Third Edition

"After graduation"




Away from  books.
Away from lectures.
Away from stress.
Away from tiredness.
There are lots of things waiting for you;
Job, office, air conditioner, an apartment, a car, a beautiful wife, and lots of money.

In fact,
I have three keys;
The first key is for my car.
The second key is for my apartment.
The third key is for my office.
Your life is like what you imagine.

But the surprise is
This is not in Palestine!!!
After graduation, you will not be able to find anything you dream of.
You are going to be a baker- like me no more, no less.
You will be depressed.
You don't know where to go-
Crushed , depressed , and pessimistic.
You don't know what to do.
I don't expect that people are jealous of your miserable life-
Fail,, after fail,, after fail,, after fail,, and another fail.
This is Palestine- not Europe!!!
But despite all of this, we will study and learn and get our degree and challenge the impossible
In order to live and build a bright future by our own hands


Written by Abd Al-Rahman Faraj Allah
                                                           Translated by Wala'aYa'aqbah



================================================

 A Tale of Two Cities



“A Tale of Two Cities” (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going directly in the other way.."
My tale is about two cities; Jenin and Coventry. The first is the city I live in, while the latter played an important role in Charles Dickens' well known novel. Moreover, since I was in the United Kingdom, I would like to share with you my encounter with the work of this famous British writer quotinghis deep words mentioned above. I learned about the great writer when I was in Great Britain last January 15 2014 – February 15 2014. I myself discovered the historical, massive and exciting buildings there. Some of them are the Victorian Castle in the Abbey Fields, the Lamington Spa, Buckingham Palace and the London Parliament. Others include Big Ben, London Eye, Greenwich line, the Museum of Technology, the Museum of Art, Hyde Park and Shakespeare's birth house in Stratford-upon-Avon. I also visited the Birmingham Library, the Transport Museum. The University of Coventry was our host for one month. I invite you to visit all these places where you will discover the relationship between the past and the future.
This visit developed my way of thinking and solving problems. It has always been my dream to study in the UK, but I thought that both language and culture would be a barrier. However, I discovered that I was able to survive with my simple language communication skills. Moreover, the cultural differences did not seem to interfere with my life. My desire to study in the UK has increased, the more so because I believe that learning a language is living the language. Even though one month is not a long time, I feel that I have learned a lot improving my accent, gaining confidence and building character as a language learner. Also, living in an open minded atmosphere forces you to read, commute, work hard, and spend every single moment to achieve your main goal.
 The distance between Jenin and Coventry is as big as the distance between Shakespeare's famous “to be and not to be”! However, my advice is to be on the side of “being” than “not being” because we need to believe in ourselves and work hard to achieve our dreams. I have been dreaming of studying in the UK since I was a child. Now, after my visit, I would like to pursue my graduate studies in one of the universities there. The tale of the two cities is deeply engraved in my thoughts with its varied meanings because we need to believe in ourselves, trust our abilities and work hard. The tale of the Two Cities is still deeply engraved in my thoughts with all its meanings ….


==========================================================

A GIFT



March the 25th, the moon was born
The sun rose and smiled
And history was born and destiny was written
like a rose growing.
God be praised for this marvel added to the seven wonders,
A marvel honoring earth.
Pardon, they would call me infidel
Today marks the anniversary of your wedding
He who comes is welcome,
And who doesn’t, is not.
It is not arrogance
Some people are interested in weddings…
I love you everywhere
I love you in the trunk of trees
On dew drops
I love you even when I travel
I love you at home
I love you at noon
At night, at vigil
You are always on my mind
The meaning of vigil is linked to you
I love you when I harvest the fruits
I love you according to my laws
Not people's mockery
I love you according to my principles and theories

Anybody other than you is incapable of fascinating me
I love you, it is the best news ever
I love you, oh my queen.
All were astonished
A piece of news that caused the stone burst
Your gift is unconventional
A poem I pray you accept
A token from my heart.


                                                           Arabic version by WatanQabaha
Translated by Mohammad Abu Shadouf
                                                Edited by Adriana Ghoul


=========================================================


What does it truly mean to motivate students?




       I believe that motivating our students means knowing our students. "It means seeing what they can't see in themselves and offering a lighted path," "It's in their passions and questions that they will find purpose."

To help promote this idea, my classroom is set up a little differently than the traditional model. "If you walked into my classroom, the first thing you would notice is that my desk is in the back of the room," "This is an outward expression of an inward philosophy that learning must be learner-centered."

Like other teachers who received this honor, I’m committed to "flattening the hierarchies of the classroom in a way that puts teacher beside student, learner beside learner." This allows teachers to put themselves in parallel experiences and feel the same excitement, frustration and euphoria felt by each of their students.




I understand the sheer power and importance of motivating my students. "Being passionate about everything you're teaching and being real with your students are the top two motivations that our students need," 

As such, I have never stopped learning and growing myself, and I share that love and passion with my students. This means that you won't find Joy simple lecturing in front of a classroom. Instead, I create an atmosphere of cooperation, creativity and community.

"I encourage them to have fun while learning and learn not because I  said so, but because of the doors that open up for them,". "I firmly believe that all children can learn and come to us with a knowledge base deeply personal to them. We must teach them meaningful content so they are ready, prepared and able to meet the demands of our 21st century."




Our nation is full of dedicated, talented and generous teachers who help our children learn much more than what's in their textbooks. They offer guidance, build confidence, ignite passions and inspire greatness—all on top of ensuring that each and every student gets a top-notch education.

A student once said , "I was thinking. School is my rock. I know I can always hold onto it, that it's always there for me." 

That's when I  realized the power and importance of education, school and teachers. "Straight from the mouth of a child, the truth hit me like a ton of bricks,". "School is the rock in this child's life. His life is full of changes and instability, but school is one place he knows he can count on. School is the rock in many of our students' lives—it is their stability, their home away from home, their safe place."

Since that moment, I have always remembered that teachers are there to be the rocks for their students, to be the stable forces in many of their lives.
"In return, our students are our rocks, reminding us of the importance of education."


"Teaching is a skill that is unique, but one that most of us have. Teachers play an important role in our society, they influence our children, our teens, and ourselves - appreciate them! Catherine Pulsifer


"The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate 'apparently ordinary' people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people." K. Patricia Cross

"One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child." Carl Jung



"A teacher is better than two books." German Proverb

"Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers." Josef Albers

"Books are the quietest and most constant friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." Charles W. Eliot

"The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery." Mark van Doren



"Men learn while they teach." Seneca

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." William Arthur Ward

"You, the parent, are your child's first teacher and his best teacher. It's an awesome responsibility, but one that brings immeasurable rewards." Jacquie McTaggart


"To know how to suggest is the art of teaching." Henry Amiel

===========================================================


Brain ResearchImplications for Second Language Learning




      There has been a longstanding interest among second and
foreign language educators in research on language and the brain. Language learning is a natural phenomenon; it occurs even with-
out intervention. By understanding how the brain learns natu-
rally, language teachers may be better able to enhance their
effectiveness in the classroom.

Brain Development: Can Teaching Make a Difference?
It has long been known that different regions of the brain
have specialized functions. For example, the frontal lobes are
involved in abstract reasoning and planning, while the poste-
rior lobes are involved in vision. Until recently, it was believed
that these specialized regions developed from a genetic blue-
print that determined the structure and function of specific ar-
eas of the brain. That is, particular areas of the brain were
designed for processing certain kinds of information from birth. 
          New evidence suggests that the brain is much more malleable
than previously thought. Recent findings indicate that the spe-
cialized functions of specific regions of the brain are not fixed at 
birth but are shaped by experience and learning. To use a com-
puter analogy, we now think that the young brain is like a com-
puter with incredibly sophisticated hardwiring, but no software.
The software of the brain, like the software of desktop comput-
ers, harnesses the exceptional processing capacity of the brain
in the service of specialized functions, like vision, smell, and
language. All individuals have to acquire or develop their own
software in order to harness the processing power of the brain
with which they are born.

A number of studies support this view. However, all were car-
ried out on animals, because it is not possible to do such re-
search with humans. Caution is called for when extrapolating these findings to humans. The studies discussed below reveal the incredible neural flexibility of the developing (and aging) brain. (See Chapter 5 in Elman et al., 1997).

Cortical tissue transplanted from its original location to a new
location in the brain of young animals takes on the structure
and function of its new location and not those of its original
location. More specifically, neurons in the visual cortex of ro-
dents have been transplanted to regions of the brain that are
normally linked to bodily and sensory functions. The trans-
planted tissue comes to function like somato-sensory neurons
and loses the capacity to process visual information (O’Leary & 
Stanfield, 1985). Likewise, if input from the eyes is rerouted from
what would normally be the visual area of the brain to what is
normally the auditory area of the brain, the area receiving the
visual input develops the capacity to process visual and not au-
ditory information; in other words, it is the input that deter-
mines the function of specific areas of the brain (Sur, Pallas, &
Roe, 1990).

Greenenough, Black, and Wallace (1993) have shown en-
hanced synaptic growth in young and aging rats raised in com-
plex environments, and Karni et al. (1995) have shown expansion of cortical involvement in performance of motor tasks follow-
ing additional learning—in other words, the cortical map can change even in adulthood in response to enriched environmen-
tal or learning experiences.

These findings may have implications for language educa-
tors: for one thing, that teaching and teachers can make a dif-


ference in brain development, and that they shouldn’t give up
on older language learners.
Learning Through Connections
The understanding that the brain has areas of specialization
has brought with it the tendency to teach in ways that reflect
these specialized functions. For example, research concerning
the specialized functions of the left and right hemispheres has
led to left and right hemisphere teaching. Recent research sug-
gests that such an approach does not reflect how the brain learns,
nor how it functions once learning has occurred. To the con-
trary, “in most higher vertebrates (humans), brain systems in-
teract together as a whole brain with the external world” (Elman
et al., 1997, p. 340). Learning by the brain is about making con-
nections within the brain and between the brain and the out-
side world.

What does this mean? Until recently, the idea that the neural
basis for learning resided in connections between neurons re-
mained speculation. Now, there is direct evidence that when
learning occurs, neuro-chemical communication between neu-
rons is facilitated, and less input is required to activate estab-
lished connections over time. New evidence also indicates that
learning creates connections between not only adjacent neu-
rons but also between distant neurons, and that connections
are made from simple circuits to complex ones and from com-
plex circuits to simple ones.

For example, exposure to unfamiliar speech sounds is initially
registered by the brain as undifferentiated neural activity. Neu-
ral activity is diffuse, because the brain has not learned the acous-
tic patterns that distinguish one sound from another. As exposure
continues, the listener (and the brain) learns to differentiate
among different sounds and even among short sequences of
sounds that correspond to words or parts of words. Neural con-
nections that reflect this learning process are formed in the au-
ditory  (temporal) cortex of the left hemisphere for most
individuals. With further exposure, both the simple and com-
plex circuits (corresponding to simple sounds and sequences of
sounds) are activated at virtually the same time and more easily.
          As connections are formed among adjacent neurons to form
circuits, connections also begin to form with neurons in other
regions of the brain that are associated with visual, tactile, and
even olfactory information related to the sound of the word.
These connections give the sound of the word meaning. Some
of the brain sites for these other neurons are far from the neural
circuits that correspond to the component sounds of the words;
they include sites in other areas of the left hemisphere and even
sites in the right hemisphere. The whole complex of intercon-
nected neurons that are activated by the word is called a neural 
network.

The flow of neural activity is not unidirectional, from simple
to complex; it also goes from complex to simple. For example,
higher order neural circuits that are activated by contextual in-
formation associated with the word doggie can prime the lower
order circuit associated with the sound doggie with the result
that the word doggie can be retrieved with little direct input.
Complex circuits can be activated at the same time as simple
circuits, because the brain is receiving input from multiple ex-
ternal sources—auditory, visual, spatial, motor. At the same time

that the auditory circuit for the word doggie is activated, the
visual circuit associated with the sight of a dog is also activated. Simultaneous activation of circuits in different areas of the brain is called parallel processing.
In early stages of learning, neural circuits are activated piece-
meal, incompletely, and weakly. It is like getting a glimpse of a
partially exposed and very blurry photo. With more experience, 
practice, and exposure, the picture becomes clearer and more
detailed. As exposure is repeated, less input is needed to activate
the entire network. With time, activation and recognition are
relatively automatic, and the learner can direct her attention to 
other parts of the task. This also explains why learning takes
time. Time is needed to establish new neural networks and con-
nections between networks. This suggests that the neural mecha-
nism for learning is essentially the same as the products of
learning—learning is a process that establishes new connections 
among networks and the new skills or knowledge that are learned
are neural circuits and networks.

What are the implications of these findings for teaching? First,
effective teaching should include a focus on both parts and
wholes. Instructional approaches that advocate teaching parts
and not wholes or wholes and not parts are misguided, because
the brain naturally links local neural activity to circuits that are
related to different experiential domains. For example, in initial 
reading instruction, teaching phonics independently of the
meaning of the words and their meaningful use is likely to be
less effective than teaching both in parallel. Relating the me-
chanics of spelling to students’ meaningful use of written lan-
guage to express themselves during diary writing, for example,
provides important motivational incentives for learning to read
and write. Second, and related to the preceding point, teaching
(and learning) can proceed from the bottom up (simple to com-
plex) and from the top down (complex to simple). Arguments
for teaching simple skills in isolation assume that learners can
only initially handle simple information and that the use of
simple skills in more complex ways should proceed slowly and
progressively. Brain research indicates that higher order brain
centers that process complex, abstract information can activate
and interact with lower order centers, as well as vice versa. For 
example, teaching students simple emotional expressions (vo-
cabulary and idioms) can take place in the context of talking
about different emotions and what situations elicit different
emotions. Students’ vocabulary acquisition can be enhanced
when it is embedded in real-world complex contexts that are
familiar to them. Third, students need time and experience
(“practice”) to consolidate new skills and knowledge to become
fluent and articulated.

Are All Brains the Same?
Brains are not all the same. Take the early research on left-
right hemispheric differences with respect to language. For most
individuals, the left hemisphere is critically involved in most
normal language functions. We know this because damage to
the left hemisphere in adults leads to language impairment,
which is often permanent. However, approximately 10% of nor-
mal right-handed individuals have a different pattern of lateral-
ization; their right hemispheres or both hemispheres play a
critical role in language (Banich, 1997, pp. 306-312). Males and
females have somewhat different patterns of lateralization, with
males being more left-hemisphere dominant than females. In
the domain of reading, brain maps of students with dyslexia
demonstrate that there are very large individual differences in
the areas of the brain that underlie their difficulties (Bigler, 1992).
          We also know that the areas of the brain that are important
in specific domains of learning can change over the life span.


There is increasing evidence of right hemisphere involvement
in early language learning but less in later learning. Young chil-
dren with lesions to their right hemisphere demonstrate delays
in word comprehension and the use of symbolic and communi-
cative gestures. These problems are not found in adults with
right hemisphere lesions. Stiles and Thal have argued that there 
may be a link between the word comprehension problems of
children and the right hemisphere, because “to understand the
meaning of a new word, children have to integrate information
from many different sources. These sources include acoustic in-
put, but they also include visual information, tactile informa-
tion , memories of the immediately preceding context ,
emotions—in short, a range of experiences that define the ini-
tial meaning of a word and refine that meaning over time” (Stiles
& Thal, as cited in Elman et al., 1997, pp. 309-310). We know
from a variety of sources that integration across domains of ex-
perience is a right-hemisphere function.

By implication, brain research confirms what we know from education research: that educators must make provisions for individual differences in learning styles by providing alterna-
tive grouping arrangements, instructional materials, time frames, and so on. Instruction for beginning language learners, in par-
ticular, should take into account their need for context-rich,
meaningful environments. Individual differences in learning style may not be a simple matter of personal preference, but rather of individual differences in the hardwiring of the brain and, thus, beyond individual control.

Conclusions
Our understanding of the brain is continually evolving, thus our interpretation of the implications of findings from brain-
based research for teaching and learning should also continu-
ally evolve. Brain research cannot prescribe what we should teach, how we should organize complex sequences of teaching, nor how we should work with students with special needs. Edu-
cators should not abandon their traditional sources of insight and guidance when it comes to planning effective instruction. They should continue to draw on and develop their own in-
sights about learning based on their classroom experiences and classroom-based research to complement the insights that are emerging from advances in brain research.

References
Banich, M.T. (1997). Neuropsychology: The neural bases of mental func-
tion. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

Bigler, E.D. (1992). The neurobiology and neuropsychology of adult
learning disorders. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 488-506.
Elman, J., Bates, E.A., Johnson, M., Karmiloff-Smith, A., Parisi, D.,
& Plunkett, K. (1997). Rethinking innateness. Cambridge, MA: MIT

Press.
Greenenough, W.T., Black, J.E., & Wallace, C.S. (1993). Experience
and brain development. In M. Johnson (Ed.), Brain development
and cognition: A reader (pp. 290-322). Oxford: Blackwell.

Karni, A., Meyer, G., Jezzard, P., Adams, M., Turner, R., & Ungerleider,
L. (1995). Functional MRI evidence for adult motor cortex plas-
ticity during motor skill learning. Nature, 377, 155-58).

O’Leary, D.D., & Stanfield, B.B. (1985). Occipital cortical neurons
with transient pyramidal tract axons extend and maintain
collaterals to subcortical but not intracortical targets. Brain Re-

search, 336, 326-333.
Sur, M., Pallas, S.L., & Roe, A.W. (1990). Cross-modal plasticity in

cortical development: Differentiation and specification of sen-

sory neocortex. Trends in Neuroscience, 13, 227-233.


No comments:

Post a Comment