Virtual Worlds: Minecraft Club Promo Video!

Andras Nagy Beyond the Classroom, Experiential Learning, Technology No Comments

Our Virtual World is now 6 months old! To celebrate we decided to create a short promotional video to showcase all the amazing and creative things our students have built. I am looking forward to what else we will achieve this year as the club has grown significantly since the start of the school year. If you are interested in the history of the Minecraft club you can see some of our previous blogposts.

Minecraft: Building Virtual Worlds – The Origin story of our Minecraft world!
Virtual Worlds: A Home away from Home – Building and Living in a Virtual World during COVID-19 Shutdown.
Virtual Worlds: The Great Wall Initiative – Securing the frontier, and the start of group adventures.
Virtual Worlds: Building a Community Village – How to build a community village and helping new players.

Enjoy the video!

Tapping into the Entrepreneurship Spirit

Luka Ilic English and Humanities, Events No Comments


We are just a week into the Entrepreneurship class but have already covered a wide range of topics. The class consists of a terrific mix of students, some of which already have entrepreneurial experience, and others who bring forth new and exciting ideas to the table.

Thus far, students have completed an entrepreneurial self-assessment, examined the pros and cons of becoming an entrepreneur, and identified essential qualities, skills and characteristics of an entrepreneur. In addition, students presented a brief profile of an entrepreneur of their choice, studied famous Canadian inventors and innovators, watched pitches from the Dragons’ Den show, and explored various different leadership styles.

Things will only get more exciting as students test their leadership skills in fun games and challenges, interview existing entrepreneurs to gain additional insight straight from the source, and develop their very own business plan.

There is no question of the severe impact this pandemic will have on our economy. There are many jobs, businesses, and industries that have been forced to shut down or are barely staying afloat. In some rare cases, there are examples of businesses that were fortunate enough to adapt and stay healthy during this time of crisis. As part of the course, students will analyze the ways in which different businesses have reacted to the change in market conditions.

Socially Distanced “Front to Front” Drawing

Zoe Rutherford Arts, English and Humanities No Comments



Even though during this pandemic we have to be distanced from each other, communication and collaboration are still important skills to be practicing! Last week, the Grade 9 Learning Strategies class learned about interpersonal skills and collaboration. They discussed what interpersonal skills are, why they are important and how we can best practice them (in a safe way!). They also discussed what it takes to be strong communicators and active listeners.

To put these ideas into practice, we did a “front to front” drawing exercise. In non-COVID times, this activity would be done “back to back”…but 12 students in a room with masks on talking back to back would likely be a bit too tricky! Students were paired up and asked to identify as Person A: The Speaker or Person B: The Listener. Person A was given a picture and Person B was given a blank sheet of paper and a (sanitized) pencil.

The rules were that Person A had to describe the drawing to Person B using as many details as possible! Instead of just saying “draw a circle”, they were encouraged to dive deeper and say “draw a medium sized circle, about the size of the palm of your hand in the exact centre of the page”. The catch was that Person B could not talk at all! They had to really listen to their partner and focus on what they were saying in a room filled with other distractions.

Once pairs finished the first round, they then did another and switched roles. After, we had a discussion of what strategies worked and what didn’t. Some students liked being both Speaker and Listener while others were drawn to one over the other. Overall, the activity was a blast and comparing the drawings in the end created lots of laughs. Not to mention, some of them were really accurate! It was nice to see students enjoying themselves and connecting with fellow students, despite the strange times we are in!

Middle Schoolers Battle at Sea

John Cuthbert Experiential Learning, Science and Math No Comments

As part of the middle school’s new small group skill-based program, students made and played a game simulating a classic, where players battle at sea – no stacking your ships! Each student used Google Sheets to create their own digital game board, formatted cells to change colours when a ship is “hit”, then shared and played the game with a partner.

This was just one of the project-based learning activities in a week devoted to developing G Suite skills. Throughout the year, students will continue to rotate through this program every third week, each time developing different practical skills.

The Ups and Downs of Working for Pay

Zareh Demirdji Academics, Science and Math No Comments

The up sides of working for pay are fairly self evident. The most obvious up side is that you get to make money to pay for your basic needs. Of course, we all use the money we make to buy things that we want. I mean, as the saying goes, “you gotta live a little.” If you are extremely lucky, another upside to working for pay is doing something you love, and experiencing fulfillment and meaning while doing it. But there are, of course, several downsides to working for pay. It can stress you out from time to time (hopefully a seldom occurrence), you can get injured on the job, and it takes away from your time to partake in the slue of other various personal endeavours.

As they began their last class looking at the topic of employment, the aforementioned is what the grade twelve Personal Life Management class focused on. They first worked on a simulation activity that took them on a journey of being a new mechanic. Along the way they were presented with various work and life experiences and had to reflect on each one. They shared their reflections with one another as they discovered that working has both advantages and disadvantages. This led them into another self reflection on all the things they do for fun and relaxation. The class then discussed different ways to maintain a healthy work-life balance.