My chapter in an International book!Hurrrray!!!

This post is relevant to an earlier one o this blog.

Today, while I was working on completing my tasks for week 9, I received an email telling me that the book "CALL in Limited Technology Context" is being printed!!I have a chapter in this book which entitled "Bleeding edge challenges in Sudan: Limits on using CALL in EFL classrooms at the tertiary level".Yeees!

This is the link for the screencast sent to me.Or you can click here to see the title of the book of the sidebar.

Unfortunately, I can not access CALICO.org in Sudan. It's a problem with Sudan IPA address. Anyway, I hope I will be reading a copy soon. It’s a book by authors from different parts of the world. The main focus of each chapter is helping teachers figure out what they can do despite all the barriers and problems they encounter when using technology in classrooms.It a book full of practical ideas and inspiring experiences. It a book which is recommended for all teachers who live in limited technology context and who are using/will use technology in their EFL classrooms.

It's today!

Today, I'm 28, again:-))))

What does the web think of you?

This simple graphic illustrates one way the internet can be used to get an insight into a person, by analysing publicly available information associated with a name.You can enter your own details into the Personas tool here. If you feel uncomfortable watching the process of this tool scouring the web for information about you, that’s the idea. It was designed to show you have a publicly available profile which you cannot control.
Here is what I got when tried this out: Type Hala Fawzi, tells you its charactiriaing Hala Fawzi and then tells your story with the web, in few letters. Wow! Education is the biggest piece of cake I am in!!

Talks John Lloyd inventories the invisible

Dad's Digital Identity: Soon!

Dave Comier writes:"There is a sense in which we are storing the memories of ourselves, of our friends, of the ways that we are all connected to each other. Of our love".So True!
Now, I am thinking seriously, a part from adding his photos to a bubbleshare album and making a movie using Windows Movie Maker, to write and document my relationship with my dad, whom, the minute I read this post, I was missing so much. Four years has passed(23-9-2005).
George Siemens, on his blog, highlights a post for Dave Cormier who "offers an insightful (and touching) post on how identity and memory are preserved online. He compares the passing of a colleague (last year) and his brother (20 years ago) and how they are remembered today. The identity people create online today is, in a sense, a gift to their children and future generations. I know my grandparents through a few black and white pictures. As Cormier notes, his children/grandchildren will know him through rich media. Memories preserved in full colour. Too often, when discussing identity, the focus rests on "don't post this online, you'll regret it in the future when you're [running for office, interviewing for a new job, etc.]". The flip side of this argument is aptly expressed in Dave's post.

He takes good care of me!

I am having a problem these days. My priorities are shifting dramatically.I don't need to open up to the ideas and energies flowing around my life. Life to me becomes much easier when I trust that Allah will take good care of me.I need to be in touch with that certain part of myself. I believe that will help me align with my higher purpose, and I will be able to keep on driving the vehicle...to continue the journey which, hopefully, will lead me, and the ones I hold tightly to, through a path of health, wealth and happiness. Inshallah:-)

How do we live these day?

I miss my old cell phone very much these days. It was stolen three months ago. It was my cell, my digital camera, my recorder, my notebook, alarm, mp3, etc. It it was here, I would have taken lots of photos for how my front door looks, my car, our neighborhood and how the streets look.Here is how Khartoum looks these days:
From africa news Posted on 03-Sep-2009:Floods spread misery in poor suburb of Sudan"s capital

A Forgotten Album:Sand Storm 2007

At 3:50 P.M GMT, the day turned into night in less than 5 minutes!!Luckily, all the members of my family were home.There was no electricity!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

That's my baby!!

Today, my 6 year baby, Rahma, has been announced on the top of her class! Weew! I remember now, with a big admiring smile on my face,when she told me how many times she "revised" the exam paper(Allah ya7fazaha, mashaa Allah!)The competition was tough. All are smart and brilliant babies. They learn in a fun way all year. They are taught English in an amazingly, successful,old fashioned and brilliant methodology. The school has a method of her own. I sometimes I wish I can teach my university students with the same method, but who listens? HE in Sudan? Exams, results and testing are above all. Learning? Comes on the tip of the cat's tail!!!

My 6 Year First Poem

You love you very much
You will come to the party
You will come and
Dance with us and sit with us
I love you
You love me
Rahma
PS She asked her elder sis, Haneen to correct the spelling mistakes on the mini board.

Is it Funny or What?

Today was my first day at work, after a very long vacation!
I was so excited about "re-shaping the way I teach" to the extent that I spent nearly a week to prepare the syllabus and add to it.I started the day with wings to fly!
I am not sure if the story or the incident I am going to write about EL teachers recruitment in our university is pitiful,horrible, disgraceful, disastrous, or just funny.
A part time teacher was in daily contact with me during the previous week to help him completing a file to submit for a full time job in our university. He is a very good teacher who worked for two semesters, with Masters in ELT and long 5 teaching experience in schools. The only problem he had was that his BA degree was "good", while they want "very good" and higher.( Very Good =3.5).Nothing is funny here too!
We set a time today to meet at the Dean's office.
The Dean called me two days ago, asking me to come and meet a new teacher, with no experience, who is supposed to be an English teacher after the next one-two semesters.
I knew that the first teacher, with experience and Masters, will not get the job.Fine.It's the Ministry of Higher Education policy. No problem.Still, nothing funny!
The Dean's teacher called even before I get dressed today.When I got there, I saw his, a face I didn't know where I have seen before.As I was late to the lecture, I asked him to attend with me,to have a first look at how things work in the English classroom.I always tend to make my first lecture as a diagnostic lecture for the level of students, especially freshen. I also tend to make it as an orientation to the syllabus, the class environment, class regulations, the university system, and even to myself a teacher. I gave students 20 minutes to write short paragraph entitled"About Myself". Nothing funny, I know.
The story began during these 20 minutes when I was having a chat with the new teacher, who told me he is an employee in our university. His BA is in law.His masters in translation and he has never taught English. His job? The Chief of Security since 19997.Funny?
I came home without wings!
I better start thinking about leaving.

Back to Life!

I remember how often I tell my brilliant student, Muhanned, to be more optimistic, as he always writes about the dark side of life in Sudan. Lately, I found myself turning to another Munhanned, but the only difference is that I have never dared to put what's inside my mind into a blog post!
The death of a dear friend and a neighbor on the Sudan airways flight lead to a slow down, really slow down in all my life streams.
Back with this photos.It tells a lot and does NOT tell a lot more!!!
This is what is written on it:
"The photo is a Pulitzer winning prize taken in 1994 during the Sudan famine.The vulture is waiting for the boy to die so as it can it him.The picture was a shock to the whole world.No none knows what happened to the child even the photographer, Kevin Carter, who left the place as soon the photo was taken.Three months later, he committed suicide due to depression.

How does your blog relate to your business?

I was tagged by Cristina Costa in a posed challenge to answer the question"“How does your blog relate to your business?”Here is my answer:
"I am blogging because I am a life-long learner. I am willing to share what I have learned. I need to learn with/from others. I love to read/watch others’ contribution to knowledge . I like to track how knowledge is distributed. Isn’t this what is all about? Sharing knowledge, experience, feelings, networking collaboratively with local and international communities. Although I hate writing, here I am, blogging about everything. I blog because I NEED to be inside the blogosphere which is created by bloggers, the real people with whom we live and interact. I guess it is also about communicating with people. Can I call it peo-blogging ( people-blogging)? I don’t have many blogs, five at Blogger and two at Wordpres! When I started to blog, which is the way how to learn the blogging process, I wasn’t aware of the dozens of the world-wide-windows that keep on opening with every blog post I add, or every post I read. I blog because blogging have changed my life and it will keep on giving me a better life, with other bloggers!!"

Training Career at Etisalat Academy

This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog
This was what took me "ages" away from here!
I discovered that, although I am used to e-multitasking, in real life(RL), it is very difficult to me to keep two jobs at the same time.Looking for perfection sometimes is what I characterize as one of my long list of weak qualities.Maybe I should put it aside.

Keeping Strong

"I like the Japanese saying: "Fall seven times.Stand up eight." Now I should say, I don't think of life in terms of winning and losing, victory and defeat. I do think, though, that life rewards the effort you put into it."
By Stephen Downes July 13, 2007

All Went Well+Surprises

It was really a blast!
Everything, thank Allah, went very well. No techie glitches at all, thanks to Nagy, the techie young man at the BC.
When I came back online, after two days off the virtual=real world, I had to take more than two hours reading emails of congrat's about the presentation and about my post below" Teaching Values, unconsciously!"
What's the story? Cris had let the cat out of the bag on an email to the webehads:
Yesterday Hala, Teresa and I met at ALADO.We had a great time while preparing
Hala's presentation.Hala was told us about one of her latest experiences with students. (Halainha,I am sorry if I am letting the cat out of the bag, but this has to be shared with the world -You are such a true inspiration!
Today on my way to work, I was thinking about our conversation again, and it
struck me that I would like to pursue some future research such a topic related
to the Humanware -about good practices, where technology is used as an inclusive
way to educate students to become not only experts in their are, but also to
become better citizens.I don't know if such a topic is possible, but you have just inspired me for it.I big Thank you from the heart!
My tribute to you is here
beijinhos
Cris
Thank you Cris!

E-Everything!

What is the impact of ICT on the teacher's development and creativity by Brahim Elkhalil Afaichil - Tuesday, 29 May 2007
"Teachers now have to face the challenge to use ICT appropriately. I'm afraid that technology will invade all domains and therefore we'll have e-friends , e-meetings, e-lessons, e-families, e-feelings and you may imagine how many Es you can add to the list. I wonder whether new technology is doing good or harm to human beings!

Web-based Learning

To learn through/with the web or integrating web tools in the learning process. This is what the title means.
Web-based learning is a window to the world, through which we, in Sudan could have a powerful telescope to expose us to the whole world.
How does all this relate to English language teaching/learning? It means the possibility t access hundreds of ELT web sites, all skills n English are addressed, authentic languages and materials are there, contacts with teachers from around the world, exchanging information between students around the world to know other cultures, to gain a more comprehensive and complete knowledge and to have a look at other lesson plans and classroom experiences, sometimes for the same lesson!
General Recommendations:
1.Urgent need for ELT educators and teachers to adapt the new ICT.
2.Absolute necessity to 'rethink' the whole educational system in order to adapt it to the demands of the changes.
3.Teacher training to use the tools is a must.

Thoughts:British Council Forum

Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Today,it was the monthly English Forum at the British Council Sudan.The purpose of this post is; my discovery, for my surprise, is that; when I hear myself talking/expressing/discussing/suggesting ,guess what? I am amazed!!!Am obsessed by all these ideas???
I suggested, one day, to Jenny our ELU, that we could meet twice a month, do a presentation about using ICT in ELT,or maybe for TPD,a workshop maybe as a hands-on practice for integrating web tools into our classrooms.How about smashing the nutshell:towards becoming a web.2.o English language teachers".It came up into my mind when I was asked about future suggestions is to create a yahoo group for teachers in the whole of the Sudan:"crossing state:ELTSudan.After I defended my idea,I just fell in love with it!Anyway, I was nominated to join ,after December voting,the steering committee in the Forum.I also put a date to my presentation/workshop/session in March,in shaa Allah!

Falling in Love

Moved from my "Forward" blog 4/14/07
When did I fall in love with computers and the use of technology to learn/teach English?
Well, when I started teaching ESP in 2001, it was at Computer Sciences Program. This was before Tagana becomes a university. It was a great challenge to me to read, study, collect, organize, and revise all the grammar I studied. I used to read up-to-date news and articles to be able to pick up the vocabulary I needed. It was a hard time .With a computer at home and two little cute organized kids, I fall in love with computers and got interested in it. I found the information useful.
Now, after spending two years at Medicine and Dentistry (another story of being a physician!), I was transferred again to Computer Science College. At first, I thought it was the end of my PhD path, which has not started yet. However, before I completed the first semester, I knew it was Allah's gift to me.
Now, after taking advantages of this opportunity, I ask for help whenever I need something. Help is always at my fingertips. Also, the staff helps me to learn about their students' needs. One of my colleagues made a remark about wishing that his/her students could make better presentations in the course, so I decided to include that in the future. Doing a session on how to present and then evaluate their presentations or give them feedback is not found in any course here at al Tagana.. In order to prepare for this kind of work, I will keep on asking, investigating, sharing offering what I have for the best of my students. Maybe I will find more Ajjr in heaven, but I do not expect anything on earth!! :-)))))