Teaching - does it create confident and successful learners?

One important aspect of good teaching is enabling students to become confident in their abilities to learn. Teachers need to be really good communicators so that they can bring out shy students and encourage them to talk and ask questions. Fostering confidence in students is difficult to measure though because confidence is not something that we can learn or get out of a bottle; it is something that people get after successfully achieving their goals on a consistent basis. What teachers might need to do is to treat students as individuals who have their own unique abilities rather than treat them in a one-size-fits-all approach. Students need to find their niche in education in order to become confident and this is the role of a good teacher to help them achieve that.

The following video discusses some of the issues raised in the above.

Teaching - why is the quality of my practice so important?

It is not enough to get a degree in teaching and become content with the knowledge and skills you have. Teachers need to develop their knowledge, skills and competencies on a continuous basis. There is no end to learning as there will always be new things to learn. Teachers are not just deliverer of skills and competencies but also passionate learners. In today's rapidly changing world, students have a plethora of digital tools to get the knowledge and information they need. Hence, they do not want teachers to just give them knowledge and information. What teachers need to do today is to model the passion for learning to students.

The following video reinforces the above ideas.

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Teaching - why do the children always have to come first?

As teachers, we do our job to serve the best interests of our students. If our students do not feel that what we teach them relates to their lived experiences, then it is of no much use. What counts as effective teaching is the one which caters for the students' needs. The following clip discusses the principle of putting students first.

Teaching - what are its values, ethics and codes?

Is teaching a profession? This is a thought-provoking question that we need to discuss as teachers. I will be posting videos on this issue in the following days. Today's video is an introduction. Feel free to post your comments!

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My Project in the USA

Here is a link to a proposal of a project that I presented at an E-Teacher Conference at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country (UMBC), USA, in 2011. I also presented the same proposal at the US Department of States in Washington DC two weeks earlier to the UMBC conference.

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Thanks

Discover Your Potential

Many of us have brain powers to do at least twice as good as we can do right now. The problem is that we may lack the self-confidence to unleash the power within us. The phrase that we use to discourage ourselves from discovering our potential is: 'I can't do it'. Then we come up with every possible reason to back our decision for not trying. The best way to combat this is to say to with affirmation and involvement of physiology: 'I CAN DO IT'. When you repeat this phrase to yourself again and again, you make yourself believe in your abilities to achieve whatever you dream of.

Attending Conferences

Yesterday I presented at a conference in the Gulf Hotel in Manama. The conference was organized by the Bahrain ELT (English Language Teaching) Professional Network under the theme: Empowering Teachers, Empowering Learners. This is my second time to present in this yearly conference. It was an extraordinary experience for me because I was able to discuss my research findings in public and get insightful comments to improve the research.

In addition to the wonderful workshops and lectures that I attended during the conference, I met many new people and wan many prizes (five free books and teaching materials)!