Hi everyone! My name is Maxine Iron I am currently in the Office Education Program with Northlands College. I am with the Edcentre for my 2 week work placement and so far i am loving it here. It has been a learning experience working with the teachers and Erin. I am sure going to miss the people around here especially Debbie. Thank you guys for putting up with me for 2 weeks and anytime you need me I will be around!!

Learn Something New Every Day

I spent some blurred time last week looking at a new tool called Prezi. I learned about it at the iTsummit conference last week in Saskatoon. David Warlick presented a keynote address followed by 2 engaging presentations on gaming and redefining literacy in the 21st century. His opening words were about a commitment to learning something new every day. The presentation tool he used was fluid and dynamic. It allowed him to zoom in to text, an image, a topic title, and to move back and forth on a single idea web all on one page (non-linear format). This is my next quick project......download Prezi and learn it. I want to put together a presentation about online learning that can sit on our main school server.
In my quest for information I came across a blog with a list of 100 top tools for learners and teachers. I recognized most of the tools. Some of them I would like to find the time to re-visit. For now, I am stuck on making something with Prezi.

-Cheers, Ted

Welcome to Churchill Hishschool's 2009 Science Fair

Cell Biology

edcentre.ca Teachers in Saskatoon

If you are a student having difficulty contacting your teacher on March 23/24, it may be that your teacher is on the road or sitting in a conference session in Saskatoon. David, Donna and Kona are in Saskatoon on Monday/Tuesday. Ted and Debbie are at work Monday and then driving to Saskatoon for a conference presentation on Tuesday.
We all check our classrooms on a regular basis, so don't despair.... leave a message, post to your class journal and your teacher will get back to you. Kelly and Brent are in the office in La Ronge. They will be participating in the conference along with other students on Tuesday at 1:15. The presentation in Saskatoon is a panel discussion about edcentre.ca and learning opportunities in Northern Saskatchewan. If you would like to attend, please contact Kelly at the school for a link to the live panel room.

Here is a link to one of the handouts for the session: Saskatoon Conference Handout

This weekend in La Ronge...

Walter Selin Memorial Potato Lake Family Fishing Day

Go to Potato Lake and fish (catch and release) for fun and prizes!
Register on the lake starting at 11:00 am
Adults $10 Kids $5
Fishing is between 12 -3:00 p.m.
Snacks will be available for sale.
All the holes are pre-drilled for you and if you don't have a ski-doo
there are rides provided (from approximately 11-12)
This is a great event for families.
Bring your fishing tackle and a plastic bucket
(to transport your fish to the weigh in area).
This will be the fourth year my son and I have attended and we love it.
(Put on by the local WildLife Federation).

GED Success Story Photo

Cole Noonan was the first to send me a phot0 for the GED Success Stories we will be adding to the GED page this Spring. Thanks Cole, great start eh?
Donna

What are you doing this weekend?

(Pictures from Prince Albert Winter Festival)

For those who are not planning on watching the Men's Time Horton's Briar this weekend, there are plenty of outdoor activities taking place across northern Saskatchewan this weekend.

It is the season for Winter Festivals and Ice Fishing Derbies. For those who have never been to a northern Winter Festival, you can watch or participate in lots of activities including King and Queen trapper contests, snowmobile racing/rallies, ice fishing derbies, For those who like to stay indoors most festivals have card games, dinners (Bannock and Beans, Neckbones etc), and of course my favorite Bingo for people to participate.

Most of all though it is an opportunity to get out there and enjoy the last of the winter season with friends and family. So get out there and support your community - attend a winter festival this weekend.

First trip to Pinehouse

As the GED Online Facilitator, I took my first trip ever to Pinehouse on Monday to talk to Northlands students there. What a beautiful place. I’m looking forward to going again in April to give students entry tests that can help them figure out if the GED is what they should do next.

Busy Times

Busy times call for desperate measures. When the crunch is on the need for organization is more important. Limited time demands efficiency. Take this blog for example. As things are quickly piling up I am forced to eliminate thoughts of looking for related pictures or finding something just because I have committed time to making a blog entry. I have come up with a quotable quote that you are free to borrow. In this bizarre world of"intellectual ownership" I might ask that you credit the author, but today I am suggesting that you can take this quote and make it your own. This is completely open source.
If someone has already thought of this, written it, or said it aloud, I apologize. I really am trying to be original here.

"The most important thing about being alive is taking time to breathe." -Ted Green

Are you up to date? Take this quiz

New story
US President Barack Obama has lifted restrictions on federal funding for research on new stem cell lines.

Let us know what you think about the implications that stem cell research may have on your own health.

So you think you can tell fact from fiction?

Check out these websites and try out your critical thinking skills for websites.

Sites to Use for Demonstrating Critical Evaluation

• Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanies
• Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide
• Boilerplate: Mechanical Marvel of the 19th Century
• Burmese Mountain Dog
• Buy an Ancestor Online
• California's Velcro Crop Under Challenge
• Case Analysis of a Historic Killer Tornado
• Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division
• Feline Reactions to Bearded Men
• Golden Gate Tunnel (archive.org)
• Google Job Opportunities
• Google Technology
• Jacopo di Poggibonsi
• Mankato (MN) Home Page
• MoonBeam Enterprises and Lunar Travel Agency
• History of the Fisher-Price Airplane
• OvaPrima Foundation
• Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus
• Taxonomy of Barney
• Visit Exciting Fredericton

Beyond the Pane

Sometimes it's hard to believe the wonder of the world we live in. During the course of this winter we have witnessed a daily changing tapestry of frost on our kitchen window. Many days it has been difficult to see beyond the window pane, leaving us to marvel at the way water condenses and freezes in intricate flowing patterns on a cold surface. With the warming trend in the season we can clearly the world beyond the pane. Slowing down to appreciate the smaller things in life can be therapeutic.

Celebrate International Women's Day

MONIQUE, a comedian from Vancouver will star at the 2:30 PM International Women's Day celebration, Sunday March 8th Kikinahk Friendship Centre, organzed with Piwapan Women's Centre . Self serve refreshments from 2PM on.

It's Curling Season

It was a weekend of great curling and Jennifer Jones and her team from Manitoba successfully retained their title and will represent Canada in the upcoming worlds. Yes - well represented again.
Now it is time for the men - another week of being a curling couch potato. (March 7-15) The line-up for the men's playoff is awesome - so Tune in to TSN for coverage.


Keep up to date with curling on these websites:
Canadian Curling everything about curling in Canada - great site
TSN Schedule

Beware: anti-virus-1

Dealing with viruses, trojans and malware that plug up your computer, spy on your activities and attempt to get passwords and credit card information is not my favorite activity. I encountered a sophisticated virus yesterday that in the end cost extra to purchase spyware protection.
Anit-virus-1 masquerades as a legitimate windows protection page on your computer and installs itself on the tool tray opening dialog boxes that inform the user that their computer has been infected. The user is prompted to install the software and then prompted to purchase additional protection. (This is where they get your credit card information.)
To read more about what this software and see the windows this malware generates on your computer, check this blog.
I was fooled by this to the point of installing the software, but immediately became suspicious after checking with a free version of Norton Utilities. I did not get to the point of entering credit card information.
We are thinking that this spyware attached itself through a jokes website. Unfortunately the result was not quite so funny.
My advice is to stay away from Horoscope sites, joke sites, poker/gambling sites and any site that includes an abundance of advertising. If you are seeing advertising pop-ups when you open a site, it is probably not a good place to be.
If you see any of the windows listed in the blog link above, your computer is infected and you will have to install spyware software that will remove it.
I did a little bit of research and ended up buying spyhunter3 which appears to have done the job. The video below is posted on the Enigma Software website (producer of spyhunter3).
It's important now more than ever to be able to differentiate between what is real and what is fake. We are bombarded with so much information on the Internet......just like TV, we need to be selective.