INSPIRATIONAL ....What adults can learn from kids

TED Talks - on Poverty

What Causes Earth's Seasons?

The Millenium Development Goals

Students of grade 7 & 8 are completing a short research task on the Millenium Development Goals.

The link below a brilliant website that was the main source of information for all students. Check it out for more information on the goals.

http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/mdgs/index.asp

ILO Reports on Child Labour Globally

Child labour rises on poverty in Jordan - 19 July 09

Video Transcript

Below is a full transcript of the video. Read it carefully. Content in this video is important for your understanding of Child Labor and you will be expected to have a full understanding of it.
Reporter:
12 year old Maysara polishes and paints cars in the steering heat to support his family. For the last three years, he has worked at this car body-shop in his hometown of Jerash, 60 km North of Amman.

Maysara:
“ I get paid 21 dollars a week, 7$ for myself and 14$ for my family. I have 3 brothers. We all work to support the family. We give our mother the money to cover household expenses because my dad doesn’t give her any money. We’re used to helping our parents.”

Reporter:
Child labor is on the increase in Jordan as poverty levels rise. 18 is the legal working age, but harsh circumstances and customs are pushing children out of school and into work.
12 year old Qusai works 13 hours a day in the summer.

Qusai:
“ I have been working for 6 years in the summer and during the school year, so I can feed my family and keep them alive.

Reporter:
There are some efforts to fight the trend funded by the ministry of labor. The social support center for working children rescues child laborers and provides them with education, rehabilitation and psycho-social support.
The girls here were homebound and illiterate. The boys are school dropouts.

Nihayat Dabdub – The Hashemite Fund for Human Development
“They are provided with specialized counseling because they are aggressive, basically they have very low self esteem and they are victimized. We work with their parents themselves because they are the main cause behind any abuse that may have affected those children.”

Reporter:
Laws here stipulate that children who drop out of school for more than three years cannot enroll again. For these children this center gives them their only opportunity for a decent education.
95% of the children at this center were illiterate when they were first pulled out of the work force. 75% of them were the main providers for the destitute families.
But the aim of this center is not only to put an end to child labor but also to break the vicious cycle of illiteracy and the knock on effect of poverty carried through many generations here in Jordan.
The parents of working children are reluctant to take them out of work because their families desperately need their income. The center gets around that by offering a small scale income generating program or a microfinance loan.
But although there is some guilt in Issa’s voice for dodging his financial responsibilities towards his widowed mother and his siblings, he is beginning to understand how leaving work to learn can secure a better future.

Issa:
The center gives me a certificate and is like my family. I used to make 7$ a day hauling vegetables from a truck, but when I get a certificate, I can open my own shop and even one for my brother. Our lives will improve and maybe we can even buy a home.

Reporter:
The one and only center in the country is saving 350 working children in Amman and is struggling for funding to accommodate a larger number.
The government has yet to reach out to other working children in other governorates like Jerash.
A UNICEF study showed that 1 in 3 children are working below the legal age in Jordan. That means child labor here has become a matter of necessity, a matter of survival but is so far not a priority to the authorities.

Nisreen Al Shamayleh
Al Jazeera – Amman

Reflections on Poverty - By Zain Al Alami - Grade 7

I am very thankful in my life. I enjoy being surrounded by people who I love such as my family and friends; I'm lucky to be put in a school that makes sure that we get high education and I am grateful that I have an excellent way of transportation.I have and I can get anything I want while other people my age are suffering and are working hard to get some money just to feed themselves and their families.

No one has a life that's perfect without facing any problems, for example I am completely happy with my life and I'm not facing any problems with my friends, family or even teachers, but I do have some trouble in organizing my time to fit school and to fit my studies at this age. This might be a simple problem for people who don't even go to school or don't even have the time to study because they need to take care of their families and their lives.

Reflections on Poverty ....by Rahaf Beiruty - Grade 7

Hi,My name is Rahaf I am 11 years old I live with my parents also with my sister and two brothers, I love them. I live in Jordan in the city Amman, I love my school it is A.S.G, I have many friends.

I think that I live in ahappy life and I thanks my god for every thing and I wish that I stay happy and I don't see any thing makes me sad.

Reflections on Poverty - Haya Basmachi - Grade 7

I live in Arab country which is not rich in water, but it is rich in desert,and tourist.i live with my mother,father and my sister,i share my bedroom with my sister, i learn in the best schools.

Every single day i wake up in the morning to go to school to learn,then i come back home start to study and in my opinion the best thing to is studying because in our age our job is studying.the life is easy for us but for adults it's difficult.

Reflections on Poverty.....by Ghena Haikal - Grade 7

I never thought of how people far away in different countries lived, and after I knew about poverty around I started thanking God for all I have.


There are things I feel lucky to have that poor people aren't; I go to a private school, I buy new outfits per month, I go out with friends, my health is perfect and I have a medical insurance, also I have a home to sleep in, moreover, I have modern equipments such as computer, t.v to communicate with the world, furthermore, I have entertainments and fun in my life.


Unfortunately, there are difficulties I face in my life, since I'm in a poor country that the business level in it is going down we have to decrease our goings and buying stuff that isn't essential but buying more needed supplement, in addition, my parents are working harder than ever to support my sister and brother and pay for our school expenses.

Grade 7 Social Studies Newsletter

Social Studies Newsletter #1
November 28, 2010 Email: Violet.bawab@asg.edu.jo Class Site: https://sites.google.com/a/asg.edu.jo/violet-bawab/   Blog: http://asgsocialstudies.blogspot.com/ Check out the latest post by Aya Al Nouri on Poverty!	Violet bawab – ASG
Dear Grade 7 Students…   It has been a busy first semester and it is going to get even more busy after our nice and long Eid holiday….   Below is a brief description of all the material we covered and that we will be covering in the next month:   Introduction skills to Social Studies / Basic geography: In this section of our course, we covered the concept of credibility and credentials giving us a better ability to assess whether a source of information is credible or not (how believable it is) and if the information we are reading and using is accurate and verifiable. This is a skill that is necessary for all the years to come and will go a long way in any future research project we will carry out. We also covered the difference between fact and opinion, fiction and non fiction, all of which are distinctions that should be clear to our students. 5 Themes of Geography: this section was covered as a self study section and the aim was to introduce all the themes for future application (when we start with our history component of the course). It is important for us to have an understanding of the 5 themes of geography yet we will not be testing on them alone. Countries of the world – Research Assignment: our students have conducted a mini research assignment on "How many countries are there in the world" and have found that even such a question could hold many answers, therefore they tested their abilities to assess information credibility and decided on which answer or answers to use. As a class, we have decided to use 195 countries, based on the 192 countries that are members of the United Nations, adding Kosovo, The Vatican City and Thailand to them.   Global Issues – Eradication of Poverty The concepts of responsibility, justice and equality were discussed in this chapter since they will form a good basis for our judgment of many real life situations we will study and they will form the basis of any socially responsible action we aim to promote in our students.   We are working on watching some videos that put poverty in context to our students in order for them to understand where we stand in the world relative to those in need, we also focused on the concept of poverty in Jordan through many class discussions on the differences between the Haves and Have Not's in Jordan using health care, education, lifestyle, housing style as indictors of the rich VS (versus – compared to) the poor. We have introduced the concept of GDP per capita and are relating it to population size and the status of a country (developed VS developing) all as indicators of poverty and wealth in a country through a worksheet. We have a homework assignment to be submitted in the next week on the Millennium Development Goals and students are required to understand them, describe them and be able to discuss them in our upcoming final exam. In our first assessed task, we are preparing project proposals for projects that could practically help a Jordanian family in need (something grade 7 students at ASG could achieve). The first phase of this project is completed and due for submission on November 22nd and 23rd. This part of the project will allow us to assess individual and group work and give students an opportunity to be creative and dynamic in their ideas. Phase 2 of this project will include a presentation conducted by every group on the idea I will be choosing for each group (each group will propose 2 ideas, only one will be chosen for presentation). The presentation part of the project will assess the ability of students to create dynamic presentations using tools on Glogster.com to integrate technology effectively into our work. This component of the project is due for submission prior to final exams. Final Exam: Our final exam is on the 11th of December 2010. Material included in this test will be provided in a separate study guide within the first week after Eid Break. The test will include all material covered in the period preceding the exam and will cover material of the first test as well.   I highly recommend that you all take a thorough look at the tests and review the questions and the answer guides posted on the class website, as well as the answer guide to the first homework assignment on credibility and credentials.     Glogster Account: For our next phase of the Poverty Project, you are required to log in using the Username and password provided to your group by visiting www.glogster.com and selecting log in, then enter the nick name and password provided by your teacher.

Economics Study Guide – Grade10 – Final Exam 11-12 (ASG)

The following material will be included in the final exam:

Chapter 17: Output and Growth                  [page 321- 331]

Section 1: Measuring Output

Section 2: Measuring Growth

Section 3: How to achieve growth

Section 4: The benefits and costs of economic growth

Section 5: Growth Cycles

Chapter 14: Government Objectives and Policies         [page 248-252]

Section 1: Macroeconomic Objectives

 

 

 

Please review all notes, class handouts and assignments.

Please visit the class site at https://sites.google.com/a/asg.edu.jo/violet-bawab/ for solved handouts and class / lesson presentations.

 
 

Be sure to bring a calculator with you to the test .

Econ 9 – Final Test (11 December 2010) Study Guide

The following material will be included in the final exam:

Chapter 1: Basic economic question                 [page 1-12]

Section 1: What is the economic problem

Section 2: Opportunity cost: the cost of choice

Section 3: What is economics for?

Section 4: Choice: a conflict of interest

Chapter 2: specialization and exchange                 [page 13-16]

Section 1: What is an economy

Section 2: Production, consumption and exchange

Section 3: Resources: the factors of production

Section 4: What do resources produce

Chapter 3 : economic systems                     [page 31-48]

Section 1: Coping with scarcity

Section 2: What, how and for whom to produce ?

Section 3: Providing answers to what, how and for whom?

Section 4: The market economic problem

Section 5: Planned economies

Section 6: The mixed economic system

Chapter 12: organizing production                 [page 204-210]

Section 1: What is production?

Section 2: The aims of production

Chapter 7: how prices are determined                 [page 104-108]

Section 1: What is demand?

 

 

Please review all notes, class handouts and assignments.

Please visit the class site at https://sites.google.com/a/asg.edu.jo/violet-bawab/ for solved handouts and class / lesson presentations.

 
 

Be sure to bring a calculator with you to the test in the case you might need it.

Poverty - By Aya Al Nouri

Imagine that 6 billion,700 million people live on Earth. Have you ever thought about is there the approtunity for all people to drink, have money, eat and be safe? No, and this poorness is called poverty.
Many people in this world are Poor, in every country and town there is an amount of poverty. For example Jordan has much less amount of poverty than South Africa. Now, there's a mistake the poor people do... They bring *reproduce* 10 children(average) because this is the only thing that the can become happy with. However, the don't think that the more people our planet is filled with, the more POVERTY WE WILL FACE!
People in South Africa are facing EXTREME POVERTY.They do not have enough money to live. They are really surviving extreme poverty, which is huge. Some of the fathers and mothers let their young (five years old son/daughter) work! Why? Is this fair? Or is it fair to let children ask for money? What is the father doing? He should go make money to educate his children. However, this problem happens with some of the families.
We should try our best to stop poverty, I am not saying that we should STOP poverty.. Because we can't stop poverty all over the world. But we can HELP reducing poverty at least in Jordan. I will not keep on repeating how people are facing poverty... But I want to note that we CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. We should work together hand by hand to make a difference.

Grade 7 - Post by Dana Madanat

Welcome to ASG's Time Machine. In this time machine you will travel to the past, and you will enter the world of the Byzantine and Muslim Civilizations.
You'd better get used to wild animals because this year we are going to travel to Africa and learn about Africa's civilizations. After that we will go to where the Olympics were held, Rome (Olympia).

So, you'd better hurry, it's time for the Journey.

Why is school GREAT???

In this blog post, we will start by talking about a matter important to us all, as students and parents....why is school great? & can it really be fun?

If we think about some of the points we have compiled below, we might move a step forward to more enjoyable school experience!

1) We learn things we never learn elsewhere.....

2) We make friends for life...and what is life without friends?

3) Staying home for so long can be boring, so school keeps us up and running!

4) Waking up early every morning can become a fun time activity, especially if your mum wakes you up with a water spray!

5) School is the only place you can get grades solving a crossword puzzle!

6) Where else can you roam the whole world?

7) Is there a better risk-free time machine?



I am sure many of us can come up with a great number of reasons why school is truely great....for me personally, the best reason to start a good day is knowing I will be blessed by making a small difference in the world, every day....