MY KENT STATE UNIVERSITY REPORT:
The five months I spent in Kent, Ohio, have been great, rich and fruitful in all senses. I have benefited from the seminars, the courses, technology, and ESL classes at Kent State University. My internships, also, allowed me to expand my knowledge about the American school and system of education. The trips to different places in Ohio and beyond its borders have, as well, added a lot to my knowledge of the diverse American culture. IREX deserves recognition for all their help and support throughout the program that allowed me to make the best out of this experience.
To begin with, seminars were varied and led by the most distinguished professors in Kent State University including Dr Linda Robertson, Dr. Wendy Kasten, Dr. Bette brooks, Dr. William Wilen, Dr. Dennis Hart, Rachel Anderson and others. These seminars helped me understand the American system of education, and compare it to ours back home. They gave me a comprehensive outline of the American culture, its diversity in terms of ethnicity, religions, music, cinema, dance, architecture, literature, cuisine and so forth. The professors also improved my understanding of some concepts and topics such as leadership, its meaning and the ways to build and develop it in the classroom and in school. I learnt about Action research, as well, about its history, its development, its importance for classroom teachers and the steps to follow to best benefit from it. I was also given the Thirteen Best Practices for teachers to use to cater for students’ different intelligences and learning styles so that they can learn best. The seminar on Assessment versus evaluation did not only deal with the difference between the two concepts but also with how to improve the way I evaluate the learners and make assessment reliable and valid. What I like about these seminars is that they were not lectures or professor-centered but on the contrary practical, scholar-centered, and always followed by practice to allow me to put ideas into practice and gain hands-on experience in creating my own activities. Most if not all of them can be applied back in Morocco.
Each one of us, visiting scholars, had to take two courses but the professors were very kind to allow us to attend some other courses from time to time. The courses I chose were both given by Dr Bintz. The first one is “Theory and Practice in Teaching Reading” and the other one is “Teaching Reading and Writing in Middle Childhood.” Both courses were almost the same and designed for early American grades but both can be adapted to suit my 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. There are many activities and ideas in Dr Bintz classes that I intend to implement in my classes in Morocco. One of these is “Read Aloud” which is my favorite because I was caught and struck by the way he dealt with it in his class. I wrote my semester paper about it and I explained the reasons why I need to introduce this technique in my classes and the different ways I can use it. Another method which can be adapted from Dr Bintz’s class, for example, is the Story Impression technique he used with the story of Freda: Students were provided with fragments or carefully chosen words from the actual content/story. After reading the set of clues, the students were asked to write a story of their own. The stories were then shared with the group before the actual story was read and the ‘correction’ made. Dr Bintz also exemplifies the good teacher and must be taken as a model. He always comes to class well prepared materially and psychologically. He would greet us in Arabic and English, would always ask how we spent the previous days, would inquire if we had had any problems and sometimes cracked jokes before the class began. I always looked forward to his classes because I always knew he would be dynamic, interesting, and funny. His two hours and a half period seemed like half an hour because his classes were informative, interesting, and enjoyable.
Technology classes were my favorite because I like technology and always believe in its power when it comes to enhancing teaching and learning. I usually introduced technology in my classroom despite the shortage of material and skills. Technology courses are of great importance to me because education is now technology-oriented and it has proved that it improves and supports teaching and learning. Technology renders learning student-centered instead of teacher-centered. Teachers can design online lessons for students to work at their own pace, interactively and in an entertaining way. For example, WebQuests I learnt to make will help my students work independently and at their own pace. The electronic portfolio, also, will allow me to save my teaching material electronically and make it ubiquitous and available for my students on the internet - A big thank-you to Dr Dalton who hosts the KSU group’s e-portfolio. Besides that, I learnt how to use the internet critically so as to get the best out of it and avoid its pitfalls. Moreover, these classes are a preparation for me to welcome technology in my classes because the prices of computers and all technology gadgetry are going down every day.
As for ESL classes, they were necessary for me to learn to better communicate with the American people, understand them, and make myself understood. They are, also, necessary for me to improve and airbrush the language I teach. It is said that the best way to learn a language is to go to a foreign country and get immersed in the culture. This is true to a point but there are immigrants who spend their whole life in a foreign country but never master the language. So, a teacher is always necessary as a resort and resource in case one needs help. The songs, films, texts, poems, riddles and so forth that my ESL teacher used helped me learn and acquire a lot of vocabulary including informal language, slang, idioms, phrasal verbs, culturally-bound expressions and terms, and so forth. I am very grateful to this young teacher for her hard word and help she provided me with. She lent me good films to watch, beautiful songs to listen to, books to read, and gave me useful advise and practical activities to use with my students at home.
My internship experience was great. It was an opportunity for me to learn more about the American system of education, students, teachers, and staff. Though my journey to my two schools - Lakewood High and Aurora - was tiring because of distance, the experience was worth the time, the discomfort, and the trouble. I watched different classes: English, Spanish, German, French, Social Studies, Art, etc. I also met the staff of the schools and interviewed the principals, the teachers, and the students. I had also the opportunity to meet and talk to the superintendent of Aurora about everything related to education in her district. I made presentations, taught a couple of lessons and helped in the teaching of others. In the presentations about Morocco, I talked about its history, geography, economy, and education. I also discussed with the students the similarities and differences between our two systems of education. Our students seem to be more disciplined while students here have much more freedom in the classroom. We have an unfavorable educational environment in Morocco such as large class size, expository teaching methodology, top-down exam-oriented curricula, and lack of appropriate material in most schools. Here classes are not crowded, classrooms are carpeted and all of them contain computers, smart-boards, whiteboards, overhead projectors, projectors, TV sets, Cassette-player, dictionaries for each student, display boards, markers and all the material needed for any activity can be provided by the school. Besides, their education seems to focus on evaluative learning, critical thinking and learning independently.
Eventually, I wish to spread what I have learnt here to my colleagues like a ripple through water through presentations and workshops. I also would like to stay in touch with my mentor teacher so as to exchange ideas as well as network our students through emails and other so that they can learn from each other and expand their world knowledge. I would, as well, like to stay in touch with my university professors so they can provide me with help and material (they have shown interest to do so) to improve my teaching.
To begin with, seminars were varied and led by the most distinguished professors in Kent State University including Dr Linda Robertson, Dr. Wendy Kasten, Dr. Bette brooks, Dr. William Wilen, Dr. Dennis Hart, Rachel Anderson and others. These seminars helped me understand the American system of education, and compare it to ours back home. They gave me a comprehensive outline of the American culture, its diversity in terms of ethnicity, religions, music, cinema, dance, architecture, literature, cuisine and so forth. The professors also improved my understanding of some concepts and topics such as leadership, its meaning and the ways to build and develop it in the classroom and in school. I learnt about Action research, as well, about its history, its development, its importance for classroom teachers and the steps to follow to best benefit from it. I was also given the Thirteen Best Practices for teachers to use to cater for students’ different intelligences and learning styles so that they can learn best. The seminar on Assessment versus evaluation did not only deal with the difference between the two concepts but also with how to improve the way I evaluate the learners and make assessment reliable and valid. What I like about these seminars is that they were not lectures or professor-centered but on the contrary practical, scholar-centered, and always followed by practice to allow me to put ideas into practice and gain hands-on experience in creating my own activities. Most if not all of them can be applied back in Morocco.
Each one of us, visiting scholars, had to take two courses but the professors were very kind to allow us to attend some other courses from time to time. The courses I chose were both given by Dr Bintz. The first one is “Theory and Practice in Teaching Reading” and the other one is “Teaching Reading and Writing in Middle Childhood.” Both courses were almost the same and designed for early American grades but both can be adapted to suit my 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. There are many activities and ideas in Dr Bintz classes that I intend to implement in my classes in Morocco. One of these is “Read Aloud” which is my favorite because I was caught and struck by the way he dealt with it in his class. I wrote my semester paper about it and I explained the reasons why I need to introduce this technique in my classes and the different ways I can use it. Another method which can be adapted from Dr Bintz’s class, for example, is the Story Impression technique he used with the story of Freda: Students were provided with fragments or carefully chosen words from the actual content/story. After reading the set of clues, the students were asked to write a story of their own. The stories were then shared with the group before the actual story was read and the ‘correction’ made. Dr Bintz also exemplifies the good teacher and must be taken as a model. He always comes to class well prepared materially and psychologically. He would greet us in Arabic and English, would always ask how we spent the previous days, would inquire if we had had any problems and sometimes cracked jokes before the class began. I always looked forward to his classes because I always knew he would be dynamic, interesting, and funny. His two hours and a half period seemed like half an hour because his classes were informative, interesting, and enjoyable.
Technology classes were my favorite because I like technology and always believe in its power when it comes to enhancing teaching and learning. I usually introduced technology in my classroom despite the shortage of material and skills. Technology courses are of great importance to me because education is now technology-oriented and it has proved that it improves and supports teaching and learning. Technology renders learning student-centered instead of teacher-centered. Teachers can design online lessons for students to work at their own pace, interactively and in an entertaining way. For example, WebQuests I learnt to make will help my students work independently and at their own pace. The electronic portfolio, also, will allow me to save my teaching material electronically and make it ubiquitous and available for my students on the internet - A big thank-you to Dr Dalton who hosts the KSU group’s e-portfolio. Besides that, I learnt how to use the internet critically so as to get the best out of it and avoid its pitfalls. Moreover, these classes are a preparation for me to welcome technology in my classes because the prices of computers and all technology gadgetry are going down every day.
As for ESL classes, they were necessary for me to learn to better communicate with the American people, understand them, and make myself understood. They are, also, necessary for me to improve and airbrush the language I teach. It is said that the best way to learn a language is to go to a foreign country and get immersed in the culture. This is true to a point but there are immigrants who spend their whole life in a foreign country but never master the language. So, a teacher is always necessary as a resort and resource in case one needs help. The songs, films, texts, poems, riddles and so forth that my ESL teacher used helped me learn and acquire a lot of vocabulary including informal language, slang, idioms, phrasal verbs, culturally-bound expressions and terms, and so forth. I am very grateful to this young teacher for her hard word and help she provided me with. She lent me good films to watch, beautiful songs to listen to, books to read, and gave me useful advise and practical activities to use with my students at home.
My internship experience was great. It was an opportunity for me to learn more about the American system of education, students, teachers, and staff. Though my journey to my two schools - Lakewood High and Aurora - was tiring because of distance, the experience was worth the time, the discomfort, and the trouble. I watched different classes: English, Spanish, German, French, Social Studies, Art, etc. I also met the staff of the schools and interviewed the principals, the teachers, and the students. I had also the opportunity to meet and talk to the superintendent of Aurora about everything related to education in her district. I made presentations, taught a couple of lessons and helped in the teaching of others. In the presentations about Morocco, I talked about its history, geography, economy, and education. I also discussed with the students the similarities and differences between our two systems of education. Our students seem to be more disciplined while students here have much more freedom in the classroom. We have an unfavorable educational environment in Morocco such as large class size, expository teaching methodology, top-down exam-oriented curricula, and lack of appropriate material in most schools. Here classes are not crowded, classrooms are carpeted and all of them contain computers, smart-boards, whiteboards, overhead projectors, projectors, TV sets, Cassette-player, dictionaries for each student, display boards, markers and all the material needed for any activity can be provided by the school. Besides, their education seems to focus on evaluative learning, critical thinking and learning independently.
Eventually, I wish to spread what I have learnt here to my colleagues like a ripple through water through presentations and workshops. I also would like to stay in touch with my mentor teacher so as to exchange ideas as well as network our students through emails and other so that they can learn from each other and expand their world knowledge. I would, as well, like to stay in touch with my university professors so they can provide me with help and material (they have shown interest to do so) to improve my teaching.
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