My Name is Mais AbuAli and I am an Arab Jordanian Teacher

My Name is Mais AbuAli and I am an Arab Jordanian Teacher and Mom, Originally from (Nablus) a city in the West Bank.Growing up in an environment of sharing, I always felt that it is through connection that we can really develop as individuals and professionals.Therefore, I enjoy every opportunity I am given to connect with educators I admire and I actively participate in educational conferences, it’s my way of contributing to this wonderful global exchange of ideas.When I was a little girl, I used to play school in the garden with papers we had gotten from our teachers.My friend would stand in front of us with a ruler and wave it as she taught us a lesson we would listen and then pretend to complete the worksheet and then school was over.I always wanted school to be over .it was the summer and I wanted to play.So funny, to reflect back on those days that friend who would wave the ruler while teaching, she became a teacher.So many children know what they want to for a living when they are young and many teachers I know today were the little girls playing schools during summer.My Greatest influence as a teacher has been my mother. A teacher of Arabic language, my mother embodies everything I admire in teachers –that is, a sense of sharing, gratitude and kindness.She has been always been a true educator who sees students as individuals with unique personalities need and strengths. Someone who teaches beyond the classroom walls and incorporates students’ reality in their teaching. I have to admit that she still influences my teaching choices and has been the main reason I‘ve become to realize that teaching is more than a profession, that is my call.That’s why I now feel fortunate to have been given the chance to teach years ago. Question 2:When where why and how did you begin your professional life. Tell us all about your journey?Teaching and learning are related, being a learner is primary stage for being a teacher.In the year 2001 I was given the opportunity to teach in one of the most elite international schools in Amman. I was the Arabic and Maths teacher for her highness princess Iman daughter of King Abdulla in Hashemite kingdom of Jordan.I didn’t have a teaching diploma, but the fact that I have graduated (Rosary College) a missionary school was a plus and added to my CV. I was a lucky child who have a desire to learn new languages (English and French).I have had been always taught that learning languages can connect with people from different cultures and nations.Whenever I used to speak a couple of phrases in someone’s mother tongue I created a new bridge to find a beauty within each culture and felt eager to speak with people from different nations.Working in the same School in Dubai it was the time when I was blessed by becoming a mom.It’s no secret that being a teacher is a challenging job.Parenting is, as well. Sometimes it seems nearly impossible to balance all of your responsibilities with between these two important roles. It can feel like a constant power struggle at times.I kept motivating myself “I teach because it’s my passion. It’s one of the 2 reasons I was put on this earth”.My Passion of teaching, to finish my PGCE in the year 2005 and get my teaching degree to be a certified teacher in the international school of Choueifat.My teaching degree was a new milestone in my professional journey, I decided to explore the EYFS world in the year 2009 when I applied to work in Raffles International Nurseries..When i chose a path to becoming an early childhood teacher, I was dedicating my professional life to helping our most precious resources grow into responsible, competent learners.Being a preschool teacher is rewarding, especially if you have the interest and passion of helping young kids, and watching them learn and achieve.On many days I was spending more time engaging them and teaching them, and influencing their behavior more than anyone-including their parents.I simply needed to acquire the in-depth knowledge and skills.When I was teaching early child hood education, I was often the first witness to so many groundbreaking moments. Sure, the long-term rewards were nice, like having a student come back to visit you after several years. But, these are the daily wins that kept me motivated.I have realized that teaching is an art and science in some ways .seeing the effectiveness of different approaches will also help develop your interpersonal skills for communicating with all age groups.I got better at multi-tasking. I learnt to be more organized as I could easily lose control of curriculum, and classroom behavior.The noble feeling that goes along with teaching this age group .knowing that I am taking care of the most vulnerable people amongst us, and keeping safe was making me feel good.This job helped to tap my own inner child. I was able to refresh my imagination and creative skills through the activities I planned. I became more patient. Through experience, I developed the right level of patience. The sense of humor and honesty were making my job rewarding and entertaining and I got to remember what it was like to be a kid. Question 3:What is the secret of your success and what does success mean to you?I remember when I used say “Of course my kids will be fluent in Arabic! We will only speak Arabic at home. Those were my thought 13 years ago when my daughter Haya was nicely sheltered in my tummy and I was comfortably numb in my dreams. As soon as Haya started school she dread learning Arabic and I had a struggle to teach her my mother tongue.It really broke my heart to realize the fact that Arabs are learning foreign languages and teaching of most subjects at schools and universities in these languages, plays a role in them moving away from their mother tongue.I have always believed in positivity as a great a quality for a teacher .A positive person always looks for the good in someone or situation.In a lot of ways, I’m the person who thinks of the glass being half full instead of half empty. This is an excellent trait for a teacher because students need a positive role model in their lives, and not all have the opportunity to have it at home. My family is very close and family oriented, they have all gone through some rough patches and have remained positive throughout everything. I think this plays a major role on me and how I conduct and live my life. Positivity is a good trait to have and it looked up upon, it is a rare trait to have and I know that my friends really appreciate that trait of mine. Positivity is the type of this that rubs off on people and most likely it’s there to stay.I started to look closely at Arabic language curriculum which lacks systematization and progression, and the Arabic teachers who are following methods of teaching based on memorization that effects the students’ motivation in learning the language