Trip to Columbus

Last Friday, we went for a trip to Columbus. It was on 4th April, 2008.

We started our trip early in the morning. We took one van and one limousine. It was so nice, despite the rain. So, we did not have chance to visit the place and explore the area which would have given much value to the trip.

The first stop, we had a meeting with the Ohio academic staff who were kind to answer our questions about issues related to education: "No Child Left Behind" NCLB and all the its outcome for the benefits of students. There is a lot of investment of money, energy and effort, but still the problems of education were not solved. We talked about the role of teachers in contributing to meaningful learning, how parent involve, and testing, namely standardized test which are designed by companies....

The person in charge of the meeting : its effectiveness and success.

The second stop was to the teacher association or union where we were give an overview of its role in helping teachers all over the country in promoting the learning and defending their own rights.

We were offered lunch there.

The discussion continue while debating various problems and the struggle teachers face, how the board is elected, how they coordinate among teachers and the academy and how they contribute to professional development.

The third stop was visiting the Parliament where we were offered information about the legislative rules, how the election for this parliament is carried out. We know about the history of the building and the two different chambers.

What is amazing is the integration of technology in voting and the structure of each county or city and the portion of members who should join the parliament.

This is an optic illusion when you look critically to the floor under your feet you see that there are parallels, but if you look ahead, you notice that there are circles.















An outside picture and an overview of The parliament in Columbus.















The third stop was with the first lady. She is the spouse of the governor of Ohio. We talked about her role and the different tasks she may do to help in the accomplishment of the rules in the state of Ohio and meeting the people's needs as she is a Dr. psychologist.

Saturday Music Concert

last Saturday, April, 5th, 2008, I was invited to a musical concert in Akron university.

I was invited together with two other fellows.

The concert was ........

We had the opportunity to take some pictures before the concert start. Also, we explored the place which is giant. It provides places where to practice and have much entertainment. The concert was done by the students in the university.

Having fun

Being in the states engaged in learning by making a lot of sacrifice: leaving the beloved ones behind, friends, our students, environment... It is hard to keep the spirit of learning and the need for exploring what is related to culture and education. We are lucky to know not only about the States, but to know about other eight countries.

Time of entertainment was badly needed. This event was when we celebrate our colleagues birthdays: from Malaysia and Bangladesh. After the celebration, we had a lot of fun; telling stories, jokes, puzzle, playing games and competing with each other.

This was hide and seek game

Read Across America

It was on March 30th , 2008, I was among the teachers who offered to help in this educational meeting. It was devoted to Kindergarten to 4th grade children. It was a workshop to help children to pursue meaningful learning. It involves many activities, including reading short stories, drawing, painting, music, making puppets, playing games. This event was so interesting as i learnt how important it is to integrate all learning strategies to cater for the needs of the learners.


They were many hands on activities and psycho motor skills to make the kids move and play and manipulate all the materials they were provided with.

What's more, all the participants were offered a certificate of participation, which is really valuable and significant for any cultural activity which necessitate the needs of other people offering to help.

These students are acting the roles of clowns to welcome the children and have fun with them during all the activities.
They are celebrating the birthday of .................. , therefore they have cake by the end of the celebration.

This was taken before the beginning of the event.

Spring Break

Standing and waiting for the parade to start in Cleveland

part of the parade: A lot of people marching. music bands, the majority of people were wearing green garments.

Vising the library of the first laddies. It is the first library set in the states about the tasks, history of women who were mostly wives of the previous United States' presidents. It is worth visiting.

These photos are with two ex-teachers working in the library

These photos were one day before the spring break, we went for a shopping journey learning about other nations' food and ways of shopping.





Shopping center in Cleveland.

Indian food and spices store.

The van that we took during the trip.

We cook something, but it turns to be something else

Arriving to the States , spending over than twelve days in Philadelphia and exploring the sort of food that the restaurants and groceries offer, I have decided to cook for myself and do something resembling Moroccan meals.

I have succeeded to find the necessary ingredients and utensils to be used for the cooking. However, we cook lentils, but they turned to be soup. several times, I added a lot of salt or another kind of species, sometimes, it would be too much sugar. Sometimes, everything would be burnt or I would discover that there is something that I must not eat as pork or wine, then , I would throw it and start anew to cook something else.

This is the second cake that I was able to bake on my own

This is soup I had in a potluck dinner by one of my instructors.

This a Moroccan a teapot. I was making a cup of tea after a school journey.

Jump into fire

I could not remember which day was it. There were two events or two birthdays: my Indian teaser's friend and the a new born for my Moroccan friend. It was exciting and awesome. We had a big cake and some presents for the baby.

Later in that day, we attended a presentation about leadership and the issue of leaving home and coming to the States.

It was not that easy to leave the beloved ones, family, friends, students and the environment one is used to. The fact of accepting to come was the first step in the journey. I got to know most of my colleagues: entertainer, easy going, serious, advantage takers of every single benefit they come across, spy, careless, hardworking, devotees, good friends, open-minded and narrow-minded. It is not confusing to meet all these variety of people.

As I would always say I learnt not only about one countries, but about eight countries, including mine. I learnt about my history, geography, traditions, culture, food. It is a deep look to values, emotions,

Jump into fire 1

The great teacher who does the best he can to make his students succeed in their life and be fully involved in society.

This evening is marked by watching a movies 'Stand And Deliver' by Hal Erickson Edward. Some ILEP meet to see the film. You can see more information when visiting:

http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:46436

James Olmos portrays the real-life Jaime Escalante, a no-nonsense mathematic teacher in a tough East LA high school. Handed a classroom full of "losers" and "unteachables," Escalante is determined to turn his young charges' lives around. Drawing from his own cultural heritage, Escalante forms a bond with his largely Hispanic student body, evoking the names of famous Spaniards and Latin Americans whose great accomplishments were predicated on their ability to learn. The students gradually come to realize that the only way they'll escape their own poverty-stricken barrio is to improve themselves intellectually. As a result, the class' academic achievements soar dramatically — too dramatically for the Educational Testing Service, which is convinced that the class' high test scores are the results of cheating. The triumphant exoneration of Escalante's students provides Stand and Deliver with its rousingly upbeat conclusion.

Women's day

It is interesting to think if we do really need a women's day. Charmin wants women to have a daily celebration. She suggests that the problem, now, is caring to have a men's day.

Actually, in my country, the women is highly evaluated. ' Paradise is under the feet of the mother' Which means you have to respect your mother and never ever makes her angry or irritated. Girls should be cared for in our society. They should be educated appropriately; the reward is heaven in the afterlife.

If you educate a woman, you educate a the whole nation with its values and its traditions. In our country there is no appropriate relationship between a man and a woman beyond the marital relationship. We do not have this relationship of a boyfriend or boyfriend living together under the same roof. Those who are boyfriend or girlfriend are not supposed to act it publicly. Girls and boys have the same opportunities to go to school and choose their own job according to their scholastic achievement. They can choose the one they would like to marry. Before or after marriage, they can have an agreement about the way of life they want to lead, especially if both of them have a job.

I would say that girls tend to excel in learning languages and boys excel in scientific subjects. The girls free time may be spend at home helping their mother in the housework while boys may go out to cybercafes, sport cubs, association or just hang around with their friends.

Nowadays, girls are educated to think out of the box and be creative. There used to be no female teachers in my primary and junior high school. I have to chance to have a wonderful philosophy teacher in my 11th grade in my senior high school.

Take it Home!

It is very revealing to reflect about one's achievement and the amount of knowledge and practical aspects one has learned so far from this program. Certainly, I am making the most of my precious time to learn, reflect, and evaluate. I am implementing the concept of critical thinking in my studies. So far I have attended three courses, but I am unable to continue taking the fourth on line. I will be writing about some key elements of these courses:

Action research Dr. Dowdy

The procedures and the steps to carry out action research are very important in this course. It is the ‘a b c’ of researchers. It is a way of improving our teaching practices. It is through trial and error that I learn. The problem must be recognized and solutions to transcend and underscore the impediments to make the learners achieve and learn better. I started from a big issue, culture, and tried to narrow down the scope of my research to the pragmatic aspects of the language. I will be dealing with the speech acts of greeting. I will be working to improve the Moroccan students' performance to greeting as the American Native speakers of English do. I will teach my students the social use of the language and give them enough tools of language to meet my overall objectives.

Teacher’s education By Dr. Ambrose

I have learned about the American system of education and the reasons behind the act of "No child left behind." I learned about tracking, inclusion and the struggle the schools have to reach the requirements by 2010 requirements. I have learned about the kinds of school in the States: public, charter, religious schools, the ways school are raising funds, and the expectations of parents and the local and federal government. I learned about the amount of children and parent involvement in achieving high scores at school.
This course will make me reflect about my teaching strategies and about the fact of being a student. I will draw analogies and comparisons between being a teacher and being a student. There are lessons that I would benefit from these various reflections to better foster my professional development. Hence, I will enhance learning in my school and spread the acquired knowledge and practices to my colleagues back home.

Multicultural counseling by Dr. Marty Jenuis

Multicultural counseling is one of the courses I would recommend for future ILEP fellows to take. I would like the Kent State University to suggest it or make it part of the required courses. This course makes one learn how to be a social and global citizens. It helps to understand oneself. It uses all the human diversity and goes deep in analyzing the human relationship by considering any social, political, ethnic, psychological, intellectual factors to counsel between people. It means the person has to be a social counselor before being a teacher. It would be great to know about your students. The more you know about them, the more it would be a helping force to aspire for excellence.

Theodore Roosevelt Dramma Guild

Dr. Martin & his Wife Mrs. Aileen

This is Dr. Marty, the man, the husband, the cooker, the socisl conselor. the educator. He does not know how to say no. He is open-hearthed in the house, at work, at classroom, on the phone... great

Invitation
I am Dr. Marty Jencius from Kent State University.I am sending this email to a few of the ILEP visitors who I have had somecontact with since you have come to Kent. Either we have spoken, or you havealready been to my house, or perhaps we have gone on a shopping expeditiontogether. This Saturday my daughter, Hannah, has a lead role in her high schoolmusical "Guys and Dolls". This is a traditional American musical comedywhich is about gamblers and falling in love. I would like to invite you tojoin me and my family as my guest to a dinner before the show and then tosee the show.As a visitor, you will get to see what American high school drama/musicprograms are like. For dinner before, I am cooking a traditional Turkeydinner with casual seating and eating.I will be planning on having cars to pick you up Saturday at 4:30, we canhave dinner and visit, and then head over to the play at 6:45 for the 7:30show. I hope you can attend .Dr. Jencius
Dr. Jencius


Dinner

Turkey is the great celebration that the 7 ILEP attended with some members of the family. Turkey is an unforgettable. It is cooked in the Chritmas time when the whole family would come together. One and only one family would cook. They meet in one house to have much fun and entertainment.





Mrs. Aileen, Morgan, Mary, Abdesalam, Hary,

The host Dr. ..... is assisting the guest in the table with cheerful welcome.

Theater This is before the beginning of the play.

The heroes of the plays: Hana Dubois and Peter Kierstead

It is a title of the play that we have attended on March 1,2008 at 7:30 p.m.

It is wow! It is a national celebration for me. That's school performance, getting students realiaze their dream

The main ctors and actress of the play. A photo with the hero.
After the play, the actors and actress got out to meet the audience.

Food

Food would be one of the most missing elements, once you are in the States. Everyone is on the move. There is very limited time for cooking at home if no guest is coming. Even the guest would most often be invited to restaurants or cafes. In streets, you cannot pass by without seeing a person holding a cup of coffee, tea or carrying a sandwich. Food is everywhere: in the classroom, streets, library, office, buses, market...Most food is in packets ready to consume and easy to handle. Many people just eat out. The family rarely meets to eat together. In the American family, I was told that anyone can open the fridge to eat on his own or prepare it. The Fridge is always full of cans, packages. It is just heat to eat. What is really peculiar in the States, all sorts of international food is available. Stores are full of different ingredients. There are special stores for any community that may live in this country. But, the food is either too sweet or salty.


I am just wondering about the numbers of females in stores, schools? Are they the females' land? Is there any culture associated to this?

Most of the times, as I have learned food is associated with business. The manners of eating are significant. The person would not be hired for not sitting ‘appropriately’, the kind of ordering, the ways of eating, putting and utilizing the table’s utensils including: fork, spoon and Knife; the use of napkin is of equal importance. How to behave vis-à-vis the ladies, sitting on your right or the ladies, if you are the only male around the table?


In our country, we eat just fresh food including vegetables and fruits, meat. All ingredients are so good, nice and tasty. It is healthy food. Probably, that's why some Americans carry extra pounds of weight. Our beast should be killed (slaughtered) appropriately. The beasts must not suffer; feel afraid when they are being slaughtered. They are supposed not to see the knife or blood. They must be treated gently. The bucher must alter the name of God in the beginning of killing the animal. The beast must be made to face the Kiblah (Prayer's direction, the direction of sunrise). We do not eat pork or drink wine no matter what sort or expensive it may be.

Before eating, we say "Bismi Allah' in the name of Allah, after washing our hands. We eat and drink with our right hand. We eat from the same plate, but we can use forks and spoons and eat from different plates. Each one is to eat from what is immediately in front of them. When we finish, we say " Hamdo Lillah' Thanks Allah.