Amira Abdel-Aal is an expert in providing culturally sustaining literacy education, complimented by technology and focused on fostering global citizenship.
Amira’s work with students and educators helps to provide access that allows students to go beyond the classroom walls, connect, and make learning a real-life and meaningful experience. In a time where technology, information, and different forms of expression are at our fingertips, Amira believes in the importance of giving students the opportunities to unlock their full potential as our world’s global ambassadors, developing as globally conscious digital citizens.
Amira has been a teacher and technology innovation leader at New Horizon School in Irvine, CA. New Horizon is an award-winning Independent Islamic School, distinguished as a National Blue Ribbon School and a Leader in Me “Lighthouse School.” She holds a Masters degree in Teaching, a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, and a Bachelors in Economics with a minor in Business Management from U.C. Irvine. After leaving the corporate world as a consultant, Amira quickly found fulfillment and inspiration in the students she had the privilege of sharing a classroom with.
Her passion for educational technology, intentional experiences, and innovation, lead to her school’s 1:1 laptop program and the launching of an IDEAS Lab (Innovation, Design, Engineering, Art, Science) in this year’s brand new Upper Campus. She focuses on developing skills that take into consideration the whole child.
Amira is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE), TheEdCollab’s Gathering, and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)’s Education Forum, frequently presenting with her students. Her work has also been featured in print, including in the Orange County Register.
Amira believes that there is no age minimum to connecting with students and creating an environment where they can be engaged deeply, and cultivate a seriousness of purpose and a passion for learning. Taking careful account the different characteristics of each learner and the nature of the subject matter, Amira has evolved as an educator who works on the development of students to be, as noted in New Horizon’s vision statement, “prepared intellectually, socially, emotionally, spiritually, and physically to succeed as leaders in tomorrow’s world” and to “develop in each student a balanced character enriched with knowledge, inspired to excellence, and commitment to the betterment of family, community and humanity.”
Amira’s presentation at the Spring 2019 #TheEdCollabGathering