Proud to be Canadian

As the Olympics come to a close this weekend, one wonders whether the exuberant display of patriotism will live on. I don't think I can remember an event where we have such as display our Canada flag. All Olympic competition areas have been a sea of red. (maybe Canadians caught the colors bug from the Saskatchewan Roughriders)

As CTV were out interviewing people on the street many foreigners commented that they didn't think we were very patriotic - humm... so why would they think that!! It isn't the type of constant in your face patriotism displayed by the USA - but rather a patriotism of the calmer kind.

The other thing that I noticed about this world class event is the exposure that our Aboriginal peoples have had - wonderful!!

I hope that the Olympics has helped us to remind us of what a great country we live in. We have more Canadian heroes - let's celebrate!!! (Wish I had one pair of the 3million mittens that were sold- I'd frame them)

DID YOU KNOW?

Choices, choices, choices............



There are two ways to get to your online course.

1. Go to http://edcentre.ca and click on the log-in link. (less direct)

2. Go to http://video.edcentre.ca (this will work when the other link doesn't)

Show Us Your North!

The Show Us Your North website has a lot of potential to showcase Northern Saskatchewan traditional and contemporary arts. This will coincide with the 2010 Northern Saskatchewan Games and Cultural Festival.

You can participate to make help this website a vibrant showcase of the wonderful creative people in our Northern communities.

You might interview artists, tell or write stories, take photographs or video, write and perform songs, look into the history of an art form in your community, look into the history of a building in your community that has hosted arts and cultural events over the years….the list of possibilities is endless.

If you know of an artist, craftsperson, carver, basket maker, sled maker, snowshoe builder, film maker, musician, painter, dancer or storyteller in your community, please let us know. We'll try to set up a web conference.

If you have digital images of Northern Art work you would like to share, please contact us the online school. We would love to post images on this blog to share with others.

Olympic Medal Standings

edcentre.ca distance learning service collage

Try wordle to make your own word cloud. This could be a lot of fun !

brrrrrrr - how cold it was

This plow ended up in the ditch just outside Moose Jaw during the January 26th winter storm.

The Moose of Moose Jaw

Three moose in a field between Moose Jaw and Regina near Grand Coulee

Congratulations to Joseph Custer, winner of the semester one course completion draw!

A draw took place on Tuesday, February 9 to give away a brand new LG netbook. Names in the draw included all students who had completed courses within the first semester of this year.

Thank you to everyone who showed up for the draw session.

Door Prize Winners:
Wendy Saam, Racheal Madsen, Cheyanne Charles

This June another draw will take place and a similar prize will be given away.

Every online student who competes a course is automatically entered in the completion draw. If you are an online student taking a course through the edcentre, make sure your name ends up in the completion draw.

Hints For Success:

• Organize yourself.
• Set up a location where you can work without interruption.
• Establish a schedule and stick to it.
• Set reasonable targets for yourself.
• Communicate with your instructor and ask questions.
• Communicate with your fellow online students.
• Be ruthless with yourself. If you miss time you have scheduled for your class, make up the time....you owe it to yourself.
• Be persistent
• Never give up!!!

Thousands participate in snowball fight

What would you do if we received 2 feet of snow? You could read a book or watch a movie. Maybe you could organize a snowball fight.

At least 2,000 people converged on Dupont Circle, in downtown Washington DC, on Saturday afternoon, for a snowball fight of epic proportions -- responding to messages posted on Facebook and Twitter and spread through word of mouth.

We know the power of social networking. How do we harness that power for use in our classrooms? Feel free to leave a comment or to invite me to your snowball fight!

Goal Setting

Check out this set of short videos on Goal Setting and Conflicting Goals.
Learning Edge 8 - Goal Setting

Drugs and Kids

Do you know if your child is taking drugs? For many parents they feel lost when it comes to being able to deal with the world of drugs. For many they are unfamiliar with many of the warning signs that may exist. They are unsure of what drugs are a potential problem and for many even the thought of discussing drugs with their children is entering into a world they know little about.

There is a wealth of information relating to drugs on the internet which we can all gain knowledge from. As a starter I would suggest a visit to Canada Health website.

They also provide parents with a guide to help you talk with your kids. Start learning today and take a peek at this valuable resource. Talking With Your Teen About Drugs.

So maybe the next time we are on the internet reading our Facebook gossip, it would be a good idea to investigate a little about drugs, and educate ourselves to something that is a growing problem in all communities.

Saskatchewan artist wins gold in Italy

Patricia Leguen wins gold with this ice sculpture, "Schuss" at the international festival in Cortina d'Ampezzo. How's this for goal setting?

Northern Craft: The Robertson Trading Collection

Craft people in Northern Saskatchewan lost a friend and patron this week with the passing of Alex Robertson. [Click here for obituary].

When Alex and his wife Phyllis opened the Robertson’s Trading Post in La Ronge in 1967, he came with a love of First Nations Craft that had been acquired during 25 years of travel throughout northern Canada as a fur buyer for the Hudson Bay Company. He soon became a supporter of Craft Artists, then a collector, then a patron in the truest sense of the word.

Click here to see some of the Craft Collection on display at the Saskatchewan Craft Council.

La Ronge Good Good-Morning Toastmasters Celebrates 15th Anniversary

Good Good-Morning Toastmasters is celebrating their 15th Anniversary on Wednesday February 3, 2010 from 7-9 p.m. at the La Ronge Hotel & Suites. Everyone is invited to attend and coffee and finger foods will be provided. A fun-filled evening is planned with present members, past members,executive members and honored guests.
The first meeting of the Good Good -Morning Toastmasters Club No. 9842 was held Monday, March 25th 1994. The charter club had a membership of 22. Meetings were held in the Mistasinihk Building Boardroom at 6 a.m. Audrey Mark reminisces, “I still cannot believe that I would get up and meet at six bloody clock in the morning.” Today the club meets at noon hour but still retains the original name.

The action packed programme includes 5 recognition awards, appreciation awards and gifts as well as door prizes. The Good Good-Morning Toastmasters Club looks forward to another great 15 years of achieving goals, helping others improve their leadership and communication skills, and having FUN!

Science Leadership Academy

Imagine a school where all of the teachers have similar ideas about how to approach learning.

Imagine a school where learning is based on asking questions, (inquiry) collaborating and engaging in projects in order to learn and discover. Imagine a school where technology is just part of what people do, like using a telephone, or buying groceries with a debit card.

Imagine a school where using technology is not viewed as innovative or something new, it is simply part of everyday learning.

I browsed through links on the moodle site for the Science Leadership Academy this morning after reading a blog post from Dean Shareski who was attending a conference hosted by the school. I followed some of the links to published writing and project descriptions posted by students via video, wikis and other web 2.0 tools. I was encouraged by what I found and heartened to know that there are model schools out there that have been able to create school environments that are engaging and exciting places to learn and explore.

This is the 21st century....we have had better tools for learning for quite some time now. It's time to stop talking about them as if they were something innovative.

Technology should be part of the day to day work that we all do.

Maybe we shouldn't be just imagining......maybe we should be imagining and DOING.

What's the Right Thing to Do?

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_sandel_what_s_the_right_thing_to_do.html