Voices from Lebanon
Loubaba Khaldi Teacher. Mentor. Friend.
I am Loubaba Khaldi, a biology teacher at Zahia Kaddoura Public School. Our school is in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. It is my third year to participate in IEARN and I had the honor to attend iEARN Conference 2017 in Morocco, where I had the opportunity to learn a lot of tech tools that I am still using until now. My students are in grade 11. They are enthusiastic to participate in this project: Finding Solutions To Hunger. Furthermore, I am looking forward to collaborate and am certain that it will be an unforgettable experience for my students and for me.
I hold a BS degree in Biology from the American University of Beirut in 1990. Then I got my diploma in science education in 1993. Starting from that year, I started teaching in different schools. Currently I am in my 5th year working at Ministry Of Education and Higher Education as an academic counselor after having taught Biology for 18 years in secondary classes of both public and private schools. Through this long educational journey, I had the opportunity to attend many training sessions at different educational centers (SMEC, British Council, Dirasat and Qitabi Programs funded by USAID). Parallel to this, I gave many training sessions for private schools and for academic counselors.
Having experienced many educational practices and learning approaches, my vision in education has greatly changed. I am more convinced now that teaching does not necessarily mean learning. As a result, I am more passionate now about training teachers, supporting them with resources and demonstrating ideal examples of teaching practices in addition to helping them in integrating technology in education successfully. My ultimate goal is to enhance learning by empowering students with the appropriate skills needed to construct knowledge that is based on their interests. My dream is to be able to reassuringly convert the classical pyramid of Blooms Taxonomy and start from the higher order thinking skills of synthesis and evaluation.
These cognitively demanding skills are what will help students to access deep learning that is sustainable and long lasting, which are considered as indicators for our success as teachers. All my ambitions in the field of education I experience in iEARN projects where students acquire all 21 century skills in a very short period of time.
