Introduction
TEACHING is a great
job. It is responsibility, co-operation, future and caring. It is life
itself. If there are not any teachers, there would be no doctors, no
lawyers, no scientists, no …….., no…….., no civilization. Civilization
is based on teaching, which makes people soar so high to different skies
of knowledge.
— T Faiza Al-Mukhani
Sur Al-Sahel
English Teachers’ Achievements
Achievements are what you succeed doing by your efforts.
Since 2002, we have in five teachers in Sur Al-Sahel. The English
teachers have achieved some objectives and project in our school. These
projects are:
1. The English library
2. English Journalism
3. Creative materials
4. Substitution bag (English Bag)
5. English Days
6. Let us speak
English
library
The aim of this project is to encourage Students to read
intensively. This project started last year. We had a room to be setup
as a library. Students can visit it to read and borrow stories and the
Youth Observer. They can use dictionaries to help them with their
studies.
We started this project by using the stories, which are received from
the English department for teaching intensive reading for general and
basic education.
There are four sections at the library:
1. Stories for grade 5+6.
2. Stories for grade 7+8
3. Stories for grade 9+10
4. Dictionary section and others.
It is a very successful idea if it is applied correctly. This was
Samira Al-Gheilani’s idea.
English
Journalism
The idea of the project is to publish a journal produced by
the classes weekly. This journal has certain columns for all students.
These columns are school news, Islamic corner and games.
The other columns are optional for the class to choose and we started
this project last year and it is successful. The aims of this project
are:
«
To encourage students to use their language in different skills.
«
To reinforce them as good students.
«
To encourage students to use their talents in handwriting, drawing, and
designing
By the end of the year students are rewarded for the best edition. This
was Amal Al-Orami’s idea.
Creative
materials
Materials are very important for teaching. They are a good
help in the classroom to motivate students to learn and participate.
More over it relieves the boredom in the classroom. So there is a need
to create new materials.
The school has received materials from the English department for
general and basic education. There are certain materials for each grade.
After going through all these materials, we found out that they can be
used for other grades. For example at the entire grades (5-9), e.g. the
topic food is familiar. So we started to use materials in Grade 5 to
teach grade 6, 7, 8 and 9 also.
Other materials, which are created by teachers, are:
1. Flash card — verbs
— Part of speech
2. Mini white board
3. Pockets’ board
Substitution bag (English Bag):
Substitution bag is for Substitution classes, which are
attended by the English teachers. The bag has groups of stories,
puzzles, games, grammar tasks and vocab tasks. Students have the choice
to pickup any activity during the period. Teachers are there to answer
student’s question. Check and mark the achieved tasks. This was Aisha
Al-Farsi’s idea.
Let us
speak
This as a speaking project .The aim of this project is to
encourage students to speak English to their teachers and amongst each
other. That is by teaching students what to say on certain occasions.
There is a register for preparing lessons. This was Faiza Al-Mukhani’s
idea.
— T Sameera Al-Ghelani
Tomorrow
Never Dies
Some teachers ask me this question “Are you happy and
satisfied with grade 5?”
First, let me tell you my story. I am a teacher who never taught grade 5
before September 2005. When my turn came to teach this grade, It was
really a great challenge and a big problem as well to me. Millions of
questions rushed into my mind.
What is this problem? How can I teach them?
They don’t know how to write their names or even some letters. I started
to become nervous and gradually started to loose hope. Don’t tell any
one, some tears came out of my eyes too. Because I asked students
questions and there were no answers.
However, as you know, there is a hero if
you look inside your heart. This hero pushes you to carry on. My hero
was the English teachers whom I work with. They never let me drown. They
gave me support and hope that I needed. They asked me to start and gave
me the strength. They put their hands on my hand. They never let me
down. Therefore, now I am happy and satisfied. I feel very grateful. I
wish I could repack.
All my wishes now are to go with my
students year by year, to taste the success and to win the challenge.
Beside I feel grateful to the English teachers group, who pushed me to
go on and gave me a lesson that tomorrow never dies.
— T Faiza Al-Mukhani
Great
Responsibility
What is teaching?
Teaching is a great responsibility because you do not deal with
people. You deal with minds .You deal with the coming generations whom
nations are based on. The teachers have a great mission on their
shoulders. They are the people who deal with kids, who might be doctors,
lawyers, teachers, scientists or even great thinkers. To me, teaching is
a precious fidelity. You must perform it carefully patiently and
honestly.
Sometimes you might face some problems in
treating students. You do not know whether you are dealing with kids or
with teenagers, you change your way according to their levels, ages,
minds or even their psychologies. The good teacher is the one who puts
in mind how to explain the subject easily, simply without any
difficulties or complications. Therefore, to be a good teacher means to
be outstanding psychologist, skillful actor and a sympathetic mother at
the same time.
— By Amal Al-Orami
English
Bag
The idea
The English bag is a bag that contains different tasks, games, short
stories and puzzles. It is fruitful way to make pupils busy in their
substitution periods.
The objectives
To me, this bag plays an important role
1. to break the routine of the lessons and
2. to refresh imagination and knowledge.
3. Students feel fun and challenge to do the tasks.
4. to develop different language skills.
5. it helps pupils to deal with language fluently and skillfully.
The components
This bag has:
l
different tasks (grammar, vocabulary, reading from the curriculum )
l
games and puzzles (crosswords, matching, sorting, identifying objects)
l
short stories (to suit different levels)
The value
This bag is not for specified pupils or certain levels. It suits all
levels of students. Which means it deals with individual differences.
Eventually, I wish all schools could apply this kind of way to make use
of substitution lesson.
— By Aisha Ali
Is Using
Portfolio Fruitful?
I asked myself this question many times before I taught basic
education .I thought students had enough work to do in their skills
books, class books and exercise books. Beside, it is a new burden to the
students and the teachers as well.
However since I started teaching basic education, students’ portfolios
astonished me. Students came up with outstanding works in their
portfolios. Their portfolios are well organised, attractive and worthy.
Finally I am convinced with the idea that a portfolio is the useful way
to discover students’ skills.
Advantages of using the portfolio.
l
It encourages students to learn English as they collect articles they
like from newspapers.
l
It improves many of students’ skills especially writing, since students
do their best to show their work in an organised way.
l
It provides opportunity to students to show their interests and
abilities
Now I am going to highlight the sections of the portfolio:
1. Reading which includes
w
Texts are taken from class books but the teacher creates new tasks.
w
articles related to the curriculum
w
poems
w
puzzles
w
caricature
2. Speaking which includes
w
Adopt some dialogue from class books
w
create situations for students and ask them to make up their own
dialogues
w
short plays
3. Writing which includes
w
Summaries of some of their readings
w
express their opinions
w
write post card, e-mail ... according to their subject in their books.
4. Grammer, which includes the rules with exercises.
5. Glossary, which includes
For each unit
a. Students illustrate the new words with pictures and definitions using
magazines stickers ... etc.
b. Students use new words in context
c. check spelling
6. Listening, which includes
Tasks creates by the teacher
7. Class tests
— By Aisha Al-Orami