Ahmed+Safiah

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===Hi, my name is Safiah Ahmed and I am working as a homeroom teacher for KG-2 at Hayat Bilingual School.It’s been almost a decade now in Kuwait and I started liking it. I like meeting new people and making friends, enjoy surfing and reading online. I have a passion for painting and doing crafts work. I love travelling and wish to visit all the countries on my list whenever I get a chance (inshaallah). I have been teaching in Kuwait for 7 years now. With experience working at both the Montessori and elementary school levels, as well as in activities outside of the traditional classroom, I have a diverse background. Children at this age are so much fun to teach they are curious, enthusiastic and compassionate. They are so excited to learn and to discover new things! === ===Practice makes permanent” not perfect, so my students have opportunities daily to practice what they have been learning during the year. I want my students to experience meaningful, interesting learning that applies to their lives. === ===My aim through these courses is to get an insight into intrinsic and extrinsic approach towards teaching children with learning disabilities and to create a challenging and nurturing classroom environment where kids have fun while they learn. It is my goal to inspire a love of learning in each of my students. I am looking forward to learn new teaching strategies with Hank and a lot more from this Masters program. ===
 * I BELIEVE THAT… **
 * *All children CAN and WANT to learn, if they are given the Necessary “tools”. Students learn best by being actively engaged. I truly believe in the statement “Hands-on, Minds On” and strive to incorporate daily activities and when possible the technology. **

Insert your group definition of a learning community and the bullets your provided. You may modify the statements or bullets any way you wish.
 * Classroom management for Differentiation **


 * Safe, motivational, cooperative environment where learning and teaching take place. **


 * Safe = ** risk takers can share ideas.


 * Mutual trust= ** respect and tolerance


 * Motivational = ** extrinsically motivated to create intrinsic value. Excite students to become inquirers and teaching with the end in mind.


 * Cooperative= ** socially connected invested in each other’s success. Physically and emotionally present and ready and willing to teach and learn from each other.

In our classroom we have hopes and dreams that we plan to reach during the this academic year. These hopes and dreams will enable us to establish guidelines of how we will work together as a community of learners..
 * Hopes and Dreams **


 * 1. I hope to have classroom with fun elements where students feel motivated and look forward to coming to school every day. **
 * 2. I hope to have an interactive reading corner with puppets, costumes for dress up as characters. **
 * 3. I hope to include more art activities in class. **


 * Actualization of Hopes and Dreams **


 * 1.My goal is to plan a layout of my class with fun centers. **

* Paint walls with different colors to create excitement. *Collect colorful materials that interest kids. *Allow kids to bring in one thing from home that is very dear to them to add to the class in a special corner.


 * 2. My goal is to design a reading corner with fiction and nonfiction story characters. **

* Collect different puppets and costumes for students to take interest in the story characters. * Create story characters with student involvement for the walls. *Add small furniture like a grand ma's chair, a stick, broom , and other interesting objects for kids role play.


 * 3 My goal is to enhance creativity by doing more art work. **

* Incorporate art activities into all parts of the curriculum.
 * * ** Allow children to create murals and collages for the class room.When student see their art work on the walls ,they sense ownership and pride.


 * Class breakfast Routine **

Open centers in the morning while students are coming in from 7:30- 8:00

Class attendance at 8:00

Assign tables with numbers 1-5

Assign one students responsible for each table (passing out wet wipes/sanitizer)

Five children go out to get lunch bag and tray from shelf at a time from each table.

After everyone is settled in they read their dua.

10 minutes for breakfast.

5 minutes for tables to take turns putting away bags in their cubbies and clean up.

1 minute to get settle down on the mat for circle time.

**Problem child**

Abdulrahman is a very restless and distracted child, his attention spam is very short. He is An average student. Runs around in the class like crazy, always pushing other students, got injured many times and had stitches on forehead. Need frequent reminders to stay on task and shows tantrums if you tell him off for anything. Writes on the walls and scribbles on other childrens note books.

**Article Summary “Hearts And Minds”**

In the article “Hearts and Minds” Steven Wolk talks about engaged learning and caring teacher student relationship. He compared a democratic classroom to a traditional classroom and how things differ in both setups. Traditional classrooms are based on one-way teaching, from textbook to student or from teacher to student, they emphasize on memorization of endless facts that will soon be forgotten. Democratic classrooms see teaching and learning as a transaction. They nurture the creation of knowledge as opposed to the mere memorization of knowledge. In democratic classrooms, teachers win their student’s heart, how they teach and what they teach play integral roles in developing their relationships with students. These relationships not only reduce discipline problems, but they also connect behavior and decision making both in and out of the classroom- to the curriculum. A shared sense of purposeful learning helps create community. Teachers can promote community while fostering relationships and meaningful learning in 4 ways **Discussion and debate** by allowing and challenging students to discuss issues and telling that their opinion matters, **Class murals and collages** having students create murals for their classroom is a great way to make community come alive and give them a sense of pride and ownership, **Drama and role playing** dramatic skits and plays bring a class together to work towards a common purpose and allows them to move around and talk, **Playing games** is one of the best ways to develop relationships and create community is to have fun. When teachers make a regular effort to get to know their students as individuals, they show students that their teacher sees them as complete individuals who have interesting and important lives outside school. Different ways a teacher can get to know their students are by **writing autobiographies, creating picture books, one-on-one talk** and **photography.** Curriculum also plays a vital role in classrooms so it should be connected to students’ lives, to the real world and to their culture in order to get students interested in what they learn in schools and developing relationships and learning. To sum it up “Humor is one of the best ways for teachers and students to connect”.