Making Art Out Of Trash

                                                             

It was a  surprise for me to know that in all Bekaa, we don’t have any recycling factory except Memosa.Memosa was just concerned in recycling papers. We were wondering of the huge wastes of plastic, glass, metals …. and any othernon-biodegradable matter . Such objects need hundreds to thousands of years to be degraded. For that reason, my students and I decided to make art of such trash instead of throwing them. The aim was to create spirit of responsibility in students to be aware of the trash they produce without being aware of its fate…. they could make nice simple gifts for whom  they love for free. They used empty bottles, old CDs, bottle covers, old wheels, egg packaging carton, cans… Pictures will be better than words to show the creative minds and crafty hands of grade six can do.More pictures are in the Gallery.

''Don't Hate Anything, Lest It May Be Better For You''

 '' ولا تكرهوا شيئا لعله خيراً'''

 I always used to say this, but never felt that I would really understand what it means. Recently my fiancé and I faced a lot of difficulties and obstacles. It was so tough to be misjudged by people we were worked a lot for their benefits and business. Today, 1 March 2013 instead of hearing a lie as the traditions are, I heard the best news I would expect. My fiancé got an excellent opportunity that we would never get if he stayed in Lebanon. Now I understand what the good things are after the difficulties we had before. In this occasion I remembered a story about a king and his vice. One day the king cut his finger by mistake, so his vice said it may be better for you (inshallah). The king was angry from the vice how he dares to say that cutting his finger might be good. Then the king ordered to take him into the jail. The vice also said it may be better for me. After short time and as usual, the king went in a trip in the sea. In the middle of the sea, they were opposed by pirates. These pirates used to kidnap victims as gift to a statue they worshiped. But because the king's finger was cut, they considered him imperfect and don’t worth to be given as a gift to their Statue. The king then realized what his vice meant when he said:'' it may be for your good''. The king ordered to release his vice. When he met him, he told him that he was right about it being good. But what's the good about putting him in jail injustice. The vice answered: '' If I wasn't in jail, I would be with you. Since I am healthy, they would take me as gift to their statue. The aim of this story is to believe that God never estimates badly for us. We should always be patient to see God's will

رحلوا، بعيدا عن وطنهم

My Fiance s Pasport

رحلوا، بعيدا عن وطنهم

بعيدا عن أهلهم ..

اعتادوا على ان يودعهم اهلهم، دمعات تنهمر على خدود أمهاتهم وغصة في القلب ترجو عودتهم. كانوا يعرفون أنها دمعة فراق تحبس الغصة في القلب، للقاء جديد...

لماذا هاجر هؤلاء الشباب، لماذا يرحلون في ربيع العمر قبل ربيع لبنان؟؟

الا يسأل اصحاب الكراسي في لبنان أنفسهم هذا السؤال، او يعمل على ملفهم عند استحقاق موعد الانتخابات!! هل هم مجرد أرقام بالنسبة اليهم، ايفتخرون ان اللبنانيين هم الأكثر إنتشارا في العالم.. ويا اكثر من علامات السؤال والتعجب في هذا البلد العزيز.. ولكن من دون جواب...

Even Trees Are Calling For Rescue

 Scientists have recently found that tree emits  sounds when it's  finds itself in risk. We already    know that the tree gets the water it needs throw  bundle of xylem. Due to the attractive force  between water molecules within each other and the plant cells, drops of water can reach the highest top in a tree. But if the land was dry, the interaction pressure may lead to the breakage of the trunk, this leads to the formation of gas bubbles that block water flow. This is what's known by cavitation. This process may cause death for some trees. French scientists have performed a vitro experiment to prove that process using microphones. They placed a piece of pine plant in water then evaporated it to have drought conditions.  Scientists have recorded several sounds which are ultrasounds that the human being can't hear. According to this study, a device will be designed to receive such sounds from stressed trees to water them in drought cases. This approach will save many trees especially in tropical rain forests.

My Philosophy Of Education

The Wordle of My Philosophy

When I first was asked:" What is your philosophy?" I stared surprised, should I have a philosophy and is still a new teacher with little experience. Then I realized that each teacher has his own philosophy whether he was old or new, professional or not. It took me few minutes to compare my first year of teaching with the second and the third. Many management techniques have changed, and I have been more able to able o control my class, but it’s still Baraah as I started. I always considered education as Plato once said: Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”  Students are the center of the class. Students have the right to discuss whatever comes to their mind at the suitable mind. Students should feel a safe atmosphere to ask.  My philosophy of education is to go beyond the traditional teaching. To encourage students for creativity , self-realization, questioning , cooperative learning and not competitive …..

Discovering the Parallel Connection's Secrets

Fatima and Hadi

Maamoun Hussien

 After defining what's an electric circuit and how to construct a simple circuit, it was time to construct an electric connection. Students first constructed series connections, and discovered how electric current have only one pathway and one loop. They have examined what happened if we removed only one lamp or if it's burnt out.. In this lesson i wanted them to be introduced to the second type of connections which is parallel connections. In this lesson students were supposed to be able to construct a parallel circuit and distinguishing it from the series one. They had to examine what happens when a lamp burns or unscrewed. also they had to use different switches in each loop and follow the passage of current. I think it was really so effective to teach this lesson using real experiments and not only diagrams. Students enjoys experiencing such experiments instead of just receiving information.

Cognitive Learning

According to the cognitive theory an
effective teacher should follow six
basic principles to achieve cognitive
learning:

• Learning should depend on learner's experience,which means that the teacher should provide students with the experience needed to meet the specified objectives.
• Learning construct understanding in an effort to make sense of experiences. It's not enough to only provide students with experiences, but also to allow them to construct a meaningful ideas about the real world application.
• constructing understanding depends on what learners already know. Students are not white sheets and we have to fill them. Students arrive with different backgrounds and experiences. The teacher should be able to connect the new information to what they already know or believe.
• Constructing Understanding is facilitated by social interaction. Social interaction allows teacher to get into the student's head to know what they are thinking. Also it allow students to be introduced to others experiences and perspectives.
• Learning requires practice. As a teacher, we shouldn't only introduce the idea, but we should give them appropriate exercises to solidify and connect ideas with each other.
• optimal learning is achieved with concrete and real world experiences. This is the basic building block of cognitive learning. The role of teacher is to covert an abstract topic to more concrete one by linking it to the real life. This would make information meaningful for students regardless of their age or subject taught.