Daily thoughts

Teach to Mastery

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“Teach to mastery rather than to exposure.”

Can this quote apply for today’s education?

Many people don’t seem to know what mastery is or why it’s important.

Most learners, young and old, now follow the takeaway rhythm. 

“Am I going to read all this?”Some students, and even adults gasp in shock as if they were asked to read or write one of Shakespeare’s play.

To be honest, I used to behave just like that during my university years. But… perhaps at that age, one didn’t expect to study more. So with moans, mumbles, and sarcastic jokes, many in my generation surrendered and followed the old, hard way of studying; the libraries, our brains, our hands, and, before all, the knowledge of our teachers.

Now it seems that many students and teachers have to cope with this fast, takeaway rhythm of education. The quote above still exists, though. It’s already fulfilled, but in a more advanced, technological way. 

Now back to the quote, it’s not just for teachers, but for everyone, including parents, who are planning or trying to practise teaching.

Mastery, by the way, is about understanding, confidence, and application, without panicking about perfection or excellence.

But exposure focuses on grabbing a quick bite: learning as if you’re picking up a fast food meal. You take a bite and bin the rest. Or better put, learning by telling without showing, memorising without thinking, answering  without understanding.

But how proud would be that teacher be who teaches to mastery by the end of the academic year?

I can imagine them smiling, happy with their achievement, even if some of their students choose to stay behind, stuck with their fast food meal.

With teaching thoughts,

Nahla

Just writing

WordPress, Are You Okay?

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Dear WordPress,

I’m writing to inform you that things have been so quiet on my blog for about two weeks or even more.

Fortunately, I haven’t given up writing or blogging.

Actually my mind and thoughts have been surprisingly active throughout this stagnant period.

But,unfortunately, I haven’t received any response.

Either way, rest assured that I won’t give up writing.

Why would I?

I really wonder whether you’re in good health?

Any bad cold?

Any family problems?

Any financial difficulties?

Or are you stuck in some technical trouble?

Any issues with hackers?

Any virus attacks?

Or maybe WiFi problems?

I did my best, first to think positively about you, 

and second, to make sure my posts received at least a little reaction.

I gave my posts a like  myself as a moral support, to help them feel better.

Again, whatever the cause, don’t worry, I will keep writing.

Get well soon,

Yours sincerely,

Pure-and-simple

With speedy-recovery  thoughts,

Nahla

Just writing

The Fig Tree

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“A fig-tree, looking on a fig-tree, becometh fruitful.”

I’ve just come across this proverb as I was reading. 

By the way, I’ve started reading both fiction and nonfiction these days.

So my mood has turned a bit philosophical, but hopefully my writing won’t be boring. 

Now, back to the proverb, it reminds me of a similar saying in Arabic.

Actually… perhaps it can be an interpretation of the same idea.

The Arabic proverb says: If you live next-door to the happy, you will definitely become happy too.

Now back to the English one: isn’t the image of a fig tree next to another fig tree so beautiful?

When one becomes fruitful, its neighbour will surely be fruitful too. 

And what a coincidence!

I had bought some dried fig just before I came across this proverb.

I’m the only fan of dried figs in my family.

My daughter tried one, but when she asked me why its inside flesh felt like tiny bubbles.

I told her the truth; “dead wasps inside.”

She stared at me and said, “REALLY”

And since then she changed her mind about sharing any with me.

Now then, as people say, happiness is contagious.

And that’s exactly what both the English proverb and its Arabic version are trying to tell us.

With happy thoughts,

Nahla

Daily thoughts

Don’t Trade a Secret?

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This post was inspired by Weekend Writing Prompt #484: a weekend challenge to write a poem or a piece of prose in exactly 90 words using the word “Trade”.

I wish I could say I followed the instructions, but my mind and my pen had another thought.

So here’s the piece they ended with: 

People ask, always ask, so many questions.

Perhaps out of curiosity, admiration, or even envy.

And everyone has at least one secret in life.

But not every secret can be traded.

Why trade your privacy for public interest?

Isn’t privacy supposed to be one of your secrets?

Why trade trust for any gains?

Isn’t trust supposed to be a secret held between two?

Why trade your hard-earned toil for vanity?

Isn’t your toil meant to be a quiet secret for a good cause?

They say that in the professional world, every trade secret is protected by legal regulations.

So how come people trade their own secrets with no regulations, no considerations, and no sense of decency.

Kindness and loyalty still exist, and the world is not as murky as some people try to paint it.

But it’s wiser to think twice before trading a secret for anything at all.

With don’t-trade-your-secrets thoughts,

Nahla

Daily thoughts

The Beauty and The Heart

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People say that what’s hidden in the heart shows on the face.

And others say that real beauty comes from a pure, beautiful heart.

So… the essence of the whole issue is simple: beauty begins in the heart.

What’s hidden there, what lies deep inside your heart, becomes your reflection in the mirror.

People paint their faces, then look into the mirror and wow at themselves.

But what they see isn’t real, it’s only a painted picture.

They know the truth, yet they still pretend that what’s fake can become true.

They play the same trick with their hearts.

Some paint themselves as kind, trustworthy, pious, and perhaps even angelic.

But the heart fails them, because it can’t be painted.

And what shows on painted, glowing faces can never hide what lies in the heart.

The heart is the honest mirror, just like the one in the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

It doesn’t lie.

You hit it.

You squeeze it.

You smash it.

Yet it still shows who you really are.

Have you ever wondered why beauty becomes so artificial?

Perhaps, because some hearts become so hard.

Rocks have no feelings, no sense of beauty.

Once the heart is obsessed with selfishness, its beauty fades.

And once its beauty fades, the face darkens and seeks some urgent artificial paint.

And then, artificial beauty glows without any real beauty, 

and the hardened hearts live without any sense of life. 

Would the Beast have ever turned back into a noble prince without the pure heart of the Beauty?

With pure-hearted thoughts,

Nahla

daily prompt

Would You Live in Your Parents’ Garment?

nhpureandsimple

What’s something you do completely differently from how you were raised?

In Arabic, there’s a saying or perhaps an old adage says: I’m not going to live in my father’s garment. 

Actually, this saying became the title of a famous TV drama in the nineties.

Anyway, parents, in most cases, want their children to live a far better than life than they did. That’s why they often work hard, save money, and build big dreams for the future of their children.

And, sometimes, parents believe that their children will always follow their footsteps. 

But the thing is, life is unexpected.

And this garment whatever it may be; a profession, a business, or even certain traites, won’t always fit the size of their children.

So…even though you and your siblings may have been raised in the same way, your lives don’t have to be the same. 

It’s not only about choices, whether to follow this path or that, but it’s also about how life changes, and how it changes you along the way.

With parents’-garment thoughts,

Nahla

Daily thoughts

Hello September 

nhpureandsimple

S for school, studies, and those warm and chilly sunny days,

E for early mornings, early alarms, the early race to have the first access to the toilet.

P for parents with their checklists: school uniform, school bags, and lunch box packed just right.

T for timetable, for lessons, exams, and that copy you pin to the refrigerator.

E for every day, with its new drama full of moans, excuses, and the latest friendship-challenge test.

M for mothers, rushing through those few free hours they try to enjoy, while the clock hands keep running towards home time. 

B for birthday, have you ever thought how lucky you are if your birthday falls in September?

E for every night, when the lights turn off, the roads get quiet, and everyone tucks themselves into their own little nests.

R for remember, school days make precious memories, just do your best to create good ones.

With new September thoughts,

Nahla

daily prompt

Manchester Oxford Road

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What’s the best thing you’ve ever found randomly on the street?

On familiar roads, streets, and cities, memories are often the first things to rise and flow one after another as you walk along and through them.

Have you ever experienced that quiet feeling of nostalgia?

I have.

As you walk along a familiar street, a memory of an old friend, a joke, or even a phone call might pop up into your head without any warning.

Those moments are actually the best gifts you may find along the road, and they may be the most precious too.

Whenever I visit Manchester and walk along Oxford road, where Manchester University is, the memories of our first days in the UK rush back into my mind as if it was yesterday.

Things have changed, though; with new shops, new buildings, and of course new faces, but I don’t mind. My first memories of this city always come back fresh and strong. 

There, in the university accommodation which still has its unique name, Horniman House, we lived for quite a few years.

On this road, I walked with new friends from different countries. 

On this road, I heard the Manchester accent that was so different from the English I learned throughout my entire education.

On this road, I knew how it felt like to be soaked by the British heavy showers.

On this road, I got my first sunburn under the British glaring, bossy sun.

And there are more and more memories, I find along this road whenever I go there, but that’s enough for now.

With memories-along- the-road thoughts,

Nahla

daily prompt

My First Cooking Book

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What’s a book you never finished but still think about?

Years ago, during the final steps of my wedding preparations, my mother insisted that I should have one of those well- known cooking books in my new home. She had already bought me one before I had even thought about it. 

Before getting married, I used to help in the kitchen, but I had never been in charge of making full meals or anything complicated.

So my mother (may God bless her soul) believed that a cooking book would be a good help.

Honestly, I never used it, and I have no idea where I left it.

I might have had a look at it, though, but that was all.

Since then, whenever a booking book, with its colourful, mouth watering pictures and recipes, fell into my hands, I would give it a quick scan and put it back where I found it.

This doesn’t mean I don’t like cooking, because I do.

The thing is, perfection, consistency, exact measurements, are not on every woman’s cooking agenda.

By the way, would you really pause one day to think about a book that you never finished?

If the book was really of any interest to you, then you would have finished it. 

Otherwise, you’d ruffle through its pages and quietly set it aside without anyone noticing.

With a-book-never-finished thoughts,

Nahla 

P.S. the falafel in the photo are not home-made.

Daily thoughts

Thinking Too Much

nhpureandsimple

Sometimes thinking too much is not only frustrating but also a kind of torture.

So, for example, when you think too much about writing something, you end up writing nothing at all.

Have you ever felt this way?

I usually don’t think too much before writing. When an idea or a quote or a book or whatever strikes me as inspiration, I grab my iPad and write. 

Of course that’s when there are no distractions around.

And I have too many distractions these days.

Now, back to my Thinking Too Much post, the idea simply popped into my head this afternoon as I was reading.

I’ve been reading more of Lisa Wingate’s books. Her writing style is one of the things that won’t bore readers, even when the story itself isn’t that surprising.

For me, a story becomes more interesting when its narrative is captivating.

Anyway, the main character in the book is one of those people who thinks too much, giving both herself and me as a reader a headache.

But this kind of inner turmoil happens in life too. Right.

Some people weave a drama inside their heads that has nothing to do with reality. Or they weave things that do have something to do with reality, but don’t need all this drama.

In both scenarios, the drama doesn’t end until you spill it out. When you finally reveal what’s bothering, what’s annoying, or what’s frightening; all that have been buzzing in your head suddenly quiet down. It feels as if the door was wide open all along, and you were only looking through its magic eye.

The heroine in the story is exactly this type, and she stays that way until truth and reality meet her face to face.

But reading this inner turmoil is not like feeling it. I mean if you ever write your inner overthinking drama down and read it later, you might be surprised by your reaction because you would definitely laugh at yourself.

You would say: why think too much, why not explain things, why not ask about things, can’t you see the open door there, all the time? All you need is to step in, straightaway.

Things may turn out simpler and clearer than what you’ve been weaving into your head. And if they don’t, then at least you can step away but never back behind the door again.

And finally, this post is done and hopefully I’ll finish the book by the end of today.

And perhaps no more overthinking ever again.

With thinking-too-much thoughts,

Nahla