Departure lounge

On my way home now after a fantastic week in Beirut. Such an amazing opportunity and I need to thank the British Council in London and Beirut for making it possible.

Talking about the UK to Grade 6

After spending time with the Kindergarten classes I was asked if I would speak to the Grade 6 children about the UK and my school. Again, like the children earlier, they were so eager and interested to learn about other cultures and were bursting with interesting questions.

Makassed Ali Bin Abi Taleb College

After leaving Mohammad Shamel School we went to the private school Makassed Ali Bin Abi Taleb College. This was a great contrast to our state school partner, they have lots of ICT for the children to the use in the classroom. While I was there I got to spent some time in their Kindergarten classes and I felt like one of the, learning Arabic with them.

Grade 6 session 2.

During the second session we discussed the concept of peace and what it meant to the children in Lebanon, the same as Miss Itani & Miss Manal did when they visited us. We then discussed the symbols that we could use for peace. The children then came up with the concept that peace is in their hands so all their designs were drawn inside the outline of their hands. The final piece of work, which will be displayed in my school in the U.K, was fantastic and it was clear that this was a subject that meant a lot to them. 

Last day at Mohammad Shamel School,

Today was my last day at Mohammad Shamel School and I am very sad to be leaving after a very busy and interesting week. 

This morning I went into two Grade 6 lessons, during the first session I held a question and answer about my school and the U.K. in general. The children were all able to come up with some fantastic questions and were interested in learning more about the education system in the England and the general culture of the country. 

British Council Training- An Introduction To Core Skills For Teachers.

Today I attended teacher training run by the British Council, the aim of the programme is to provide a practical introduction to core skills and how to increase the quality of teaching and learning through fostering such skills in the classroom.

It was interesting that many of these 'core skills' are the same as those we are working on in the U.K. The core skills identified are-

Citizenship

Collaboration and communication

Creativity and imagination

Critical thinking and problem solving

Digital literacy

Leadership and personal development.

First we considered- What is deep learning? This was very interesting as it focused a lot on questioning and I got to share the work that we have been doing in the U.K about using high order questions to extend children's understanding.

We (Miss Itani and myself) found the digital literacy section interesting as this is something our partnership has been working hard on through our video conferencing sessions and allowed us to reflect on future practice.

The Mountains over Beirut

After school today we drove  into the mountains overlooking Beirut with Miss Itani and Miss Manal.  The views over Beirut bay as the sun was setting were just stunning. 

The bright lights of Beirut on our way down.