Tell us about your background:
My name is Intisar Yahya and I am from Palestine where I graduated from Najah University in Nablus. I am married to Rafiq Khader and we have lived in Kuwait for almost 20 years. Rafiq and I have two children, a boy and a girl. They both graduated from Bayan Bilingual School. My daughter graduated Civil Engineering from Queens University, Canada and my son is currently studying at RCSI.
I taught kindergarten for 7 years and nursery for 12 years at Bayan Bilingual School. Bayan Bilingual School has become my second home. I enjoy socializing and meeting new people. Every year, I get to meet new nursery students and interact with diverse children. Every single student I met I have learned from and every year I grow. Children are very loving, creative and enthusiastic and their positivity always rubs off on me. Being around little kids makes me feel much younger and more energetic. I enjoy every moment I spend with the children and I find it very rewarding.
Tell us one moment from your teaching experience that was particularly powerful, interesting or funny:
My experience at Bayan Bilingual School and with the children is always fun fun fun. The little ones always want to play, dance, mess around and laugh and that is the purest form of innocence. Children are always extremely active and always so amusing. I wish I could remember every funny thing they say to me, but here is one example and I hope it translates well:
We asked the kids to name the woman who fed the prophet Mohammad and instead of answering “Halima Sadiya” one of the kids answered “ haleeb al Saudi” which translates to milk from Saudi.
What teaching and learning goal are you most excited to achieving by the end of the school year?
My goals for the end of this year is to make sure that all of the kids speak proper Arabic and are able to pick up a book and read. I am excited for when the children will be able to read and speak Arabic properly.
Most importantly, I want to make sure that a positive environment is created for the students where they feel comfortable and happy to come to everyday. I enjoy listening to the children and their interesting stories and I want all of the children to feel comfortable and speak their mind and express their thoughts.
Our Arabic class always looks like a fitness class. We are always jumping and singing because the happier the students are, the more they want to learn. We always turn our lessons into games and exercises to make sure that the kids are focused and attracted. I want to make sure that we continue doing so.
Do you have any inspirational words and/ or specific sites, organizations, strategies or links that you’d like to share with other teachers?
Socrates stated, “I cannot teach anybody, I can only make them think”. I apply his words every day I go to work. You might think that they are just nursery kids, but we have to teach the kids how to learn and think.
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