Lifelong learning, one reflection at a time.
We ran our first real lab today. I decided within the first block, a spare period for me, that it was time and that they were ready. “Ready for what,” you ask? Ready to handle acidic (hydrochloric acid) and basic (sodium hydroxide) substances with enough care and professionalism so as not require a trip to […]
Written by Leslie Farooq
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink (buy it) was released nearly ten years ago in 2009. I first learned about it from educators on Twitter and it was one of my summer reads in 2015. If you want to know where I took what I learned from it back when […]
Written by Leslie Farooq
I am a chemistry and biology teacher. I love the endless real puzzles to solve that are on offer through a combination of the periodic table of the elements and a variety of chemical quantities. I love living things, observing the nature around me, and connecting processes and systems. I seriously never get bored of […]
Written by Leslie Farooq
I woke up this morning thinking about Conference of Independent Schools schools. Aside from knowing that CIS exists and that Cohort 21 is for CIS Ontario educators I felt rather ignorant overall, so I made coffee and sat down to do some data mining. We have been given a Cohort 21 WordPress account for blogging, […]
Written by Leslie Farooq
having the opportunity to connect with other Ontario educators and hearing about their triumphs and struggles. Now I know they are not so different from my own. I had more time to compare teaching notes by chatting face-to-face with other Ontario educators. Everyone is concentrating on writing. if it is possible to have a face-to-face […]
Written by Leslie Farooq
When you are working as part of a team you are most often working on something that isn’t entirely for yourself. If you are part of a team of educational professionals you are probably also working on something that is considered to be a part of your job description and it goes without saying that […]
Written by Leslie Farooq
Rosseau Lake College recently hosted Senior School Alumni Mentor Day during which Grade 11 and 12 students had the opportunity to work on their Discovery Days project pitches with the guidance and support of alumni, board, and community members. I supervised afternoon sessions during which I had the pleasure of meeting Kim Aitken, founder of Aitken […]
Written by Leslie Farooq
I meant to say a few words about this last week when it was fresh. I assigned a quick creation activity that combined stoichiometry learning with the theme of the day: Hallowe’en. I called it Spooky Real Stoichiometry and my instructions were originally handwritten on the whiteboard. Instructions: Choose a chemical reaction that is relevant […]
Written by Leslie Farooq
Step 1: Back when we were all riding high on the good vibes of our first face-to-face encounter I was sure that the urgent needs of the learners in my charge boiled down to skills development: problem solving, resiliency, and making connections. The inability of students to troubleshoot problems with their own computers stood large […]
Written by Leslie Farooq