Monday, June 29, 2009

Have a great summer!

Kelly, Kona and Debbie represented edcentre.ca in the annual Northern Lights School Division Golf Windup. Our score was a respectful even par in tough conditions at the Eagle Point Golf Course. Have a great Summer!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Photos from the Awards Assembly

Celebration beside the Montreal River

This has been a fast and furious school year with many interesting twists and turns. We spent the afternoon yesterday beside a bend in the Montreal River celebrating accomplishments. The warmth of the sun and majesty of the river were a fitting setting. Thank you to everyone who was able to join us. We have recorded the event for anyone who would like to have a look.
Celebration by the River: Graduation and Awards Ceremony

Monday, June 22, 2009


Here we are in the final week of the 2008/09 school year. As the school year draws to a close we don't seem to have a lot of time to reflect on learning and what all of this means. We are in a mad rush to "get it done" .....whatever "it" is. The REAL knowledge that we create and access is the stuff that is important to us. I hope that in the process of "getting it done" we have all found something new, valuable, useful and important within our own worlds. Thank you to everyone who participated in the online learning community at edcentre.ca this year. We hope to see you at the online awards session on June 24 at 3:00.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Pelican Narrows Student Visit

Kona, Brent and Kelly made a trip to Pelican Narrows on June 17th. It was Brent and Kelly's first Trip to the community and Kona's millionth. The students (Tina, Tammy, Margie, Vanessa, Serena and Maureen)and their instructor (Marnie) welcomed us with Chinese Food and a Pizza. After we ate, speeches were made, awards were presented and laughter was plentiful (my cheeks are still sore). Thank you again for your hospitality!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Mrs. Cassidy's Blog

I watched part of a presentation in Texas this morning by 2 guys from Canada. They were talking about teachers engaging learners in real things using the Internet. One of them decided that they would check to see whether Mrs. Cassidy was in her classroom in Moose Jaw. Sure enough they spoke with her in the middle of their presentation. Mrs. Cassidy's class invites the world into their classroom to help them learn. There are all manner of interesting things in this classroom.....the really cool thing is that you can stop in and say Hi to Mrs. Cassidy and her class of six year olds (without driving to Moose Jaw). Mrs Cassidy uses a walkie talkie tool called Yackpack on her blog that allows you to connect live to speak with her class.
What Mrs. Cassidy is doing is a clear demonstration of the power we have to connect and share learning on a global scale.
....Another great illustration of The Schools We Need

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Way to go Debbie!

Congratulations to Debbie for 30 years of dedicated service to the Northern Lights School Division. She was one of 20 retirees recognized by Chairperson Frank Durocher, and Ralph Pilz.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

What Should Schools Look Like?

Access to information and the world around us is changing dramatically. The question is.....how are schools reflecting these changes? There are some really important questions we need to challenge ourselves and others with every day. Watch this...respond with a comment below.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Rap from Hobbema

I have to be honest....I'm not really that interested in rap, but this one caught me off guard. The video has all of the rap cliches and urban LA stereotypes that appear to be an accepted part of the genre. We all need a sense of community and belonging.
One for one....one for all......you live....you give


I found the following summary on the K-net site:
"War Party is an award-winning Cree hip-hop group from Hobbema, Alberta. Founded in 1995 by Rex Smallboy, the group won the Canadian Aboriginal Music Award for Best Rap Album in 2001, and was nominated again in 2002 and 2003. As well, they were the first First Nations rap group to have a music video aired on Much Music. "

What do you think? Share your comments.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Reward Yourself! Celebrate your accomplishments!




I am convocating on June 11, 2009 at Athabasca University in Athabasca, Alberta. with my Masters in Distance Education. I asked my family and friends to chip in for a Thunderchild Crabapple tree for my gift. It is eventually going to look like the one in the pictrue but right now it is just a "teenager"....lol


That is my reward from them and I am also buying myself a cell phone. It is a Samsung Omnia i910 and hopefully I can mark assignments from it when I am at my convocation this week. To watch my convocation webcast click on the link below at 1:00 Thursday June 11, 2009. If you are interested in Post Secondary distance edcuation browse the courses on the rest of the website. Athabasca University is very flexible and supports their learners.
http://www.athabascau.ca/convocation/
Kona Bryson

Your Very OWN Website.

Have you ever thought about creating your own website?
Here is a link to a free web building site that allows you to quickly build and then manage your site. (The features are similar in many respects to setting up a blog. ) This is a web 2.0 site builder that gives you some easy and interesting tools to make a site that is very easy to update and add to. Your site would be hosted by yola.com.


This is an ad-free service that doesn't require a lot of computer background knowledge to get started. In 20 minutes, you can have your own website live on the Internet. Get the word out for an organization you are working with, get your small business web site up and running, or publish information you feel is worthy of sharing with the world.