IH Cairo Teacher Training Program

 A month ago I was wondering around the Facebook, surfing different pages and checking different groups when I came across the IH Cairo facebook page. It was my first time to know there is an international house in Cairo, Egypt. It was interesting  to find they offer Arabic courses for foreigners, Modern Standard Arabic and Colloquial. Besides, I found they were offering a teacher training program for those interested to join the team to teach Arabic for foreigners. I find it interesting and very challenging to shift from teaching English to teaching Arabic. I have decided to apply and I was very lucky to be part of this amazing training.
 The IH Cairo team is very friendly and welcoming, we were nine people in this training program and at the end we become more than friends because of the friendly culture we have found there. The training program was focusing on the practical experience going through real teaching practises with real students. Approaches and methods of teaching were introduced, how to prepare a lesson, how to teach Arabic grammar and Arabic script, how to convey meaning and check understanding are all core stones in the training program. 
 Feedback was one of the most challenging parts in this training, we learnt how to give and receive feedback. It helped us see different views and different perspectives of our teaching approach and style used in class. It helped us analyse our lesson plan professionally, see beyond the lesson and how to make it better with wider outcomes. 
At the end of this training program, I was sure I want to teach Arabic for foreigners. I prayed a lot to get accepted to be part of the IH Cairo team. Finally, I am! I get a phone call telling me I am one of the best trainees in the program and that I will start an induction program for three months. Today 17/05/2015 is my first day in the induction program, I will be observing a class for two weeks, level 2, Egyptian colloquial Arabic. I decided to document my journey and start blogging on this and take notes on the things I find through the teaching journey, and to keep it as an online portfolio for my development in this field and as a reference.

 In the next post I will be writing about the first class I attended today and write down my notes about it.

Big Big Thank you for everyone who was part of this training, starting from our precious teachers Mr. Mohamed Amer, Ms. Nevine Hussien, Ms. Hoda Adeeb, Mr. Khaled Essayed, Ms. Wessam, Ms. Nancy and all the kind and professional team working in IH Cairo who helped us stand out of the crowd, believed we can do something great, motivate us to bring out the best skills we got and utilise it in the best way. Big Big Thank you for my precious Friends Ahmed Shaheen, Safaa, Ahmed Salem, Hossam, Islam, Mahmoud, Mina & Rana. Wish you all the best to achieve in your lives and I am sure you all can.

Teacher Training program team April 2015