Cloud computing

Cloud computing is the use of computer software and data which is processed and stored by a remote computer

Cloud computing have advantages and disadvantages.

Cloud advantages:

• Access from multiple devices
• Say goodbye to software and hardware maintenance overhead.
• No need for backing up your data
• No need to USB because our data on the cloud
• Security of viruses (limit viruses)
• Cloud makes connection faster
• Time consuming in case of errors, no need to send a new mail

Cloud disadvantages:

• Google administrator can view your data and can delete it
• Unpredictable cost
• Contracts lock-ins

There are 3 types of cloud services:

1. Storage only cloud services: it allows users only to save your data on the cloud and to back up, example; Google drive, drop box and I cloud
2. SAAS (software as a service): it offers software that runs on the cloud that can be accessed for free or based on a subscription fee, example; Google docs, sheets and slides.
3. PAAS (platform as a service):  it allows users to create SAAS application and it provides web-site building platforms, example; I page, Engine Yard.

In this seminar, also Dr. Ousama Hatoum talked about the PANDA Cloud Antivirus which is a cloud antivirus, run on the cloud and it is faster and lighter than traditional antiviruses. He explained also the 2 step verification it is for more security. To overcome the disadvantages of cloud that the administrator can read our data and deleted, so the 2 step verification when we downloaded it we have 2 passwords rather than one password so in this case the administrator can’t see our data.   

what is a makerspace?

This webinar is with Laura Fleming, it’s about Maker-space.  Laura started by giving us an overview about the maker movement, which is the moving on from the dissemination, synthesis and understanding of knowledge to rather than making of knowledge (knowledge construction). This is giving us a global revolution of people who rather make things then buy things and were driving innovation, manufacturing , engineering , industrial design, and hardware technology. We see the maker movement also extending to areas like music, media, and food. It’s truly has become a revolution in learning. 

The maker movement creates new opportunities for allover learners, these opportunities for all educators to give students authentic learning opportunities that go beyond their typical classroom experiences and to rethink traditional learning environment to include those nurture creativity and innovation that will benefit our students in school and beyond.

Whether you are a school library, whether you teach fifth grade … Fleming believes that is something in this movement for everyone. First what we should talk about is moving learners form consumption to creation and turning their knowledge into action. The maker movement will allow learners to develop the skills, the confidence, the knowledge, and the realization of their own capabilities to think about problem, to design solutions, to create solutions, to critique what they make, and to make better skills.

It encourages a growth mind set, encourages risk and failure that failure is a necessary step on the road to success and innovation. This is the way we want learning to happen and the way learning happens naturally anyway. We know kids learn by exploring, playing, doing, and making, these kinds of things lead to deeper engagement.

What is a Maker-space? Some people think that a maker-space is just a corner of the room with a lot of stuff and gadgets, and it’s really a lot more than that. It is a metaphor for a unique learning environment that encourages tinkering, play, and open ended exploration for all   

Fleming has been a New Jersey educator for 17 years as a classroom teacher and media specialist for K-8 schools and now a library and media specialist for grades 9-12.  She developed a formal maker-space at New Milford High School by the principal, Eric Sheninger. She took a photo for the library when she first begin in the middle of the day, the library look like not one person walked into the library that day, not one teacher and not one student. So the challenge is to transform her library into learning environment that students needed it, wanted it, deserve it, and valued.

To create the Maker-space in the library Fleming used the school’s existing space and resources and also she used the web to create a virtual extension of our Maker-space. She used a successful planning process, she started with the learners, and the first thing she did was not focusing to buy materials, equipment, and a bunch of stuff before taking time to actually plan out the space. In developing her Maker-space she spent a lot of time just talking to the students, to understand their learners. She asked about their needs, wants, and interests. At the same time, she assessed the existing curricula, existing program in her school, and program within the school community. She also considered the global trends and best practices and then she took time to develop themes, after developing their themes such as like robotics, engineering inventions, brainwave technologies, computer coding, electricity/electronics… she finally got to the order of the equipment and the supplies.

Because it is an informal learning space, different kinds of kids from different classes and age levels mingle. “What are you making?” I love that. It opens the door to so many possibilities.

She worked to make her informal learning space a place where it is okay to tinker, play, invent, and take chances. Failure isn’t penalized. At best, we recognize failure as part of the inventing process. The kids came up with was building computers and surprise Fleming. After that she ordered tools and materials, Fleming started creating fixed stations which are in place indefinitely; the other stations come and go with projects, learners can sit down and do something independently immediately and flexible stations include a Lego table, littleBits bar, 3D printing and design station, a MaKey MaKey station, and our take-apart technology station, which is where the practice of building computers evolved. 

Fireworks Designer or Pyrotechnician

Chemists create different kinds of fireworks. Those colorful rockets and sprays that go up on holidays and for special events involve a complex bit of chemistry to achieve the array of shapes and colors. Therefore, fireworks designers need a solid chemistry background to even get started. From there, training and experimenting on the job results in new firework patterns, colors and types.

Pyrotechnics is the art of manufacturing or setting off fireworks. 

Pyrotechnicians design fireworks using different chemical compounds that create spectacular results. Many supplies go into the creation of fireworks including fuses, ignition supplies, plastic bases, shells, and tubes, to name a few. Chemicals, from acetone to zinc stearate, are used for special effects as well as binding agents, solvents, catalysts, and propellants.

What is the origin of fireworks?

Ancient China is most likely where they originated. Legend has it; thousands of years ago a Chinese chef mistakenly mixed together three common kitchen ingredients: Potassium nitrate, sulphur and charcoal. He then ignited, which resulted in flames of many different colors. This man also realized that when burned in a closed bamboo shoot, an enormous explosion was produced. 

At first the ancient Chinese only used this for fun. Soon they realized that the noise created by these curiosities would be great for driving away evil spirits. Eventually they began to use them in weddings, religious ceremonies and victory parties.

So what are the types of fireworks?

·         Roman candles: These long tubes shoot compact balls of chemicals from one end, creating a series of flaming stars. Inside the tubes, the chemical balls are packed one on top of the other, with layers of sawdust between them.

.    Rocket type: Rockets are actually powered by an internal engine. These fly through the air when ignited. They sometimes carry parachutes, stars, or big bangs when they reach the peak of their flight.

·         Fountains: These are cone-shaped and sit on the ground. A hole in the top allows gases to escape, shooting colored sparks into the air.

·         Smoke bombs: They smoke a colorful smoke. That is all they do, so what more can one say about them?

·         Sparklers: These are long pieces of wire. Half of the length of the wire is covered in chemicals that give off bright sparkles of light when lit. Sparklers are credited with causing some of the most serious firework accidents.

·         Aerial shells: These are the kings of fireworks. The most spectacular visually, and usually the loudest. These are the ones the professionals use. These are launched the same way military mortar shells are launched. After placing the shell into a skyward facing tube, an external fuse is lit. The explosion of the lift charge inside the tube then launches the shell. 

Colors in fireworks are generated by "stars", which contain ingredients that when lit, produce different colored light depending on the types of chemicals contained in the stars. There are five ingredients that are most commonly in the stars. These ingredients are: an oxidizer, a fuel to burn, a binding structure to hold everything together, and a chlorine donor ingredient to brighten the color.

What produces the colors are incandescence and luminescence. Incandescence is light that is produced from heat, which makes it glow brighter colors depending on the temperature. The temperature of a firework can be controlled to make certain colors at certain times. To increase the temperature of the firework, metals like aluminum and magnesium are used.

Luminescence is light that is produced using other energy sources than heat, which is why it is also called "cold light". It is produced by 'excited' electrons in an atom or a molecule and then returning to the lower energy level, which releases light, called a 'photon'. Fireworks are, chemically, spontaneous reactions in which much free energy is released. A spontaneous reaction is a reaction that naturally occurs and forms products at certain conditions. 

As a conclusion, we find that the career of a fireworks designer is rather interesting though very dangerous and risky. In addition to that, setting off fireworks is a blast when memorializing festive occasions. Fireworks create a sense of wonder, excitement, and surprise. As long as you are careful, this can be good clean fun.

Reliving the past, Differently

We all love movies. And the thing we love the most about them is that they fulfill a certain imagination of ours, mostly by blurring the borders of reality and fiction. Something caught my attention the other day. I noticed how in some movies people keep trying to invent some kind of ‘time-machine’ that would allow them to travel back through time. And their goal is always the same: change the occurrence of a certain event by doing things ‘differently’. In the light of such a cliché concept I couldn’t help but wonder, is it something we really want? Sure, there are a lot of things we regret doing, mistakes that could’ve been avoided, some situations we could’ve handled differently… but in the end that’s what the past is there for, to enjoy and learn from.

A friend once told me never regret a single thing in your life, because it’s the past that has shaped your present and already affected your future, don’t regret its existence. Think of it this way; for instance, if it weren’t for multiple betrayals by someone you trusted how else would you learn not to trust them again? Another example, would you consider buying a product that didn’t suit you the first time around? Didn’t think so. It’s all in the process of remembering your past actions and decisions and building your new ones on new and improved basis.

I wonder, would going back in time with the help of so called ‘time-machine’ make things right by fixing errors, or would it only open up the possibility of new mistakes and faults arising? Imagine using your recently purchased time-machine, home edition, to go back in time and stop yourself from buying a car that turned out to have quite a short life-span. In the meantime, you find a ‘too-good-to-be-true’ offer for another car and decide to buy it, leaving the past behind. A month later, turns out the offer was in fact too good to be true, and the worst part is the new car didn’t even last as long as the one before.

As you walk today, remember you’re a different person than a couple of mistakes ago… ‘different’ as in wiser. You know the outcome of a scenario you’ve previously tried, so perhaps it’s time for a new one. Use your past as a reference and don’t waste time or energy regretting. After all, time-machines haven’t been invented just yet.

Ericson's psychosocial stages

The 8 stages of psychosocial development:

1.      Infancy: (0-1 year)

A child needs physical and emotional needs such as to be loved, cleaned, and hugged.

Crisis:  trust vs. mistrust, we would have crisis if things not go in the right ways. For example, if the child cry and no body come to fulfill his needs so he builds mistrust.

Virtue: hope, if he had a lot of mistrust so he had no hope.

2.      Early childhood: (1-3 years)

Depend and decide by themselves, parents role is to only direct them.

Crisis: autonomy vs. shame and doubt, if the child feels he doesn’t had autonomy; he will develop shame and doubt.

Virtue: will

3.      Preschool age: (3-6 years)

The child starts to take initiative to surprise us.

Crisis: initiative vs. guilt, if the teacher or the parents are not good, the child develop the guilt and stop taking initiative. So we should encourage them take initiative but in a balance way.

Virtue: purpose.

4.      School age: (6-12 years)

They do things, discover, create, and learn skills.

Crisis: industry vs. inferiority, if the parents don’t allow the children to do things, so they feel inferior and not able to do any things.

Virtue: competence, I am important, and I can do this.

5.      Adolescence: (12-18 years)

 A transition between childhood and adulthood and the start asking question “who I am?” “What’s the goal of life?”

Crisis: identify vs. confusion.

Virtue: fidelity.

6.      Young adulthood:

People think in marriage.

Crisis: intimacy vs. isolation.

Virtue: love, if someone is not able to find intimacy he feels isolated and not able to love and be loved.

7.      Middle age:

People start to evaluate their life and what they can do for the next generation.

Crisis: generativity vs. stagnation.

Virtue: care.

8.      Later life:

They look back, evaluate their lives, what did I do in this life? Did I take the right decision?

Crisis: integrity vs. despair.

Virtue: wisdom, if they satisfied with their lives.

Why do we need School Counseling????

1. To prevent problems.
2. To aid learning process.                               
3. To educate parents, students, and teacher.
4. For Class room management.
5. For Study skills.
6. For exam taking skills (we should teach them how to memorize, instead of asking students to memorize).
7. For goal setting and decision making (children make a decision by giving them the right tools), also we should look from the student’s perspective and the counselor aid them to take the right decision by themselves.
8. For communication skills: communication between students-teacher or mis-communication. (we must teach our students how they communicate by saying “Please” or “Can I”).
9. For substance abuse education: everything that abuse student’s bodies, and brains. For example drugs.
10. For individual planning, sometimes we have students with special needs. For example a deaf students, so we do for them a special plan.

HONEY

DO YOU KNOW HONEY’S HEALING PROPERTIES are mentioned in the Bible, Koran, and Torah??

Honey is an ancient remedy for the treatment of infected wounds recently "rediscovered" by the medical profession, particularly where therapeutic agents are failing. Honey has been used by humans to treat a variety of illnesses: Cough, Asthma, High fever, Diarrhea, Stomach ulcers caused by infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria. Honey acts as a source of carbohydrate during vigorous exercise.

Some people apply honey directly to the skin for: wound healing, burns, sunburn, cataracts, and diabetic foot ulcers. When applied to the skin, honey Serves as a barrier to moisture and keep skin from sticking to dressings (Some of the chemicals in honey may kill certain bacteria and fungus) and Provide nutrients and other chemicals that speed wound healing.

The topical use of honey has a long history, Hippocrates prescribed honey for burns and boils and abscesses and the ancient Greek physician Dioscorides in 50 A. prescribed honeys for sunburn and infected wounds and treat wounds and inflammation of the throat and tonsils.

The effectiveness of honey in rapidly clearing infection from wounds: In otorhinolaryngology (neck & head diseases), head and neck surgery, microbial action, and promoting healing.

Honey is composed in an acidic product (pH 4) with a variable chemical composition according to its source, the harvest season, the plants from which nectar is gathered, and the modalities of honey collection and storage.

Due to its acidic pH, honey can cause unpleasant or even painful feelings during application or ingestion that may limit its use. It is produced by bees it can be contaminated with germs from plants bees, dust during production, collection and processing, pesticides, antibiotics used by beekeepers and farmers, honey is not sterile and can contain bacteria (B. subtilis and C. botulinum),the risk of botulism because of the natural presence of botulinum endospores in honey.

To solve this problem medical-grade honey should be treated with gamma radiation to reduce the risk of botulinum spores being present (Children under one year of age should not be given honey, the more-developed digestive system of older children and adults generally destroys the spores.), Standardized to have consistent germ-fighting activity, and Collected from hives that are free from germs and not treated with antibiotics, and that the nectar should be from plants that have not been treated with pesticides.

Application of honey to inflamed mucosa and head and neck skin or mucosal wounds provides a real therapeutic benefit. So when will such natural medicine replace officially synthetic ones?

Benefits of green tea

I became a fan of green tea not for its delicious taste, but for its benefits. Honestly, the real reason I drink it is because I believe that it helps in burning fats and weight loss. But recently I decided to look into it a bit deeper and see what these benefits of green tea are that people usually talk of.

Why green tea???

Green tea has been used for thousands of years as a medicine, it originated in China, but it is widely used throughout Asia. The reason that green tea is better than black tea that black tea processing allows for fermentation whereas green tea’s processing prevents the fermentation process. As a result, green tea retains maximum amount of antioxidants and poly-phenols the substances that give green tea its many benefits.

 Here’s a list of Green Tea benefits that you should know about!!!!!!

• Weight loss: it increases the metabolism.
• Diabetes: it helps regulate glucose levels slowing the rise of blood sugar after eating.
• Cholesterol: Green tea reduces bad cholesterol in the blood.
• Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s: it protects brain cells from dying and restored damaged brain cells.
• It provides a relaxing and tranquilizing effect (anti-depression)
• It can reduce the risk of esophageal cancer.
• It may also protect against the formation of clots, which are the primary cause of heart attacks.
• It helps with wrinkles and the signs of aging.
• It is effective for treating everything from influenza to cancer.

Are your symptoms Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune chronic disease, occurs more often in women, where joints are always affected. It can involve different parts of the body. When the disease is active it causes the inflammation of joints. Inflammation happens, when the immune response responds to an infection or threats, however in the case of rheumatoid arthritis, it occurs for unknown reasons.

Our immune system is designed to protect our body against any things which harm us, such as infections or threats.  Autoimmune disease is when our immune system starts attacking our self, mistaking body tissues for foreign invaders.

Symptoms and Signs:

People with Rheumatoid Arthritis have: commonly feel unwell and tiered, “Morning stiffness” it takes the patient more than an hour or sometimes several hours before their joints feel loose. Joint swelling, Joint redness, Joint deformity, Joint warmth, Joint tenderness, Pain, Fatigue, and Both sides of the body affected (symmetric).

Treatment:

There is no cure for RA, but there are medications that reduce inflammation in joints, relieve pain, and prevent joint damage.  

Medication:

These drugs can relieve pain, reduce inflammation, slow the progression of RA, and save the joints and other tissues from permanent damage.

•  Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
• Corticosteroid medications: Prednisone
• Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs):  Methotrexate, Arava, and Plaquenil
• Biologic agents: Humira, Cimzia, Enbrel, Simponi (This type is most effective when paired with a nonbiologic DMARD, such as Arava)

These medication may cause sides effects, such as ringing in your ears, stomach irritation, heart problems, liver and kidney damage, thinning of bones, weight gain and diabetes.

First Time Teaching...

One of the most amazing class is the methods class with Dr.Bilal Al Kaderi, who asked us at the first session to choose one model from seven and each of us should prepare a lesson that explains and applies the model.
  

In the next session, he told me to select my preferable lesson in which I should apply The Direct-Instruction Model. Honestly I have been strained because it’s my first experience.

Knowing that, I picked the last model. However the good fortune that he chose me first.

The Direct-Instruction Model is widely used to teach both "concepts" and "skills" and the objectives from this Model are: identify topics most effectively taught with this Model, plan lessons using this Model, implement Direct-Instruction lessons with your students, and assess learner understanding in lessons using this Model.

At the beginning I started looking for a lesson in order to explain and after a lot of thought I found the suitable lesson for this model, it was The Characteristics of Condensation and Vaporization.

Thus after identifying the topic, I did a plan then, I implemented the lesson with my students; then in class after greeting my students, session begins:

“Today our session is very interesting, something that you encounter in your real life, so first, let’s do a small review about the previous session because they are related”. 

Start by asking the students to define condensation and vaporization and to give real life examples. I went through explaining new things like vaporization is divided into two types, the evaporation and boiling. After that I attached two pictures to the board and asked them what process does each photo represent?
Can you deduce from these two pictures the characteristics of each process? 

They shoot back the characteristics.

Later on, requesting them to erase the board and divide it into two parts, the first part for evaporation and the second part for boiling while distributing cards that each students will put under evaporation or boiling.

The students were very interested and excited in this activity. Furthermore I was preparing them a small quiz to make sure that they mastered the lesson.

While explaining the lesson, the doctor was very interested and enjoyed. Especially he loved the topic and during the lesson he told me that he will focus to understand the lesson rather than taking observation notes, and asked my friend to take photos.

That's what gave me the motivation to be very comfortable. When the explanation is done, the doctor said “your work is perfect and excellent, I am proud of you”.

My joy was indescribable at that moment, impressing my doctor and my colleagues being for the first time a real teacher.

TAKE ME BACKKK!!!!

My family decided to spend the New Year's holiday in LUXOR-ASWAN. It was a FIVE DAYS NILE RIVER CRUISE FROM LUXOR TO ASWAN. I was very excited about this trip while i had a lot of assignments for the teaching diploma. But despite that I did not hesitate to go this trip.Our trip started, vacation mode on. Everybody was happy and interested to visit these 2 cities of ancient wonders. I began the journey from Beirut airport to Luxor airport and down to the harbor where we went to our cruise. I went up to the deck while the cruise began to sail slowly and I enjoyed the view of the Nile River. I was shocked about this river it is the world's longest river at 4,135 miles.Luxor is the second most visited tourist city in Egypt after Cairo. Where we visited the monument such as: Karnak Temple, The Luxor Temple, Valley of Kings, and the Valley of Queens.
I had the feeling that was indescribable, ruins built amazingly there was something fascinates the heart and mind all that you do in this moment to raise your head and contemplate the magnitude of these ruins and ask yourself how the Pharaohs did it ? What was their secret? What were the tools that they used in the construction?

Karnak Temple:

 

 

 

Luxor Temple:

Aswan, having a beautiful setting on the Nile, this small modern city has a population of about 230,000 people who are mostly Nubians (People of an ancient region of Northeastern African). We begin our day in Aswan by going on a relaxing tour on a Felluca (which is a wooden sail boat) on the Nile River for visiting The Botanical Garden. It was considered a natural treasure to Aswan. The island was given to Lord Horatio Kitchener and he turned this island into botanical garden because he had a tremendous passion for plants and palm trees. In this garden, there is a variety of rare trees (the royal palm, The Sabal palm tree…) and a variety of plantations and trees that were found naturally on the island. Then we went to The Nubian village, which is characterized by breeding crocodiles in every home either their homes characterized by painted white and colored surfaces. We visited also The Phila Temple, The Edfu Temple, and The High Dam of Jamal Abd El Nasser. It was used to end flooding and bring electric power to every corner of Egypt. Although the dam had many pros but it has several downsides, for example, due to the flooding of the Nile end a large number of fish migrated.

The Botanical Garden:

     

The Noubian Village:

The Phila Temple:

     

The Edfu Temple:

The High Dam of Jamal Abd El Nasser:

The advantage of this trip was purely cultural; it takes you to an ancient civilization full of ideas and beliefs that led to the building of these ruins that attract tourists from worldwide. Arise visited it because I am sure that it will fascinates the mind and the heart!!!