrative chapters with concrete examples of how the ideas and activities might be implemented in different grade levels. Moreover, it includes sections which preview and summarize each chapter and four kinds of boxes (Listen, Look and Learn Boxes, Try out Boxes, Do It Together Boxes and Add to Your Journal Boxes). These boxes suggest extra activities which promote application either through journal writing, cooperative work, or sensory activities. Each chapter ends with a section that summarizes research findings and the theoretical base. There's also an annotated bibliography of additional readings. The instructor's edition of this book contains students’ projects, essay questions and transparency masters.


Shamcem N., Tikoo M. (editors) (1999). New Ways in Using Communicative Games in Language Teaching, TESOL, Inc.

This book is helpful for teachers of young learners because it offers many useful and enjoyable activities for using English Communicatively. Each activity is presented as a game. The activities in the book are sorted into five parts: 1) Learning communication strategies 2) Learning content Matter 3) Learning from one another 4) developing skills in discourse 5) Developing fluency. The five parts cover the main goals of communicative activities as identified by Nation and Thomas (1988) Teachers can choose activities according to the main goal of their lesson. Within each part, activities are sorted by level and the first activity always works at any level.

Gruber B., Gruber S. Friends: Ideas and Activities across the Curriculum. Frank Schaffer theme book series.

This series is particularly helpful for teachers of young learners who are following a theme based curriculum. The series offers around thirty books of different themes for different Grade levels (1=>6) such as: Our Five Senses, Fairly Tales, Animals Habitat, Ecology, Neighbor hoods etc, Each book includes a letter for parents, an award for students, cooperative learning activities, ideas for making bulletin boards, practicing reading, writing, listening and speaking in addition to cross-curriculum activities that are related to art, math, science and social studies.

FL Teaching in Lebanon

Although Lebanon is a small country, it is called “the Switzerland of the East” and it is designed as a bridge between the Arab countries and the West. Having this status as a crossroads of civilization, Lebanon was always famous for its continuous interest in education especially foreign language education. During the civil war (1975 1990), the quality of education suffered in Lebanon although both Lebanese teachers and students risked their lives when going to schools. When the war ended in 1990 the Center of Educational Research and Development (CERD) started updating the curricula to improve the quality of education. In his book ,CERD in 1017 days, Dr. Nemer Frayha, the head of CERD, stated that one of the aims of CERD was “paying special attention to foreign languages and technology in our curricula and school programs because they affect the student’s future and are keys to work and success”. (P.26)
From Dr. Frayha’s quotation, we notice the growing interest of the educators in foreign language teaching. This interest is not only from educators but from parents as well. It led to the lowering of age of teaching English and foreign languages in Lebanon.
Both Lebanese educators and parents realize the importance of introducing a foreign language in a country such as Lebanon. The Lebanese educational system is greatly affected by other civilizations. A Lebanese school might follow the French system, the American system or the Arabic system. France, Britain, the United States, Germany and Italy are all running schools in Lebanon. This interest in learning a second language is grounded on the fact that the second language is necessary for success in elementary and higher education. In school, second language affects a student success in science and to a lesser extent in mathematics. The Lebanese curriculum gives official freedom to teach math and science in Arabic or any other foreign language. Almost 99% of the schools teach these two subjects in foreign language. Moreover, most schools use American books not national or EFL books to teach the English subject at schools. Books by American publishers, such as ScottsForesman, Harcourt, and Scholastic are widely used in Lebanese schools. Parents and educators feel the necessity to have the students start learning a foreign language early so that students are able to succeed in these subjects. In fact, some parents compliment the study of foreign language in schools by sending their children to FL camps, and making them do summer FL courses, watching movies and communicating in FL at home. Furthermore, parents demand starting learning English at small age because they are worried about their children’s future and their chances to enter a private university. Most Lebanese universities require that a student passes the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and parents believe that the number of years of studying English affects the score on such tests. Parents also believe in the importance of learning L2 especially if there’s a possibility that their children study abroad in a foreign country. There are other reasons for lowering the age of L2 learning. Knowing a second language can lead to better job opportunities. It is well known that a bilingual person can benefit his society a lot through his interaction with people from other cultures or through reading their literature and cultural heritage. Finally, the Lebanese regard fluency in a second language as a major expression of prestige.
The reform of education, the use of FL in teaching at schools and universities, the quest for a better future, better interaction with other cultures, and better job opportunities, and the Lebanese view of foreign language are factors that explain the recent alarm which led to lowering the age of teaching a foreign language in Lebanon.

A Philosophy for Teaching English to Young Learners

Three years ago, I as given a grant from the US embassy to do an online course about teaching English to Young Learners at the University of Maryland. Taking this course was a great professional development opportunity for me. It benefited me a lot in my work as a coordinator and a teacher of young learners in addition to teaching me things about learning online. Most people in Lebanon underestimate distance learning. However in such a well-organized course I felt that I’ve worked and learned more than in any other course that I’ve taken in a regular classroom.

While I was working on this course I felt that I was on the right track regarding teaching young learners. I learned more about the characteristics of young learners and that gave me a deeper understanding of the approaches and activities to use when teaching them. I learned that young learners like hands-on activities and variation. The activities should stress on communication. Teachers shouldn’t focus on teaching the rules of grammar explicitly. What teachers can do to facilitate children’s learning of language rules is to expose them to many listening and reading activities and to give them the chance to interact and engage in meaningful language tasks to bridge the gap between knowing language rules and using them.

Second, when teaching vocabulary, teachers should use gestures, movements, facial expressions, flashcards, pictures, realia etc… Students should meet the word in different contexts and use it to ensure understanding. What was new here for me is that in my country we were taught that we shouldn’t ever use our native language when teaching a foreign language, while I learned that it is possible to do that. I also learned that students benefit a lot from the things they’ve learned in their native language. Moreover, stories are a great vehicle to teach young learners because they are motivating and they provide a context for language.

As to teaching reading, writing, listening, and speaking, I learned that it’s a good strategy to integrate two of these skills in a lesson. I can start a lesson with reading or listening activities and then these activities will lead to speaking and writing activities. Of course, a teacher may focus her lesson on one skill such as writing. Anyways! When teaching any of the skills, a good way to start the lesson is to motivate students with a warm up activity. Then teachers should build students’ schemata by asking them personal questions and relating the content to their background knowledge. Students can also preview and predict what they’re going to read about. During this stage, teachers should pre-teach key vocabulary words. Students may guess the meaning of other words from context clues. Then students start reading. In this stage students read more than once. They discuss events and point to problems. In the after reading stage, teachers can start discussion circles in which they give a discussion starter and students discuss what they’ve worked on. During this stage, students may also revisit the text, work over grammatical structures and so on. Students may also write or present something based on their reading. As to teaching listening, the steps of pre-listening, during listening, and after listening should be followed. Teachers can use the top down or bottom up strategy to teach listening.
As to teaching writing, the teacher can follow the writing process. Students pre-write, write drafts, revise, edit, proofread, and finally publish their writing. Students may also write in the journals or do independent writing. It’s a good idea to display their work on the bulletin board or put them in the classroom library for others to read. Young learners need extra resources to read beyond their books. It is useful to start a classroom library and encourage independent reading.

Checking understating should be done frequently. To check understanding, teachers shouldn’t ask students questions like “Did you understand?” Checking understanding should be done through meaningful questions which are directly related to the objective worked on. Students may also produce a written work or do an activity to show their understanding.

As to planning there are certain elements of a good lesson plan. A good lesson plan must include clear behavioral measurable objectives, warm-up activities, presentation, practice, production, assessment and follow up activities. It is also good to mention the materials needed for implementing the lesson plan. It is beneficial to incorporate the five Cs of communication, culture, connections with other disciplines, comparisons with students, native languages and cultures, and use of the foreign languages in communities outside the classroom. So when planning lessons it’s better that they revolve around a common theme. Content – based instruction enriches foreign language teaching. It promotes higher levels of thinking, gives the students the opportunity to use the language in a meaningful context, and provides a framework for teaching language.

As to the strategies to teach language in the classroom it’s good to vary the instructions. The teacher shouldn’t rely solely on teacher – student or teacher – class interactions. Pair work and group work should be used as often as possible. Studies showed that cooperative learning has a great effect on promoting achievement and language acquisition. Thus it should be used as often as possible.

This is a summary of the things I have learned in this course. It’s a philosophy for teaching young learners….

TEYL

Teaching young learners is a demanding yet interesting task.The teacher should always provide a nurturing environment that brings out the best in her students .The instruction should always take into account the linguistic competence of the students , their characteristics , and their needs .

Many approaches can be adopted to teach young learner and every teacher should know what the preferences of her students are . The teacher can use either the total physical response , the language experience approach, the affective approach , the communicative approach , or any other approach that fits . The book we use follows the thematic- content-based approach , where students read selections related to certain themes . Then , reading , listering , speaking , grammar and writing are taught in connection to the theme .

The activities used to teach young learners should stress the development of students communication . They should be interesting relevant and practical . Based on the characteristics of young learners the activities should have the following characteristcs . First , they should be enjoyable and compatible with the students abilities in order to keep them motivated and attentive . Second , they should be brief because young childern like variation and can’t concentrate for a long time . The instructions of the teacher should be clear . The activities should also be challenging but not too much . The teacher must be sure that her students can carry them out , The activities should lend themselves to cooperative and group work . Childen learn from each other as much as they learn from the teacher and sometimes more . Cooperative learning such as jigsaw II and STAD should be a part of a teachers lesson . Teacher must vary the classroom interaction ( Teacher-class / Teacher-student / student-student / Group-Group ) . The development of activities for the fast students who finish first is essential . The activities include solving puzzles , writing journal entries , and reading stories .

The teacher should stress on using the English language all the time even on the first day of school and with young learners . The use of miming , gesturing , pictures and realia will help clarify meaning . Writing and displaying new vocabulary words on the bulliten is helpful in making the students memorize them . The idea of teaching English through English is not new . Children learn faster if they are immersed in the language and are in an environment which is a little bit above their linguistic level , when the teacher uses only the English language in the classroom , she is not only getting her students used to listening to . English but also encouraging her students to guess the meaning of the words from context , gestures and intonation .She is also forcing them to use the English language
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Sometimes, a classroom organization is as important as the student’s activates. Actually some tasks cannot be carried out without proper classroom organization. An ideal classroom would be spacious allowing a space for making corners, and conducting activities and games. It should have large bullitenboards, a classroom library, and listening, technology, writing and curriculum stations. The classroom labirary can include books,stories,magazines and student-made books. The listening station includes a tape recorder, a headset, tapes, and after listening activities. In the technology station, students can type on the computer using the word program or can play language games. In the curriculum station, student can do cross curriculum activities that are related to their English lesson. Of course the classroom described is an ideal one, far away from our very small classroom.
The organizational structure of activities is as important as the organization of the classroom. It’s better to use cooperative learning when the teacher is giving a problem solving task. Pair work works best with dialogue, review and think-pair-share activities. The environment of the classroom should be friendly. It’s known that achievement is correlated to motivation. The teacher must develop a sense of achievement in her students as it is well known that nothing succeeds like success . The teacher's feedback should be meaningful realistic and directed towards the student’s mistakes and not them. A teacher must praise her students and motivate them through awards and tokens. As to the material, games, songs, music poetry, video, newspapers, radios, realia, and drama are sources that a teacher can use to motivate the students and to make the class lively and enjoyable.
Teaching young learners is very rewarding. They come to school with an open heart. If the teacher uses the appropriate methods, design interesting activities, uses the English language and motivates them, the students will love her, develop a positive attitude towards English and become successful foreign language learners.

Storytelling with Children

There is a general agreement between educators nowadays that successful second language learning is a matter of unconscious acquisition than of conscious systematic study of language and its grammatical rules. Classroom activities should not focus on monotonous drilling but rather on activities that promote communication and expression. Storytelling is one of the most ancient activities that provide an excellent medium for teaching and learning in general and teaching and learning a second language specifically. Wright in his book "Storytelling with Children" wrote "We need stories for our minds as much as we need food for our bodies"(p.5) Ruth Wajuryb in his book “Stories: Narrative Activities in the Classroom “stated, "We live our lives through texts. Stories are everywhere". (p.1) Connelly and Clandinin (1990) described human beings as "storytelling organisms". (p.2) It seems that stories have a universal appeal. Stories told in second language has the same magic of stories told in L1. Children can understand the story and love it even if they don’t understand every word. "Children's hunger for stories is constant. Every time they enter your classroom they enter with a need for stories.”,stresses Wright (p.5).
The benefits of using stories in the language classrooms are uncountable. Stories are motivating and help develop a positive attitude towards language learning. "Once upon a time" are magical words for children. Once they hear them they become all ears and ready to learn. Listening to stories provokes a shared response of laughter, sadness, excitement and anticipation. Children enjoy listening to stories again and again. Through repetition students learn unconsciously vocabulary and language structures. Children may also learn new concepts such as colors, size, shape, time etc. Through stories, teachers can teach learning strategies such as comparing and contrasting, classifying, predicting, problem solving, and guessing from context clues. Through stories teachers can also develop the study skills of students like understanding charts and learning how to use a dictionary. Stories can also be used to integrate teaching English with other subjects such as mathematics, geography, science and art. It is possible to design a whole curriculum around stories. Listening and reading stories and responding to them through speaking, writing, drama, music and art give the students the chance to communicate authentically and to develop their awareness, analysis and expression.

The book I use to teach my third and fourth graders is literature–based. When dealing with stories I follow a three step strategy: before reading, during reading and after reading. Before reading the story, I pre-teach key vocabulary and link them with spelling. I also build up students’ schemata through relating the story to their back- ground knowledge and personal experience. Students then predict what the story will be about from the title and the story pictures. Finally, they set purpose by asking questions they would like to be answered about the story. In the “during reading” stage, students read the story silently, listen to the tape or to me reading it. I stop reading to discuss events. Students answer literal and higher order questions , confirm previous predictions, and predict what will happen next. In the "after reading" stage, students respond to the story through writing. They may fill out charts, compare characters, summarize, or write a different ending. Finally, the story is connected with other subjects such as science, math, geography, art, drama… Students might make a pie-chart, find more about the setting, draw illustrators, or act out the story. Following this three step strategy helps me avoid many problems. In fact, problems related to storytelling are not so many and can be solved easily.
Some of these problems or challenges are the inability to comprehend and losing interest. The inability to comprehend the story can be due to cultural differences or the difficulty of the story. When selecting stories, teachers should be sure that they are appropriate to the linguistic level of their students. Losing interest in the story is another challenge the loss of interest can be due either to students’ inability to understand or boredom. To solve this problem, teachers must be dramatic and liven things up. While reading, they must make bodily gestures, mime, make eye contact with their students, and speak with intonation. They may also stop and rephrase and show pictures. Through involving children, stopping to comment, or inviting students to comment, teachers ensure students interest. Adopting different voices for the different characters is also a useful strategy.

Thus, we can conclude that stories can be easily used as a medium for teaching listening, speaking, reading and writing. Instead of being just a technique, through it we can carry every important thing we want our students to learn about and do with English. Stories play an enormous role in the daily lives of children and in the English lesson.



References:
*Andrew Wright. “Storytelling with Children”. Oxford University Press
*Wajnryb Ruth. “Stories: Narrative Activities in the Language Classroom”. Cambridge University Press 2003
*Clandinin & Conelly. “Stories of Experience and Narrative Inquiry”. Educational Researcher.vol.19

Repetition and Language Acquisition

What is repetition? Should language be memorized? Can we learn a language through mimicry of the teacher? Is repetition a useful teaching technique that leads to language acquisition? These questions always pop to our head since this is the way we were sometimes taught when we were young, when the teachers believed in the audio-lingual method. The teacher was like an orchestra leader, providing a good model for imitation and we had to repeat as accurately and as rapidly as possible. After my experience in teaching, I think that teachers can resort to repetition and adapt it to their teaching approach but only minimally.
There is more than one type of repetition- repetitions done by students which are oral imitations, and repetitions done by the teacher which intend at revisiting the things learned to ensure learning. Both types of repetition are useful to young learners for a number of reasons. First, they make newly learned things stick in the head and facilitate memorizing. Children easily forget newly learned things. Through repetition, new information will be stored in the long term memory. A word is not likely to be learned through one meeting. Several meetings ensure learning and retrieval. High frequency words are also learned through frequent repetition. Second, it's through listening and repetition that students learn the correct pronunciation. Finally, repetition of sentences gives the students a sense of confidence because they feel that they are using the language.

Although repetition is useful in the English classroom, however, as Slatterly and Willis wrote, "it doesn't necessarily mean language acquisition is taking place" (p.43). Children might repeat nursery rhymes without understanding them. They might understand the general gist but not the individual words. Children might repeat sentences learned at the classroom but may not be able to use the words learned in different contexts. They might repeat vocabulary words without remembering their meaning.

Therefore, when teaching vocabulary, teachers should be sure that students understand their meaning. (EXACTLY!) With young children this could be done through miming, gestures, movements, facial expression, flashcards, pictures, realia etc… Teachers should also be sure that students understand the new vocabulary by asking them to respond not just to repeat. She can ask them to draw or to respond physically after listening to show that they understood and not are not repeating parrotly. Using new words and phrases several times and in different ways also ensures that students understand the words. Teachers should also display pictures on the bulletin boards to support new vocabulary and link vocabulary with a topic that students already know. When the context is real, students think of the meaning and repeat not only to practice pronunciation without understanding. Speaking games are other ways to make students repeat with understanding

Repetition is necessary with young children because they easily forget newly learned things. However, repetition doesn't ensure learning and vocabulary acquisition. More attention needs to be paid by the teacher on techniques for teaching vocabulary not on parrot repetition.