Even in the teacher’s lounge, during breaks I’ve noticed people are not quite as lively as they usually are.  Everyone kinda looks like a grumpy bear that needs to get out of the building and have their own fun.   When the words “spring” and “break” are mentioned everyone gets this weird twinkle in their eye.  It’s kinda sad that we’re all so dependent on a week off from school.

The good news is the 3rd quarter of school ended, and so we’re finally in our last quarter.  This quarter usually flies by, and I’m hoping that happens this year, too.  There’s always lots of end-of-the-year activities in and out of school that keep us occupied from week to week as we all start to countdown to the last day of school in June.  It cannot come a moment too soon!

Until then, I’m waiting for spring break.  When I can sleep everyday of the week and stay in pajamas until noon if I want, or not change at all!

The first semester of the school year just ended a week ago.  Last week we had final exams, and the week before that was spent reviewing all the chapters we had covered thus far.  During that last week I had a lot of D and C students come and ask me what they could do at THIS time to fix their grade and bring it up to a C or a B, respectively.  They become hostile and a little frantic this time of year.

Meanwhile the A and B students are as cool as a cucumber.  They didn’t have any missing work to turn in.  They’d be consistently studying all quarter, so reviewing wasn’t such a task for them either.  And most of them had worked hard to earn a good grade all quarter that they had a pretty nice cushion to fall back on during finals–their grades weren’t going to be effected as easily by a bad midterm grade.

I really felt sorry for the C and D students.  They had spent the first  8 weeks ignoring warnings of missing assignments, low quizzes and tests, tutoring opportunities, extra credit, etc.  Because they were lazy and procrastinated they were completely helpless when it really mattered to them.  And sadly enough, I think they were hoping for a miracle to come and help them transform into an amazing student in the last 2 weeks and then pull their grades out of a big old mess they spent 8 weeks creating.

It’s too bad they didn’t know it doesn’t work that way!  If you want an A or a B, you have to be an A or a B students from the start.  It’s the students that consistently turn in homework (which is just for credit, anyway–easy 10 points), pay attention to earn participation (another easy 5 points a day) and study just a bit everyday for a quiz or an upcoming test.  Their acts may be small, but they’re consistent.  And at the end of the quarter, their consistency pays off.    It’s interesting to see that even the students that just flat out don’t get it (I mean majorly failing tests and quizzes), because they turn in their homework everyday, they never fail the class.  Their tests can only hurt them so much.  Their consistent performance in homework goes a long way. 

I see this as a parable for practicing Islam.  Being consistent goes a long way!  And if you’re consistent in small acts, then insha’Allah when you’re nearing your death you won’t have to worry about everything you missed out on out of sheer laziness.  Praying regularly is like doing homework everyday.  Having taqwa is like being attentive in class.  Reading Qur’an is like studying for tests and quizzes.  The more consistent you are, the more likely you are to be that grade A Muslim that we all want to be when we get our report card.

‘A’isha said that Rasulullah saw said : “The deeds most loved by Allah swt (are those) done regularly, even if they are small”. ( Bukhari, Muslim )

Make him appreciate the chance to come to school
And realize that knowledge is his greatest tool
To get what she wants in this life, and the next
And to be considered among the ummah’s best

Let him see the importance of knowledge
Not just as means to get into college
That it can empower him in this life
To help out his brethren living in strife

Show her that she can be a doctor and help save a life
And not just, instead, strive to be a doctor’s wife
Let her not measure her success on her number of purses
But instead the ability to lead a team of fifty nurses

Let his goal not be the best grade on a test
But that he studied and tried his best
Make her do homework and turn all of it in
And study every night with true discipline

Let him see that nothing is given withing out trying
And that cheating is the same thing as lying
Guide her to see that success only comes from You
And attaining Jannah is the only success that is true

Show my student that my goal is the same
To help increase the strength of their name
To make them the best students they can be,
Ya Allah, please answer my dua, ameen!

First:  AbdelRahman did a couple things from a speaker’s end vital for a good event.

1)  The speaker was on time (read, early) greeting people as they came in–this is VERY important as a teacher.
2) The speaker was prepared and organized with a power point presentation–also VERY important when teaching.  It shows your audience/students that you cared to prepare something a head of time, that it required thought, and effort.

3) The speaker asked for the sisters to be seated in the main masjid–this gave us a better opportunity to focus and pay attention
4) The speaker was interactive with the audience, asking questions and seeking different ideas and opinions–this made the class a group effort, and not just your average “boring” lecture
5) The speaker provided a break in the middle of class–people could check phones, and say salaam to people that walked in after them
6) The speaker encouraged people to seek knowledge, not just on the topic he was given, but in general–this gives the audience/students the idea that the subject does not only exist in the masjid between 11:30AM-1:30PM on Sunday, but it’s something that is always on-going and has many facets.

Second:  I personally enjoyed the class because of the warm fuzzy feeling in the room.  I hadn’t had this feeling in a long time–being in a room and knowing that angels were surrounding us.  Surrounding us because we gathered to remember Allah.  Knowing that almost 100 people got out of bed, came out of their houses and drove to ICN to learn something about their religion.  We all came with the intent to improve ourselves.  We all came knowing that there was more about Islam than we knew at the time.  We all came knowing that someone could teach us what we wanted/needed to know, and all we had to do was make the effort to attend.

On top of that, considering the age of the teacher, it was a joy, a true joy, to see a student of knowledge give back to his community.  How often have we seen students enthusiastic about learning about Islam, but not able to share his/her enthusiasm with others?  Whether it is because their local community will not accomodate them to teach others, or because the student themself just likes to sit on his/her new knowledge.  It is so refreshing to see someone take knowledge from a scholar, and pass it on to his community back home.  I wish more people would do this.  I truly wish they would.  Otherwise, what’s the point of all of us learning anything in the first place?

After eating her chips, the daughter wanted more.  The mom said no, but the daughter threw a fit.  So the mom caved in and gave her daughter some more chips, again saying that this time was the last.  Of course, the same thing happened at least two more times.  After the third time, the mom finally decided to tell her daughter there weren’t anymore chips… she lied!

Well, after eating her chips, the daughter wanted more.  So she started crying for it, again.  The mom kept telling her the same old lie:  there weren’t anymore chips.  But she finally realized her daughter didn’t believe her, so she turned to me and said, “Can you give her some more chips?”

I was a little annoyed.  Didn’t she just tell her daughter the chips were done?  I actually mentioned that to her, “You told her there weren’t anymore…?”  The mom said, “Yea I know, but she wants it now.”

Wow, way to lie to your kid.

When the mom lied, it didn’t even accomplish anything.  In the end, after the mom lied, the daughter didn’t believe her, and the mom ended up giving the daughter what she wanted, thus proving to the daughter that she was lying to her.  Now the daughter is going to have this idea in her head that if mommy says there is no more, it probably is a lie, and if she cries for it enough, what she wants will magically reappear.

It doesn’t matter how many tantrums your kids are throwing, parents should find an honest way to discipline their kids.  For example in this situation the mom could’ve said, “There aren’t anymore FOR YOU to eat .  You’ve already had your fair share.”  Simple.  That’s not lying.  Saying this does two things 1) she avoids telling a lie and 2) the kid learns the idea of eating his/her own share of the food and leaving the rest for others.

Also, I know sometimes we think that rules about lying can be bent on kids, but the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasallam mentioned on multiple occasions that it is wrong to lie specifically to kids.

Lying is improper whether in earnest or in jest. (All lying is unacceptable) even if anyone of you promises his child something and does not fulfill his promise. (Al-Bukahri in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad and Abu Dawud)

This hadith shows how repugnant lying is viewed in Islam. Most people do not find anything wrong with not fulfilling a certain promise given to a young child. The child is bound to forget or can be easily appeased with something else. But deliberate unfulfillment of a promise given to a child is unacceptable. In order to emphasize this last point, let me quote this report by `Abdullah ibn `Amir, a young Companion of the Prophet. He said,

My mother called me one day when Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was in our house. She said, “Come and I will give you something.” Allah’s Messenger asked her, “What do you intend to give him?” She said, “I want to give him dates.” The Prophet said, “If you were not to give him something, your statement would be recorded against you as a lie.”

From islamonline.net

If there are specific prohibitions about lying to kids, it shows how much more careful we need to be about it.

Parents, please don’t lie to your kids.  They’re just like everyone else and deserve the truth.

Are there any parents out there that have any advise on how to avoid lying to your kids?  Or how being honest has helped you in parenting?

Personally, I don’t think I’d like it much either.  Not for high school students, at least.  I don’t think that any of them really need to know, just yet, considering their situation in life and at school, so much in depth information about how to pray.  Teaching the details implies that you know the basics, and unfortunately I’m not sure that that is the case.  I know from seeing it first hand that some of these kids can’t get through 2 rakah of sunnah without making major nullifying mistakes.  So why do they need to spend hours learning how to hold their hands, or which degree to make their backs form during rukuh, or just how low to go when it comes time for sujud?

The way I see it is:  Imaan isn’t in the details.  And I think these kids really need something to raise their Imaan, not something to drag it down with too much information.  The idea of being slammed with rules and regulations for something they have to do everyday (pray) would just be dreary and uninviting.  As another teacher put it, we want to show these kids how easy it is to practice this religion, and that it is made to make our lives easier–not more confusing.

If in the future, once these students have perfected their basic salaah by meeting the fardh requirements, THEN they should move on to the advanced aspects and details of it.  Until then, as I told the teacher, I’d be happy just knowing that they know they have to pray and they get that much done.  Maybe my standards are low, but it’s easier to have them met.

Slowly but surely some students started coming on a regular basis.  Every Tuesday I can expect to see about 4 or 5 girls mostly from my Geometry class to come ask me for help.  They generally do their homework assignment for the day with me.  As much as they say it helps them, for the most part these girls are really intelligent, so I don’t think they need me to succeed.

Anyway, last week tutoring happened to fall on the day before a test in 9th grade Algebra 1, and a quiz in both 9th grade Geometry and 8th grade Algebra 1.  Wow… three assessment in four classes all on the same day.  Tutoring had EXPLODED.  There were about 20 kids that came, which is 15 more than the norm.  I was buzzing around my room from student to student trying to figure out what each student needed from me.  It was all kind of… exciting I guess.  They finally came!  They finally asked for help!  And most importantly,

They all conquered their quizzes and tests!!  The students that came for tutoring did substantially better on their assessment compared to their own average and the class average.  It was truly a help to them.  I really hope they noticed the difference it made in their grades, insha’Allah.

Tomorrow is another Tuesday, so we’ll see who shows up.  There are some quizzes and tests this week, too, so hopefully some of the people who showed up last week will come back again for another push before studying.

I’m so happy! Alhumdu’lillah

1)  For my 8th grade Algebra 1 test I gave the students an extra credit question:  name at least six of the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam’s wives.  One of the boys raised his hand and said he couldn’t think of any.  Before I could say anything in response to him, a girl in my class told him to just guess by listing six girls names.  And so he did… outloud, “Kelly, Michelle, Melissa…”  Everyone began to laugh.  I told him to stop because he was being disrespectful, and that his joke wasn’t funny at all.  The thing is… when I sat down, I couldn’t figure out why that was disrespectful?

2) Walking in the hallway I overheard some girls making fun of someone’s name.  One friend said to the other, “If I ever met someone named Anas, I would totally call him… ANUS!” The other friends burst into laughter and kept walking to class.  I turned to see who it was, and gave them all a nasty look.

Anas ibn Malik has narrated one thousand two hundred eighty-six hadith, one hundred sixty-eight hadith are in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.  When the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam arrived in Madina, Umm Sulaym presented her son, Anas, to the Messenger and asked if he would accept him as a servant. He was ten years old at that time and served the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam until his death ten years later. Many of the descriptions of the Prophet sallalahu alyahi wasalaam were related by Anas.  His mother once asked the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam to supplicate for Anas. He, upon him be peace, said, ‘O Allah, increase him in wealth and sons, give him long life and forgive him his sins.’ Anas would recollect that he had 125 offspring in his lifetime and only two of them were girls, his garden gave fruit twice a year and had basil which smelt like musk and he had lived long and had even survived poison and he hoped for the fourth part of the supplication. He was the last companion to die in Basra in the year 93H aged 103 years old.  He was the longest living companion of the Prophet Muhammad sallalahu alayhi wasalaam.

What’s in a name?

This, I think, is a result of the mentality that some of the students have when they come to class.  The “poor” if you will just… don’t… care!!  They come to class acting like, “Yea, go ahead, give me an F, I don’t care.”  These are the same students who don’t flinch from referrals, don’t come to class prepared with textbooks and pencils, don’t turn in homework, and don’t pay attention.  What’s their deal?

When I was in school I used to have a heart attack if I had a B, and I would be a nervous wreck if I didn’t turn in my homework.  I was actually embarassed if I behaved poorly and was called out on it.

The amount that my students don’t care is unbelievable.  Today, for example, after talking to my students about their lack-luster performance on a test, I called their names one by one to show them how they did.  One of my students just told me, “No thanks” when I called his name.  This made me crazy.  I demanded he come see how he did on his test.  But he wouldn’t budge.  So I told him to abandon his “too cool for school” attitude and show some concern for his grade and take responsiblity for his grades.  He got up mumbling and stumbling, pushing desks around, and barely glanced at his grade that I showed him.

Why?  Why do they not care?  Why do they let themselves slip from a C to a D to an F and not bat an eyelash the whole way down.  What has caused them to have no motivation to try?  Why are the poor getting poorer?  Am I not providing them with enough opportunities to excel in my class??

On the other hand, I have the rich who keep getting richer.  It seems they have no limit.  They’re pulling A+s on everything, coming prepared, never missing an assignment, and are continuously polite, respectful and kind.

There’s such a split in the classroom that I don’t know how to teach.  It’s difficult to reprimand the class when you have the go-getters in the front row absorbing every criticism I have to say, accepting it, and changing for the better (as if that’s even possible for them!)

What to do?  What to do?

I was happy to see they were enthusiastic about improving, but at the same time very disheartened that they would wait ’til the last moment to show such enthusiasm.  Because really, how much could any student possibly improve a bad grade a week before the quarter ends?

The culminating moment of desperation came on the morning of the last Friday of the quarter.  A student approached me after I had finished teaching a new lesson asking me what in the world she could possibly do to improve her grade.  She absolutely couldn’t take home a D to her parents.  She said she would do anything:  extra credit, assignments, projects, retakes, redos, etc.  I just looked her like, “Are you kidding?”

I picked up a pile of homework that had been turned in that morning and quickly glanced through the papers.  Hers wasn’t in there.  So I asked her, “Did you do your homework?”

Embarassed she said, “No.”
I continued,”But you want extra credit?”
“Yes.”
“But you won’t do regular credit?”
“I couldn’t.”
“So you have time for extra work, but not regular work?”
“Please miss, I’ll do anything.”
“Did you do the extra credit assignment I gave the class last week?”
“Ummm…..”
“Seriously?  On the last day of class you want me to scrounge up MORE extra work for *you* to do?”
“Ummm….I just need another chance.”
“No.  I gave you 25 chances… it’s called homework!”

She went back to her seat after that because she knew I wouldn’t budge.  I don’t know if I was being too mean, but I couldn’t handle it.  How can a student spend the whole quarter turning down every opportunity I gave her to earn points, neglect assignments, and then at the end of all of it, beg me for more work to do?  To give her one more chance?

The worst part is, even though I know I’m right about not giving her another chance, students like her manage to make teachers feel like we’re being unreasonable.  But are teachers unreasonable?  Or are the students unreasonable?

I figure the students are unreasonable because they remind me of some other unreasonable people I’ve read about.

Those will have lost who deny the meeting with Allah , until when the Hour [of resurrection] comes upon them unexpectedly, they will say, “Oh, [how great is] our regret over what we neglected concerning it,” while they bear their burdens on their backs. Unquestionably, evil is that which they bear. (6:31)

Or [lest] it [the souls] say when it sees the punishment, “If only I had another turn so I could be among the doers of good.” But yes, there had come to you My verses, but you denied them and were arrogant, and you were among the disbelievers.  (39:58-59)

In these verses Allah is describing to us a group of people who will come on the Day of Judgment with regret and remorse for what they could have done in this life [this quarter].  They will be so desperate and beg to go back to this life to change their habits and earn more good deeds [extra credit] but Allah tells them they already had all their chances and they can’t go back.  They’ll only go forward into the Hellfire.

Similarly, my students wasted the ten weeks they were given and neglected their assignments.  And what were they most likely doing in its stead?  Calling their friends?  Going on the computer?  Hanging out at the mall?  Playing video games?  And how did they feel when their grades were going to be distributed?  They were so full of regret and remorse while begging and hunting for any opportunity to earn extra points at the end of the quarter.

Luckily, what happens in my classroom is just for school, and students do get another chance… the next quarter.  But imagine if these were feelings we had on the Day of Judgment!  Begging Allah for extra time to go back and earn “extra credit” because we didn’t use the time given to us wisely.  It’s a scary thought.

Moral of the story:  don’t trivialize your opportunities to earn good deeds and have any regret on the Day of Judgment!