CATALYSTS "THE CHANGE LEADERS"

CATALYSTS
Editors:
Shada Al Ghamdi
Jawaher Al Mulhim
Adel Al Omari
Design:
Adel Al Omari
Walaa Nadhrah

Optime odores eam rea jam aliquo rum unquam passim vulgus. Quin hac dico quo sit meis.

FOREWARD
It was a cool November day when we initially met our keen group of Saudi educators in
the class two cohort of the Building Leadership for Change (BLC) at OISE.
We came to learn that this was an exceptional group of high school computer, math, and
science educators. We were immediately impressed with their friendliness and eagerness
to learn; the warmth of their smiles had most certainly brought the Saudi Arabian sun to
Toronto.
As you peruse this book of student writing, you will be immediately struck by the richness
and purpose that the Saudi teachers have brought to their studies at OISE. Their
reflections on personal issues, on classroom practice, on teaching strategies, on research,
on Canadian cultural field trips - all is inspiring. There is clearly a connection between
teaching, learning, and student achievement. The Saudi Arabian educational goals of
Vision 2030 is foremost in their hearts and minds and this book is a testament to that
mandate.
We invite you to delve into these pages to discover a plethora of authentic and
transformational learning. Most impressively, please know that this book is a gift of
service to fellow educators in the KSA: our group of Saudi teachers collectively created it
of their own volition, above and beyond the requirements of their prescribed course of
study. As such, it ably demonstrates a generosity of spirit and a commitment to improving
education for teachers and for students across the Kingdom.
It has been an honour to teach and learn with this dedicated group over these past several
months. With certainty, we are assured that the future of education in Saudi Arabia is in
fine hands.
Best wishes always,
Denise Gordon and Jo Nieuwkerk

SECTION 1
“I am not a teacher, but an awakener”
Robert Frost

08
SETTLING
09
THE
10
BACK
11
BE
12
THE
13
A
14
BUILDING
IN
SUZAN KATOA
LEADER IN ME
MARIAM AL GADEEB
TO COACHING
ARWA RADHWI
A STUDENT SOMETIMES
WALAA NADHRAH
BEST TEACHER
SHADA AL GHAMDI
BELATED NOTE
NORAH AL MUNYIF
SKILLS
AAMAL AL DHAMIN
16
THE
17
THE
18
DREAM
19
ART
20
PRIORITIES
21
UNFORGETTABLE
22
VALUABLE
TIME CAPSULE
JAWAHER AL MULHIM
WORLD MAP
REEM AL HARBI
BIG
AHAD NYAZ
IS EVERYWHERE
SUAD AL BARAKAH
SHIFT
ALI AL SHAHRANI
EXPERIENCE
MOHAMMED AL TURKISTANI
SKILLS
TAHANI AL OTAIBI
15
ADD
THIS SECTION
ADEL AL OMARI
23
THE
24
THE
THIRD TEACHER
SAEED AL DAWSARI
JIGSAW
WAFAA BA AQEEL

SETTLING IN
SUZAN KATOA
To avoid all of this distraction and confusion I
started organizing my thoughts, first thing is
first. We need a place to stay the minute we
arrive to Toronto, so I booked a furnished
apartment for a week stay, not knowing that I
had to extend ten days more. The next step was
to find a permanent stay within a reasonable
budget. The websites helped very much in giving
an idea about prices and locations, of course
booking a view and meeting with the agents was
a whole new process and time consuming.
Finally, a perfect choice! Now a new stage is to
appear, paperwork, signatures, contracts,
insurance, and applying for hydro bills etc. Well,
all went well and I moved in. Now, a whole new
process is arising which is furnishing!
When I first applied for the BLC Program
I had no Idea what was coming to me. All I had
in mind was the educational experience and the
opportunity to see and live in a new country. But
the real experience started when my fellow
colleagues started posting about the importance
of finding accommodation before even leaving
our home town. I panicked and started to worry
just thinking about it. Adding to that the many
questions that aroused continuously, such as,
where should I rent and how? Should I rent a
furnished or unfurnished apartment? How much
is a considerably range of rent to pay? And many
and many other questions that sneaked into my
mind every minute of the day keeping me alert
and awake even in my sleep.
I realized now that our lives are simply
situations that need the skills of problem solving
and organizing thoughts to resolve. I went
through a lot of thinking and worrying before I
really sat down with myself and started to
simplify the problem and cutting it to small
chunks that could be managed step by step. Our
students must learn how to solve problems in a
logical way. They must implement their thinking
skills to their daily life obstacles. Teaching
chemistry gives me that opportunity, because
science is simply problem solving. And my role is
to teach them how much that skill is needed for
our daily life not just in a chemistry or physics
lab. We want students that can manage their lives
affectively and in an optimistic way. I could have
refused to continue my journey when all the
stress came, but instead logic thinking helped me
conquer it all.

THE LEADER IN ME
MARIAM AL GADEEB
It was the third week since we began studying in
OISE when Jo and DENIES talking about learning
skills and work habits and what could change in
student and his life. All students learning skills and
work habits are assessed
separately from course curriculum expectations. the
learning skills and work habits that teacher assess
are: reasonability, organization, independent work,
collaboration, initiative and self-regulation.
The learning skills and work habits remind me of "
THE LEADER IN ME " one of the books that my
daughters are taught in their private school. When I
read this book, I found some skills in it which build
the character of the student and make the student
ready for life. They were the same skills that we
learned about “the learning skills and work habits”.
Studying the learning skills and work habits made
me think about how I can use it and give it to my
student when I come back to my school. because I
think it is very important for their life. " There is no
end to education it is not that you read a book, pass
an examination and finish with education. The
whole life from the moment you are born to the
moment you die is a process of learning “

BACK TO COACHING
ARWA RADHWI
“It’s the sort of majestic educational film that every adult will want their child to see " – variety.
This IMAX film sparkled me very much. The main idea of this film is about engineering. But there
was a part of the film that excited me so much. The legacy of STINKY robot. It was a remarkable
story of four young clever students from Carl Hayden High School. They were inspired by their
creative teacher who gave them useful keys and instructions. They participated in an American robot
competition. MIT and Harvard university participated too. They had a big challenge to build a robot
that complete tasks under the water. They used simple pipes and foul-smell glue to build the robot.
Before the competition day they had a simple problem and they worked together and hired their skills
to produce a great teamwork. They won the competition. And it was a great achievement for them.
This story reminded me when I was a robot coach in 2010. I was in a big challenge with my students. I
saw their passion in their eyes. Then I made a perfect team ready for the big challenge. I remember we
faced a lot of problems in programming and completing the tasks. My students worked very hard and
they deserve the prizes they won. But with some negative messages I stopped coaching and just judged
the completion
The Falcon robot team woke me up and proved to me that I was in the right track. Engineering,
mathematics and physics are extremely related to robot programming. The first thing I would do
when I come back to Saudi Arabia is to start coaching again.

BE A STUDENT SOMETIME
WALAA NADHRAH
I was confused about many ideas like Bulldog, TTC Map and Identity then I have opted for the
Binder. The idea of choosing the Binder started with advice from my colleagues and they mean a lot to
me and this choice was praised by my teachers: Denise & Jo as well. From the first day of the study, we
received an empty file with dividers and we started the course by feeding this file with more papers and
new information every day. I was overwhelmed by the information and strategies then my thoughts were
scattered from the reality of the experiences that I had with my students. The decision was that, I should
arrange the file in a way that would make it a reference and a guide to remember and memorize all that
I learned.
I arranged the binder using colours & symbols. The green paper was for the weekly goals and daily
agenda. The blue paper was to explain the strategies. The pink paper was for the class rules and norms.
The yellow paper was for my educational notes, my personal experience and my opinion on every piece
of paper. The last colour was the white paper and I keep it for every educational quotes and comments.
In the period of preparing and rearranging the file, I remembered my students. At that time, I did not
have a logical answer when they asked me: what is the purpose of the Binder? From my point of view,
when I applied binder with my students I was thinking it is useless. Now I am a student and I learned
that 'developing learning skills contributes to the advancement of my job and makes me progress
confidently. In the same way, this file has contributed to develop some of my learning skills such as selfregulation,
Organization and independent work.
Now I realize that, when I try myself, I can teach my students better and the binder will be an evidence
of this and will be a good example to transfer knowledge and goals to my colleagues and my students as
well. Finally, remember that the capacity to learn is a gift, the ability to learn is a skill and the
willingness to learn is a choice.

THE BEST TEACHER
SHADA AL GHAMDI
It was Saturday afternoon I met my friends to make something new. We thought about
skating. I was excited and extremely motivated while my friend was worried about that
slightly. “Why not?”I said. Then, we were going to rent skate boots for us. I kept looking at
my skate boots and thinking about how will I look? Honestly, I fell over and over and
laughed a lot. In the beginning, I used a moving board to help me steady. Sometimes I used
the edges of the skating rink to stand up after I fall and other times I ask help from my
friend. We played until the sunset and then I was able to take a full round without any
help.
What I found especially meaningful for me it was tenaciousness. I think it is the most
important value I try to learn it to my students. Always at the beginning of physics classes
in grade 10 my students faced some difficulties in forces graphically, which made them
somewhat frustrating. I often try to reassure students that feeling confused is normal but
we have to work hard and practice as long as we can. After one month, my students
surprised at their progress. They could sketch graphs, read it, analyze and understand it.
An idea that sparked for me was: “experience is the best teacher”. That guided me to
believe that you could not to be expert without attempts and failure. Actually, that is what I
will tell my students about, they should to try more and more to reach to the knowledge.
Sometimes we cannot sense the feeling of others without putting ourselves in the same
situation. My skating experience went beyond the limits of pleasure to teach me a lesson I
will always retell my children and students about it.

A BELATED NOTE
NORA AL MUNYIF
It is Friday morning and I just got a belated note from my teachers Jo and Denise. A
few weeks ago, Denise asked my classmates and me to write up our names and dates of our
birthdays on a paper which is classified to months. When I recorded my name and the date of
my birthday, I hoped my birthday was next month. The reason of this I wanted to see what is
behind it. However, I surprised when Denise was distributing some belated birthday cards for
those whose birthday had passed.
That took my memory to my son's sound when he said I hope my birthday will come soon
before the school will close. His birthday in September that time will be summer vacation. This
is because of his school announces the name of students who is birthday on the same day by
microphone and everybody at school listens to it. Then, the student receives birthday card
from the main office. So, students are joyful and excited.
Something pushed my own thinking was the relation between students and their teachers.
When students recognize that their teachers care about them and the specific details of their
life. It will be reflected in the students' emotion. They will respect their teachers and staff.
Also, students feel the school has a more welcoming atmosphere. Moreover, students will
integrate better with school. As most of teachers care about students however, the important
point is to illustrate the caring to students in a way that they can understand.

BUILDING SKILLS
AAMAL AL DHAMIN
Learning skills and work Habits are
important in student's life. In daily life, we
like to work with people with good skills and
habits. the education should focus on the
skills as curriculum and how much improve
on it and which skills he need to work on.
Studying learning skills made me think of
my student, we teach them all the year only
curriculum and take care of it, home works
projects and how much they got marks.
Merging the subject with learning skills to
improve them in these both. This reminded
me of two of my students the first she didn’t
enjoy doing projects because the group that
she works with refuse to cooperate at the
end she did it alone, the second girl nobody
love to work with her because she never
listen to her peers.
with skills in class will make learning
process easily and give high quality learning
environment. My plan now to merge
learning skills with all projects and lessons
by giving them a paper to assess and
evaluate themselves to see the skills that
needs to be improved. some kids don’t like
to study in universities but he need a job.
Having good life skills would give better
opportunities in the job markets.
Teaching skills to student should start in
kindergarten, because kids will learn it
faster. The teachers should monitor and
assess the development. having students

ADD THIS SECTION
ADEL AL OMARI
Now as a teacher I cannot see how our
practice differ from the doctor’s. We assess
the learner's needs and progress, we try to
find the right way to educate him and we
observe how he respond to it.
During our visit to GreenHolme Junior
School I had the opportunity to see a sample
of a lesson plan used by a colleague in that
school. It was a lesson plan for Kindergarten
Guided Reading.
The typical lesson plan we use contain a
Preparation, Instructions’ procedures and
Assessment which is similar to what I have
seen in this sample. But what I really liked
about this one “and I think we miss in our
version” is the “Documentation of Learning/
Needs” section.
During my training in Riyadh Military
Hospital I saw how the reports were written
in the medical field. In treating any medical
case the doctor documents the patient's
complaints and his evaluation to the
patient’s case and how the patient responds
to the medicine administered to him. Also,
these reports with the doctor’s assessment
and opinion is archived to refer back to it
when needed by another doctor, also it could
be used in statistics.
Documenting the teacher observations on
how his/her students interacted with each
lesson not only would assess the students
learning but also would assess the teacher
methods.
In dealing with a class where the students
lack the fundamentals in reading and math,
the teacher may try different approaches to
help fixing the problem, and documenting
the students learning could help him notice
the small progress his students made from
lesson and encourage him to carry on in his
“treatment plan” instead of quitting along
the way and get back to chasing the
curriculum.
Another important benefit for Documenting
the learning/needs is that it could be used by
the teachers from the later levels so they can
build on it and continue from where he
stopped instead of starting from the scratch.
To sum up, adding a section for the teachers’
comments in the lesson plan paper will help
in a more organized long term “treatment
plan”. Also sharing it with other teachers
will help in continuing the beneficial
teaching approaches or avoid the approaches
that did not work.

THE TIME CAPSULE
JAWAHER AL MULHIM
It was the second week in the pedagogy period of
BLC program at OISE and they arranged a very
helpful visit to the City Hall of Toronto as one of the
visits included in the program. In the Hall of
Memory, the Time Capsule is A cylinder (capped
with metal plate). The main idea of the Time
Capsule is to put an important item in 2000 and
reopen in 2050 after half century. Some of the
capsule’s contents include coins, manual hand books
and else. An idea sparkled in my head, it was to take
benefit of the idea of time capsule.
The brilliant idea of the Time Capsule reminded me
of the graduation party in my school “the 8 th high
school”. At the time of the students graduating, we
have to arrange a work meeting and collect ideas to
participate in the graduation party and that was
taking along time of thinking. After that We have to
collect different ideas then the coordinator decides
which ideas are the best. At the end, the graduation
party finished and we have to start over in the next
year.
A question raised in my mind, “can I use the idea of
the Time capsule in the graduation party”.This is
how I am going to apply the idea. First, we have to
ask the junior students to write their hopes, goals
and feels on a paper without telling them “why they
have to do that”. Second, we put their papers in the
time capsule. finally, at the graduation party we
surprise them by opening the time capsule.
I think that they will be happy and pleased. That is
how I inspired by the time capsule idea.

THE WORLD MAP
REEM AL HARBI
This article was about our last trip to Samuel Hearne Middle School; this school has special
case because it merges students from different kind of countries and religions. I especially
enjoyed how they can live together without any walls, an idea that sparkled for me was how
the school can make that environment! I noticed that They use different ways to do that, the
most important thing they opened LEAP class to help students who cannot speak or
understand English. On the other hand, they write instructions with different languages to
make sure everyone inside school has full understanding of the rules although they use special
expressions hanged everywhere to teach them “Humanity Brothers”, and the most thing I
liked was the world map inside each class and each student connect his name with his country
which make them proud of themselves.
This remind me of some of our schools in Makkah which contains students from different
kinds of cultures and countries and how much our government work to give them best
learning by building special schools for them and training many teachers to make them able to
deal with them. A few years ago, they decided to merge them with Saudi students in the same
schools to make them feel as a part of society.
Visiting this school made me think of using similar ideas in our schools. for example, the world
map and special expressions around the school “which make the environment inside school
much better”. Also applying a program similar to LEAP would help the students to learn
faster.

DREAM BIG
AHAD NYAZ
The most significant part in visiting the Ontario Science Centre was watching the inspiring
movie Dream Big. An engineer was teaching students how to build earthquake-resistant
buildings, wind-resistant building and building bridges using simple material. The most
amazing part was applying the solving problems methodology and projects, by involving
students in a certain problem, she played a video of a truck crossing a bridge and the bridge
collapsed, then she asked the students to help her choosing the right shape to build the bridge
and the results students gradually progressed.
That reminded me when my first-grade daughter returned back to me once after school in Great
Britain and told me “I know how to make doubles!! And also, halves!!” I was shocked, how
could you? Actually, I tested her by asking her few questions and she was absolutely right, they
learned how to double the number by projects, they made a ladybird and a butterfly and started
putting dots in the first wing and put the same number of dots in the other wing and that was
how they learned doubling! They used the same idea to learn to divide by dividing the fishes into
two aquariums!!
I now emphasize the importance of using projects in delivering lessons to students, using solving
problems methodology with opening the space to students to enquiry.
The students worth the honour of meaningful learning.

ART IS EVERYWHERE
SUAD AL BARAKAH
When I Was A Stranger Sculpture
Some of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Works
“WHEN I WAS A STRANGER”
sculpture in Bloor Street is a unique piece
of art created by Tim Schmalz, and One of
the beautiful visual arts that I have seen. I
walk beside this statue every day, and I
have taken a lot of pictures for it.
I think all kind of arts especially visual art
can help students to learn and grow. Art
allows students to express themselves, it can
develop Creativity and strengthen problem
solving and critical thinking skills and It
can reflect their identity in positive way
and “decades of researches and experiences
have shown that” (PCAH, reinvesting in
arts education”. In Canada, they realized
that and began to give arts the position it
deserves. STEM became STEAM and Art
Gallery Ontario provides training for the
teachers in using arts in teaching.
Unfortunately, in our schools, art is being
taught in separate of other subjects, and
many thinks that it is not important while
in fact arts intersect with many subjects.
For example; science and art have many in
common. Intelligence, curiosity and
exactness are important aspects of both of
them. This intersection between science and
art could be seen in Leonardo da Vinci’s
works.
I believe that implementing arts in the
various subjects especially in elementary
schools will help our students in gaining the
21st century skills.
References:
PCAH, reinvesting in arts education
Rahman Shukr, University of Pennsylvania

PRIORITIES SHIFT
ALI AL SHAHRANI
In this article, I am going to discuss the
differentiated instructions and the challenges
teachers may confront in the classroom when
they try to apply it.
At first, let me explain the difference between
Curriculum-Centred and Learner-Centred
classrooms. In Curriculum-centred classroom
teachers teach the curriculum in the same
way to all students despite their learning
styles, interests and prior knowledge.
Learner-Centred classroom at the other hand
is quite the opposite, teachers concentrate on
the students’ background knowledge and
build on it by engaging the students in
activities that are interesting to them based
on their learning styles. Also, it means that
different types of strategies should be used to
give the students many chances to learn. That
requires the teacher to know more about his
students’ identities (e.g. cultures, minds,
interests) in order to support their learning
and achieve the curriculum goals.
I attended a math class in one of my schools’
visits two weeks ago, and I noticed how the
math teacher follows their students minds
and their interests.
He was teaching them by using what they like
(e.g. YouTube, posters, online assignments)
and they were excited about it. I saw what
does it mean to put the students in the centre.
In fact, back home, we have some challenges
when we want to place the students in the
centre such as the number of students in the
class and the big differences between the
students’ levels. But when we allow them to
learn by the way they like of course they will
help us to help them. Another challenge is
that some of the administrations put pressure
on the teachers to finish the curriculum
according to a fixed plan and to “stick to the
schedule” whether the students learned or
not.
My hope is for the Saudi education system to
give the teachers more freedom to use many
resources and design their own curriculum
plan that is suitable for their students. It may
take some time, but hopefully gradually we
reach that level where the students learning is
the ultimate goal.

UNFORGITABLE EXPERIENCE
MOHAMMED AL TURKISTANI
Ontario Science Centre
Science Centre in Toronto is a global
leader in lifelong learning. In science centre,
I saw many of the practical experiences
described and a number of students who
were there as visitors which surprised me
because of the huge number of them and I
like the place’s size. An idea that captured
my interest was the 3D screen and the ''Big
Dream'' film. Also the various ways to
engage students in science. Indeed, I will
bring my children to enjoy the fun of
science.
King Abdullah City for Renewable Energy
explore and discover through the
experiment.
Thinking about this now, I reflect on a
number of things. First, we need to develop
our education methods. The second, maybe
the best strategy that we can use in
education is by watching and interacting as
I saw in these two centres. One of the
benefits, it leads to solidify the student's
mind and gives him unforgettable
experience..
This Science Centre reminded me of a time
when I visited King Abdullah Renewable
Energy Centre in Riyadh. It is the new
home of renewable energy that the glob
needs. At that time, my school had arranged
a trip for our student. The students were
spending their time by transferring between
the sections of the centre and trying to

VALUABLE SKILLS
TAHANI AL OTAIBI
Through my class and school visit I
noticed that there are six valuable skills
every learners must have. This unique skills
are basic foundation for succeed students
which are learning skills. It includes
different criteria in the school they are
written on the wall and hallway. For
example, when we were walking at the
hallway they hang organizations sheet on
student lockers so they can assist themselves
to be more organized. Also, during the class
the teacher focus on all those skills while
they’re doing their project or behave with
other students.
When I go back to my country I will teach
my students the six learning skills and we
will work together to have it written on the
wall to memories them easily. Also, I will
assess them based on these features. For
example, they should collaborate when they
are doing their final projects and they have
to organize their binders, and being
responsible to do their homework. Finally,
learning skills are significant strengths in
pupils’ life.
This makes me think of my kids at home
and also my students. I should treat my kids
to be organized, collaborative, have selfregulation,
independent, responsible, and
initiative. All these criteria will build their
personality and establish succeed future for
them.

THE THIRD TEACHER
SAEED AL DAWSARI
The third teacher is a significant strategy to
promote the students' learning using the
classroom environment. We did this strategy
in our class at OISE. We used our works we
have done in class (such as the poster card,
photo collage, new vocabulary, graffiti) as
anchor charts, these anchor charts are used
by the facilitators in instructions.
This made me think of my computer lab in
Saudi Arabia in a different way. I think of it
now more than just computers devices. The
walls too can be used to help the students
learn and acquire knowledge faster.
Now I learn how much important is this
strategy. I must apply it in my class
especially in my major "computer science"
it will be helpful to use in my computer lab.
This is an example for how to use this
strategy in computer sciences labs.
• divide the students into groups,
• ask them to draw the algorithm steps for
the calculator,
• draw the keyboard keys for the computer
and make the "Barking Lot Strategy" to
organize the time in the classroom and put
it on the wall of the lab.
This contributes to the creation of an
environment conducive to learning and
related to the skills exercised by the
students.

THE JIGSAW
WAFAA BA AQEEL
One of the strategies that impressed me
was “JIGSAW”. We used this strategy last
week when we learnt about “Collaborative to
Talk”. We organized ourselves into 4 groups
and allocated each one of us a number. Each
group shared ideas about one topic. After
that, each member from each group went to
find the others who have the same number
and form a new group. We had “4” topics;
each one must talk and share with the others
his/her topic. Also, we used “JIGSAW” when
we learnt about “Creating a Supportive
Language Learning Environment” there are
20 strategies that will make the language
used in classroom. Each one chose one
strategy and they read/search about the
strategy. When all finished we started talking
about own strategy one after one. That is
called “Class JIGSAW”. It is a nice strategy
which makes everyone engaged in talking
and explaining the information.
With JIGSAW strategy, I remembered
something happened last year during one of
my mathematics classes! The topic was
“Relative Numbers”. It was a difficult lesson.
I divided my students into six groups, and I
gave all the groups six similar questions.
When they finished answering all the
questions, each student in the group chose
one question and they went to find who got
the same question in other groups and they
created a separate group. Then they
discussed their answers and they corrected
their mistakes. When they finished; each
student returned to her own group and they
shared the answers.
I realize now that teaching and learning
strategies can be adapted for a variety of
lessons. The “Jigsaw” strategy organizes
student’s group work that helps students
collaborate and rely on one another. This
strategy is effective for accomplishing
multiple tasks at once and for giving students
a greater sense of individual responsibility.
Here is the basic way this popular teaching
strategy is used in classrooms. For example,
mathematics lesson has a lot of questions, I
need more time to finish all the question, but
I can give each student one question after she
answer the question she shares her answer to
us. So, we answer the all questions in record
time.

WAFAA BA AQEEL

SECTION 2
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The
superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
William Arthur Ward
7

30
DIFFERENT
31
PBL
32
EFFECTIVE
33
LEARNING
34
WAYS
35
SELF
36
INSIDE
37
PROJECT
38
EFFECTIVE
39
TEACHERS’
40
COLLABORATIVE
TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR CHEMISTRY TOPICS
SUZAN KATOA
AND ITS BENEFITS FOR THE STUDENTS
WAFAA BA AQEEL
TEACHING STRATEGIES
SAEED AL DAWSARI
SKILLS AND THEIR USE IN COMPUTER LABS
HANADI FAREA
TO IMPROVE PROBLEM SOLVING SKILL IN THE STUDENTS
MARIAM AL GADEEB
ASSESSMENT
ARWA RADHWI
OUTSIDE CIRCLE
ABDULRAHAMN AL ASMRI
BASED LEARNING
AHAD NYAZ
STRATEGIES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLS’ STUDENTS
REEM AL HARBI
BOOK CLUBS
WALAA NADHRAH
TEACHING INQUIRY
TAHANI AL OTAIBI, NORAH AL MUNAIF, SHADA AL GHAMDI, ADEL AL OMARI

“
DIFFERENT TEACHING STRATEGIES
FOR CHEMISTRY TOPICS
SUZAN KATOA
Chemistry is a subject that depends on understanding unseen concepts such as atoms, nucleus,
electrons and how they relate together and form compounds. Students struggle to configure and
maintain the understanding. Using different methods while teaching chemistry concepts can bring a
clearer understanding. From those of the most widespread methods used in education are animated
videos, interactive activities, and modelling.
First of all, animated videos can promote students’ explanation ability and their understanding of
scientific concepts. It also develops higher motivation to learn science. Videos picture the concepts
sometimes as characters and how they relate. Other videos connect them to the students’ life which
develops a high sense of engagement. Therefor students are engaged in their learning describing,
explaining and predicting scientific processes.
The same is said for interactive activities specially for young students in elementary schools. An
interesting interactive activity can guide students in their learning while delivering significant
information. The student can react to the content, answer questions and repeat any un-understood
part. This method is suitable for all learning styles; visual, auditory and kinaesthetic it is also suitable
for higher age students.
Last but not the least, Modelling is a very useful and important method to be applied in the classroom.
It is a way to visualize chemistry concepts and particles. Students can build their own modules using
simple material available. These modules give the teacher a clear vision of what is in the students’ mind
and how they imagined the structures. A knowledge built “with one’s own hands” that works together
and cooperates with one’s mind is the basis for the construction of a deep and long-lasting learning.
To sum up, these three methods are the basics of any other teaching strategies that can be approached
in a 21st century classroom. Our learning environments are computer based and depend on
technology. Computerized visualization and animations are promising methods to promote science
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PBL AND ITS BENEFITS FOR THE
STUDENTS
WAFAA BA AQEEL
One of the most important modern methods of
education in the 21st century is project-based
learning. It focuses on activating the role of the
learner during the learning process. PBL transforms
learning from being centralized around the teacher
to being centralized around the learner. It
encourages students to have high ability to solve the
real-life problems and to face throughout their lives.
This has many benefits for students, including
collaboration, Support self-directed learning and a
deeper knowledge.
The first benefit of project-based learning is that
students will be more collaborative. When students
complete their education and go to work, they are
expected to work with their colleagues, solve
problems, organize and present their ideas. Students
can learn these skills early in the classroom by using
this method. It allows students to collaborate with
partners or groups and the work is divided among
team members. This promotes collaboration,
participation, responsibility, improves social skills
and communication. PBL is a signification key for
collaboration.
The second benefit of PBL is to support students to
learn independently by asking questions and
searching for information from various sources
under the supervision and guidance of their teacher.
The student’s role is to ask the question, look for
solutions, plan the project, implement it, then
present it and finally analyze the results. Students
are responsible for their learning, they need to learn
how to learn to be self-education.
For this reason, students not only need to be able to
find relevant information, but also need the ability
to analyze and evaluate it.
Finally, PBL makes the student have deeper
knowledge. After the students ask the questions
under the guidance of the teacher they search for
possible solutions of different scientific sources. All
the students are looking for information that finds
new information related to the scientific materials.
The teacher’s role is limited to the facilitator of the
learning process. When we apply this in C.T.I, the
more we search for information, the more
information we get, and in the end, we get a deeper
knowledge of the subject.
To sum up As John Dewey said, “If we teach today’s
students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of
tomorrow”. So, PBL is a non-traditional learning
model that seeks to prepare students for real life
while teaching them what they need to know to
succeed in school. They become critical and lifelong
thinkers. Students who participate in PBL will have
greater ability to organize and research. As they
learn in collaboration with their peers, they can
develop their skills in communicating and listen
effectively. Learning by using PBL makes students
learn better and remember information because they
are the ones who collect information. It promotes
self-learning for students through research, we train
them to look at issues in the world around them and
find solutions. This connects the school to real life,
linking academic positions to the real world is one of
the biggest benefits of PBL. It shifts focus from
teacher education to student learning.
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“
EFFECTIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES
SAEED AL DAWSARI
Teaching strategies have an important role
which is achieving learning objectives. The strategies
used by teacher to communicate a concept to students
contributes to helping students acquire concepts and
build them in a right way.
The students in this strategy respect each other by
sharing their idea and their opinion. When students
moving between the groups and explain to others
about the concepts, that’s promote learning active in
your class.
The teaching is seen as a planned process to help
students acquire or change some knowledge, skills or
ideas. To achieve this, teaching strategies, methods
and techniques have been developed to give teachers
more than an option to choose a strategy that suits
different educational situations. We need to keep up
with the changes and growth of this century and use
strategies that take thinking skills and others of skills
of students to a higher level. Some of the modern
effective strategies that I am going to talk about are”
The Blended Learning, Jigsaw and The Third
Teacher”.
The first effective strategy is blended learning. The
blended learning is hybrid method. Use technology to
support learning in face to face classes. use eLearning
tools as assistance in traditional class. This strategy
will Increase achievement and improve students'
abilities, also promote responsibility to students by
give them space to research in the internet and find
what they need. Blended learning allows us to use
technology in school, that’s will make interactive
environment in class.
The third important strategy is the third teacher. It is
about designing the classroom environment with
things that are related to the students. This could be
the teacher’s instructions, the learning goals and
“housekeeping”, or the students’ works in class like ”
poster card, word wall, photo collages, parking lot.
That makes your environment more reflective and
interesting to the learners and builds confidence to
students, also helps in a better communication
between students and the teacher.
These three types of strategy “blended learning-
jigsaw- third teacher” are the most significant
strategies; These strategies help us to meet the
individual needs of each student, promote active
learning and improve skills like “responsibility,
independent work and self-regulation”. They will also
encourage students to express their opinion. In these
strategies, the students are the focus of the
educational process.
The second magnificent strategy is jigsaw method. If
you need to increase cooperation and teamwork skills
to students, you should know about this strategy. It’s
like a puzzle “each piece (each student) in puzzle is
more important to connect with each other to
complete understanding the subject”.
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“
LEARNING SKILLS AND THEIR USE IN
COMPUTER LABS
HANADI FAREA
The students in the computer lab are different; some of the students end the task on time but
other need more time. Also, the students share with each other on the same computer. The learning
skills help students to learn, and they are vital to success in school, and beyond. Teacher must develop
the skills of collaboration, initiative, and the ability for students to work independently to maximize
their learning opportunities in the computer lab.
The first skill I wish to examine is collaboration. Collaboration is when the student is given activity
and tasks to work together. Collaborative activities give student a chance to work with other on the
computer without monopolies. It is difficult to apply in the computer lab, but I must provide a task so
students work together. The teacher can use this approach in some performance, tasks or projects in
computer lesson. That will lead have the student to share resources and develop this skill.
The second important skill is initiative. We need to encourage our students to show initiative in
helping others. Therefore, we create initiator students. As a computer teacher that will help us in the
computer lab. Understanding will be achieved much better through the realization of an initiative
spirit among students.
The third skill that is very interesting is independent work. In addition to the skills above, the
students must have some talent for managing themselves and doing their homework. When we look
at some students who have experience independence we can see that they reach success. We can
achieve independent work in computer lab through the checklist for each practical lesson to improve
the responsibility of students.
Developing educational skills such as collaboration, initiative, and independent work will contribute
to a successful work environment in the computer lab and preparing students for 21st century skills.
It is necessary that we make the computer lab as dynamic as the world around us.
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WAYS TO IMPROVE PROBLEM SOLVING
SKILL IN THE STUDENTS
MARIAM AL GADEEB
Problem solving skills are necessary in all areas of life and classroom and it is one of the most important
21st century education skills. we should teach our student this skills to success in their life. in fact, most
students do not prefer to use problem solving as approach. but we can help student improve their problem
–solving skills by using: real –life problems, examples or models, and by praising their effort, not the result.
Students will be more effective at problem solving if we used real -life problems. Most student will be more
motivated when the problem is from their real life. They can find the connect between what they study in
school and what is in life. And that can make them more engaged in the subject. For example, in math
when we teach the geometry, ask them to find the perimeter of things from their surroundings, like the
board, desks, or the classroom door. That will be the answer for their question what the benefits from is
studying geometry.
In addition, students need examples or models to show them how can they solve problems. Another thing
can help you to learn problem -solving is to try to solve problems by thinking aloud strategy, you can show
the students by your example how to be patient, persistent and how to follow structured method. like when
you teach algebra and solve formula problems begin to ask student to think a loudly what is the next steps,
why we do that and how to do it until together get the final solution.
Last but not least one of the most important things that helps you to improve the students’ problem –
solving skill is to praise their effort not the result. Even the adults cannot solve the problems from the first
time all of us make the mistakes. As teachers, we must praise students of their efforts until they succeed. In
fact, we learn from our mistakes. If only we see the results and dismiss praising the student’s efforts, this
will Cause an unaccomplished work. You can use many words to praise efforts for the students like:" I
know you can figure it out ", " you must be glad for your doing “, " don't give up you can do it "
In conclusion if we use problems for the students from their life, giving them an example to problem
solving and work with them by thinking a loud and praising their effort their problem-solving skills well be
improved and they can experience succeed in all aspects of their life.
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“
SELF ASSESSMENT
ARWA RADHWI
Many teachers can make their students more reflective and face their difficulties by using selfassessment.
The results of using this tool is very remarkable for the students. Students self-assessment
give them the opportunity to identify their work, critical feedback and leading learners the responsibility
to make improvement.
In the first place, loading the students to this approach will give them more opportunities to revise their
work. the learners will focus their attention in learning which will lead them to deeper learning. They
can also discover their skills gaps so they can reflect in their learning. Such as, using “Exit Slip”, and
“Metacognition Card” strategy.
Furthermore, students will be able to define what is good or bad about their work. They will think
critically and evaluate their own performance. So, they can easily judge the quality of the work and
make their decision by themselves and what is the next level. Teachers can use many strategies to show
this improvement for example. “Favourite NO” and “3 things “.
Last but not least, the teacher will see how much their student’s responsibility skills has been increased.
The students will show more independent learning and they can monitor their progress in order to
increase their self-awareness and how they became active in the classroom such as checklists methods.
In conclusion, self-assessment for learners give them good explanations, sufficient judgment and more
responsibility.
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INSIDE OUTSIDE CIRCLE
ABDULRAHAMN AL ASMRI
Teachers need to use many strategies to help students' understanding. There are many strategies for
teaching but in my opinion the best strategy is called inside outside circle strategy. With this strategy
students gain more information, the communication with each other quickly and engage students in their
critical thinking skills.
First of all, students gain more information from the inside outside circle strategy.
This is how to apply this strategy:
• Divide the students into two groups.
• The first group is given a question and answer the question by reading the textbook.
• This group is inside the circle. They explain the answer to one student on the outside circle.
• Then the inside group rotates to another student in the outside circle.
This way students have opportunity to get more information by discussing the answer to a question with
many students not just one.
Secondly, students using the inside outside circle strategy communicate with each other quickly. One day
before the class, students inside the circle and students outside the circle were given, for example, five
questions to research at home. Since complete the search at home they don't need more time to answer the
question in the class. Each group has 20 minutes to explain their five answers to the other group. Then they
switch their circle places with the other group.
Furthermore, the inside circle strategy engages students in their critical thinking skills. Some students feel
bored or distracted in normal class because they often on listen to one person usually this is the teacher.
However, when students share their knowledge with the other students using their own method, the students
in the outside circle have opportunity to listen to different ideas for one point(answer).
In conclusion. The inside outside circle strategy is important strategy to use in every classroom, students
gather more information, communicate with each other and engage in their critical thinking skills.
Therefore, the inside outside circle strategy is an effective learning strategy.
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“
PROJECT BASED LEARNING
AHAD NYAZ
The essential importance of school is nourishing knowledge and preparing students for the real life,
where critical thinking and problem solving are playing a core role in the student’s educational pathways.
Project Based-Learning allows teachers to teach in more satisfying way, enables students to develop their
preferences and encourage them to acquire time management skills.
On the one hand, many teachers are demanded to follow the approved instructions:” lessons prescribed
by a script”, using only approved instructional materials and they haven’t take the opportunity to plan a
unit which is always been done for them! As a teacher, its more interesting to plan my lessons and unit,
deliver the instructions according to the student’s needs, make all the students actively engaged in
learning and monitoring the students involving closely alongside their peers.
Secondly, PBL provides the opportunity for students make choice inducting their plans. Students enjoy
applying their learning, practicing their knowledge, supporting each other’s among PBL, involving
problem solving methods and communicate better to achieve a high quality of product and present it to
viewers clearly.
Last but not least, PBL supports the student’s conscious to time management skills beside that it
decreases time consumption for the teaching method as a result of spotlighting on student’s self-learning.
Eventually its fair enough to say that when teachers use Project Based-Learning they take learnerscentredness
to a higher level. Its more satisfying to teach and to learn, it offers students a voice and give
them the choice and develops time management skills. Depending on learning by doing, PBL prepares
students quiet well for their future lives.
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“
EFFECTIVE
STRATEGIES FOR MIDDLE
SCHOOLS’ STUDENTS
REEM AL HARBI
Young adolescence is a pivotal time of physical, intellectual, social and emotional development. Middle
school learners experience more development at this age than any other stage in their lives. The development of
middle school learners profoundly impacts their educational experience. Therefore, it is essential for middle
school educators to carefully choose appropriative strategies of middle school learners in order to maximize
their learning experience. The most strategies fit with students' personality in this age and develop their critical
thinking and problem solving are scavenger hunt, listen stop draw and placemat.
Word Scavenger Hunt is an exciting, interactive learning strategy that improve critical thinking and problem
solving. First Scavenger hunt is an excellent way to take any ordinary lesson and turn into fun and engaging
activity where students are moving around, thinking about the content and practicing skills. Then middle
school students as explorers love the thrill of finding things. This suits education because students now
have the opportunity to scavenge for information about the content area terms also with a bit of excitement to
go along with it and improve their critical thinking and problem solving. Furthermore, this can be used before,
during and after the reading activity for the whole class or by small groups.
The Listen-Stop-Draw strategy improves student’s skills in imagination, speaking, listening and understanding.
It is a simple activity that you can with many different picture. First student listens the story from the teacher,
in this case student improves listening skills. Then student use imagination to draw what they listen and
understand after that student makes comparing and discussions with other students. Also, listen-stop-draw is
strategy meet the middle school student development in this age.
In middle school, students quick distance themselves from adults -- including teachers – when they feel that
adult do not respect their feelings and opinions, placemat strategy is the best way to raise student’s opinion and
develop their critical thinking and problem solving.
Placemat technique is a part of cooperative learning, where students are instructing to work in a small group
for ensuring active participation of students itself. All members of the small group, brainstorm ideas about a
topic individually, and then summarize the group members common point. To make it more effective with
middle school student use poster for each group to write ideas because some of the students in this age are shy.
However, Student’s voice and opinion must be heard.
In conclusion, students in middle school at this age range undergo physical and psychological changes that
make them more emotional and sensitive, so that, teachers must choose appropriative strategies like these three
strategies to improve their thinking which meets the needs of this age and support their emotional and physical
development.
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“
TEACHERS’
BOOK CLUBS
WALA NADHRAH
" A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only
one.”George R R Martin
With the explosion of knowledge, we inevitably need a reader generation to keep up with this
knowledge. Without a role model "teacher" that seeks to gain this knowledge, we will not have a
society with passion for reading. Reading is important for all ages; teachers can gain many benefits
from forming book clubs at their schools. We can sum up the benefits in, building a strong
relationship between the teachers’ society, teachers can understand adolescences, and they gain
high levels of self-development.
First, the educational environment achieves its objectives when there is an intellectual harmony
between the teachers’ community. Book clubs allow teachers to exchange their points of view and
discuss them. An ordinary school schedule is tight and does not allow them to meet. There will be
an opportunity to exchange different aspects in educational topics when there is a monthly meeting
between a group of teachers on an educational novel to discuss it. This raises the efficiency of the
educational environment.
Without a doubt, choosing novels that relate to adolescences age helps teachers to express ideas
and solutions proposed. Therefor having a reading club for teachers provides an opportunity for
them to live and understand the personality of an adolescent through the novel read, thus have the
ability to solve their problems. they become critical critics and can build good relationships with his
students.
It is also necessary that teachers have a plan for self-development not depending on expertise
subjects only, but they must also develop their educational skills by reading different books in
different fields. The teacher will be able to think in an unfamiliar way and develop creative thinking.
They can also develop verbal language and increases the vocabulary thus giving them the
opportunity to express personal and educational ideas fluently. It allows them to express writing
educational ideas better, and transfer it to others.
The reading club for teachers develops the school community and removes barriers between
teachers and students. It also contributes to the self-develop of the teacher and makes him possess
the characteristics of the 21 st century teacher.
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“
COLLABORATIVE
TEACHING INQUIRY
TAHANI AL OTAIBI, NORA AL MUNAIF
SHADA AL GHAMDI, ADEL AL OMARI
Nowadays, generation after generation is changing. Thus, new generation needs a different
education. We all know that reviewing the learning outcomes and pursuing the continuation of
educational process in addition to learning about the latest teaching approach and assessment
methods is something that develops work. all this can be achieved by the teacher if we use C.T.I
the 21st century education involves Collaborative Teacher Inquiry as professional model to
improve student skills and knowledge. collaborative teacher inquiry is powerful and important for
teacher to employ,“Through CI, educators work together to improve their understanding of what
learning is (or could be), generate evidence of what’s working (and what’s not), make decisions
about next steps and take action to introduce improvements and innovations.”
In every practice, institutions need to observe and measure how effective their work is and what
needs to be improved. In Education, the teachers are the best researchers. collaborative teacher
inquiry supports the “action research”. It increases the teacher opportunity to experiment the
accomplished methods and adjust them until they reach their main goal. When the teacher tests
her/his new methods in their actual class. They can come up with new results.
An example of this is the Oakwood’s principal’s initiative to the TDSB to postpone the student’s
choice of their learning pathways to grade 10 instead of grade 9. This was based on noticing that
the students in grade 9 choose their pathway randomly. The principal presented his Initiative to
the board after negotiating it with his staff and he got the green light to do it.
Collaborative Teacher Inquiry engages educator as learners. Due to the fact that it is based on
collaboration; the teachers would learn from each other. For example the C.T.I. projects we had
done with our classmates extended our professional knowledge. Indeed, the constant pursuit of
updating information and learning about the latest learning methods requires the exchange of
experiences between different teachers. Different teachers means different groups of students
and more data that will give the teachers better insight to draw their conclusion. In fact, when
discussing an issue such as “students are not attracted to physics”, C.T.I makes teachers versed
in this issue from more than one angle. One may say the reason is not to associate Physics with
students’ real lives and interests. Moreover, some teachers believe that the issue lies in the
teacher’s in ability to simplify the information. Thus, we got several reasons for the problem that
we can address and solve it by the critical thinking skills that we use in C.T.I.
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Whether the problems related to students and classrooms or curriculums. Collaborative Teacher
Inquiry is major process to solve these problems.
When teacher apply collaborative teacher inquiry, it encourages educators to understand their
students’ problems. Most of the times, it requires investigating the challenges that teacher faces.
the teachers would investigate new ways, methods and strategies of teaching and will facilitate
structures of teaching which help to enhance effective learning.
Furthermore, doing many CTI in many topics could be integrated and the solution for one inquiry
could be in the conclusion of another. For example;
• We concluded that analogy is a good way to simplify the concepts but it depends on the
student’s experiences and background so knowing about the student’s identity is important,
and we could know a lot about how to do that from the CI that was done by another group.
And the same could be said about the other CI’s that can be related to each other.
41

SECTION 3
"Life as a teacher begins the day you realize that
you are always a learner." - Robert John Meehan

46
HOW
CAN SELF-ASSESSMENT IMPROVE THE STUDENTS’
LEARNING IN PRACTICAL LESSONS IN COMPUTER LABS
ARWA RADHWI, REEM AL HARBI.
50
HOW
CAN WE DEVELOP THE INDEPENDENT AND
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING SKILLS IN OUR STUDENTS
WALAA NADHRAH, HANADI FAREA
54
WHAT
56
HOW
ARE THE BENEFITS OF SCAVENGER HUNT’S
STRATEGY AND HOW TO IMPLEMENT IT
JAWAHER AL MULHIM, NORAH AL MUNYIF
TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN PHYSICS
ADEL AL OMARI, AHMED AL ANZI
62
HOW
70
WHY
CAN TEACHERS SUPPORT STUDENTS’ LEARNING USING
PROJECT-BASED LEARNING
AHAD NYAZ, WAFA BA AQEEL
LEARNING VOCABULARIES ARE IMPORTANT
SHADA AL GHAMDI, SUAD AL BARAKAH

How can self-assessment improve the
students learning in practical lessons in the
computer curriculum?
ARWA RADHWI, REEM AL HARBI.
What is happening ….
• The student in computer lesson are waiting their teacher to tell them what they
should to do.
• The student forgot what they learning in short period
• Student self-regulation is low.
This is what we want to happen
• Use self assessment and improve the self regulation skill in the student, especially in
the practical parts of the computer lessons.
This is what we found OUT:
36
46

We found out many different self assessment modules that serve the
practical parts in our computer lessons and here are samples:
! 3 things
47

! exit slip
! favourite NO
students will answer a question provided by their teacher and then analyze a wrong
answer given by a classmate. The purpose of this activity is for the teacher to quickly
assess how many students are grasping the concept and for those who are not, what in
particular is causing their misunderstanding.
! Metacognition
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! Rose ,bud ,thorn
! More examples :
• checklists
• use technology forms such as google DOCS, FLUBAROO, TWITTER, PADLET.
Resources :
Source #1
https://www.reading.ac.uk/engageinassessment/peer-and-self-assessment/self-assessment/eia-selfassessment.aspx
self assessment definition
Source 2
https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/self-assessment#
self assessment benefits
Source 3
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1174/021037010792215145
self regulation and self assessment
Source 4
https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/self-assessment#
how to design
Source 5
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815005030
Comparative Study of Self-test Questions and Self-assessment Object for Introductory Programming Lessons
Source 6
http://cmrweb.gfps.k12.mt.us/uploads/2/7/3/6/27366965/formative_assessment_ppt.pdf
strategies for self-assessment
49

How can we develop the independent and
collaborative learning skills of our students,
so they reach their daily and on-going
learning goals?
WALAA NADHRAH, HANADI FAREA
Introduction:
We are computer teachers, and we want to introduce the nature of teaching in the
computer lab.
We face in the computer lab some problems, including:
• The number of devices is less than the number of students in the lab This issue does not allow
students to work on the machine independently and thus the student cannot implement all
practical exercises.
• The practical exercises are sequential, so the absence of the student affects the understanding
and application of the new lesson efficiently because he has no information about the previous
lesson to be able to follow up with his colleagues.
•
We assumed that, if we improve the learning skills of students
the problem might be fixed.
We diced to choose collaborative and independent work to start with.
We will let you know why later.
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The Importance of learning skills:
The purpose of education is to teach people lifelong learning skills that will help them navigate
careers and relationships in their post-school lives. Aside from teaching practical exercise in
the computer lab, many important skills are valuable to becoming successful.
We decided to start with these two skills because both are helping us to use time
appropriately to complete tasks and we ensure understanding for all students.
First: Collaborative
Because this skill develops in the student the sense of initiative to transfer
knowledge to the absent student and thus they can follow the new lesson, and we
ensure understanding for all students.
Also, this skills developing the sense of cooperation in the students, so each gives a
chance to others to work without monopolism.
Second: Independent Ç work
Develop a sense of responsibility for the student himself in his absence and motivate him
to learn what he missed training before attending the new lesson.
This illustration shows what we have reached so far
The challenge we face in the computer lab is the absence of students, and the number of
computers and we assumed that, if we improve this two learning skills we will ensure
understanding for all students during the class time
We choose the following methods to raise the level of cooperation and independent work.
There are many strategies that develop these skills for students, but we chose the change
in the work environment as I will explain later, and we suggested some projects that suit
the students' interests and their creativities and we adopted online method for home
works and activities to comply with modern technology that became accessible to all.
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Work environment
First, we assign each two students to use a specific computer and allocate two devices with tutorial lessons for
the absent student.
This organization facilitates the follow-up of the development of the two skills.
Second, design a checklist of all training and learning skills for students to evaluate themselves
This will improve independent work.
Third, create SWAT team to support the weak student or absent student, and prepare a list of criteria to join
this group.
This will improve collaboration among students.
Projects
We found through the research that projects develop students' learning skills but to make the work on projects
fun for students we have to focus on selecting new ideas for projects to suit the interest of students and develop
their creativity such as:
- Gallery Walk: Suitable for students interested in design and art so that project begins by introducing an
amendment to the images by the Gimp which is a part of the curriculum, and we suggest that the gallery using
the program ReBlink.
- Scratch Games: Suitable for students interested in programming to increases the challenge among students
and this project can be individual or collective.
- Movie 360: Suitable for students interested in photography and filmmaking
- Interactive lessons: suitable for students who want to help others and invest the energies of smart students in
computer programs, and the purpose that
1. Students benefit from these interactive lessons in the review.
2. The absent student benefits from interactive lessons.
Online
Using online in some activity such as e-portfolio will help the students to develop independent work.
For the absent students, we can upload interactive lessons on platform such as Edmodo or Blackboard
Conclusion:
Finally, through the research, we found that raising the independent work in one of the ways
mentioned before will solve the problem of students' absence and that raising the skill of
corroboration will solve the problems of the number of students compared to the number of
computer..
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53

Scavenger Hunt Strategy
JAWAHER AL MULHIM, NORAH AL MUNYIF
A scavenger hunt is a party game in which the organizers prepare a list defining specific
items, which the participants seek to gather or complete all items on the list, usually
without purchasing the Usually participants work in small TEAMS.
Math is a numbers game – and a math scavenger hunt can have your students searching
the Internet for clues to the numbers with which you want them to work. Whether you
decide to create a simple search or a robust investigation, your students are almost
guaranteed to be excited about a math scavenger hunt.
The benefits of using scavenger hunts in math are:
• Build problem-solving skills.
• Easy to customize.
• Exercise both body and mind.
• Teach teamwork.
In math classes, it is important to relate the lesson to the real live and one of the good
ways to do that is Scavenger Hunt Strategy because it motivates and engages students,
improves the knowledge in different ways and the best example of connect math to
physical world is geometry.
Your scavenger hunt can end once the students have completed their lists, or you can expand the
exercise by asking the students to explain how the math concepts were illustrated in their finds,
either in a written report or an oral presentation to the class. If you’d like to add an element of
competition to the activity, you can award a prize to the student who finds the most examples for
each math concept, or you can have the class vote on which of their classmates’ oral presentations.
Ç
There are many types of Scavenger Hunt in which students are given a list of
questions to find answers and teachers provided link for resource. The steps of
applying Scavenger Hunt are list of question, relevant web resources and provided
At the end, make your students adventures with scavenger hunt.
54

Resources: Ç
1. http://www.tdsb.on.ca/
2. http://teaching.monster.com/training/articles/853-how-tocreate-and-use-a-math-scavenger-hunt
3. https://www.envisionexperience.com/blog/mathscavenger-hunt
55

How to Improve Student’s Engagement in
Physics?
ADEL AL OMARI, AHMED AL ANZI
From my experience as a teacher and before that as a student I could say that Physics is
the less popular subject between students. This does not apply only for Saudi Students,
Physics is considered as the killer subject worldwide.
Nearly all the people who I met in Toronto flinches when I say I teach physics, the Uber
driver who got me from the airport, the CIBC Bank employee and my Moroccan business
student, they all had a hard time learning physics in high school.
During our research, we found that the reasons behind this is because Physics is seen as
difficult and irrelevant. In this research, we analyzed these two reasons and proposed
solutions that could reverse this issue and elevate the students’ engagement in physics
classrooms.
56

The lack of Interest:
The main reason for Students’ lack of interest in physics is that they see it as irrelevant to
their lives. Students usually wonder how physics would benefits them or why they study it.
This makes the students less excited about physics in contemporary to the scientists that laid
out its principles and laws. “To make Students more excited about physics we should expose
them to what makes the physicists excited about physics”.
When we follow the discovery of the gravitational law for example, we see that newton was
interested in an inquiry that occupied the scientists’ minds. Newton thinking was provoked
and challenged by this inquiry and he worked through until he found the solution to that
inquiry.
Having examined other Scientists’ breakthroughs like “Tesla and the war of currents,
Blank and the quantum physics” we concluded that..
We can make our students more interested in learning
physics, by making them use the physics laws and concepts
as tools to build a projects or answers inquiries that are
interesting to them.
57

The Concepts:
• In Physics, students find it extremely hard to memorize theories, principles, and grasp the laws of
Physics.
In a famous article called “The Best teacher I never Had” Bill Gates explains how he enjoyed learning
physics from Richard Feynman to the level he watched his videos twice in a row!!
When Feynman was asked what is the best way to teach Physics, he answer was “by using every
possible way in doing it”. Meaning to use a combination of methods to address every type of
learning style.
“Concepts should be taught and learned with a different approach.
It is not a memory game, but rather a thinking game.” 6
We can do that by using the following:
Analogies:
A study from University of Colorado concluded that “Selection of an analogy can produce a measurable effect
in concept learning.”
We can see how effective was the analogy Feynman used to explain the conservation of energy in his
lectures “the characteristics of physical laws”.
However, the students’ prior knowledge plays a key role in learning by analogy. So, learning about the
student’s identities and cultures is important when using analogies.
Demonstrations and Experimenting:
Demonstrations and Experimenting are good methods to engage the students in the learning process even if
the students lack the prior knowledge. Here the students widen their understanding about the physical
phenomena, sharpen their lab skills and discover the relations between the variables.
However, the lack of lab instruments in the school is an obstacle the teacher may face, we suggest as
alternative using Simulations. A suggested site for simulations are:
https://phet.colorado.edu
https://www.explorelearning.com
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Mathematics
Mathematics come on the top of the list when you listen to the student’s complaints about Physics even
between students with good grades in math
And this goes for the teachers too... “Instructors often complain that even students with good grades
in their math courses “don’t know enough math.”” 10
But what seems to be a weakness in mathematical skills is actually a weakness in “translation “.
Mathematics is the Language of Physics. We teach this to our students in the very beginning
of their journey to learn physics, but we do not understand this statement well.
“Understanding equations in physics is not just about learning the mathematical operations.
It is about making many connections to stores of knowledge about the physical system” 10
“Physics requires us to integrate our understanding of the physical world with symbolic relations of
mathematics.
Physics puts meaning to the math, adding additional levels of structure, interpretation, and even
tools.” 10
We recommend that we train our students to interpret what they
know about the physical world into mathematical form and vice
versa.
59

Ç
Resources:
1)Hewitt, Paul G.. Conceptual Physics (Page xx). Pearson Education.
Kindle Edition
2)The Best Teacher I never Had, Bill Gates\
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Education/The-Best-Teacher-I-Never-Had
3)The Amazing Feynman, BBC Documentary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyqleIxXTpw
5)https://blog.byjus.com/why-indian-teens-hate-physics/
4)https://www.quora.com/I-love-physics-I-cant-seem-to-understand-andimagine-basic-concepts-and-formulas-Are-there-some-ways-to-helpme-understand-and-simplify-formulas-and-equations
6)https://smiletutor.sg/a-closer-look-at-why-students-hate-physics-andhow-to-do-it-differently/
7)https://www.quora.com/Why-do-many-people-believe-that-physics-isdifficult-and-then-hate-it
8)http://elmspace.com/2014/12/30/why-do-students-hate-physics/
9)The Use of Analogy in Physics Learning and Instruction
Noah Podolefsky University of Colorado Comprehensive Exam II
https://www.colorado.edu/physics/EducationIssues/podolefsky/
research/podolefsky_analogy_physics.pdf
10)https://arxiv.org/pdf/1002.0472.pdf
Making Meaning with Math in Physics:
A Semantic Analysis
Edward F. Redish and Ayush Gupta Department of Physics, University
of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4111 USA [redish@umd.edu;
Ayush@umd.edu]
60

61

How Can Teachers Support Students’
Learning Using Project Based
Learning (PBL)?
AHAD NYAZ, WAFA BA AQEEL
• Objects:
• What is Project Base Learning (PBL)?
• The Benefits of PBL for The Student
• Project Base Teaching Practices
• Essential Project Design Elements.
Ç
62

What is Project Based Learning?
Project based learning is:
• A student -centred pedagogy
• Investigating and solving open-ended question.
• Learning through whole unit or several Ç lessons.
• Students work individually or with small group collaboratively.
• Presenting the solution through a multimedia approach based in
a set of 21st-century tools.
• Assess themselves and each other’s
The Benefits for the students
• More engaging in school.
• Improve their learning
• Acquire success skills for college, career, and life.
• Help addressing standard.
• Provides opportunities to use technology. Ç
• Meaningful, enjoyable and rewarding learning
• Connecting to communities and real life.
• Promote educational equity.
• Develop organization and communication skills.
63

What student think about? Project Path How teacher support inquiry?
• What is the project asking
me to do?
• What do I need to know?
• Who will I be sharing my
work with?
• What resources can and
should I use?
• Can I trust the information
I'm finding?
• What is the role in the
process (chair, scribe, tutor,
group member)?
Lunch Project:
Entry Event + Driving Question
The entry Event Should generate
momentum and spark inquiry
Build Knowledge, Understanding
& Skills to Answer Driving
Question
Sustaining the momentum gained
in the entry event throughout the
project and using strategies to keep
student engaged
• Conduct entry event and
present / co-construct driving
question.
• Facilitate process for generating
student questions.
• Facilitate use and evaluation of
resources.
• Provide lessons, scaffolds,
workshops, exit journals and
guidance in response to
student’s needs.
• How can I apply what I have
learned to the project?
• What new Question do I
have?
• Do I need more information?
• Is my work in the right
track?
Develop and Critique Products
and Answerer to the Driving
Questions
Prevent the formative assessment
individually and peers beside the
strategies in place to ask and
receive support.
• Help students to apply learning
to project task.
• Provide additional experience to
generate new knowledge and
questions.
• Facilitate process for feedback.
• What should I explain about
my work?
• How can I best share this
with others?
• What have I learned and
what should I do in the next
project?
Present Products and Answer the
Driving Questions
Students products
demonstrate mastery
• Help students assisting their
work.
• Facilitate student reflection on
process and learning.
• Evaluate (product, presentation,
peer collaboration)
64

PROJECT BASED TEACHING PRACTICES:
Design & Plan:
• Teachers create or adapt a project for their context and students, and plan its implementation
from launch to culmination while allowing for some degree of student voice and choice.
Align to Standards:
• Teachers use standards to plan the project and make sure it addresses key knowledge and
understanding from subject areas to be included.
Build the Culture:
• Teachers explicitly and implicitly promote student independence and growth, open-ended
inquiry, team spirit, and attention to quality.
Manage Activities:
• Teachers work with students to organize tasks and schedules, set checkpoints and
deadlines, find and use resources, create products and make them public.
Scaffold Student Learning:
• Teachers employ a variety of lessons, tools, and instructional strategies to support all
students in reaching project goals.
65

ESSENTIAL PROJECT DESIGN ELEMENTS:
Basic knowledge and understanding:
Teachers teach important content standards, concepts, and in-depth understandings that are
essential for school and academic disciplines. In good projects, students learn how to apply
knowledge to the real world, use it to solve problems, answer complex questions, and create
high-quality products.
Sustainable Survey:
At PBL, students ask questions, find resources to help answer them, then ask deeper
questions - and repeat the process until a satisfactory solution or answer is found. Projects
can include different sources of information.
Voice of students and choice:
Having an opinion on a project creates a sense of ownership among students; they are more
interested in the project and are working hard. If students are not able to use their judgment
when solving a problem and answering a question about leadership, the project looks like
just an exercise or following a set of guidelines. Students can control many aspects of the
project, the questions they create, the resources they will use to find answers to their
questions, and the roles and roles they will take as team members, to the products they will
create.
Reflection:
During the project, students - and teachers - must think about what they are learning, how they
learn, and why they learn. Thinking about knowing and understanding content helps students
to build what they have learned and think about how to apply it elsewhere, outside the scope of
the project. Thinking about the project itself - how it is designed and implemented - helps
students determine how to handle their next project and helps teachers improve the quality of
their PBL practice.
66

Cash and Auditing:
High quality student work is a distinctive feature of the golden PBL standard. Such quality is
achieved through cash and cash audits. Students should be taught how to give and receive
constructive peer feedback that will improve project and product processes, guided by evaluation
models, models and official comment / cash protocols. In addition, not only mean teachers who
provide feedback to students, but students evaluate the results of their learning.
General Product:
When students show their work to an audience outside the classroom, the performance bar rises,
with no one wanting to appear badly in public. A certain degree of anxiety can be a health
incentive. But a lot of anxiety can of course detract from performance so it is important that
students are well prepared to make their work public. By creating a product, students do what
they have learned, and therefore, when participating in general, you can talk to them. Instead of
being the only exchange between student and teacher, the social dimension of learning becomes
more important.
Authenticity:
Authentic increases students' motivation and learning. The project can be authentic in several
ways, often in combination. It can have an authentic context, such as when students solve
problems such as those faced by people in the world outside school. It can include the use of real
world processes, tasks, tools, and performance standards. They can have a real impact on others.
Finally, the project can have personal origin when it talks about students' interests, interests,
cultures, identities and issues in their lives.
Challenge a problem or question:
The heart of the project - what is "about", if we should summarize it - is a problem for
research and analysis, or a question to explore and answer. Can be tangible or abstract. An
interesting problem or question makes learning more visible to students. They do not only
acquire the knowledge to remember; they learn because they have a real need to know
something, so they can use this knowledge to solve a problem or answer a question that
interests them. You must challenge the problem or question students without fear. When
teachers design and implement a project, we suggest to them (sometimes with students) to write
67

The Conclusion
Ç
• References
• http://www.studentguide.org/the-complete-guide-to-project-based-learning/
• https://www.bie.org/objects/cat/planning_forms
• https://www.pinterest.com/katie14387/project-based-learning-stage-2/?lp=true
• https://www.noodle.com/articles/what-is-project-based-learning
• https://www.noodle.com/articles/what-is-project-based-learning
• https://www.projectpals.com/
• https://www.edutopia.org/blog/what-heck-project-based-learning-heather-wolpert-gawron
• https://www.researchgate.net/figure/236849579_Figure-1-Problem-and-project-based-learning-PPBL-as-a-continuum-ofconstructivist-experiential
• http://www.graphicsbuzz.com/graphics/project-based-learning-graphics-b51942.html
• http://www.bie.org/about/why_pbl
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project-based_learning#Roles
• http://ldt.stanford.edu/~jeepark/jeepark+portfolio/PBL/instructor.htm
• https://www.slideshare.net/Ottamay/project-basedlearning-by-liliana-nederita
• http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Problem-based_learning#Student.27s_Role
• https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David_Moursund/publication/247276594_Project-
68
based_learning_using_information_technology/links/58c59e9645851538eb8afd94/Project-based-learning-using-
information-technology.pdf

69

Why Learning Vocabularies are Important?
SHADA AL GHAMDI, SUAD AL BARAKAH
“If you have a limited vocabulary, you
will also have a limited vision and a
limited future.” Ç
Jim Rohan
The most difficult to deal with students is their inability to express their ideas clearly and
their inability to adopt their own perspective. We also deal daily with a number of students
who do not have the ability to explain their choices or even their projects in a manner that
persuades the audience.
This makes us feel the imbalance in the way of raising our children on the one hand and the
way we prepare for students in school on the other hand -we are two sides of the coin- We are
both parents and teachers!
Based on this, we have dealt with these three axes to answer the following question:
How can we help students express their thoughts and ideas about topics taught?
The first axis: The importance of learning language skill.
The second axis: Effect of limited language on students learning
The third axis: Methods and strategies can help to improve their ability to express their ideas in clear way.
70

Ç
Why learning vocabularies is important?
The importance of language skills and communication skills is centred around the
ability to communicate ideas with others and understand other ideas with the ability
to evaluate it. It also can develop student creativity, which ensures the success in his
future life. This means that if student lacks the ability to and communicate, he will
lack the ability to change and influence around him and thus will affect in his ability
to succeed in the present and future.
Vocabularies’ Impact:
The linguistic richness affects the student’s absorption and active participation within
the classroom and the construction of his cognitive background. So the lack of
language development will therefore make the student narrow-minded with limited
knowledge, unable to analyze and think.
Ç
How does vocabulary relate to achievement?
Research shows the importance vocabulary has on overall reading comprehension.
In addition, a strong vocabulary is crucial when it comes to building background
knowledge while learning a new skill or subject.
71

Ideas to help your baby or toddler Ç develop language:
• Talk with and listen to your child.
• Help children build on their language skills.
• Respect and recognize your child’s feelings
• Help your child develop a “feelings” vocabulary
Strategies to Develop Expressive Language Ç Skills in the Classroom
• Giving Opportunities to speak and time to rehearse before speaking
• Visual clues to help children organize ideas effectively before expressing them
• Vocabulary lists to help with word finding difficulties.
• Use appropriate and consistent vocabulary
• Colour coding different groups of words/sets of pictures
• Giving correct models of language structures
• Repetition and reinforcement of correct language structures
• Small group work to give children confidence to express themselves
• Appropriate questioning to give children the opportunity to reply
• Restrict your language to short unambiguous language
• Story telling – cutting up picture segments and retelling stories
• Try and keep children ‘on topic’. remind children e.g. ‘We are talking about…’
• Discussing what they have seen or done with an adult or more verbally able peer
• Sharing books
• Puppet play/drama etc.
• Revise links and associations between ideas and vocabulary
72

73
Strategies to Develop Expressive Ç Language Skills
Barrier games, How do I feel?, Silly Stories, Narrative, Mind Map Activities, Defining
and describing, Question Question, Frayer model, What do you know?
Why should students write Ç every day?
1. Writing improves communication skills.
2. Writing helps students review and remember
recently learned material.
4. Writing encourages creativity and
exploration.
5. Writing is essential for self-understanding.
3. Writing helps educators assess student
learning.
Finally, Language and expression are a broad and influential issue on
student learning and interaction in society and work and an important part
of his ability to disclose his fears or talk about his achievements and the
reflection on his mental health. In this inquiry,
Ç
we dealt with specific axes to
get clear understanding for this topic. That was through clarifying
importance of learning language skills, how does vocabulary impact on
language and literacy development and on lifelong learning and earning and
strategies to develop expressive language skills for kids and students.

74
Resources: Ç
1. http://microsites.lincolnshire.gov.uk/children/schools/first-call/expressive-language/
strategies-to-develop-expressive-language-skills-in-the-classroom/108261.article
2. https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/302-how-to-support-your-child-scommunication-skills
3. https://www.scilearn.com/blog/5-reasons-students-should-write-every-day
4. http://www.brainy-child.com/article/language-skills.shtml
5. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-communication-skills- studentscommunication
6. http://blog.flocabulary.com/what-the-research-shows-vocabularys-impact-on-studentachievement/

75

SECTION 4
“The future of the world is in my classroom
today" - Ivan Welton Fitzwater

80
SHARING IS CARING
AAMAL AL DHAMIN
USING TECHNOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS
EFFECTIVELY
ABDULRAHMAN AL ASMRI
87
HANDS-ON LEARNING IN
SCIENCE LAB
MOHAMMED AL TURKISTANI
SUCCESS CRITERIA ARE THE
KEY
NASIR AL HARBI
81
82
CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTIONS
ADEL AL OMARI
MATH FITNESS
AHAD NYAZ
PRACTICAL ASPECT OF PHYSICS
AHMED AL ANZI
ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH ACTIVITIES
ALI AL SHAHRANI
88
DISMOS APP IN MATH
CURRICULUM
NURAH AL MUNAIF
ENCOURAGING STUDENT’S
VOICE IN SCHOOL
REEM AL HARBI
83
“BE LIKE A BEE” CLASS
ARWA RADHWA
TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION STRATEGY
EZEDDIN HAKAMI
89
RESOURCE CLASSROOM
SAEED AL DAWSARI
STEAM CLUB
SHADA AL GHAMDI
84
ENHANCING CLASSES WITH TECHNOLOGY
FAISAL ASIRY
DIGITAL INNOVATION CLUB
HANADI FAREA
90
HOTS QUESTIONS
SUAD AL BARAKAH
SUCCESS CRITERIA
SUZAN KATOA
85
THE CIRCLE OF INQUIRY BASED LEARNING.
JAWAHER AL MULHIM
TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT
KHALED AL BALAWI
91
CREATING WELCOMING
SCHOOL CLIMATE
TAHANI AL OTAIBI
3 M’S
WAFAA BA AGEEL
86
USING BOOK CLUBS TO ENHANCE
LITERACY SKILLS AND STUDENT IDENTITY
KHAWLAH AL GASIR
EAT TO LEARN, LEARN TO EAT
MARIAM AL GADEEB
LEARN TO LEAD
92 WALA NADHRAH

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