Building connection through conversation
Being environmentally mindful can mean much more than composting your food scraps and recycling packaging. There are hundreds of little gestures that can contribute to making the planet healthier. How many try to pack litterless lunches? Do you use plastic produce bags for your fruits and vegetables? Do you use…
Are your clothes environmentally friendly? Do you even know. I didn’t. Manufacturing clothes is a complex industry that involves chemicals, non-ethical labour (child labour), shipping, and very high carbon emissions (5% over the overall carbon emission every year). Clothes define us. Make us feel pretty or handsome, help us feel…
If you could do a job a week, which would they be? Level: beginner, intermediate and advance Ever feel like you want to re-invent yourself? Like even though you are an English teacher, you could have also been a baker, or a computer programmer. In the spirit of practicality, we…
Would you like to visit Mars? At one time this would have been a question to engage in hypothetical thinking, but now, it could be a real possibility. According to the Washington Post, NASA expects that trips to Mars may be possible in the next 20 to 25 years. In…
When you speak, do you think people listen to you? Do you think they understand–that they hear you? Ever watch a speech by former President Barak Obama? I just can’t stop listening. However, when my husband gives me the run down of the daily news, most times I totally tune…
What makes good art? If you have a few art lovers in your class, I think they will enjoy this lesson. Does an artist have to suffer to make good art? Is it the amount of time one spends on the piece? The complexity, the skill of the artist, the…
Are you a procrastinator or a planner? That is the question. Personally I am a planner. I get a sense of what needs to be done, break it down into task and plan it out so that I can do it before the deadline. I think that is largely due…
Are you media literate? When we hear the word literacy, generally our thoughts go to reading. But the idea of literacy encapsulates many different skills that we are now extending to many different areas. For example, you can have financial literacy, digital literacy, ethical literacy, computational literacy and yes media…
Have we become too overprotective of ourselves and our children? For example, how old were you when you were first allowed to light a fire? My guess is you were a lot younger than what we would consider appropriate today. Perhaps being an information savvy generation may have also made…
Looking for an earth day lesson plan? Look no further. The Washington Post for Kids published this fun trivia quiz that can conjure many side discussions on environmental issues. Earth Day is a celebration that is intended to spark environmental awareness at all levels of society. Families, schools, communities and…
