Women's Roles

 "Women are supposed to take care of their homes and families."
Still in the 21st century lots view women as working machines, not in the industrial field but in a reproduction system that is 'merrily' a weapon raised against the extinction of our species and deterioration of the population. There's nothing wrong with relationships that respect the sanctity of life and the roles of members constituting it, and there's no objection on formulating families and doing all duties associated with it. However, viewing woman as second, maybe less, in the world's improvement and bounding their capabilities to being 'house working machines' is not acceptable. It's really offensive to consider women who are half the 7 billion world's population unproductive. And to be specific, it doesn't offend women in particular only who are doing a great job practicing their duty outside their houses, seeking higher education, and being active parts in building the future but also it offends the human mind that was able to go through millions of crisis around the world and was able to create and manipulate subjects in hand to reach top places in advancement and development, and yet was not able to absorb and accept women as equal. Those who are the other half of the population are the ones bringing up the second half. No, I'm not saying women are better than men in raising up a healthy productive community, but what is this second half of the people on earth like without women? Having equality among both sides results a balance in the nature where all people have rights to be parts of the community's enhancement and still every person has his/her specific roles to practice. We should not consider that we are outside the house if one leg is out and the other is in, and similarly we can not consider ourselves developed if our buildings have reached the skies and our cars can fly while our brains are moving backwards. Women can and will do the dishes when they need and want to, but they didn't get educated just to end up doing the dishes unless they decide to do so. Women can take decisions for themselves.

Rawafid's Activities 2015

It feels great when the hard work pays off. Sometimes you don't feel how big something is until you see its results and until you watch from a distance somehow. I got an opportunity to teach, which definitely widened my perspectives about teaching, dealing with others, and being part of a big team where cooperation is extremely necessary for the positive functioning of the whole institution.
At Rawafid School, everyone worked hard fighting for the sacred message that is teaching, teaching for a better generation that looks forward to improving as well as to renovating the traditions and the basics of our beloved religion.
Being part of this school, I got the chance to make a short video that shows some of the extracurricular activities for the year 2014-2015.
Go to the link below to enjoy watching. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe6ZDbjaZpU 

TEFL Brunch

One of our big accomplishments in the School of Education at LIU is our TEFL Brunch that is a fund raising activity for Dar Al-Hanan Orphanage in west Bekaa. After being involved in this extraordinary fund raising activity for two times, I felt that with cooperation and teamwork spirit everything can be fun and worth it. This year, being a bit busy, I couldn't join my friends and instructors in their appreciated hard work. I wish I were there to witness an awesome event once more, but I felt happy enough for the great results. When we started this fund raising activity, honestly, the School of Education with the TEFL students have planted a new era and a new generation that loves giving, working, and spreading good and love anywhere they go. A worth mentioning impact we had upon everyone else after the TEFL Brunch is that different people from different majors were excited to help and to be part of a big team that keeps growing each year. This itself should make us proud and happy that we can have an impact, we can spread love and care, and we can make a change. Congratulations for everyone, from the first year and until now, who have participated in this event to add more success to it. And hopefully it even develops to a huge event with other extraordinary ideas!

A Worth Watching Debate

 "Islam: A religion of peace or war?"
A debate took place in Oxford University on whether Islam is a religion of peace or of war. This topic that has been controversial since a very long time still makes lots of people thirsty for a clear answer. The woman at the beginning totally believes that Islam is a peace of war even that there are lots of Muslims who are peaceful unlike terrorists. When the opponent side speaks, a Muslim young man presents facts that are true and logical.
Those who accuse Islam with terrorism always try to get statistics and information to support their opinions, but they always shift from the real topic trying to relate it somehow to say that Islam is a religion of war. This young man on the other hand regardless of the side he supports came with real evidence, logical statistics, persuasive attitude and enthusiasm that encouraged the audience to listen and to try to understand his perspective and beliefs even if they oppose him.
The audience was asked to vote at the end and the results were as following: 286 for Islam a religion of peace and 168 for Islam a religion of war.
It is worth watching, so here's the link for only part of the whole debate: 
https://www.facebook.com/qpeed7/videos/10202960090882832/ 
This is another link for more information about the complete event:
 http://www.french-news-online.com/wordpress/?p=27777#axzz3YR4SIrZX

Cloud Computing

Computer cloud is one of the most utilities that makes it faster, easier, and more comfortable to use internet, computers, and data. The cloud helps users to upload files and documents without taking much space. Uploading is trustworthy especially that files won't be lost and can be saved for any later use and from any device in any place in the world. People suffer from having to deal with viruses that many times ruin lots of hard work. However the cloud has a special feature in which it doesn't upload or allow files that have viruses to be saved. This can be an issue for some; what if the file has a virus but it is so important? The file has to be "virus free".
Let's say, you've uploaded a word document or a power point slide to the cloud and you want to make some changes. Instead of editing an uploading again, you can directly apply changes to the document on the cloud which makes it easier and a lot more flexible. Additionally, when you want to apply changes to a document that you've already sent to somebody, the cloud helps you to fix things on the document on the cloud and changes will happen to the document that another person has received. This saves time and sending/receiving a lot of files to/from other people.
Another great feature of the cloud is that it makes computers run faster especially that when you work, you can work on the cloud from your computer, but actually it's like you are not using your computer but you are using the cloud. Whatever is saved on the cloud can be open from any other device from any place; this can make it easier than the need to use USB devises. Different devices can be connected to the cloud just like phones, tablets, and printers; printers can be controlled from a distance for example you can print a word document that is on the cloud from the printer that is at your house even when you are not close to it. There are many types of clouds like Google drive that we use most of the time; but it's simpler than a computer cloud.
It is very effective to use the computer cloud in all life aspects or domains; it can be used by teachers, doctors, engineers, and all people. For example, instead of holding a pile of papers to a meeting, you can just upload what you need and place it on the cloud and use it during the meeting.
Technology is developing and improving every second. What could be next?! 

Surfing Blogs

I enjoy the idea of "surfing" different blogs. It's never about how the blogs look!
I learn to see things from different views, and how others may have opposite or same perspectives of similar issues. Another important thing is that I get to see different topics myself; sometimes reading certain articles leads you to misunderstanding the main ideas (or not getting them at all). However, reading posts on the blogs I've seen so far is simple and easy..even when the post is about something that's totally new to me.
Adding to this point, seeing different perspective gives me a glimpse of people's personalities, interests, and similarities and differences among them.
One nice thing also is that having a defined and well known major in university and life doesn't mean someone can't write or discuss different topics. We all can have different majors in life and different interests, but a great skill is that we can still function with a variety of topics and in a variety of situations.
A very important point (it just came to my mind while I'm writing this post) is that blogs are extra chances-of many opportunities-for us to enjoy reading and to practice our writing talents as well.

Two Facts: Good or Bad?

There are a lot of facts around us, we may see them clearly, we may not notice them at all, or we may pretend we don't see them. It's all about how we see things!
The first fact is that everyone and everything around you cares about what to get from you, and the second fact is that what you make doesn't necessarily have to make money. We all know this probably. Some may see these two facts as a reminder of "Stop it. Don't be hard on yourself. Nobody cares and you will go nowhere!", and some may see things as " Well, they don't care, but I do."
In the first case, a person may feel worthless or may think that he/she needs to quit because at the end no one cares what's going to happen to him/her. This kind of thinking leads to a low self-determination and self-confidence, and people usually here try to not to see the truth. Also, a lot of people will start viewing things negatively if they won't get a profit at the end.
However, in the second case, people will be caring about themselves in a positive way. It's true that the world cares about what you give them, but don't they need you in the end? It's essential to put this in mind; we need to look for things as chances for developing ourselves. Yes, others care about their needs, but you are the one working, developing, progressing, practicing, and gaining so many skills. May be you don't feel it, but you're learning a lot. Adding to this, making money doesn't happen all time or else you would be gaining money for removing a rock away from the street or picking up some trash and dropping them in a bin. We can view things positively; we do something that is so great that we can benefit from by making things easier for us. It's just like organizing a pile of papers. Instead of looking for some reports every day, we can spend sometime on organizing them to save lots of time later for us and for others. It's not only about money, we need to think about the benefits we get and we give for others. And at the end, we acquire some experience and skills. Isn't that great! It's all about how we think about many things in our lives.
Different perspectives do make differences. What do you think?

Words of Freedom

When the day changes to night,
As does the dark change the light.
There, crossing the lands and seas,
All I heard was the whistle of the breeze.

Behind the mountains lay the hundreds,
And all around, they were bounded.
I listened to all the sounds uttered, 
Yet, behind me not a voice muttered.

That great prison that gathered all
Only I was away from the long wall.
That wall made them the same,
And I being alone and different felt insane.

Should I be imprisoned or be free?
Should I leave my origin or stay me?

The sounds of my old fellows faded away,
I almost forgot my words that might leave today.
But I ran away to save my words,
For I won't sell them to greedy lords.

Behind me voices came out, 
Not similar to mine, there was no doubt.
But, fast as wind I was caught,
And loud as drums my heart beat.

No hurt they said, no harm they brought.
I was alone and they were five.
Six, together we make a life.
Soil, air, water, fire, and earth
With my language life comes to a new birth.

My language they wanted to learn,
For we are free and freedom is to earn.

The old sounds came to fly,
Protecting my words which will never die. 

      Rouba Farhat 

I wrote this poem when I took my Bilingualism course. As students, we were asked to come up with a poem that talks about our language and what we would do if we were the last people to speak our language. So, here, there is a kind of story that is going on. There are people who are imprisoned and they are just stuck and can't move forward; this is because they have no language or at least not my language, and that's why I can't recognize the sounds and utters I'm hearing. I described those imprisoned and how they are all the same, while I was the only different one. Because of this, I questioned myself whether I want to be like them or just stay free with my language. And the last choice was the best for me, so I ran away to save my language. Soil, air, water, fire, and earth are the essential elements in life, but to me also my language is the sixth element that will make life comes to a new birth that is peaceful and that is a new beginning for a better world. When I teach my language to the five people that are represented by the five elements mentioned before, I start to remember the sounds of the old fellows because my language will not die and more people will be learning it. My language gives freedom to others and to be free we need to know this language. 

A Season

Bursting out in laughter

Under the round ball of the sky, 

Desiring, though in abundance. 

Under the same sky,

Content, demanding nothing, others lie. 

Both not sure where they are heading. 

Different ways ahead,

Long or short, dark or bright, 

And in the end nothing avails.

Dark gets darker, and off goes the light. 

No need for muscles, nor for mind,

Nor for jewels and treasured mines.

Why dare look down?

Why need beg the crown?

 It is a season that lasts for a while;

And a lasting time awaiting all. 

                                                                                            Rouba Farhat

We all live on the same planet, breathing the same air, walking under the same sky...

Some might be content with what they have, though it might weigh nothing, while others might be nagging and rushing for more earthly materials, though they can have everything!

But 'nothing' and 'everything' are viewed differently by people because they have different views of life and perspectives of what the world is. People live in big lies a lot of time! But at the end if we think about it for a minute, what is it that worth begging others or being greedy? We need a lot of people to ask themselves why they treat others like slaves and make them beg simply to stay alive sometimes. We need to understand that this world is going to an end that we are never going to decide, and that's why instead of living in a rush just searching for more earthly materials and treating others like they are nobody, we need to change. We need to know that nothing will go with us when life is over, we won't have houses with labels on them- 'rich' , 'poor'...

Life is just a season that will come to an end, and what really matters is after that. So, let's treat each other equally because we were born equal and we will die equal.

Enjoy what you have, enjoy all moments you pass through because we don't go back in time. Let's love life for what it is and for what it gives because it is a trip or a journey that we should take care of.

Patch Adams

It's really encouraging to see how determination can take us to the next level. Patch Adams is a movie that talks about a medicine student who was so passionate to become a doctor; he wanted to help others, to make them laugh, and to spread inspiration to cure them. His only problem was that his ways of treating patients were different and creative. How is that a problem? It's not his problem, it is the problem of his stubborn instructor who refuses his techniques. He was asked to leave medical school accused of "excessive happiness"!! Patch didn't give up, he stood strong and confident facing his instructor, and he graduated to become an excellent doctor as one of the best
students graduating. "We need to improve the quality of life for our patients, and not just delay their death," he says defending himself.

Yes, it's a movie and it will always be. But it is so important to be determinant and to work hard standing against obstacles, all obstacles, because there has to a moment where things work out. Another main message is his passion to reach his dream, not because he wants to be called a doctor, a genius, the best, etc..., but because he wants to make a change, he wants to help others, and he wants to tell those around him that crazy ways can sometimes be the best for a better life- a true life. When we own the passion and make the dream part of us, we can feel the happiness of achieving something and we can feel the importance of determination.

"Literacy Draws Upon Art"

Cheri Sherman, a Champion Creativity Webinar presenter and Director of Education for Crayola, presented the importance of art in conveying meaning. Sherman talked about the relationship between visual literature and written literature where art integration happens across the entire curriculum. Showing a graph, Sherman explained that 90% of teachers use visual arts to teach literacy.

Why do teachers use art integration?
Teachers use art to teach literacy because it leads students to achieve the targeted objectives in easy and fun ways, and it also helps engaging all students in the lessons. So, the percentage of engagement increases. Teachers most of the time look for lessons that meet both the visual standards and the art language standards.

Teachers can use art to teach in terms of the four skills that are reading, writing, speaking, and listening. For reading, teachers can guide students to name the authors and illustrators and their roles in presenting ideas, ask students to describe relationships between illustrations and texts, tell students to describe characters through illustrations, and a lot more.
Illustrations can be related to the writing skill where students can use them to compose their own opinions about the text, to predict what will happen in the story or text, and to narrate the events themselves and/or give information.
Students can also achieve comprehension and collaboration through one-on-one or group discussions. Students can use illustrations to describe what they say which contributes in the speaking skill as well as listening. Also, students can engage in a "speaking chain" by building on each others' ideas and to express their own thoughts. They can also paraphrase ideas based on visual art.
Additionally, students can meet language standards by  using visual art, for instance they can determine the meaning of words using visual clues.

Sherman have talked about the National Core Arts Standards that target artistic practices by students like creating, presenting, responding, and connecting. Students can use their artistic skills in order to create illustrations and visual arts that at the same time convey a lot of meaning which aligns perfectly with writing; students can build creativity through writing. They can also present their work and be engaged using art skills and language skills especially speaking and listening, and they can respond to others' ideas and use the language. The most important aspect of the standards here is that students can and need to always relate and connect ideas to their own lives and to external contexts through reading most of the times (it can be through any of the four skills). The standards target each of the four skills and allow for their development and progress.

One of the ways or ideas teachers can use while using art in teaching literacy is the "Look Again" activity. This activity allows students to read illustrations. When we hear the word 'read', we always think of a text, however we can read illustrations, too.
Reading illustrations includes several aspects/practices:

• extract insight from meaning
• find visual clues
• interpret how the art conveys meaning
• use what you see to make inferences
• discuss authors' intentions behind illustrations

When teachers use visual arts, they need to mostly use 'What', 'Why', and 'How' questions. They can start asking students what they see and what they think it means. Then, they move to ask students why they said something (based on the first 'what' question). Later, they ask students how the author created illustrations and how they conveyed meaning through illustrations. The great characteristics of asking these questions is that they go in a cyclical way and the teacher can go back to start a series of questions again which is related to "cyclical thinking".

Teachers need to learn where to look for clues in the illustrations, and thus to guide students later to see the clues by themselves. Clues can be within the composition, colors, lines, focal-point, proportions, sizes, shapes, patterns, repetition, harmony, contrast, etc...
Sherman discussed these points by showing children books and describing the illustrations in terms of the aspects above. She used well known books like Madeline and Lon Po Po. 
This section here reminded me of one of my courses in university that is Children's Literature. One of the topics in this course is about the importance of choosing the right book for children, and a good children book would include different qualities including good illustrations that provide students with meaning. 

This webinar shows how important art can be in teaching literacy. And unlike what some people think, art is not only related to art classes like drawing, theater, or dancing classes, but it is across the entire curriculum.
The following are two websites I've received after attending this webinar. You can visit them and see a lot of ideas for teachers.

• www.crayola.com/educators 
• www.edweb.net/creativity

"Legal Issues Facing New Teachers"

I've attended a webinar under the title of "Legal Issues Facing New Teachers" that was basically about what teachers should do when confronted with certain situations.
The speaker first discussed that there are two types of new teachers; those who don't know the law and those who are afraid of being sued. The first type of teachers don't have the knowledge of what is acceptable by law and what is not, so they are most likely to be aggressive because they want to keep order and they don't want to see rule breakers. Those teachers may get into troubles because they over practice their rights while keeping order in schools. On the other hand, there are teachers who are afraid to catch rule breakers and to keep order since they may get sued. Those teachers try to avoid doing something with students who break the rules and ignore the complaints reported to them by others.

An issue discussed was about suspecting students and when it is reasonable to do so. First he mentioned that teachers in general and new teachers in particular deal with students based on rumors.This is true a lot of times; teachers sometimes take information about students from other teachers who talk about their students. Sometimes new teachers take the wrong image about the students and thus treat them on that basis which can cause problems for both teachers and students. Therefore teachers need to have an 'individualized suspicion' based on individual real experiences.
Some suspicions lead teachers to violate rules by searching students and over practice their rights. For instance, teachers may search students phones which can lead to further problems with the law, whether the schools' laws or the government laws. Teachers should avoid this.

An advice for teachers when they take something that belongs to students away was that they should lock it up!  The speaker added that things might get stolen which can put teachers under lots of troubles. And as a personal opinion here, I think that when teachers take something away from students, even a simple game that doesn't need to be locked up, they need to put it out of sight because students might not stop asking for it or trying to take it back. 

Additionally, teachers should not touch students except for four main reasons; when students are going to hurt themselves, when they are about to hurt someone else, when they are about to destroy property, and to maintain order. However, some believe that teachers need to provide students with care and love. The speaker mentions that teachers can do that by many ways where they don't need to hug students. Teachers can use high five or a fist bump. Other attendees who participated in this webinar also mentioned nice ideas like an 'air hug' which is like a virtual hug or a hug from a distance.

How can teachers deal with Bullying?
Everywhere in the world we hear about the issue of bullying. In my opinion, it is found a lot around us but it is somehow hidden unlike in other countries in the west. The main point is that teachers need to report bullying behaviors to the administration right away and immediately so that problems are solved on spot. Also, teachers need to immediately ask the bully to stop unacceptable behaviors and/or speech. They can also report what goes on to parents (hot lining parents) which also keeps a communication between teachers and parents who can provide help in eliminating problems. Teachers can play the role of mandated reporters. Also, teachers can report bullying to students counselors in schools. He also advises teachers to 'report' not 'investigate' because in this situation, bullying, teachers' roles end with reporting what has happened.

Many students have allergies in which some of them might face serious illness because of eating something they shouldn't eat. Teachers should be trained at the beginning of the year to know how to deal with cases of allergies.

An important issue that was discussed is confidentiality. Teachers must care about privacy and must keep information about students to those who have the right to know. He mentioned the Family Educational Right and Privacy Act (FERPA) that gives students and families the right of keeping information about students private. It happens a lot when teachers just sit together and gossip about students or even sending e-mails about students. Teachers need to respect the privacy of their students.

Toward the end of the webinar, the speaker  discussed dealing or breaking up fights. When confronted with real physical fights, teachers also need to break them up physically by approaching students and hold them back. Teachers can start with verbally asking students to stop the fight. If the situation continues, teachers can interfere and can call for help from an adult. He says that in many cases the winner wants to continue while the loser just wants the fight to be over. So, a teacher can figure out who is winning and grab him/her away.

Teachers might face a lot of different issues regarding dealing with students and maintaining order. They have the rights to stop any unaccepted behavior, however they need to be careful concerning how to deal with students in order not to over practice their rights. Many issues can lead to problems that cause teachers to be sued. Problems can reach outside school, so it's important to know how to deal with different situations, and there are a lot of websites and organizations that advise and provide help for teachers.
Teachers can visit the following website: www.edweb.net/new teacher help

Teacher's Day

How many teachers have left an impact on you?
How many teachers you still remember and you will always do?
A teacher works all the time to make the students happy and ready for the real world outside. Teachers always remember their days giving all they got for students; they remember the good days, the bad day, a day when someone made a great joke (or a horrible one), and lots of things. I myself remember so much about my school. And because memories last forever, teachers need to make those memories the greatest for their students and for themselves.
Happy day for all teachers in the world.  

School of Education- LIU

Few of the best moments!

No matter how big things are, we can still find a way to grow bigger. No matter how far our dreams go, we can always stay on track until we meet them. It just takes courageous decisions; decisions for taking the risk and making mistakes for the sake of reaching what's better. It takes lots of time and effort; nothing comes from nothing and there is always a beginning and lots of bumps ahead. It takes so much attention and organization in thinking; you always need to put a plan for your journey. It might not be a perfect one, but pinpointing to the goals means you are half way there. The most important thing is that it needs love, trust, passion, and a strong belief. Love your dreams and have the passion so that you can work from the bottom of your heart. And always trust yourselves and believe that you can do it even when things seem to be falling from a cliff because as I always say to myself "Winning is for those who trust the beauty of their dreams". Dream because tomorrow is hope and you are tomorrow's hope.