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the power of an image

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What better time to talk about the power of an image than now. In today’s world where the image travels with more speed and accessibility than ever before, when its power is magnified by its accessibility – as internet reaches more people the image gains power – it does not need to be translated, its emotional significance is expressed in a couple of seconds and just a glance can make an impact.

The image translates across culture, language barriers and borders. It touches a part of us that stirs emotions and meaning while conveying a certain trust. We trust images to tell us what is happening in the world.

From the transformation of Che’s epic face to more recent images of rebellion there has become an overload of meaningful images. Do we become more desensitized to these images as they become more mainstream, more readily available? Do they actually lose their significance? I got the feedback of my students from Nablus on this recent explosion of the image.

They walked around the room in silence looking at several images, the original Korda image of Che, images of Palestinians like themselves, an image of Glacier Lake, a classroom full of students, the Afghan girl with green eyes and a recent image of an Egyptian protestor. These 11, 12 and 13 year olds walked around with a marker and wrote down their reactions on posters surrounding the images. They responded to each image by asking a question, commenting on another person’s response, critiquing the composition and talking about its significance.

I am surprised by the familiarity of these images for my students in Nablus. Would a room full of 11 and 12 year old’s from the US recognize the Che image? What difference comments would be written on the image of the Egyptian protester, outlined in flame. Would they write, “hero” would they identify with this young man and see him as a strong figure standing up for what he believes in? My students assumed the man was Palestinian not Egyptian. They identified with this boy so strongly they were all surprised when we unpacked the image revealing who he was and what he was doing. It seems the image of the protestor, the rebel has become an icon like the Che image itself. The images are transformed from just their factual significance into something more layered representing an entire movement, the Arab spring, the fight against dictatorship and finally the struggle of any group of oppressed people against a larger power. My students know these images so they do not ask questions about these particular images. They assume they know what these images stand for and the story behind them. The repeated story of the oppressed seems to be all mixed together into some sort of flat image. Does this mean they have become desensitized? Has the image become so popular that it has lost its power of interest? It only gets a glance without much pondering about what actually is happening in the photograph. Many knew the Che image but nobody knew the story behind it.

 

While the unknown photographs created more questions. The “peaceful” positive images raised more questions for my students. They did not relate to, the image of Glacier Lake and the classroom crowded with Chinese students. Their comments regarding these images were positive: “peaceful, the importance of education, working to help educate, hope with education etc.” Several questions were written around these photographs: “where are these children? Where is this lake, is it an ocean? What is falling into the lake?” etc. So again, I ask if the true meaning of an image is lost as it becomes an icon. People stop asking questions while the less popular images remain those we ponder.

We ended with the question can an image create change? Photography and art has become an important part of our world, not only of our history but of our future. It can influence world politics, it can inspire and add courage to a revolution. Photography has become a tool for the masses, it no longer is left to the artist in the dark room with money and education to produce. The students themselves are now included in this evolution of the image as they are doing their first internship as photojournalist. They began within our organization’s classrooms but have started to venture out into their own neighborhood streets. This Thursday they will cover their first real story, traveling to the Old City of Nablus to not only to take pictures but to find images with stories from their own community.

It will be up to you, will their images hold power? Will they speak to you?

-Abi is the Triple Exposure Coordinator

Love is All Around

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Laura

Part of TYO’s vision here in Nablus is to empower members of the community by providing programs such as our after-school, Core Program, and the Women’s Group. One of the most important ways we work on empowerment is by enabling self-expression. During our orientation, we were introduced to the psychosocial aspects of TYO’s programs. We were told that many of our students could be dealing with underlying feelings of anger, guilt, or shame. So, I was prepared to see these emotions and to hear painful stories, but I was completely unprepared for the outpouring of love that comes with them.

I teach three classes at the center: Sports and Games to 9 and 10 year olds, Women’s Fitness to mothers, and English to TYO staff and university volunteers. Every Monday and Wednesday morning at 9:30, Nawal and I teach women’s fitness to 30 moms ages 20 – 40. We incorporate cardio, pilates, yoga, strength training. Last week, we did 15 minutes of running the stairs of our building – I thought the women might never come back. But this week they returned, more dedicated than before. It’s wonderful to see that they trust us -from asking Nawal endless health questions, to their willingness to try any crazy new exercise we throw at them. The strength of these women is unbelievable. Just knowing that many of them return home from the center to take care of a family of 6 or 8 or 12 people, in conditions that are less than ideal at best, is inspiring. I’m overwhelmed by their kindness, generosity and love; and most of all their desire to share those feelings with us.

Each afternoon, I teach Sports and Games to children who come to the center twice a week. By far it is my most challenging class, but also the most rewarding. After working with the kids for a month, my volunteers and I are finally seeing a more stable classroom dynamic. Almost every day we face the problem of overzealous physical expression. Like many 9 and 10 year olds, our students love to push in line or give a little shove to command someone’s attention. I’ve instituted a policy of 10 push-ups for anyone shoving in the classroom. In one class this week, I asked a girl who had been pushing in line to do push-ups. She staunchly refused and therefore spent the rest of the class not participating. During class, I had been tough and detached, not allowing her to join the class until completing her push-ups; but at lunch I was able to talk with her and discuss the importance of a safe environment for everyone in the class. Later, as I was lining up the students for my second class, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the same girl, telling me she wanted to to the push-ups before she left for the day. I felt so proud of her, and I knew that her feelings most likely changed when I took a moment to show love in my own self-expression.

My third class is teaching English to a group of female staff and volunteers at the center. They’re all college graduates who’ve studied some English before, so between us all we can communicate in simple English and Arabic. These eight women are all patient and supportive, even to the point that they won’t tell me if I teach an entire lesson on grammar they already know. Today I asked the class to tell me what it means to be a woman in Palestine. The first response was that it is hard. Then the others chimed in, saying that women are workers, mothers, supporters, caregivers, mourners, and friends. One student said, “women are half of the society, and necessary for its success”. For a beginners’ English class, I was impressed. This is just another example of the type of self-expression that TYO works to foster. All the responses were honest and open, full of pride and love.

It seems like everywhere you look at TYO, there are countless examples of love and all that goes with it: kindness, support, enthusiasm, and generosity, to name a few. This is just one of the many reasons our work is important, and why it’s a pleasure to be part of it.

Anna

Nablus is no stranger to Valentine’s Day; the hearts and cupids plastered around the downtown area are a testament to that. (Between that, Twilight, and SpongeBob, sometimes it seems that only the cheesiest possible fragments of American culture have made it over here.) But as I’ve introduced love-and-appreciation-themed lessons in my moms’ and kids’ classes this week, I’ve gotten a variety of responses. When I wished my kids a Happy Valentine’s Day, Noor said something like “what, did somebody get engaged?”, making the whole class giggle. Or in my mom’s IT class, when I told the women that we’d be using Microsoft Word to make cards for the supporters of our love-raiser, one of them tutted and said it was haram – which was enough to make me question the wisdom of grafting a Western holiday onto a Palestinian context.

The joking of my students aside, I have begun to see the manifestations of love in all its forms in my classrooms. Though girls and boys might still make faces when we devise ways to get them to sit together, the kids are well on their way towards feeling comfortable with each other. Batoul, for instance, barely cracked a smile her first week here and is now always laughing and gallivanting about with the other girls. I see love in that sense of safety and comfort – a place for kids to be kids – that we are creating here. And just as the kids are bonding with each other, it is truly heart-warming to see the affection developing between my kids and my volunteers, whose native Arabic skills and ability to work in small, focused groups with the kids, I have to admit, I am a bit jealous of.

Child psychologist Dr. Ross Campbell (as quoted by Gary Chapman in The Five Love Languages, the sort of relationship-help book I’m embarrassed to admit any familiarity with) said that “Inside every child is an ‘emotional tank’ waiting to be filled with love. When a child really feels loved, he will develop normally, but when the love tank is empty, the child will misbehave. Much of the misbehavior of children is motivated by the cravings of an empty ‘love tank.’”

I’m no Suhad, TYO’s Psychosocial Program Manager, so I don’t have the academic or clinical chops to verify it, but on a gut level this idea makes sense to me. So in every child who jumps up and down in their seat, begging to be noticed, I’ve been trying to see not a trouble-maker who needs correction but a child who desperately needs to feel heard and acknowledged. That’s difficult, and I don’t always succeed 100%. It is always easier to treat the symptom on the spot – to remind the class about our rule about hand-raising – than to do the longer-term work of carving out the extra time and consideration for that child over the course of the session.

But already I’m seeing the benefits that just a bit of extra attention – of some teacherly love – can produce. Raghad, one of the more melodramatic girls in my class, was refusing to participate today, and when I went over to see what the matter was, she said that I never call on her even though she raises her hand. All it took was a few extra minutes of my time, a promise that I would look out for her in the future, and a compliment on the owl she drew last week for her face to light up as she trotted off to rejoin the group. I can’t say that she will be angelic from now on, but bit by bit, translated conversation by translated conversation, I hope to give these kids the sense of being seen, heard, and loved that they so desire. And that’s the best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day that I can imagine.

Claudia

Last week TYO observed Valentine’s Day and I must admit I was not very thrilled with the idea. Of all holidays, Valentine’s has been the most corrupted by consumerism and kitsch expressions of love and affection, at least in my opinion; I hated the idea of promoting commercialism. I was also a bit concerned with cultural barriers and worried our students would misunderstand our intentions. In order to not be a vinegar valentine, I placed all of my skepticism and prejudice aside and I focused on making the best of occasion and ensuring our kids received some much needed personal attention, what really matters.

With the mood created by the holiday, I started thinking about the other types of love that we celebrate on Valentine’s Day, friendship in particular. One of the amazing results that come out of the work done in TYO is the blossoming of new friendships.  Encouraging new friendships is not an easy feat, since children want to use the time they spend at the center with friends they already have and in general stay within the complacency of their comfort zones. Breaking that mold and creating an environment were children feel safe and secure to express their own individualities is fundamental to all the work we do here. There is no better testament to this achievement than when our kids show signs of making new friendships.

In one of my activities this week, we played “Poison Ivy” in which a student is blindfold and has to navigate a field of children posing as the malicious itchy plant led by the instructions of one of their peers. As tends to be the case, kids want to be paired with their friends, but despite all of the rambunctious whining, I would not cave to their demands. In the last round of the game I had one of my more reserved students, who tends to seclude herself with her relatives, pair up with another girl from a different neighborhood.  My shy student was blindfolded and I notice that she had a great amount of difficulty moving and following the directions given to her, but instead of giving up, her partner Walaa’ was very patient and dedicated to having her complete the task. I think had she been paired with anyone else, the game would not have been as successful. What I saw in Walaa’ was more than the drive to win the game but the willingness to help a friend. Although I cannot say that all of my students have made such great strides in the friendship department, seeing Walaa’s kindness and patience makes me hopeful.

The wonderful thing about this experience is that not only do the kids have the opportunities to make new friendships, but so do we. Instead of focusing on the superficiality of Valentine’s, I contemplated on the three great, budding friendships cultivating in the past four weeks – the ones with my fellow interns. I’ve really enjoyed learning more about their experiences, passions and interests. They’ve become a great support and I’m glad they are around.

Nawal

Back in the United States, it would be difficult to overlook a holiday like Valentine’s Day.  In the days leading up to February 14th, the stores and streets are filled with flowers, candy, and other trinkets to remind us to think of our loved ones.  Here in Nablus, the holiday is not celebrated with the same kind of gusto, but you can still see love all around.  The Palestinian culture is one known for its openness and hospitality, and I have been lucky enough to witness it firsthand.

This week, I saw this spirit of friendliness and love expressed by the children in my classes.  We had been doing a relay race which involved jumping rope, and some children did not know how to do so.  In order to encourage teamwork and bonding, I asked the students who already knew how to jump rope to instruct their fellow classmates.  It was rewarding to see the children working together, and exhibiting patience and understanding towards the students who were slower to pick up the skill.

Perhaps most rewarding, however, was the reaction towards one student in particular.  When I looked over towards Mojahed, I saw that he was not practicing jump rope, even though there were students willing to teach him.  I asked why he was not joining the others, and it was clear that he was too embarrassed of failure to even attempt learning.  At this point, some students took it upon themselves to not only instruct Mojahed, but to give him the encouragement and support that he needed.  With some kind words and time, he was soon ready to join the others.

At this point, the relay race had already been concluded, but the students were still cheering Mojahed on and telling him to have a go at it.  By himself, he jumped rope out to the designated marker and back, completing his would-be relay leg.  It wasn’t a perfect run, and he tripped up here and there, but the class urged him to keep trying.  When he finally finished, he was welcomed back to the starting line with a round of applause from the whole class.

Even though they may not have realized it, the students were demonstrating the true spirit of Valentine’s Day.  While it would have been easier to just write Mojahed off, and use their time to play more on their own, the students chose to help their fellow classmate.  It is these moments of affection and kindness that make my work here so rewarding.  Love is all around, and it’s wonderful to see it celebrated every day at TYO.

Athletic Games by Kids, for Kids

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Having a variety of athletic activities is very important for children’s healthy development, both mentally and physically. It is especially important for  children in our target areas, who have grown up in a disadvantaged and violent environment. Sports and other activities at TYO are helping those children to be more expressive, to think critically, and to play and create. Play and laughter is an essential medium for creativity for all people around the globe, and this is what the Core Child Program sports classes offer to both children and their parents.

Haitham teaches a young student basketball basics.

Data from my own observations of UNRWA and government schools in Nablus, in addition to an interview with the Dean of the Sports Faculty at An Najah National University reveal that more than two-thirds of our children don’t have the opportunity to participate regularly in sports or exercise. Even elementary schools in Palestine do not spend much time on sports—a Palestinian child has less than two hours a week for sports at his/her school. Moreover, our children’s schools have insufficient spaces for sport classes; for example, a class of 40 children usually has its sports class in a space that is only 60 square meters. Another problem in Palestine is an underestimation of the importance of sports in schools. For example, teachers of other subjects, such as English and mathematics, sometimes take this class period to teach their subjects, which are generally considered more important for children than sports. And when children leave the school, they usually don’t participate in sports or exercise, since they spend the afternoon and evening doing their homework for all of their other subjects, and frequently spend the rest of time playing on the computer or watching TV.

In this environment, TYO’s sports classes for children aged 4-14 are critically important. Children in the Core Child Program sports classes (for 4-8 year-olds) have recently learned two new simple games designed by their classmates. I’m going to describe them to the world in order to fulfill to the promise that I gave to Yazan, who created this game, that I would spread his game all over the world!

The first game is called “The Escaping Hula-Hoop” for a group of 4-10 children. It requires one hula-hoop, enough space for children to run comfortably, and a smooth playing surface. Five children form an outer circle, and the other five form an inner circle. The ones on the outside will try to pass the hula-hoop between the children in the inner circle. The  ones in the middle stop the hula-hoop by standing inside it.

Running through hula-hoops at TYO.

The idea for the second game came from students in Jawad’s drama class. They further developed their idea and implemented it in sports class under the name “Numbers Race.” This game doesn’t need any materials, and 25 children can participate in the game. Children need enough space to form a circle or square shape. Five children will stand outside of the shape and count from 1 to 5. While they are counting, the rest of the children square will have to run from inside the square or circle and touch the wall before the outside children have reached number 5. Children were very engaged in this game, especially since they created and developed it.

I hope that, in my capacity as a sports teacher at TYO, I have helped these children to develop a healthy and creative approach to life, as well as personalities that will allow them to be creative and productive members of their families and communities, despite the tough environment that they live in.

-Haitham

Haitham Okeh is one of TYO’s Core Child Program teachers; he teaches 4-8 year-olds. 

TYO Round Up: Week of February 12, 2012

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In case you weren’t around this week…

Sunday, February 12

TYO teacher Alaa talks about her take on Core Program COMPUTER literacy classes with her students.

 

Monday, February 13

The interns perform early ASSESSMENT activities in their classes and discover hidden talents in the process.

 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14

TYO fellow Karen remarks on the joys of cultural ambassadorship in PEN PAL letters between precocious Palestinian and American youth.

 

Wednesday, February 15

Abi takes a new spin on how the other HALF would live, looking at girls and women in a world of equality between the sexes.

 

Thursday, February 16

The WEL project moves into the incubation period as the 10 selected women and projects ADVANCE to the next stage.

 

Friday, February 17

TYO celebrates Social Media Week with links demonstrating the power of SOCIAL MEDIA in the classroom and links between education and media. 

 

TYO Recommends: February 17, 2012

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TYO celebrates international Social Media Week with some links demonstrating the power of social media in the classroom and elsewhere, as well as some informative and interesting articles linking childhood education with the use of media.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Read who Taha loves!

 

Compassion in Conflict: Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda touched hearts around the world with his PHOTO of a woman clad in a burka and clutching her loved one shortly after protests in Yemen.  Huffington Post reports, by capturing the compassion in conflict, Aranda’s photo went viral and was posted in the New York Times as a lasting symbol of the Arab Spring.  

Wiki goes Worldly: Creators of Wikipedia have disclosed plans to expand Wiki services and entries available in ARABIC. The pilot program in Cairo seeks to get the ball rolling by acquiring additional university student editors under the guidance of faculty advisers from Cairo University and Ain Shams University to increase entries in the world’s fifth most common language.

Pupils for Peace: The United Nations looks to education as a tool for stimulating social development and encouraging peace in zones of conflict. High-lighting education as “socially transformative,” findings from Lebanon, Nepal, and Sierra Leone are discussed in this brief PODCAST with Kathryn Herzog.

Connected in the Classroom: NBC News selects the top five WEBSITES for educators to use in the classroom.  Choices include Popplet, a snazzy media-rich and presentation portal; Vuvox, a hotspot for digital creativity; Myna, for all your music-infused media needs; Linoit, an online bulletin board eye-catching enough for visual learners; and Flipsnack, a sophisticated converter system that turns classroom projects into  fun flip-books.

A Bank by any other Name: In honor of Valentine’s Day this week, launching the day before Valentine’s Day, LOVE UNDER APARTHEID chronicles the trials and tribulations of love across the Bank, giving a voice to relationships between Jews and non-Jews in Palestine and Israel. Features coverage on the site’s debut video satire, the hilarious and heart-wrenching “Checkpoint Date.” “All these stories are connected because they first begin with a couple who fell in love,” Ms.Tania Keilani, the site’s founder, adds. “And everyone loves a good love story.” What happens when dinner isn’t the only check you have to worry about?

Silent, but deadly: As U.S. congressional debates rage on healthcare and birth control, an even more startling battle is being WAGED amongst the nation’s education institutions. A silent but deadly fissure is widening between schooling for the highest and lowest brackets of American society threatening to not only expand the distance of the gulf between America’s rich and poor, but also the depth of an abyss that jeopardizes the future of all of America’s youth.

The Push to Plug In: Not yet convinced of the staying power of social media? As the president unrolls the 2013 budget and schools get on the watch for ways to increase learning opportunities in the classroom, Birth to Thrive Online points practitioners to new social media CAMPAIGNS for early learning at the pre-kindergarten level with the #B25 Strong Foundations.

From Books to Briefcases: The World Education Blog reveals best practices in developing basic skills and the effects on the maturation of workplace skills over time. Drawing on EVIDENCE from language learning, classroom participation, and “sensitive periods” most fertile for honing developmental skills, Helen Abadzi, Senior Education Specialist at the Global Partnership for Education unveils factors influencing the shaping of skills in reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic.

 

WEL Incubated: Next Step for Women Entrepreneurs in Lebanon

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Now that we have selected the 10 women to continue on for the remaining 9 months of the WEL project, we are excited to embark on the Incubation phase of the project. These next months will include a lot of hard work for our women, as they get ready to launch or scale up their businesses. TYO/RMF are going to provide the women with additional trainings including:

  • Business English Courses,
  • Basic Computer Courses and
  • Additional Accounting Courses.

In addition to the additional trainings, the women will be incubated at the BIAT facility, as they work with local University volunteers on the branding identity of their businesses, create networks for sale of their goods, and participate in local events to increase visibility for their businesses.

Armed with their SMART business plans, developed with the help of the skilled BIAT trainers, the women are also getting ready to take the plunge into access to finance! TYO/RMF and the women will work closely with the team of Kafalat, a local Lebanese institution well-known for assistance with subsidized loans in Lebanon, to help satisfy the finance needs of the women.

While the women work hard to launch their businesses, our WEL Steering Committee will also be providing them with additional support in:

  • Trainings for quality control of goods,
  • Technical Support,
  • Access to the Souk el Tayeb Distribution network,
  • Access to markets for the sale of their goods and
  • Mentorship opportunities.

With a well-rounded team of support securely in place for our 10 women, we have the highest hopes for the entrepreneurial spirits and success and wish them the best of luck!

 

Girls who run the world…

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Thanks Beyoncé, but unfortunately we do not. Or maybe we do, just from behind closed doors. We do have power, we just need to take it, to express it and use it for the good of our world.

If half of the world is female why does it feel like we have less space? What would happen if half of the world could step out from behind the door and go to school, get an education and eventually a job? When the female half of the world runs out the door and can feel safe in the sunlight, it will be a better day. Despite the right to vote, the Feminist Revolution, Title 9 and the rise of educated girls of the west many are still stuck behind several doors.

Everyday I hear stories of girl’s being confided to these small spaces, of feeling trapped because of their gender. I believe that if we can just offer this space, girls will take it. They will run for it, fight for it and rejoice in happiness as they take up the space they deserve. I know one thing; it’s only going to help our world.

My third week into the beginning of TYO’s first all girl soccer practice, I see this. I see screaming, shouting young girls excited to bring all of their sisters and cousins to this new space just for them. In the first class I remember Sahar asked me if her brother could come. Her big brown eye’s looked at me in shock when I responded that it was just for girls, only for someone like her. The next practice we ventured outside onto the soccer field where the shababs (guys) are always playing. As usual, several were hanging around waiting for others to come so that they could play. When the girls saw this they immediately began complaining, “oh no we cannot play, the boys are here… where are we going to play?” No one thought we could just ask the boys to leave and that they would. But they left and the field became ours. The girls began to jump for joy, skipping around shouting that it was there field now.

They found some space. What happens next? The girls begin to get used to it, they like having their own space. They begin to expect it and to fight for it realizing that they deserve it just as much as the shababs.

It’s not just soccer. In creating all female spaces more girls are willing to stand up. In facing a society, a world that might look at you differently because of taking of your space it helps to have support.  As in many developing regions of the world, there is a lack of space for the girls of Nablus. When they band together they can face the world with confidence. Rawiya (she who tells a story) is one example of this in the Middle East, it is a female photography collective founded by five women that combine their work. Sharing the story of the girl, is critical to the first steps of her confidence and realization.

The girls of Nablus cannot be more ready to take their space, with the camera, on the soccer field and in the classroom.


-Abi is the Triple Exposure Coordinator and a TYO Girls soccer coach.  

Pen Pals from Palestine

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“Hi my name is Brian. I just turned ten years old. My favorite sports are football, lacrosse, basketball, and soccer. I celebrate Christmas.  During Christmas, there is a man called Santa Claus. He comes down your chimney and puts presents under a Christmas tree. And what are your traditions? I’m sure they’re fun!”

I never thought I’d be an ambassador so soon after graduating college, but for the past few weeks, I’ve been working as a go-between for two groups of precocious and highly opinionated future world leaders. Brian is member of a fourth grade class in Silver Spring, Maryland. At their December holiday party, the class wrote notes to the 9 to 11-year-olds in my Recycled Crafts class in Nablus, Palestine.

Students work on their group crossword puzzle.

These cards—cheerful, honest, and eager—present a fantastic opportunity for true cross-cultural interactions between two sets of children who know very little about each other and would otherwise have little reason to interact. When I planned the activity, I hoped that the students would take away an appreciation of their mutual love of sports—especially soccer—and an understanding of each other’s religious and cultural celebrations. I didn’t anticipate that the students would also have an additional glaring similarity—misspelled English.

During each two-hour class, we spend about 20 minutes on English. The Palestinian students have been taking English since first grade, so they know their alphabet and numbers well. Some even have a fairly advanced English vocabulary, but few have ever used their nascent language skills to really communicate with others. And they certainly don’t have the ability to comprehend the misspellings of American fourth graders who speak English fluently. My students can do the work of seeing a new English word, such as celebrate, and looking it up in the dictionary. They cannot, however, find a translation for celibrate, celabrate, or celubrate. Still, I love those misspellings. They might not teach my students much linguistic accuracy, but they allow them to connect with the Americans as real, live children with similar scholastic woes.

Ultimately, I decided to type up a corrected version of each message and slip it into the envelope with the cards. The children could enjoy the authentic handwriting and illustrations of their peers without being overwhelmed by their spelling mistakes. My students made lists of the English words they did not know. In small groups, they looked up those words in English-Arabic dictionaries. Later, they completed crossword puzzles and played word games with the new words. Celebrate was among them.

Students' finished recycled paper cards.

This week, we will talk about the similarities and differences that my students see between themselves and their American counterparts. Next week, we will use our own recycled-paper cards to write notes back. To prepare those cards, my students ripped old paper to shreds, soaked it in water, mashed it to a pulp, and laid it on a tray to dry. They designed stamps out of old sponges and used them to decorate their cards. At this point, the cards and vocabulary are ready, and I can’t wait to see what my students have to say!

-Karen

Karen Campion is currently a TYO Fellow as a recipient of the Princeton Class of 1956-81 International ReachOut Fellowship.

Discovering Hidden Talents

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Nawal

If you spend a day in any of our classes here at TYO, you will quickly learn that they are not just about increasing the students’ skills in a particular subject.  Instead, we take a holistic approach in our teaching, which includes improving the children’s overall psychosocial well-being.  Many of the youth here have lived through traumatic experiences, and the effects are exhibited in the ways in which they interact with others.  Issues such as shyness, anger, and anxiety are just a few of the complications that we must consider in our lesson plans.  Therefore, for my sports class, it is my goal not only to increase the students’ athletic abilities, but also to work on life skills such as teamwork and communication.

In order to accomplish these goals, it is necessary to first establish a baseline for assessment.  To do this, I set up a few exercises, which enabled me to evaluate my classes’ initial abilities.  The first exercise simply measured athletic skill by gauging the accuracy at which students could hit a target with a soccer ball.  The second exercise, however, revealed much more about the children’s psychosocial health.  The task entailed timing how long it took pairs of students to pass a soccer ball between designated cones in a serpentine fashion.  In addition to challenging their athletic skills, this exercise demonstrated how well students were able to communicate and work together in accomplishing a goal.

While I knew evaluating the students ahead of time would be helpful in terms of measuring their progress, I was surprised at how telling the results were in terms of other issues.  The serpentine passing drill was conducted in nearly complete silence.  The only times the students spoke at all were out of frustration, either towards themselves or their teammates.  Moreover, it was interesting to note that the children seemed more concerned about getting their ball from their side to the other, as opposed to getting it to their teammate; the emphasis of the passes was on the individual performance as opposed to the pair’s success.

Ideally, I will be able to use my class time this session to teach the children about the importance of communication and collaboration.  While these skills are important to the success of any sports team, they are also keys to success in life.  Through a series of teambuilding and communication exercises each class period, I hope to draw the students out of their shells, and teach them these necessary skills.  By the end of the session, I hope that the students will not only utilize these skills in relation to sports, but also in relation to their community as a whole.

Claudia

Last week before beginning my initial assessment, I asked my students what they wanted to learn in drama class. Overwhelmingly the response was acting, as one would expect, with a couple of boys skewing the trend and affirming that they wished to play games and simply have fun. To assess their capabilities in the acting department, we played a couple rounds of charades. The only “acting” instructions I gave them was how to indicate the category of their phrase and then I let them rely on their basic instincts. The results varied. Many of my students were initially discouraged because they could not imagine how they could possibly convey a message without words. Instead of letting them get away with this justification, I asked them to try after a couple of classmates had acted out their phrases. Although there was some reluctance, I managed to have 100 percent participation.

I noticed in all of my classes that the game became less about acting and more about winning, which means that a lot of cheating took place.  When I turned away kids would mumble words, encouraged by overly competitive volunteers. If they weren’t cheating, they somehow managed to communicate non-verbally with their teammates in a manner that did not involve acting. Most of the communication relied on head movements in response to questions for the team. A nod indicating that they were on the right track was the most movement I got from some students who simply waited for the right questions.  While technically not cheating, there was definitely little charading.

Through my assessment and other acting games, I’ve learned that many of my kids know much less about acting then I expected. More importantly, they are less willing to make fools out of themselves and make mistakes. This will definitely be my biggest struggle – helping the majority of my students lose their inhibitions and increase their self-confidence. My students forget their enthusiasm to learn drama when they need to stand in front of their peers and demonstrate their new skills. The contrast between their wishes and their actions is a bit baffling and expected. Acting can be intimidating even when you are equipped with proper skills. Instead of breaking out of their shells, many of my kids recoil back into their shyness. Rather than attempting to participate, they allow the more outgoing kids to take over. I hope that with this class, my kids will be able to find their inner voice and be more comfortable expressing themselves among their peers.  That would be the greatest discovery.

Anna

Last week I ran my initial assessment activities, which were both an organizational requirement and a useful tool for understanding where the kids are coming from and so I can tailor my lessons to them. The trick, of course, was to run a test without the kids knowing it actually was one. Giving them a series of multiple-choice questions on color-mixing would be an unforgivable crime in an after-school art class, not to mention intimidating the kids who’d never learned it before. Just as parenting magazines might suggest that you slip broccoli into brownies, I tried to hide my tests into fun art activities for the kids.

My first assessment activity tested the children’s knowledge of basic art skills – more specifically, their knowledge of mixing the primary colors to make secondary ones. We started off by drawing different kinds of lines on the board and finding them in the classroom, and the kids then filled their papers with lines. When it came time to paint the spaces between their lines, the children were given red, blue, and yellow paint and, somewhat cryptically, instructed to paint one section orange, one section purple, and one green. My volunteers took notes on which children knew how to mix the colors and instructed those who didn’t.

As I flitted frantically around the classroom, worrying about the numbers and reminding my volunteers to keep tallies, I was delighted by the revelations that were occurring all around me. When Ishaq’s volunteer showed him how red and yellow mix to make orange, he stood up and shouted “BORTUQALEE!”, only to go through the same very vocal astonishment with green and purple, each new color a revelation. Another child, Ahmed, told me afterwards that it was a really good lesson, which, though he didn’t know it, was exactly the reassurance this art teacher needed. An activity that seemed straightforward to me ended up being more fun and more challenging than I anticipated. Many of the children said they didn’t know how to draw zigzag and curly lines, so it was a valuable exercise in remembering that things that might seem easy or obvious to me probably aren’t to my students. I too was a kid who thought I couldn’t draw, so I’m hoping to build the children’s confidence in their own abilities.

In my second activity, designed to test the kids’ self-confidence, they measured, cut, and decorated paper pinwheels and wrote a wish on each spoke.  At the end of class, the children were invited to come to the front of the room to share their wishes with the class, with the goal of comparing how many kids were willing to open up publicly at the beginning of the session and at the end. Their wishes provided me with a glimpse into their lives, their sources of sadness and their deepest hopes.  Their wishes were religious – to go on hajj, to memorize the whole Quran, to go to heaven – and secular, silly and poignant. At least one was also off-topic and adorable: “I Love You Anna.”

These children want to go swimming, to please their parents, to succeed in school, for their fathers and brothers to be released from prison. We have aspiring travelers to locales near and far – Syria, Amman, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Tulkarem – and aspiring professionals – future doctors, engineers, businesswomen, and airplane pilots. While only a minority of children shared their wishes, I was struck by their openness and vulnerability. While I hope my class will help build their confidence and self-expression, I realize that there’s not much I need to teach them in that regard: it’s just a question of giving them a space to release what’s already inside them.

Laura

Getting to know the students in my Sports and Games class has been a slow, careful process. The group dynamic in each of my four classes is entirely different and can vary from day to day. From the first class the kids were observant, waiting to see what kind of ideas I had in store for them. Some were disappointed to find out that we wouldn’t be playing soccer every day. Some hesitated to play any game that was new or different. Almost universally, the students were unwilling to participate in mixed-gender activities. When I talk to students without my translator, communication is almost always one-sided. It’s impressive to watch their patience as they listen to me, trying to figure out which conjugation of a verb I should have used, and rewarding to see their faces light up when they figure out what I’m trying to communicate. It’s difficult to watch their frustration when I cannot understand their responses to me.

One of my goals for the Sports and Games classes is to build upon the kids’ abilities to work together and support each other. I hope to do this with a combination of team building activities and debriefing discussions. Last week we performed an assessment, using an activity called Labyrinth. In the game, two teams attempt to find their way through an invisible maze, guided only by “yes” or “no” responses from volunteers. In order to be successful, teams need to utilize a number of skills including: teamwork, communication, memory, patience, and perseverance. My role was limited to observing – with the help of my translator – how they applied these skills. After four 20 minute games, it was clear just how much work we had ahead of us. Only one team was able to successfully navigate the maze more than one time. Almost all communication devolved into pointing and yelling with some students even physically maneuvering others only to be further frustrated by failure.

There are so many little things that we, as Americans, learn while growing up that I think many of us take for granted. Skills like self-motivation, teamwork, leadership, and positive reinforcement are almost second nature – even when we fail to succeed in employing them in our daily lives. Just being aware of these capabilities is half the battle, which makes sharing them with the kids a pleasure. What I’m learning from the students is just as integral to immersing in life here in Palestine. For example, how to answer no with only my eyebrows or a click of the tongue, or in understanding refugee camp dynamics, or in the cultural transcendence of hugs and kisses from 9 year old girls. For me, these kinds of connections have been the most unique and fulfilling aspect of teaching classes here at TYO. My hope is that our students’ experiences here will have lasting benefits for them throughout their lives, helping them to realize their own potential as students, Nabulsis, and Palestinians.