The Rose

(24 January 2012, 5:00 pm, Falaj Hazaa, Al Ain, UAE)

After a week-long hush, I'm again back at my blog.

Today, I wanted to share about a rose.

I was leisurely experiencing the chill of the afternoon breeze while waiting for my transport service today, when I saw a rose on the road side.

The rose plant was prominent for the reason that it's the only flowering plant in that area...the only attraction, if I may say, amidst the dull, wilting weeds around.

As I was savouring that sense of bliss that the rose endowed me at that moment, a question came up to me: What does it take to grow such a beautiful rose? And, just in a split of a second, Bette Midler's song started playing back in my mind's ears:

Just remember, in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed 
That with the sun's love
In the spring
Becomes the rose


That rose before me...that rose, which at that specific fraction of time eased away the anxieties of my day...that rose which beauty I prized...used to be a seed that lies beneath the ground. It used to be away from sight. It was never there.

Probably, as I used to walk on the same grounds where the rose is planted now, I might have had stepped on that same seed without me even knowing it.

But now, that seed---helpless, lifeless, still, dull, mute, unrecognized, hidden--has metamorphosed into a rose--bold, colorful, vibrant, cherished, famed. We might ask why or how but these don't matter anymore. What matters is it did!

This reality about the rose is not that far from the reality about people.

Sometimes, we tend to box people...label them...place them within the bounds of our conception about them...define them. At times, we tend to look at people but don't really see them. We view them at a specific present but see their past, in a way like what I was talking about on my earlier post about the "cookie-napper".

We tend to look at people as though we are looking at the rose but, deep within our hearts, we are actually seeing the seed.

This is a fundamental error that we, humans, commonly commit--knowingly or unknowingly.

When we start looking at the rose but see the seed, we fail to appreciate the beauty of the rose and only see the dullness of the seed. In this case, we are missing a lot!

This reminds me further  of Viktor Frankl who talked about how our perception about a person matters in his or her own search for meaning.

When we look at people and all we see is their past--not what they are capable of--we are guilty of hampering their growth. When we look at people and the foremost we see are their faults yesterday, a day before or a year ago, we are guilty of not allowing them reach their utmost potential. Why? Simply because, in our minds, we have already programmed that they will never be able to achieve what they are supposed to become.

In my life, I realized that, most of the times, the only thing people need to progress--to get out of that constricted seed where they are and bloom into a fully-functioning individual--is trust...genuine, authentic trust, from people they care for and work with, that they will be able to solve their own problems and that they are worth all the efforts and time people around are spending with and for them.

For a seed, it takes sun's love to make it flower and grow. The same is required for people--genuine love, which goes with trust, respect, care and value. If we provide enough of this to people, in time, they'll grow to become the most beautiful rose they can be.

Unlocking the mind through questions

(Photo from www.geoffreyweb.wordpress.com)

A person's mind is a sealed vault.

It is something inaccessible to the other unless a person allows what's inside to be apparent either by his words or actions.

If it is so, then a question is a key that opens up that vault.

This is how powerful a question is.

In the classroom, where a teacher faces multitudes of minds waiting to be unsealed, a question is a magical tool that allows students to figure out their thoughts and, eventually, if given the opportunity, to express them.

In certain cases, a question is enough to redirect, focus or refocus and clarify the otherwise wayward or chaotic thought processes of a learner. Take for instance a learner, who after reading a story still cannot figure out how to make meaning out of the information read. A teacher, just by simply asking basic questions such as "who" (are the characters), "where" (did the event happen) or "when" (did the story take place) can guide the learning in organizing information, thus, opening up endless possibilities on how the learner makes meaning out of the learning material.

On a higher level, a question can trigger more complex thought processes. A teacher, for instance, after establishing facts out of a learning material can bring the discussion to a higher level by providing opportunities for discourses that exhibit the learner's ability to comprehend and understand. A teacher can also choose to pave the way to relating learned concepts into real life situations by asking questions geared to application or analysis.

Finally, a teacher can choose to challenge the learner to make judgments about the learning material and, ultimately, further motivating the learner to create his own output based on the topics discussed.

All these levels of thinking can be ignited just by a question.

Without even having to feed information, a teacher can create an amazing learning environment if he/she hones himself/herself in the art of questioning.

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Some related materials:

• Introduction to Bloom's taxonomy
• Bloom's taxonomy and sample questions
• Bloom's questions
• Types of questions (Bloom's)
• Basic types of questions (convergent and divergent)

A better way of arranging the class

In my earlier post, I discussed how classroom layout impacts the learning process.

Just recently, I've seen another classroom layout, which I find better than the typical students-facing-the-board layout.

I say its better because if properly used, this layout enhances the amount of productive interaction (emphasis on "productive") taking place in the classroom.

As some of us are probably aware of, there are two types of major interactions happening in the class: the interaction among students (student-student interaction) and the interaction between the teacher and the student (teacher-student interaction). These are what we want to maximize to promote meaningful learning.

Let's take a look at a typical arrangement of a class with 8 students:

The two-headed arrows represent the interaction taking place among students.

In this arrangement. we can see there are four probabilities of student-student communication taking place.

Often, a classroom using this is a teacher-centered classroom wherein the teacher's talking/working time is significantly greater than the student's talking/working time.

This arrangement is amazing for lectures!
However, if the teacher wants to engage students in activities, it will be difficult in this format.

Likewise, since this layout often caters to a teacher-centered discussion, the chances are, if the teacher loses hold of the class attention, it totally disrupts the entire learning process.

Students begin to finding something interesting-say, for example, talking with each other or moving around.

Now let's take a look at a modified classroom layout of a class with 8 students:

In this layout, we can see that the teacher grouped the class into four's in an L-shape arrangement, where the students at the side are facing inwards the classroom.

As you can see, in just one cluster (with fours students), we can expect six (6!) probable productive interactions. So, multiply this number by the number of groups we have (in this figure, two), we are expecting 12 strands of interaction taking place at a time.

Amazing isn't it? IF we are talking about collaborative, student-centered and interactive/experiential learning.

A little modification though is necessary to make this equally effective in lectures. By asking the students at the side to face the front, we can easily deviate their attention from the group to the teacher.

Here's an actual class with the modified arrangement:

Bottom line


The modified classroom layout is an amazing way of arranging the class.
It provides us the opportunities to make use of lots and lots of teaching techniques.
It allows us to practice effective pedagogy and sound teaching principles and praxis aside from lectures.
However, if we do not innovate in a classroom with this modified setting, we may expect multitude of unproductive interactions that may eventually jeopardize the learning process.

In these small hours

Blogging isn't typically the best thing to do at 10 p.m. But here I am, fingers on the keyboard, writing.
I can't postpone this post. The time is now.

It's the first week of classes here in the UAE and I'm having my first-ever group session for the year with my students. As planned, I wanted to start with resolutions. Well, most teachers would start with resolutions, I guess, because it's always good to have a target set for oneself.

(Photo from www.justglasssite.com)

But, things that have happened recently and my insights during the long vacation made me realize that talking about how to write resolutions is not what I want. What I want is for my students to realize what can make their resolutions work. And, in my long years of writing resolutions, myself, I learned that I need two have two things with me to achieve whatever change I want to implement.

The first and binding element between me and my resolution is commitment. In the past, I've always wanted to lose some weight and this is a mainstay in my list. However, I didn't really have much progress for long until recently when I focused all my efforts in doing physical activities and checking my food intake religiously. Yes, I committed to my resolution and that's when my way to fulfillment began. I haven't reached my target yet but I've had great progress. This means I'm going somewhere!

The second and pressing concern I've just started to gain insight recently is sense of urgency. Usually, when we set resolutions for ourselves, we tend to procrastinate. In my case, I may postponed my workout plans because of one thing or another and say that I'll do it next week or next month. However, with the recent and devastating news about death, passing and loss, I regained consciousness about the reality that life is so uncertain.

Now, right now, I am existing. I don't know until when. This is how unpredictable life is. So, if I postpone doing things that I want to achieve and changes that I want to realize, would I be sure that I can still accomplish these tomorrow or in two weeks? Would there be tomorrow? I am not sure.

This uncertainty may put us in a state of fear or anxiety. Or, we can choose to allow this uncertainty make us understand life's reality.

Commit. Start. Don't procrastinate. These are three thoughts I've learned and shared to people this week.
I don't want to compromise with life. In these small hours, our lives are made. Use it wisely.

The best time to do things, to start achieving is now.

Beyond the "dead-end"

I'm not sure if you will agree with my belief that the greatest satisfaction of a teacher is not the success of a student who is academically-exceptional but the victory of a student who has achieved his/her learning goals after struggling really hard. I believe this because I think that,as teachers, we are not there for those who know but for those who don't know. And, if we are able to make those who don't know, know; then we have fulfilled our purpose.

One thing for sure, in your years of experience as teachers, you must have encountered a student or two who really find it difficult to catch up with your class requirements. Since you are a responsible teacher, you must have really worked hard to help that child. But, there comes a point of saturation--a point where a teacher might think that all his/her efforts to help the child are in vain. Or, worse, he/she might find being caught on a dead-end, asking, "What am I supposed to do?" or, worst, "Why aren't you getting it?"

Believe me, being a young blood in teaching, I have so much experience of "dead-ends" and asking these questions.Fortunately, I've come to realize that answers are readily available. The only thing I had to do is ask. Maybe not others, but myself. I had to ask myself and recognize that I don't know. Then, only that I will try to find. Should I have not asked, I would have not found. This made me realize how self-reflection is imperative.

So, going back to your child who seem to not respond to your teaching, we have to remind ourselves that students--although they learn in groups (that's how education is designed for centuries since its formalization)--are individually different. There is no one-size-fits-all approach (although, going down the lane of the history, this is what education has been dying to achieve). They have individual needs such that, at some point, we must flex our teaching so that students will learn. Sometimes, we are so much engrossed with the output that we forget the process. Sometimes, we are so overwhelmed with similarities that we fail to appreciate and celebrate, or at least manage, diversity. The "how" and "why" of these principle are so extensive and multi-faceted that they cannot be contained in a single discussion.

I am, nonetheless, linking you across a presentation by Dr. Stephen Shore (a doctor of education who, himself, is a person living with autism) delivered during a conference I attended in Dubai. It is about promoting students with special needs in the classroom. It discusses the 9 Educational Domains--nine different ways--on how we can tackle students with learning difficulties.

To access the presentation, click here.

As it has did to me, I hope the presentation also gives you valuable insights on how to move beyond the dead-end over a student with known difficulties in class. Ultimately, may the insights bring all of us towards a celebration of our students' individual differences and diversity and make these realities, a friend rather than a foe.

Declutter your space, declutter yourself

It's 2012! Surely, there are lots and lots of things that I have thank 2011 for--having reached this far being top of the list--but 2012, I'm sure, is gonna be exciting and monumental, especially that I've committed to start new life projects for myself. I bet you can relate to this hype of setting new goals and braving new paths for the new year.

(Photo from www.myzerowaste.com)

Since, we're starting anew, I want to talk about what I feel is the best way to begin the new year and that is to declutter your space--physical or psychical--to bring simplicity and order to the confusion and chaos brought by the dynamism and haste of the previous year. By decluttering, I mean getting rid of stuffs that aren't really important anymore.

Almost often, long lists of activities, projects and accomplishments of the previous year yield us tons of stuffs-papers, documents, files, etc. that, in most cases, wouldn't anymore matter in the future. Taking away these unnecessary stuffs is, for me, the most awesome project to kick the new year with.

Unfortunately, some may be apprehensive to do this. There's a popular belief (particularly among eastern cultures) that you shouldn't start the year by cleaning the house or washing clothes or throwing unwanted things out else you will struggle with these chores all year round. I disagree.

What I believe is that cleaning and organizing things--specifically, getting rid of unwanted and unimportant stuffs--are not only practically good so as to revitalize your direction and focus to what you want to achieve from here onwards, but are psychologically a form of ritual that frees you from the emotions or thoughts or baggages associated with these unwanted stuffs.

Things aren't just things. They are linked to something immaterial or transcendental that evoke thoughts and emotions that, eventually, elicit actions. To add a bit of color on this, let me share about my wallet:

My brown leather wallet was actually my brother's. I had it during my last year's  vacation and it's been an amazing stuff that I can't leave my house without. All my important cards are there and many other things that I'm not comfortable placing anywhere except close to me.

Early morning of January 1, 2012, as soon as I went off the bed, I got hold of my wallet and checked it. From a thin sturdy leather wallet that it used to be, it's now become a bulging lump with protruding slips of papers and I-don't-know-whats.

What I did was to take all the stuffs out of my wallet and got amazed to find that much of what makes my wallet bulgy and huge are ATM receipts (that slip of paper you get when you withdraw from the ATM), taxi/bus tickets, money transfer slips, and some crumbling business cards from some people.

So why in the world would my wallet be that fully-packed with these papers? Don't get me wrong I know they are there. I check my wallet once in a while. I throw things that I feel are unnecessary. But, why are these slips, tickets, receipts, etc are still in my wallet? Simple. I didn't feel they were unnecessary. I was hesitant to throw the bank receipts because I'm scared I might still use them. Maybe I'll require them in my future transactions with my bank. I was hesitant to dispose of the bus tickets. They remind me of a wonderful trip I had few months ago that I want to keep them as souvenir.

This sense of importance that we ascribe to things are what may hold us back from decluttering. Stuffs that link to our values--money, career, business, etc...stuffs that relate to our concerns, aspirations or even anxieties--that we might consciously not just ready to free ourselves from--are commonly those that are so difficult to get rid of. This explains our hesitations of decluttering the house, too. Rug dolls, broken pots, torn books--these are just examples of things we won't readily dispose of for some sentimental reasons. It's a living proof how easier it is to live in the past.

(Photo from www.mettacenter.org)

But, at a certain point, stuffs may not be genuinely valuable anymore. In some instances, they may even be evoking thoughts and feelings of the past that we must already let go. By decluttering our space, we are not anymore getting rid of physical objects that are not anymore important, but we are also letting go of thoughts and feelings that may not anymore be important too--not now, not in the future.

Hence, decluttering the physical space is simulatenously a decluttering of the psychical space. After decluttering my wallet--throwing all those receipts that I don't genuinely require--I feel better. It was a cathartic experience to be able to let go of unnecessary stuffs and the linked emotions and thoughts that go with them. It felt awesome to restructure my mind and the way I look and evaluate things. Decluttering didn't only have a visible effect to my wallet; it also had an invisible effect to my inner self.

Now, my leather wallet looks better than before. In a way, I feel better than before.

This is what decluttering made me feel.

How about you, how would decluttering make you feel? Try.