Five Keys to Life

1. Attitude
2. Passion
3. Having good habits
4. Hard work
5. Balance

Mr. Muñoz Teacher Appreciation

I was happy to see this in my inbox recently. My mentor teacher, Gerardo Muñoz, has been featured for DPS' Teacher Appreciation 2014. He taught me almost everything I know about teaching, and is one of the smartest and most considerate people I know. His teaching style emphasizes student talk in the classroom, which is not only one of the best (and research-based) ways for people to learn, but it also empowers students with the realization that they are smart and capable of learning new information, processing and synthesizing it, and then engaging in intelligent discussion. He shows students that the world is a very big, wild, diverse, interesting, and inspiring place, and that they're an important part of it.

Lessons For Teachers To Remember Every Day

The amount of things teachers have to do, think about, remember, are held accountable for, are expected to do, etc. can be overwhelming. That's probably why the average lifespan of a teacher is about three years. Only the strong survive. 

Speaking of surviving the profession of teaching, there are some crucial things that I've learned over the past three years to help ensure that I do survive this profession. I know this list may get longer as I continue my career, but for now, here is the list I've been thinking about lately. Some of these things don't directly relate to your practice as an instructor, but more so your professionalism and daily behavior as a teacher. I've made a couple minor mistakes (nothing job-threatening) and I've seen lots of mistakes made by fellow teachers and administrators. So, along with the seemingly countless things we have to think about and remember to teach well, here are some key points to bear in mind as a teacher (well, actually, almost any job):

1. Never be aggressive towards anyone at school

2. Never do anything that could be construed as inappropriate or flirty towards a member of the opposite gender

3. Never engage with administration (principals and assistant principals) beyond small talk

4. Never lose your temper at school

5. Never swear at school

6. Don't let your ego get in the way

7. Don't try to prove to anyone that you are right if doing so will escalate a conflict

8. Never touch a student beyond a handshake, high five, or a simple pat on the shoulder or back

9. Avoid getting too many people involved when solving a minor problem (never get administration involved for something minor)

Same list in positive/proactive language:

1. Always interact with others in a calm and professional manner

2. Always keep your words and actions appropriate and professional, especially around members of the opposite gender

3. Only speak to administration if they speak to you first

4. Always stay calm, cool, and collected

5. Use only appropriate, professional, and academic language at school

6. Keep your ego in check

7. Avoid confrontations; if one occurs, focus only on solving it and not on saving face

8. A handshake, high five, or simple pat on the shoulder or back are the only appropriate physical contacts between students and teachers

9. When a minor problem arises, try solving it yourself first before getting others involved (but don't get administration involved)

Brilliant Quotes From Teenagers About Acceptance

In the week and a half leading up to our much-needed spring break, I came up with an assignment for my freshmen Honors Geography students. It was called Suppression or Liberation: Islam, Hijab, and Modern Society, and my aim was to have them explore the religion of Islam, the hijab (and niqab, burqa, and other garments) and the reasons Muslim women wear them, and finally their own opinion on the issue. There exist two chief viewpoints on the modest dress of Muslim women:

1. Forcing women to wear such confining clothing is oppressive and solidifies their place beneath men in society.
2. Such clothing is actually liberating because women are now only judged based on their character, personality, intelligence, and competence, not their looks, as so many women in the West are judged.

I was excited about this assignment for a few reasons:

– First of all, one of my core beliefs is that education is the cure for all that ails the world (the first step, at least). I knew at the beginning of this assignment my students would have many preconceived notions about Muslims, with most of them being negative. I was confident that by doing extensive research on the religion itself, many of those negative stereotypes would be disproven. Hopefully now that the assignment is done and their papers are written, many of them realize that most Muslims are not terrorists.
– Secondly, based on my three years in education thus far, teenagers are pretty interested in human rights and social justice. I knew this topic would be very interesting for them as a way to learn about a culture that is very different from their own.
– Finally, tying back to the first reason, education is what changes and corrects misconceptions. My students are now informed about a controversial religion and region of the world. My hope is that they are now more accepting and tolerant, at least to some degree. Also, they were able to explore the two main opinions on the topic of the hijab, formulate their own opinions, and simultaneously reflect on our own culture and our views on women's dress and modesty. It was fun for me to teach because, as some of you might know, I'm not particularly fond of religion, but I enjoyed the challenge of staying very neutral. I also played some great Arabic music and showed some images of Islamic art and architecture, which is all really remarkable.

I'm writing this post because as I was reading their papers, I was pleased to see so many great comments by these ninth graders. I'm including some of the quotes that stood out to me as very insightful, respectful, accepting, or just intelligent. Note: I fixed any spelling, grammatical, or punctuation mistakes for the purposes of professionalism, but changed none of the words they used.

Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram.

– "Some of the people that I look up to always tell me that to be you is to be everything."
– "The Muslim religion has many stereotypes, and it's important for people to first of all be educated enough to understand that they are all different too. We all have stereotypes made about what we choose to do in our daily lives or simply things that we can't change, such as our cultural history and our race. An open mind never hurt anyone."
– "People need to stop being so close-minded. You should not go around judging people because they don't look like the average American because in all honesty that's something only uneducated people would do."
– "Think about the Muslim woman. She doesn't seek anyone's approval but god's and that's why she wears her hijab without caring what people think of her. She has so much faith in her religion she wears her hijab proudly with her head up. Can a girl in a bikini do that? Can she say she's wearing it as a symbol of her faith? Is that even a symbol of anything?"
– "I am confused about how the West fears the Arab World. Christians in general have done many more worse things to the Arab World in the form of the Crusades, and the various interventions that the West has done. It's way worse that any terrorist attack."
– "In the West people tend to dress based on what the social order says is normal, so it's not that different from the Arab World."
– "If the hijab is truly going to be freeing, it must be a choice – a decision made by the woman, not her husband or her country."
– "It's good that we know more about other cultures because it gives us a chance to see their struggles and their beliefs. It just gives me a chance to think how important it actually is, and how it can affect us."
– "Does a scarf around your head really change them [Muslims] to something dangerous?"
– "I don't want to be judged by the way I look, but by my character, and I believe that Muslim people want this too."
– "Sometimes, it takes some research and dedication in order to find out more over someone's real intentions rather than believing a wrong statement for a long time."
– "Without knowledge of all that has happened, one may assume all the wrong facts about a certain culture."
– "Wearing [a] hijab doesn't make a person less intelligent, affectionate, critical, and it certainly doesn't make anyone look less beautiful. Wearing a hijab simply allows one to see inner beauty rather than what's outside."
– "[A person's] color, hair, [or] face doesn't determine how someone is, and clothing shouldn't be the difference."

Working Smarter and Harder

"Work smarter, not harder" is a somewhat common phrase these days. I couldn't agree with it more. But, do we not agree that working hard is something we must do from time to time (or even most of the time)? I think hard work is unavoidable (assuming you care about what you're doing, that is), but just working hard doesn't necessarily mean you're working in the most efficient or effective manner. That's of course where the "work smarter" bit comes in. Now, the question is: If you are only working smarter, are the results actually better than when you were working harder? Are you getting better at what you do? Are you surpassing your competition (your peers, your former self, or with whomever you choose to compete)?

This is why I believe we should work smarter and work harder. 

I'm not the bragging type, but lately I've had some notable successes at work, and I attribute that success to harder work and smarter work. I'll briefly explain each of these successes and why I believe working both harder and smarter made the difference.

1. High observation scores

Teachers are observed and evaluated quite often during a school year by principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, fellow teachers, and people called "peer observers" (in my district, at least). My understanding is that each school district has its own evaluation and scoring system that all teachers are expected to learn and implement into their daily practice. The goals of these observations are to inform the observer how the teacher is doing, but also to help the observed teacher become better and grow through constructive feedback, tips, and debriefing conversations. Well, this school year I've been observed several times, and each time I've earned higher scores than the previous observation. In fact, my scores are unusually high for a fairly new teacher (this is my second year). Of course, the scores are partially subjective based on who is observing you and how he/she decides to score you using the rubrics. However, teachers (who pay attention) know the rubric and thus can prepare for these observations.

I had to work hard to learn these indicators, as they're called, and figure out and decide how to implement them into my daily teaching. I had to work smart to make them become habit. I realized that if I just make all the techniques and strategies my habits, then I'd almost always be prepared for a good observation. Luckily the techniques and strategies are ones that actually help students learn, so I didn't mind incorporating them into my teaching.

2. An innovative teaching technique

During the course of this school year I've grown a lot and (I think) gotten much better at what I do. I believe I have a talent for being very clear and concise, and my students have told me that my explanations, notes, assignments, presentations, etc. are very clear and easy to follow. This skill is something I'm always trying to fine-tune. Additionally, I've recently referred back to some research I was exposed to in graduate school about how human beings learn. It's been on my mind for some time, and recently I finally decided to incorporate that research-based strategy into my classes. I mentioned on Facebook once before that I'm using a breakthrough teaching strategy but I couldn't tell the "general public" about it yet, and I'm going to stick to that for now. I will say though that my students find it to be more engaging and effective than more-common techniques, and, just this week, I got some good data to prove its effectiveness: My Economics classes took a test on the material they've been learning using solely my new technique, and the average class scores ranged from 82.5% to 90%. Several students scored 100%, and I was pleasantly surprised that many students who typically have low- to mid-range scores scored higher on this test. I will admit that I didn't invent the technique (and maybe it's not truly a "breakthrough") but I adapted it to work for high school (since it was almost exclusively used in colleges and universities, according to my findings). Moreover, I adapted it to be effective for students who are only partially fluent in English as well as advanced students. 

I had to work hard to adapt this technique to high school and study the research to understand and teach my students why it was so good. I had to work smart to make it really click for my classes and also add elements to it so it was as effective as possible. In addition, using this technique is an example of working smarter because it actually requires me to do less and the students to do more.

3. I've been asked to train other teachers on my innovative technique

Word about this technique has been spreading around my school, and I was just asked to lead a training on it for my colleagues. Teachers are intrigued by it, and students have been saying things like, "We should do this in math! I think it would help," and "I think it's cool that you're trying new things with us. Most teachers just do the same old things." I have a feeling that many of the veteran teachers will go into that training with a very skeptical eye, and I know many of them will never try the technique, but that's alright with me. To me it's hard work and smart work getting noticed, and hopefully it will keep helping students learn at higher levels.

4. My students telling me I'm a good teacher

Perhaps most meaningful of all these successes is the fact that my students have been telling me lately that I'm a good teacher. Now, I'm not perfect and I will always have plenty of room for improvement, but their feedback is encouraging. I know very well their thoughts about what makes a good teacher and what makes a bad teacher, and it's reassuring that they're compelled enough to tell me directly that they think I'm good. They tell me about teachers that have been teaching for five to twenty years that they think are bad, and they have very clear reasons why they think that. For instance, they don't see teachers who just hand out worksheets as good teachers. Or teachers who just lecture the whole class period. Or teachers who do the opposite and try to make every learning activity group work. My students are not experts on teaching, but they do know how they learn and when something a teacher does works or doesn't work, so I consider their perspectives quite valuable.

I work hard to do my best for my students because that's what I'd want a teacher to do for me. I also work hard to be better than I was the day before, and also I work harder than other teachers. In the past I never focused on being better than others (such as when I was a music student), but with my job, I do. I use it as a kind of motivation. I work smart by using only the most efficient and effective teaching techniques that I have discovered (and there are more yet to be found). Most of all, though, I work hard and smart because I believe that education is the only thing that can begin to cure what ails the world.

Here's a great video of Will Smith's thoughts on hard work and success:

Arabic Music Selections

Something that has always defined me is being into things that my friends and family aren't really into. For instance, many of you know I have a strong preference for Puma shoes. To me, they are the most comfortable and I like the way they look the best, so that's what I typically go with. Well, when it comes to movies, TV shows, books, and music, I once again tend to like things that few people I know also like. I'm always open to recommendations, and I do like many things people close to me like, but there are certain things that just speak to me, or inspire me, or that I find incredible that other people just don't see the same way. One such thing is Arabic music. 

I love almost all music, but there's something about music from the Middle East and North Africa that just captivates me: the exotic melodies, the beats of the traditional percussion instruments, the ornamentation in the vocals, the overall expressiveness and uniqueness is just ethereal and transcendent to me. The music really encapsulates the entire culture of the Arab World (at least based on what I know of it). Once I sort of "discovered" it I became obsessed with it, and this obsession hasn't decreased one bit since. 

The Arab World

The history of the Arab World is actually quite fascinating, and I'd guess many people don't know that our Western World would not be what it is today without the cultural diffusion that happened between Europe and the Arab World. From antiquity to the Crusades and thereafter, cultural exchanges have been vastly important for both regions. From Arabic cultures, Europe gained insights into mathematics, astronomy, medicine, various technologies, music, knowledge of spices, and many other fields. I know from my music background that Middle-Eastern musical styles and instruments greatly influenced Western Art music. From the ornamentation eventually seen as beautiful in vocal music (especially opera arias); to predecessors of the oboe, guitar, and string instruments (like the violin); to Western music theory and musical preferences (such as the distinction between harmonic and melodic minor scales — harmonic minor sounded too "exotic" (Middle Eastern) to some, thus the melodic minor contains a raised 6th to avoid the augmented 2nd that gives it that sound). Additionally, even amid nearly constant religious and ethnic unrest that has existed in the region for centuries (and of course persists today), it's even more impressive to consider the remarkable art, architecture, agricultural, and scientific advances this area of the world has produced. 

In this post I'd like to just share a few selections of Arabic music that I particularly enjoy, simply to make others aware of it. I doubt many of you will begin listening to it like I do, but I believe that along with food, music is one of the best ways for a person to appreciate another culture. 

To Jerusalem - Kingdom of Heaven Soundtrack

I remember seeing this movie while I was in high school and being completely entranced by the soundtrack, which of course is heavily based on traditional Middle-Eastern music. This track is the quintessential example of this style. 

Ah W Noss - Nancy Ajram

Nancy Ajram is one of the biggest Arabic pop singers in the world. She's from Lebanon, has two daughters, is a UNICEF representative, and is a huge proponent of education for girls in the Middle East.

Baddallaa Aleyk - Nancy Ajram

My favorite song by her. 

Laili - Dania Khatib

Another great singer from Lebanon.

Azini - The Idan Raichel Project

Here's a song that's actually from Israel, which is part of the Arab World only geographically.  

Oud Improvisation - Naseer Shamma

An example of traditional Arabic improvisation on an oud (form of lute played in Arab countries).

Going Off - Spartacus: Blood and Sand Soundtrack

Just for fun, here's a track from the Spartacus soundtrack (composed by Joseph LoDuca). It's heard during a wild party scene in one of the episodes from Season 1. It actually is a great example of traditionally inspired Arabic music, complete with ouds and other strings, double reeds, and the iconic percussion instruments.