Building community

What does it mean to be in community? 

For me - it means finding a group of people to enjoy things with- to share stories, coffee, games, and dreams together. To share random comments and larger thoughts. People with whom you can make mistakes and still have their support.

It took me several years to form a community in the Pacific Northwest. It was hard to leave - even if it is just temporarily. I came to Qatar knowing no one - and not having a community. The only connections I had were through Fulbright or someone who knew someone here. I developed WhatsApp groups with other scholars in the region - but I have not met any of them in person (yet). 

Before I came, I talked to many former scholars and faculty from Qatar University. One thing they mentioned was how supportive the faculty were here. When I asked former Fulbright Scholars to share their experiences with faculty, their voice took on a very sing song quality, like the same dreamy quality I develop when I discuss my dear friends from graduate school (the same friend group where I met my spouse). Others develop this quality when sharing about their old childhood friends, or their long lost love.

One of my biggest regrets from my first Fulbright was choosing to stay in my room over meeting other people. Even though- I lived in a dorm with a shared bathroom and shared kitchen - I spent the first month hiding in my room watching TV shows. 

Here, I live in a private apartment - with a kitchen and bathroom all to myself. Additionally, it is crazy hot outside so it is hard to go and socialize with others. The temptation to stay inside - alone - is high. It is so much easier to just stay in my nice cool air conditioned home streaming English shows on my computer. Staying inside increases stress hormones - humans are not meant to be alone. So I remind myself to step outside and just try to connect. 

So I have started to find community. 

I am finding community with other new faculty. We went through orientation together - feeling bewildered at the firehose of information. Then there was the 5 hours spent taking health tests for the Qatari Residence ID...walking from building to building in the hot August sun. We shared WhatsApp numbers and swap resources for setting up Blackboard sites, navigating the new technology in the classroom, and codes for accessing the podiums.

In the classroom, I discovered that I share a hallway with some excellent friendly colleagues in chemistry and math. And my office is just around the hall from the Chemistry student lounge - where many faculty host their office hours in the Women's building - and down the hall from the Math Faculty lounge - stocked with TWO espresso makers and frequently filled with treats. 

Colleagues like Zarina and E. meet for coffee - sharing a cup of coffee as we share stories of students and our lives in our different home countries (we all come from different continents: North America, Central Asia, and North Africa). 

Another colleague -S. meets up for late night tea and chats - letting me borrow her balcony so I can dry my sheets (the washer/dryer combo) gives more the essence drying rather than actually dry clothes. She lived in Doha before so she knows several great spots to find tea and pastries!

Then there are the chemistry colleagues who are generous with their time when I have sooo many questions. They ask me to call when I need rides places and bring yummy treats to enjoy (over coffee of course!) They keep telling me of the multiple Fulbrights who came Qatar for one year - and then decided to call QU their home. 

And then there are the surprising reconnections - finding out that Lindsey from KY is staying in Qatar as well - and we get to explore a new country and food while reminiscing about our shared childhood experiences (growing up as PKs and knowing the same people!)

So, while it has only been three weeks - I'm starting to find people to share experiences with and share coffee. 

Speaking of connections - a special guest from home arrives in three days! I can't wait to explore more of the city with him - and introduce him to the new communities I'm finding.

First Day and First Impressions

I met my students this week, and they met me. 

The work week is Sunday - Thursday here, where Friday and Saturday are the days off. My classes meet twice a week on Monday and Wednesday - giving me an extra day to prepare. Any teacher who knows - starting on Day 2 of the week is a luxury that is MUCH appreciated. Additionally, I teach two sections of the same class back to back so I only have one class to prep. The sections meet in the late afternoon so I have the entire morning to prepare.

On the first day of classes (Sunday) I went to my office watched everyone run around to find their classrooms while I worked in my office to prepare for the first day. Teaching is the reason why I came to Qatar. Many students at UWB call this region home. Below is a map that my students complete the first day of class. Students drop a pin at the place they call home. Notice the large concentration of green pins along the East Coast of North Africa and Gulf Coast regions - the embassy refers to this region as the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). 

While I teach many students from the MENA region, I teach them in the US, where they are surrounded by US culture and customs. We use student centered approaches - where we engage students in the learning by asking them to practice activities during class, to talk with their peers, and to make mistakes during class time. I've been using these approaches for 13+ years and research shows that they increase retention. Students in the US who may not be used to active learning, quickly adapt because thats how we all teach. Here, instruction is mostly lecture based where professors provide detailed lecture notes about the topic which does not provide time for students to practice during class time. 

There is ONE major difference about the classes here at Qatar University compared to any other university I have taught at. The undergraduate courses are strictly separated by gender. When students register, they register for either a Male Section or Female Section. Classes are taught not only in different buildings, but in entirely different sections of campus. Male students are NOT allowed to enter womens buildings - which is enforced by female security guards to the entrance of the building. Male faculty are allowed to enter the building. I teach only women, which is something I've never actually had the chance to do. 

Before I came, I asked a LOT of questions of former Fulbrights, instructors at the institution, and UWB colleagues who used to teach in the region. Most said that the students were wonderful - a joy to work with. But they did provide a fair warning that I needed to work harder to engage them in active learning - as it is something completely different from everything else they have done. Additionally, students have been burned by other Westerners who come to the institution just to earn a paycheck, and don't actually care about the students. When I asked for advice in how to help prepare students for learning and make it easier to participate, the advice was this: 

• share your reasons for coming to Qatar - to learn about them. 
• provide an activity the first day that explains why students need processing skills and content knowledge
• get them active from Day 1.

As it turns out, my first class day was nearly identical to the first day of class the last four years but with greater emphasis on the sharing. 

I started by sharing extensively about me - my motivation for coming to Qatar - and sharing my hobbies and activities - including a picture of my husband and I gardening. Basically showing that I am a person too!

Then, I spent the next 10 minutes of class using MentiMeter Polls to learn about them. Like learning about where they come from and what they want to major in. This also helped me get to know the students. As you see below, most of my students came from the MENA region - over 70% come from Qatar. 

Additionally, the majority want to major in engineering...which is different than in the US where most of my students want to major in health sciences. The students here mostly want to major in engineering. This is really interesting given that the class is 100% women! 

Finally, I asked them to name one thing that need to be successful in their career/life goals. Given the emphasis on engineering - I thought that students would state they need math and science content (which they do). I ask this question at the start of every science course I teach and the answers often look like the one below.  

I was surprised that the responses are nearly identical to the ones I receive in my US classes. Most of the skills are communication, time management, or teamwork. None of these skills can be gained from traditional lecture or memorizing chemical formulas. However (this is my hook) - these skills be taught if the students work in teams during class - providing an opportunity to learn the content while develop these skills. 

Then, rather than lecture on the course expectations and highlight the syllabus - I ask students to work in teams to explore the syllabus- forcing them to work as a team to do a syllabus scavenger hunt - (its a 12 page syllabus) and identify the most important expectations for the class. Teams had four members, a manager to keep the team on task, a recorder to record team notes on a sheet of paper, a spokesperson to verbally report team results, and a reflector who made sure that all students agreed on an answer before they moved on. 

I had been warned by other instructors that the students don't feel comfortable working in teams and they definitely do NOT like verbally asking things in the class - because they are nervous about their English language. I did not have this issue in class- Mostly because I reminded students that they were reporting answers from the team - they could practice their responses with the team before sharing the class. One group was very uncomfortable responding then - so I let them choose the question that they responded to. Giving students the chance to practice and providing a choice in response helped to lower their anxiety - making it easier for them to participate. 

Overall - the students were engaged and enthusiastic during the class. The 75 minutes of class flew by and we barely had time to finish! I and the students left the class energized and excited for the term. Students left the class knowing the most important exercises and felt more comfortable with this students centered technique. 

So in short - the first day went well. Students seemed to leave with a good impression of me and I left with a great impression of them. 

As a nice reward - I got to enjoy this fantastic view of campus and Doha West Bay as I walked home for the night.  It helped make it easier to prepare for the next class...which is a tale of conversion factors. and the subject of another blog post.