Roof Ripped Right Off Building in Moose Jaw

+ 90km/hr winds ripped the roof off this building in Moose Jaw, Sk. on Tuesday morning.

"The roof of the building, a multi-story apartment block, lifted straight up and just flipped over and onto the building beside it. There was bits and pieces flying with one great big gust of wind that nearly knocked cars off the road."

Are you ready?

Are you ready to learn online?

This survey (from ocean.edu) will ask you to assess your own confidence level with many of the technology and learning skills you will need to succeed in online course work. Please click on the number that best matches your own confidence level at this time. When you are finished, click the Check My Score button to see your score for each skills category.

Based on your skills rating, the results page may also display suggested links for you to improve certain skills. The rating score of this survey is for your own purposes. Your answers are not sent to or stored in a database.

Click on this link to see the survey.

GED 2009

Here is a 2 minute GED celebration with a small group who worked together to pass their GED tests. Take a look.


Here in Northern Saskatchewan there are at least 3 people working with the edcentre.ca to get ready for the GED tests this year. Help is available at the edcentre.ca website or at 1-888-299-5680 or in La Ronge at 425-5680.

Technology in Our Schools - How do we rate?

Recently PBS presented "Digital Nation- Life on the Virtual Frontier" on Frontline. There is a video that is of particular interest to educators, parents and students that provides us with many things to think about.
Is technology being used effectively in your local school?
As a teacher, am I using technology effectively to provide engaging learning activities to students?

Watch the Video: How Google Saved a School

There are other videos on the page - be sure to watch them.

What do you think - is your local school making use of technology? Comments welcome.

Fall equinox is here.

Remember this? It comes after fall.

The sun rose due east and will set due west today.
Twelve hours of light and twelve hours of darkness mark the fall equinox. Today the day is as long as the night.

On September 13, 2009, at 8:45 A.M., Ethan and Big Daddy Brent Endicott ran the 3km Mini Marathon in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Marathon itself was divided into four separate categories:

• Kid’s 5-10 Division (ages 5-10)
• Youth 11-17 Division (ages 11-17)
• 1/2 Marathon
  
• Full Marathon
  

What a FANTASTIC event, with more than 3,650 REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS FROM 7 PROVINCES & TERRITORIES, 10 STATES AND 3 COUNTRIES taking in part in this race.

Congratulations Ethan on a run well done!!!

A lecture about English

An English Professor was lecturing to his class one day. "In English," he said, "A double negative forms a positive. For example, 'We don't need no education' actually means, 'We need education.' In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative."

A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."

September 17

Have you ever had "one of those days" when nothing works? Today is"one of those days" when maybe it would have made a difference if I had just turned over in bed and let the day pass by.
If you have ever experienced this, please leave a comment below.

This week

This has been a short but interesting week at edcentre.ca. We have processed over 100 applications and courses are beginning to fill up quickly. Online learners are finding their way into their course areas and have begun to sort out how to approach the learning activities and maintain contact with teachers.
Debbie Richardson visited three communities over three days and came back excited and exhausted. She met with students, principals, student support staff and teachers.
Tuesday was Literacy Day and the edcentre.ca staff had a table and display set up at the event. Brent Endicott chatted with students and onlookers from his home office in Moose Jaw through the live web conference room. Kelly and Ted were available to answer questions and show people how the edcentre works. There were hot dogs, face painting, displays, and hundreds of donated books for families to take home.
On Wednesday afternoon Kona attended a presentation provided through the Ministry of Education about Provincial Exams.
Thursday morning Brent met online with a group of students from Creighton High School. Yes...you guessed it ......from his home office in Moose Jaw.
This morning Kona and Kelly hosted a pankcake breakfast at the edcentre. (See Kelly's post) Now here we are again on Friday afternoon trying to stay caught up with new students.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

edcentre.ca Pancake Breakfast

Kona wanted a Pancake Breakfast to start off the school year, so we had one. Thanks to the students and staff who were able to attend.

James Balog: Time-lapse proof of extreme ice loss

About this talk

Photographer James Balog shares new image sequences from the Extreme Ice Survey, a network of time-lapse cameras recording glaciers receding at an alarming rate, some of the most vivid evidence yet of climate change.

Josh Silver demos adjustable liquid-filled eyeglasses

About this talk

Josh Silver delivers his brilliantly simple solution for correcting vision at the lowest cost possible -- adjustable, liquid-filled lenses. At TEDGlobal 2009, he demos his affordable eyeglasses and reveals his global plan to distribute them to a billion people in need by 2020.

About Joshua Silver

Atomic physicist Joshua Silver invented liquid-filled optical lenses to produce low-cost, adjustable glasses, giving sight to millions without access to an optometrist.

Information about H1N1

Hi everyone,
Welcome back to another great school year. I have attached a link below with information about the H1N1. I hope you and your family do not get it. However, there are some ways to protect yourself and your family. The website also gives steps to take when a family member is sick or shows symptoms.
Take Care,
Kona

http://www.fightflu.ca/sym-eng.html

Back in action

Everyone is back at the edcentre checking course material and planning exciting online learning experiences. If you are a returning student you will notice some changes with the way the courses are laid out. We have upgraded the software for housing course material and moved everything into the new space. There are some new features that should add to our ability to communicate and enhance what we are able to do in the course areas.
Remember, if you have questions call the school.