December 21, 2011

Wednesday: I know I didn't post the last two days but we've been taking finals and such so I know what you were doing. I haven't had a chance to look at your projects but I will do that over the break and put your grades in PowerSchool. I will be adding grades for working hard during class time and trying to figure things out with all that we've learned the first semester as well as a grade for blogging. I will also put a grade in for the final. I think I'll make that out of 100 points. It is a somewhat subjective grade on finding all the problems and knowing what to do to fix them. A couple of people needed hints.

I hope all of you have a great break with plenty of time with your family and some rest from school and books. I'll see you all back on the 4th but then I'm gone to a workshop in Columbia on the 5th. Merry Christmas!

Semester Exam

For the semester exam I have decided to try something new. I am going to "mess up" a computer and you get to try to fix it. I will make one hardware change and one set-up change. So this could be unplugging a cord from the power supply inside the computer, loosening the memory, etc... You each took apart a computer so you should know what needs to be plugged in. As for the setup, I might change an IP or DNS number, delete a driver for one of the devices in the computer, or put a virus on the machine. Everyones will be different. We have even on Tuesday and Odd on Thursday so that will give me an hour between tests to "mess" things up.

December 16, 2011

Friday: TGIF! Crazy day so far. I haven't had a minute to catch up or think much and it is almost noon. So far, I've gotten projects in and I appreciate everyone being on time. I probably won't get to look at this weekend though because of my daughters graduation. But I wanted you all to not have that project on top of studying for finals. So some time next week, I'll enter a grade on PS. Look at the blog over the weekend for what your final will be about. I'll put something there today.

December 15, 2011

Thursday: I am gone this morning for dental appointments for my son and myself. He was sick yesterday and is not feeling well still so I'm not sure if I will be in at all. I am watching my e-mail to make sure that I send people to help teachers if they need it. So watch your phones. I will be back tomorrow for sure. Your assignment is due at the end of the day. You can print, share it back on google docs, or e-mail to me.

Have a good day.

PS. We will have a final next week. I'll let you know tomorrow what it will cover.

December 14, 2011

Wednesday: The Apple workshop that I went to was very informative but I realized that deploying a cart of 30 iPads will be a lot of work. It is up to Ms. Winslow to find the money but I'll be responsible to set them up if it happens. We'll see. I was invited to a workshop in January on Google Chromebooks so I'm going to go to that for some comparison. We will buy something for the MS this year I believe.

There is a virus hitting several computers this morning. I think we have them under control but I'll see how the day goes.

I will be gone tomorrow morning for dental appointments for myself and kids. Austin is also sick so we'll see if I'm here at all tomorrow. I'll blog and use text to contact you if I need something.

December 13, 2011

Additional info: I left part of your assignment on the back table. It is copies of the laptops for sale in the Best Buy ad that you need to categorize for the last part of the assignment. Pick one up and take it with you.

Kellen--Please make sure the lab is shut down and don't just flip the switches for the left side of the room!

December 13, 2011

Tuesday: I found out late yesterday that I am going to go with Mrs. Winslow to an Apple iPad workshop that is different than the one I went to before. this one is more technical and talks about how to update them, synch them with a computer for uploading apps, etc... It is from 9:30 to 3 so I am leaving around 9. If I don't text you with something to do, work on your assignment. I'm trying to get the adds scanned or copied that I want you to use for the very last part. If you have questions, text me.

December 12, 2011

Monday: I hope everyone had a good weekend. I always enjoy mine.

Do not forget that you have an assignment due on Friday and I will get the information to you in the next day or two what the final will cover. I am disappointed that you all do not remember the DNS, gateway, or subnetmask numbers so I know that will be on there. Also, where do you check to see if a device is working or not--like the network card and how do you get there. These are basic things you need to know every day.

December 9, 2011

Friday: TGIF! It has been a busy last couple of days. I still have computers that need to be hooked up to the copier in the laundry room at the Elem so some of you will be doing that. I have several calls I need to make about equipment that has to be done today and I'll have to run to Dark Horse Electronics again today for another part for Ms. Mitchell's room. I'll be glad to get her done. Dave is also installing LCD projectors in Mr. Karsten's room and Ms. Rich at the elementary so we will have to get their computers hooked up. Not too many dull moments in this office. Have a great weekend and don't forget your assignment due next Friday.

December 8, 2011

Thursday: I guess I forgot totally to blog yesterday and I'll skip it for now. It was a very busy day on Wednesday. I worked at the elementary several hours to get the copy machine on-line so teachers could print to it and then I worked with Dave in Ms. Mitchell's room all afternoon to help get her LCD and SmartBoard hooked up.

Today, Devun and I went to Ms. Taylor at the MS 1st hour and took a projector down because we can't get any bulbs to work in it. I called Epson and they are sending a new one. We have software to load in Ms. Mitchell's room, printers to add at the Elementary, and another projector to set up for Ms. Taylor (ms) while we wait for the new one to arrive.

Don't forget to work on your assignment that is due next Friday at home. If you wait to the last minute, I'll be able to tell.

Helpful Hint

As I remember various tools or websites that I use to help fix computers, I like to share those with you so that you know what is out there for your own personal or professional use later.

If a computer isn't starting up correctly and starts to beep, count the beeps and notice if they are long or short. Then you can find a website like this one: http://computerhope.com/beep.htm

Take a minute to look at this so you can see that it tells you what to check. So for example, 3 short beeps refers to a RAM failure so reset the memory in your machine and try again. If it still doesn't work, the memory chips could be bad. Six short beeps would indicate something wrong with the keyboard.

December 6, 2011

Tuesday: I hope all of you had an uneventful trip to school this morning. Mine was ok but I took it slow.

I figured out today where the prezi presentations went that you all e-mailed to me and I said I never got. They were in my junk mail box that I never look at. Sorry about that. I have a grading sheet for each of you so if you haven't gotten it, let me know.

You should have time this week to work on your assignment as I haven't had a lot of calls or e-mails lately. Have a great day.

December 5, 2011

Monday: I hope everyone had a great weekend.

I have shared a document with you that you will need to complete the assignment before or by Dec. 16. You should read the article I posted the other day as part of this assignment. The purpose of this assignment is for you to get familiar with the most common processors and to really think about what you are buying when shopping for a computer. You will have the opportunity to compare laptops and then pick one you think is the best for your needs and explain why to me.

Today I tried to show most of you how to take a password off of a machine using Hirens Boot CD. This CD can be downloaded off the web and has tons of tools on it. I also showed you how to use LogMeIn.com to take control of another machine. This is helpful if you are trying to work on someone's machine or help them with a problem and you are in two different locations. If you did not learn about these 2 things, please remind me to show these to you on Tuesday. If you have any questions, let me know.

Have a good evening and stay warm.

December 2, 2011

Friday: Today I am going to have you watch some video's regarding on-line safety. There are probably 25 videos but you can pick the ones you want to watch. A couple people still need to take a pc apart and put it back together.

We are going to start a project that compares AMD processors and Intel processors and then you are going to do some comparison shopping. I have found an article that I want you to read to help in understanding the difference between the two. It won't let me copy the address here so go to http://www.techradar.com and in the search box to the top right type intel vs amd and it should bring up the article called: News: Intel vs AMD: which processor is best. Here is another article with personal views from different people on the subject. http://www.squidoo.com/intel-vs-amd. You can google this topic also to find out more information. You will be using what you have read to do the rest of the assignment--coming on Monday.

Have a good weekend.

December 1, 2011

Thursday: I came in late today because Austin wasn't feeling well this morning. I did get here in time to listen to a 10 o'clock webinar by DESE--yippee! We will finish up the computer building today and/or the Cat5 making. Someone asked me if Cat5 and ethernet were the same and my answer is yes. The terms are used interchangeably.

I want to stress to you all how important it is to use your brain and to try to figure out problems. There is almost always more than one way to fix a problem with a computer and software. The only exception is a bad piece of hardware. Here is an example: I sent Caleb up to the Rock House this morning to install a printer. He tried the normal way of adding printer and then typing in the ip address. The IP couldn't be found. Caleb did try rebooting, checking another pc to make sure that it was the correct ip for the printer etc... (good job Caleb) So I had to think of another way to do this. I went to the website of the copy machine (sharp) and downloaded an installation package for that printer. I unzipped the download and found the setup icon and installed from there. (I did ping the printer first to make sure they could talk to each other.) Tada! it worked! Please think of it as a puzzle and you have to figure out what does work when the normal doesn't. Have a good day!

November 30, 2011

Wednesday: Sorry, I am late posting. You all need to get on me about that. Most of you have made your Cat5 cables and at least started tearing apart a pc so that you can put it back together. One of the main reasons for doing this is so that if a part fails, you know how to take it out and replace it. DO not be afraid of the PC. I have had a motherboard shorted out by a student before so that is why we don't take those out any longer. Usually if you pay attention to how you get something out, you put the new one in just the same way.

November 29, 2011

Tuesday: Today we will deliver the nComputing setup to Mrs. Bax's room. I think her conference time is 5th hour so we will do it then (Alex). I am going to divide you in half and have half of you take a pc apart and the other half learn to make Cat5 patch cables. Then we will switch and do the opposite. These are handy skills for dealing with computers.

Have a good day!

November 28, 2011

Monday: Sorry, I'm posting a day late but not one of you said--hey don't forget to post! I'm so excited that we got the nComputing device set up and working and Mrs. Bax is even more excited. Let me know what you did on Monday.

November 21, 2011

Monday: Ok, I typed this once and it had conflicting edits so it wouldn't post it. argh! I hope everyone had a good weekend, I did. I enjoyed my extra day off.

We have 2 laptops in that need to have all the software loaded on them. These are replacements for 2 from the HS library. Also, your prezi presentations are due tomorrow and you need to have those to me by the end of the day. It is your responsibility to figure out how to get them to me. I know you can download it to a thumb drive and copy it to my machine. I'm not sure if you can just send me a web address or not. That would be fine if you can.

Have a good day.

November 15, 2011

Tuesday: I e-mailed each one of you yesterday afternoon with comments about your podcast. Overall, they were very good. Some of you sounded nervous and would have done better if you would have taped it a couple of times and used the best one. Rushing through to "get it done" can be obvious when you are talking.

Grant and Emily, let me know what computer entrepreneur you are doing your Prezi over. These are due a week from today and I expect great things!

Have a good day.

November 14, 2011

Monday: I hope everyone had a great weekend. We went to the Mizzou game on Saturday and froze because of the wind but yesterday I got to work in the yard and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Please start working on your Prezi assignment. I don't have a ton of stuff for you all to do right now. I have to get core data done this week so I will focus there. After Thanksgiving I will have each of you take apart a PC and put it back together as well as learn to make Cat 5 cables.

Have a good day!

November 11, 2011

Friday: The morning veteran's assembly took up most of my time from 1st to 3rd hour but it was a very good and worthwhile assembly. I so admire all the men and women who serve for us.

We are starting to get the computer lab ready for EOC testing. Each machine has to have a program installed on it and then test it to be sure it works appropriately. Once this is done, I can certify our lab for testing. Ms. Shanley will be doing a practice test in the next couple of weeks.

Have a good and safe weekend.

November 10, 2011

Thursday: Well it is a short day for all of you but not for me. I do get out of the teacher in-service this afternoon and will work on core data for a couple of hours, uninterupted. I hope I get very close to finishing but we will see. I am down from 600+ errors to around 60 now. That's a huge improvement.


I know most of you are scrambling to get your podcast done. I want them on my pc when you are finished, so talk to me about it as soon as your done.

Have a good day!

November 9, 2011

Wednesday: I am concentrating on core data again today and tomorrow. I am hoping to be finished with it by Friday but if I don't get some of my data from other people in the school district, that will be impossible.

Don't forget that the podcasts are due on Thursday and I want to transfer them to a folder on my PC some time that day. I was supposed to be gone Friday but it looks like I will be here now.

I have also shared another assignment with you on learning to do Prezi. Sign-in to Google Docs to get the assignment. It is due November 22.

Have a good day!

November 8, 2011

Tuesday: I have shared another document with you through Google Docs. This is your next assignment on learning to use Prezi. I don't really know how to use it myself but there are tutorials I am going to have you look at and examples also. I really need to concentrate on core data if I can find the time but I would also like to understand this presentation tool. So you all may be teaching me.

After you learn to use the software, you will pick a famous computer entrepreneur. I don't want everyone doing the same person, so the first to blog on here the person they want, that person will get it. Sorry, that's the easiest way right now.

This assignment will be due on November 22, before Thanksgiving break. Have a good day!

November 7, 2011

Monday: Wow, the day seems to be dragging probably because my clocks are still set for the old time and not the new time. There are a few computers we are reformatting and I hope to deliver today.

Do not forget that your podcast is due on Thursday. I will want the finished mp3 to be on my machine. Tell me when you are done and we will move them there. I want them by the end of the day but I don't promise time to work on them during class. Just depends on how busy we are this week.

November 4, 2011

Friday: As I returned today to my e-mail, there were several computer problems that we need to tend to. 3 of them in the HS library and a couple at the Elem. The MS seems to be doing well these days. I will let you know what you need to do when you get here and don't forget to work on your podcast in your spare time.

Have a good weekend!

November 3, 2011

Thursday: I went to a presentation put on by Apple for the iPad in the classroom. It was very cool especially since I basically knew nothing about them. Now I'd love to get one for us to play with. There are lots and lots of Education aps and books for the iPad but they are also expensive and you have to pay for each app as you all know. So if you have a cart of 30 iPads and need a $5 app, you have to multiply that by 30. So the costs continue. Mrs. Winslow at the elementary really wants one for her building so if she can come up with the money, it may happen.

Tell me your podcast topic when you blog today.

November 2, 2011

Wednesday: We seem to be having a rash of little problems here and there this week so I will be sending people out as necessary. I will not be here on Thursday. I am going to a conference on how to use iPads in education. I'm excited to see what they have to say. If you do not hear from me with specific instructions, then please use the class period to work on your podcast. They will be due by Thursday, November 10.

Have a good day.

November 1, 2011

Tuesday: Our new nurse is starting today so I'll be helping her get acquainted with our network and computers throughout the day in all 3 buildings.

I did bring everyone a Halloween treat, so be sure to ask me for it.

I'm not sure what the day will bring for each of you, but be sure to tell me about it on the blog. Remember, if you have down time to work on your podcast project.

Have a good day!

October 31, 2011

Monday: Happy Halloween! I will bring some candy in this week--as soon as I know we have satisfied the kids coming to the door tonight.

I hope to deliver a few more computers this week and for me to get some core data done. You will hear that over and over again. It is a slow process and I procrastinate on it too much!

October 28, 2011

Friday: TGIF--how many of you stayed up to watch the Cardinals game? I went to bed but got up again when I heard my husband hooting and hollering in the other room. That was amazing!

I want to try to get a few more computers delivered today so we can walk behind the counter again soon. I need to start sitting at my computer to work on core data but I really hate it so I am thinking of other things to do. :) No blogging for yesterday but please blog today.

Also, I am sharing a document with everyone today on the Podcast assignment. I will be posting more about it as I get time. Try logging into Google Docs to be sure you can get it. Use your e-mail and password you use to blog and then go to documents. Start thinking of a topic. And watch the blog and Google Docs for information.

October 26, 2011

Wednesday: I got one huge thing accomplished after school yesterday. Dave Luebbering and I went to Ms. Dixon's room to mess with her sound again. I bought new speakers but when Dave hooked them up, it still sounded like the sound was coming out of a barrel. We messed and messed with stuff and I finally looked at the computer and there was a Realtek sound card in the machine and the program had opened up when we unplugged the cords and replugged them into the computer. On the Realtek screen was a program where you could pick if the sound was for a concrete hallway, planitarium, auditorium, or stadium. Guess what? the Stadium was selected and when I went back to normal, the sound was fixed. It took weeks and several trips to the store as well as tying up the maintenance staff time and mine (and some of yours) and all along it was on the pc. I was frustrated (mad) but glad the trouble was over. We all learn something new every day.

What have you learned new lately? Tell me about it.

October 25, 2011

Tuesday: I feel pretty productive already and it is only 10 a.m. I finally have Ms. Hollands speakers back up and working--now just to get Ms. Dixons. I drug that out way to long but it wasn't at the top of my priority list. We have a few more computers to get ready to go places and we'll work on that today. I will be coming up with an assignment by the end of the week. I know, you heard that before.

October 24, 2011

Monday: Welcome back to all the ACT people. I hope the test seemed easier this time. My goal today is to deliver Ms. Pragman's computer and finish preparing Ms. Hock and Ms. Patterson's pc's. Hopefully we can deliver those in the next couple of days. I am also going to have to get serious about core data. It is a most dreaded job and it is actually due at the end of the week but I'm hoping by Thanksgiving because all the schools have to feed me data and they haven't given it all to me yet so it isn't all my fault for being late. :)

Have a great day.

October 20, 2011

Friday: Well it is an early-release day and Curtis is my only student. Curtis gets bonus points for that! I hope the rest of you have learned a lot from the ACT prep week and raise your ACT score a bunch this weekend. Good Luck.

PS: Curtis, you don't have to blog today.

October 19, 2011

Wednesday: Go Cards!!! I spent the morning putting a new pc in for the special services director at the Rock. Hopefully I got everything she needs except I know her e-mail is not transferring over. We have a few other teachers pc's we are going to give out next week also. They were put on hold with Mitchell's room coming in.

Have a good day.

October 18, 2011

Tuesday: I think I'm getting lonely in the mornings. :) We have quite a few pc's left that we need to get ready to deliver. I'm going to focus on these for the next 2-3 days. Thursday is short and no kids in the mornings so I won't get much done this week. I really need to be working on core data but will concentrate on that starting Thursday when we have parent/teacher conferences.

I looked at the challenge problem and a few of you did not zoom in on the picture to notice one of the most important things is that the login and password were taped to the monitor. I wrote down the things that you all missed but overall you did a good job. The one I didn't know was the paypal device on the key ring. I'm not a paypal person so I wasn't familiar with that.

Have a great day!

October 17, 2011

Monday: I was late today because my son was ill this morning--actually he is still home ill but I left him with my older son for the afternoon. So my objective this afternoon is to get the 900+ letters printed for all the parents who have not signed up for school messenger calls when it snows or other things happen. We shall see if it gets a better response this time. Have a great afternoon/evening.

October 14, 2011

Friday: I will be gone today from 11-1 or a little after. I will leave a note taped to my monitor of what you should be doing during 4, 5, and maybe 6th hours. Don't forget to turn in your assignment that I left on the blog a couple days ago.

Have a great weekend.

October 13, 2011

Thursday: I finally got Randy to help me look at 2 sound issues at the elementary where the speakers or amplifier were not working correclty. We determined I should have the amplifiers looked at so I took them to Dark Horse Electronics today and they determined one was good and one was bad. So I brought back new speakers to try in one of the classrooms and the other is amplifier I am having looked at to see if it is fixable because a new one is $130. I can buy a ceiling mount speaker for $200 and not have to worry about it again. So they are going to call me with an estimate on the cost to try to fix the amplifier. In the mean time, Alex hooked up a set of desk speakers so they can hear the computer.

Don't forget to do the picture problem that I put on the blog. You can e-mail it to lkempker@blairoaks.k12.mo.us, hand it to me--typed, or share a google doc with me.

Have a great day!

October 12, 2011

Wednesday: Wow, no one reminded me to blog. You all are not keeping me on top of this like you should! We delivered 4 computers to Lisa Taylor at the MS and fixed a printing issue at the Elem. as well as got 2 laptops ready to be given to teachers. Pretty productive but could have been better.

Challenge Problem

October is Cyber-Security Awareness month so I want everyone to go to this website: http://www.more.net/content/2011-cyber-security-awareness-month and scroll down to the bottom and you will see a picture of a desk. There are lots of things that the person who has left this desk has done wrong. There are 3 links under the picture to zoom in on the desk and see much better what you find. I don't want you to put it on the blog because then everyone can read the others; so you can either e-mail it to me or type it in a word document and hand it to me. Think about all the bad things, not just the cyber type mistakes. Lets have this done by Friday, October 14.

October 11, 2011

Tuesday: Good Morning! I want to remind everyone that I give a grade for posting to this blog and I will go back and read your posts from almost every day of the quarter. I will be looking for good explanations of what you did and not just went to elementary. I want to know who's room you went to and what you were sent to do and if it was successful or not and if not, what did you try while you were there. If you are reformatting computers it would be good to list the software that was loaded: for example--I worked on reformatting 2 computers in the lab and loaded the following software on both: Office, Vixera, Adobe Reader, and Flash.

If you have any questions, let me know.

October 10, 2011

Monday: Wow, am I tired after the weekend. You all probably are too with all the homecoming activities. We still have computers to be reformatted and loaded with software and then taken to the MS. Whatever is left will probably go to Mr. Karsten because he wants some updated ones for his classes. Maybe by the end of the week we can be finished. We then have a few new teacher machines to deliver. Those teachers will be surprised because I haven't even told them yet.

Have a good day!

October 7, 2011

Friday: Happy Homecoming and TGIF! Seems like a long week for me since I was gone 2 days last week. I was supposed to be gone Monday and Tuesday next week for a conference at the lake but I have chosen not to go. Hanging out with you all is more important. :)

The usual reformatting is on the agenda today. We may even deliver a computer this morning. Next week, we will finish up that project and hopefully move on to other things.

Have a safe and fun weekend!

October 6, 2011

Thursday: Well I actually had the blog all ready this morning and the window closed before I got to post it. Sorry this is late again. You all aren't doing a very good job of reminding me to post in the mornings. I know we are busy.

I hope to spend time just getting pc's formatted, delivered and out of my office so that we can have room and maybe do some other learning besides reformatting pc's.

I hope everyone enjoys these last couple days of homecoming because your high school years fly by and all of a sudden you are out and working all the time. Be safe this weekend.

Ocotber 5, 2011

Wednesday: I have graded all of the quizzes and I think several of you do not understand the importance of the device manager window. This window tells you if pieces of hardware in your pc are working, like the network card, sound card, display adapter, etc... If the items have yellow ! on them, then they are not working. It may be as simple as installing the correct driver to make the device work or it may be toast and you have to replace it. We would start by trying to install a driver, update the driver or find a new one on the web.

The other thing I want you to know is that you can ping any object with an ip address. When we use ping, we are testing the sending and receiving object to be sure that the network card and cabeling is working correctly. I like to use the gateway's IP 10.10.0.254 because I know it is always working. The gateway is the router that takes all of our computers out to the internet. The only time it would not be working is if the entire district is down and no one can get on the web. If we use this ip then we know we are really just testing the pc that we are pinging from. This IP is also memorized and would be easy for you to use. 10.10.1.253 is the IP of the server. This would also be a good IP to memorize.

If you didn't score all that great on the quiz, never fear, most points come from the blog and daily work.

October 4, 2011

Tuesday: Good Morning--I'm actually blogging first hour. :) Quiz today! Be prepared. As of now, we will concentrate on reformatting computers today and maybe delivering a few. I hope to clean out the lab and office by the end of October. Seems like a long time to do that but we have been busy with other fixes throughout the day. I will be coming up with a project for you to do before the end of the quarter. Not exactly sure what but I'll have to decide soon because the end of the quarter is a week and a half away. Don't forget to blog everyday!

October 3, 2011

Monday: Sorry I am a day late blogging. I'm sure you will be able to remember on Tuesday what you did Monday. I spent a lot of time working on the Sp. Ed directors PC. I took the hard drive out and hooked it up to a machine in the office so we could scan it and see what was wrong. Her machine was in an infinite loop and just kept restarting. The harddrive scan did find some errors. You can check a harddrive by going to the command prompt and typing: chkdsk c: /r This command tells the computer to check the C drive and repair any problems. I want everyone to try this command on a computer. Just remind me during your hour and I'll watch/help you do it the first time. It is a great tool.

September 30, 2011

Friday: As you know I will not be here today but you can text me. Here are some things that I know we need to get done or finish and some of you are involved and others not.

Devun: I would like for you to start a reformat on 2 more of Ms. Mitchell's pc's. They will be for the HS. Could you please make a list --the basics are fine--and tape to the top of them.

Ben: there is a computer on the counter that Devun will probably move--the left one. Could you please return it to Ms. Libbert's room at the MS. When finished, you can start loading software on the 2 pc's that Devun started.

Caleb: Ms. Linnenbrink at the MS would like help updating her MIMIO. could you check that out. 4 new teachers at the HS just got mimios today. Ms. Abel is one, you could install hers for her.

Curtis: Ms. Jill Verslues at the MS needs the driver changed for the Office copier so that her math formulas will print. Usually a postscript printer will do this. Go to her pc, right click on the office copier, properties, clicked Advanced, New Driver. I put the post script driver on the I drive under the Lanier LD433 copier. Ask her to try to print a math page and go get it from the printer to see if it printed the formulas correclty. If finished early, load software in the lab.

Alex: I would like for you to try to install the new Mimio on Mrs. Kristin Buschjost computer. Open the box and just read the directions. I have not had much experience but I have faith in you. If she is using her pc, Mrs. Herigon and Mrs. Northweather also got new ones. Try to get someone's installed

Grant & Emily: There is a computer on a cart for you to deliver to Mrs. Crawford at the MS. I talked to Grant about that on Thursday. Please load software when you return.

Kellen: You can either finish loading software on the machines on the counter or you can try to install one of mimio's. I will not know who does not have their's done yet or if there is anyone. I'm sure by 7th hour I will have a job for you because I'll check my e-mail during the day. Look at your phone. Please remember to get the lab shut down.

Everyone have a nice weekend.

September 29, 2011

Thursday: Before I forget to tell you, I will be gone again tomorrow. This should be it as the rest of my therapy is after school. My husband is having a procedure tomorrow that I need to drive him to and from and "take care" of him afterward.

I know, I'm blogging late again. I spent about 2 hours at the elementary fixing a printer problem, sound, and fonts issue, oh, and a login issue. We have several pc's from classrooms that are not working correctly so we will concentrate on that this afternoon and tomorrow. If there is nothing else to do, reformat one of Mrs. Mitchells old machines and start loading the usual. The reformatting instructions are handwritten and copied and out on the counter. It says Reformatting WinXP at the top. START with this step and use one of the NOBILIS silver CD's.

You can text me tomorrow, I will be sitting at the surgery center all morning and at home in the afternoon. If someone e-mails or texts with a problem, I will text you. Have a good weekend!

QUIZ ON OCTOBER 4

You will have a quiz (test) on October 4. You need to have memorized the following:

Subnet mask
Both DNS numbers
Gateway
The 10.10.? scheme for each building, printers, teachers, etc...
What do you click on to get to Device Manager
What do you click on to get to where you set the IP address that you are memorizing above
How do you ping and why do you ping? What does pinging check? What IP address would be good to use to test a ping?
Name 3 things you could check if a computer will not print to a particular printer.

If I decide to add more, I'll let you know.

September 28, 2011

Wednesday: A busy morning as usual so I'm not blogging until 1. Sorry, someone needs to remind me.

I spent part of the morning at the elementary and middle school helping deliver some of the computers we have reformatted. We are moving along with that--this is good.

We are having problems with logins still since I did the patch on the server last week. I have instructions on how to update the host file so computers will login correctly. Ask me so I can show you how to do this if you haven't done it yet.

Have a good day! (Therapy at 3 today and 8:30 a.m. tomorrow)

September 27, 2011

Tuesday: Thank you for working yesterday during my absence. I feel better today! :)

We have a few places to visit but we will also be concentrating on installing the media cards that are now here in Ms. Mitchell's computers. It is very easy. I have a webinar at 11 today and therapy at 1:30. And I'm playing catchup with e-mails and teacher requests.

Have a good day!

September 26, 2011

Monday: Sorry everyone but I am sick today and staying home. I have been up since 3 a.m. and still feeling bad plus I have to go back to the Dr. for my shoulder today to get stitches out. I am going to leave a list of a few things that I know need to be done and a list of software that needs to be loaded on some of Ms. Mitchells machines for them to be redistributed. Please check off from the list what has been done and then next person can pick up from there.

Kellen: the lab was still on when I dropped in this morning to see what I needed to leave for you guys. you promised me you would shut it down. :(

September 23, 2011

Friday: TGIF, it has been a crazy, hectic week but they are like that for quite some time. Today one of my goals is to deliver 4 computers to the elementary out of Ms. Mitchells old stack and to get one to Mr. Karsten in addition to fixing other things as they come up. I'm working on the laptop that runs the scoreboard at the stadium this morning so it will hopefully work adequately for tonights game. I haven't even checked my e-mail yet to see what else is needed but I will and let you know during your hour.

Hope everyone has a safe and relaxing weekend.

September 22, 2011`

Thursday: I know I didn't get to blog yesterday and I'm sorry but it was a crazy day. We had to get a bunch of machines fixed so they could login to the server. Scott and I loaded a patch to the server trying to make the Win7 machines see the server and keep the tree, context, and server information. But when we did that, it couldn't find it at all. Scott gave me directions on how to put a line in the Host file to point the computer to the server every time it boots. This worked AND it keeps the server, context, and tree! So the extra work is worth it. Devun, Grant, and I spent the entire hour fixing these problems. Then I spent an hour with Scott figuring out how to get the library laptops to login to the network wirelessly. We did get that accomplished also and Curtis helped me do that. There were other problems as the day progressed and everyone was very busy.

Please post what you did on Thursday even though you are doing it on Friday. :)

September 21, 2011

Wednesday: All the computers are in Mrs. Mitchell's room but we are having trouble with the tree, context, and server sticking. I'm having Scott look at this today. We will start getting her old pc's ready for shipment out to classrooms pretty quickly. I haven't decided if we will totally reformat (probably) or not. Don't forget to be specific when you blog.

September 20, 2011

Tuesday: Well, the big move has been made. During 3rd hour we installed all of Mrs. Mitchell's pc's. As of 4th hour we are still working on her pc and getting her mail, etc... backed up. She will have her new machine during 5th hour. Also today the new copy machines are coming and I have to set those up so teachers can scan from them to their e-mail accounts. Then after school, I am going to do an update on the Novell server to try to get rid of our login problems with Win7. The new media drives for Mitchell's PC's will be here tomorrow--then we will start that project and finally get around to reformatting all of her old pc's. We will be busy for some time yet.

September 19, 2011

Monday: I'm back! I have limited use of my left arm as I can not lift it very much at all and my instructions from the doctor are to lift nothing over 5 lbs. :) I start physical therapy tomorrow so I'll have more info then. Luckily my keyboard is low in my office.

I will be trying to catch up today with e-mails and little things that need to be fixed and finishing up with Mrs. Mitchell's pc's. I'm hoping the media cards come in today so we can start installing those. I have promised her we will have the pc's installed this week. Hopefully I'm not lying. Don't forget to blog every day!

September 16, 2011

Friday: Hopefully the installation of the printer at the elementary went well. The students in the morning should check the list and be sure that everyone is done. you can compare it to one of the elementary maps to see who hasn't had it installed and finish those.

If and when all the elementary staff has the color printer, then I want you to finsh the installing software on all of Mrs. Mitchell's pc's. If by chance the media cards come in, Devun or Caleb will make instruction sheets for installing those. At the end of each hour, I would like all the software returned to my desk. We need to keep track of it and since I'm gone, that is the best way.

You can text me on Friday if you have questions. If I'm sleeping, I just won't answer. :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

September 15, 2011

Thursday: Ok, I think I figured out the problem with the Elem color printer. I moved it to the office so it would be plugged into a different place and it started working. The wiring in the workroom must have a wire short or twisted. Anyway, I want you all to work on installing the new color printer on the teachers pc's at the Elem. Some of them are done but I am not for sure who's is and isn't. I made 2 copies of instructions and put one on a blue clipboard. Take that one with you and write down the teachers you have done. Some of you tried teachers on Wed so you might go back and see if those work now. I left the original CD with Susan if you need to get it over there but I think the I drive will work. Leave the blue clipboard on my desk for the next hour and leave enough time for yourself to blog.

Be sure to check in at the office to see if anything needs to be done before you go. If by chance all of that gets finished, then there are still 4 computers to load software on for Mrs. Mitchell's room. I would like for all of the software and thumb drives to be kept on my desk while I am gone. So after your hour, return them their please. If the media bays come in, Devun or Caleb will make instructions on how to install them and that can also be done.

Please work the entire period and don't wonder around or we will all get in trouble. I know you all will do well but I feel the need to remind you.

September 14, 2011

Wednesday: I am trying to tie up a bunch of loose ends before being gone for a couple of days. One thing we need to get done is to install the new printer on each elementary teacher's machine. They are waiting impatiently for it. I will get hours 3-7 started on it today. The other thing is to finish up Mrs. Mitchell's PC's. Angie Fredendall in the office is going to take the rest of the empty boxes so take them down to her when you open them up. I will blog at the end of today for Thursday and probably Friday so you can respond. You may need to communicate with each other through the blog or meet in the hallway outside my door. You may text me on Friday if you need. If I'm sleeping, I just won't answer. :)

September 13, 2011

Tuesday: I really need to get the blog done at the beginning of the day and I will try very hard to do that. These first few weeks of school have been crazy and having blood work done this morning didn't help.

While I am gone, you will need to check in with Angie at the beginning of each hour and ask her if there is any place you need to go to help teachers. I will tell them to e-mail her for Thursday and Friday.

If there isn't anything that she gives you, we still have 6 computers that need software. I am also hoping the media drives come in because you could also install those. Mrs. Mitchell is very anxious for her computers. We can hopefully install them early next week.

Everyone should blog every day!

September 12, 2011

Monday: Well, I am finally getting around to starting the blog for this year. I should have done it sooner but we have been so busy and I know everyone has been working. But as you all know, I am going to be gone at the end of this week for surgery and I want to be able to communicate with you through this blog. Of course we can use texting also. Everyone is expeted to respond to my blog each day and tell me what you did that hour. You don't necessarily have time every day to do it before class ends, but you can blog from any computer at any time of day. It is ideal to do it at the end of the hour in case someone needs to finish something you started. The more you tell me in detail, the more I like it. It is also a good place to leave yourself an others notes on how something is done or accomplished. You can always come back and look at it.

So starting today, don't forget to blog. It is part of your grade.

success

Finally got an email account

May 13, 2011

Friday: Best Wishes Seniors!!!! I actually blogged on Wednesday and it is gone. What I said then and want to say now is that I enjoyed having all of you in class and it was a very good year! Take care and e-mail me in the fall and let me know how your new lives are going. Take care of yourselves!

May 11, 2011

Wednesday: I hope you all enjoyed the pizza for lunch. Thank you for all your hard work this year, especially when you had jobs you didn't really like. :) I enjoyed having all of you in class and hope that you learned some practical skills for taking care of your own computer equipment in the future. Don't forget to e-mail me in the fall and let me know how you like school. I will be here a couple days a week all summer so if you are bored, stop by and help! :~)

Today is my last time to blog. Make sure you've kept up because I'll be looking at the blog closely over the next couple of days.

Have a great summer!

May 10, 2011

Tuesday: We are going to hit some odds and ends these last few days with seniors. If you want, I'll order pizza on Wednesday and we can eat lunch in my office. I'll be talking to everyone about it today.

May 9, 2011

Monday: It is only 9:30 and my day has not begun well. the rock house was down this morning with no connectivity to the network. So after resetting things there I had to go to the elementary, find a ladder and reset the connection there. Luckily that brought it back up. Mrs. Abel was having difficulties as well as Mrs. Taylor and several pc's in the FLCN room. I think those are all under control at this point but we'll see how the rest of the morning goes.

Seniors, your final will be Thursday if you are in period 4 or 6 and the rest are on Friday. Caleb, yours will be next week.

May 6, 2011

Friday: Thank goodness the EOC testing is over. If time permits today, we are going to filter through the old pc's in the lab and move some of them to the garage. Hopefully that will work but right now there are still make-up tests in the lab. Have a great weekend and be especially nice to your mothers!

May 5, 2011

Thursday: I'm blogging early for once! Everyone has been asking about a final. Here are some general questions that you need to be able to write about in a clear and concise format. Listing is good for these types of answers. The more you can tell me, the better. You will not have all of these but will be given 3 or 4 of them.

1. A teacher’s machine will not connect to the Internet—no pages will display. List all of the things you can check and do to try to get this working.

2. A teacher’s machine will not print to the copy machine in the workroom. List all of the things you can check and do to try to get this working.

3. A teacher has a Novell login screen but he/she cannot get logged in. List all of the things you can check and do to try to get this working.

4. There is no sound on a pc. List all of the things you can check and do to try to get this working.

5. A CD ROM drive will open and spin the CD but it will not read it. List all of the things you can check and do to try to get this working.

6. You have a brand new machine and need to set the machine up for our network. What software needs to be loaded and what else needs to be done for the machine to be set up correctly to work on our network and access the Internet safely.

May 4, 2011

Wednesday: One more day of EOC testing, yeah! It is always a little stressful to get all computers on-line at the same time.

If you are finished at the MS, I want you to go back to the Elem and clean the LCD projector in the rooms you were assigned over there. Then we will do the HS rooms last. Almost done!

May 3, 2011

Tuesday: Our first day of EOC testing in 3 labs and overall it went pretty smooth. Can't complain. We are hitting some odds and ends today and setting up some computers for moving around and getting rid of some old junk. Let me know what you did today.

May 2, 2011

Monday: Well our second week of EOC testing is underway and so far so good. Tuesday will be the reall test when all 3 labs are used at once. My goal this week is to repurpose a few of the pc's we picked up from special services that are in very good shape. I'd like to get these in place soon and then move the junk to the basement for recycling. After the seniors are gone and maybe everyone else too, I'll have new machines coming in for the library and MS lab.

April 29, 2011

Friday: Gone again this morning with Austin. I know it seems like I've been gone a lot. I appreciate all of you texting me or reading the blog when I have it done to find out what to do. I like the responsibility you are showing. Next week will be a little problematic with EOC testing in the lab all week. I have things I want to do but not sure how we'll get them done. Have a good weekend.

April 27, 2011

Wednesday: We started EOC testing in the lab today and 1st hour had 2 students who could log in but the test would never start. We tried multiple pc's and finally got them on some that would bring the test up. The next hour kids sat at the same pc's and they worked fine. ARGH!!! Tech support did not have a solution for us. I also saw posts on my discussion list that other schools were having the same problem. I believe it is on their end. :)

I'm hoping everyone is progressing on their list of computers to clean at the MS. I would like to have these done by the end of the week for sure. I'll be checking in with you today and tomorrow. Have a good day!

April 26, 2011

Tuesday: I was gone to St. Louis and am blogging late, so please let me know what you spent your day (hour) doing. Hope you were on task.

April 25, 2011

Monday: Oh it is so hard to come back after a 3-day weekend, especially one in which I had lots of company at my house all weekend but I'm here and moving on. Today we are starting to clean the MS and also do final preparations for EOC testing. i want to have a few spare computers for classrooms in case something goes wrong. :)

I will be gone tomorrow to St. Louis so unless I text you, plan on going to the MS to clean. The cart and clipboard are in the library storage room. Please clean the LCD filters while you are in those rooms. Be careful not to use too much force because it may rip the thin sponge that acts as the air filter. Take the air filter out and blow the dust from it. If you have questions text me. The appt is at 11 so I'll be busy around that time for a bit.

April 21, 2011

Thursday: Well TGIT (lol)! I hope everyone has a fun and relaxing 3-day weekend. My plan is to get the air compressor to the MS late today and for you all to start there on Monday. I may be gone Monday morning but if I am, just head over there with the clipboard. The air compressor will be in the library like it was at the elementary. I will be gone on Tuesday for sure because I am taking Austin to see a Dr. in St. Louis. I will be in touch and you can always text me.

Happy Easter!

April 20, 2011

Wednesday: Well the week is almost over since we have Friday off. I am going to send everyone out to find and fix inventory problems as I hand match up everything you have written with what I already had on a spreadsheet. I want to make sure all HS computers are cleaned by the end of the day also because we have to move to the MS next week.

April 19, 2011

Tuesday: All of the English classes will be in the lab today to practice EOC on-line testing. I don't get a lot done with so many people in and out all day. My goal is to keep working on inventory and get everything straightened out.

April 18, 2011

Monday: I hope everyone had a good weekend. I am actually blogging during 2nd hour and Caleb isn't even here to remind me. My goal is to get the HS finished up in the next couple of days and then we will get to the MS by the end of the week when they have MAP testing finished. Next week is EOC testing here so we will have to be quiet in this building. see you soon!

April 15, 2011

Friday: TGIF--normally this is tax day but this year it has been extended till Monday. Lucky me, I'm done with them and already have my return. We will continue on with our cleaning project in the HS. We should be finished by Monday or Tuesday.

April 14, 2010

Thursday: My son is playing double header baseball games one night a week and you would think I was the one playing. It wears me out to be at the ball park for 4.5 hours and eat dust all night and get to bed late. But hey, I'm here and being productive so if this ole' lady can, you can too. :) I'm thinking that inventory is our top priority today. There are a few other objects we need to work on but not much. have a good day!

April 13, 2011

Wednesday: Time for me to catch up with a few requests I have put off. I have paperwork due to Morenet today and a meeting with Dr. Jones this afternoon regarding ITV equipment. So I'll be running around. If I'm not findable, work on your HS list.

April 12, 2011

Tuesday: I missed the morning for a doctor's appointment with my son. I know most of you started the cleaning at the HS but blog about it!

April 11, 2010

Monday: How many weeks are left? I'm sure at least one of you is counting down. My goal this week is to inventory the HS and start to clean out the PC's here. I will give you a list very soon--as soon as I get the air compressor back into the building. We have some computers to reformat and get ready for EOC testing also.

April 8, 2011

Friday: TGIF! Spring if finally in the air. We are going to finish the inventory at the MS today and then I can start getting my report together. Next week we will work in the HS all week because the elementary and MS will be MAP testing. After they finish, we will take the air compressor back to the MS and clean. Yippee--I know you are excited about that. have a great weekend!!!

April 7, 2011

Thursday: Let me know what you did. Sorry, I'm late blogging.

April 6, 2011

Wednesday: I'm working on a bid to add computers to the library and make a new lab there this summer. We will have 21 workstations with 15 of them being new and 9 laptops to create another lab of 30. The teachers and librarians are excited about this especially since we have EOC testing all on-line. Speaking of EOC testing, we will be getting the pc's ready for this next week. Lots to do from now till the end of school. :)

April 5, 2011

Tuesday: I'm behind in posting again. I know Caleb tries to keep me on track but the rest of you don't!!! So if I'm busy 2nd hour it sometimes doesn't get done on time. I think everyone is about finished with their cleaning and inventory at the Elementary. Please fill me in today of your status there.

April 4, 2010

Monday: Yes, I know I didn't blog on Friday--consider it one day off of blogging. We were all busy with cleaning and inventorying and I know we are continuing that but please blog when I blog. Give me an update at the end of your hour on Monday as to how much you have finished and how much you have left to do. Have a good day.

March 31, 2011

Thursday: The cleaning has begun! I do have masks for you to wear if you so choose but you do not have to. Also, please wear something that you don't mind getting dusty. Black shows everything. Be sure to get all pc's in the classroom while you are there. When blowing them out, make sure to clean fans, front covers, back covers, air vents, etc... The better the air can flow through the computer, the better it will run. Also write ledgible so that I can read the numbers on the inventory form. If you have questions, please call or text. I have to do a report to the state on all our technology and this inventory will help me to do the report. Thanks!

March 30, 2011

Wednesday: I did not get to school until 11:45 this morning because my son was ill so I know the morning crew did not have anything to do but you should still blog and tell me what you did do in my absence.

March 29, 2011

Tuesday: We got almost all of the computers installed yesterday--one more to go. We have a few pieces of software to go back and install today. I am working on the cleaning assignments for the elementary. We will start that today or tomorrow and must have it done by the end of next week. We'll see how that goes. I will explain today.

March 28, 2011

Monday: I know we all worked on installing PC's at the MS and Elem but you should still blog and say who's pc you worked on installing. NOTE of Caution: When packing my van for transport of computer equipment, PLEASE be careful how you pack the LCD monitors that we are bringing back and forth. Something fell this afternoon (maybe a keyboard) and put a huge scratch in a very nice LCD monitor. This does not make me very happy!! Let's think about what can happen and be cautious.

March 25, 2011

Friday: TGIF!!! I was hoping to deliver a few pc's this morning but the rain may change my plans. Deliver and set up are the primary focus for the next couple of days and then CLEANING is next! Have a good weekend.

March 24, 2011

Thursday: We are busy making deliveries and finishing up installation of software. Lots to do!

March 23, 2011

Wednesday: Here it is 2 p.m. and I'm just getting around to blogging. It has been a busy day. The lul of not much going on is over. We will work on delivering PC's tomorrow and already have 2 done today. The setting up of teacher e-mail and transferring documents is a bit of a challenge with Windows7 compared to XP. I have to work through the e-mail part first.

If I am not in my office or the lab, please text me if I have not left you a note so that I can give you instructions. We have a lot to do now and I want to progress every hour.

March 22, 2011

Tuesday: We will mostly work on getting the new computers ready for deployment in the next couple of days. I will also be working on the first set of cleaning instructions soon.

March 21, 2011

Monday: I hope everyone enjoyed their 3-day weekend. I especially enjoyed yesterday with the great weather--worked in my yard, took a walk on the greenway trail and BBQed for dinner. I would like to be doing that again today but back to reality. We are having some issues with the new computers and figuring out how to get Windows7 drivers working the way we want them to. I will be around all day to help work on these. Our goal is to get them ready as soon as we can.

March 17, 2011

Thursday: Happy St. Patrick's day. I am at the conference at the Lake but will be reachable by cell. I ran into some stumbling blocks late in the day with the new computers not holding the tree, context, and server info. For now, just keep picking them and I'll figure it out on Monday. Let's try to get all 6 of the student PC's done first and then we'll move on to the teachers machines on Monday. We could not get the printing set up either. :( Not in the mood for stuborn software. Have a good 3-day weekend.

March 16, 2011

Wednesday: It was a crazy day and I'm not even blogging until almost 4. All the new PC's came in and they are proving to be a little bit of a challenge since I haven't worked with Windows7 on our network before. We will get it figured out. :) I did get a new backup system going for our servers and they will backup to terabyte hard drives that are sitting in my office now. I will have to remember to leave my pc on and it will shut down at 10 p.m. each night after the backups. Hope this works.

March 15, 2004

Tuesday: I hope all of you enjoyed your unexpected day off. I was up from about 5:30 to 7 but then went back to bed for a little while and enjoyed the sleep. This will be a short week for me as I have a conference on Thursday and we are off on Friday. Lots to accomplish between now and then!

March 11, 2011

Friday: I have a meeting this afternoon with the tech coordinators from some area schools. So if I cannot be found, use your time to work on the 5 Google Apps you need to investigate and review and send to me via Google Docs. I need these by Monday at the latest. Hope everyone has a fun and relaxing weekend. If you go to the basketball game, drive safe and cheer for me.

March 10, 2011

Thursday: Please have your Google Apps paper done by end of class on Monday. I will put them on this quarter's grades and that is the latest I can get them and have a grade entered. We will be working on cleaning computers most of 4th quarter and I will also be getting a group of new computers (15) for the special services departments and hopefully a mobile lab before the end of the year. Lots coming up.

March 9, 2011

Wednesday: It seems like a crazy day and it is only 10 a.m. I have some work to be done at the MS so several of you will be going there and some to the Elem. We have some computers not running very well and we need to try to get those performing better also. Make sure you look into the Google apps and work on your review of them--even if you have to do it at home.

Have a good day!

March 8, 2011

Tuesday: Everyone has finished the Google Boys video and I hope you all found it somewhat interesting. I sure did. It amazes me how two people can come up with an idea and turn it into a multi-million dollar business and influence the entire world so much. I spent some time looking at the information on Google about Google corporate. I would like for you to visit this web site and look through the information there: http://www.google.com/corporate/index.html For any of you considering moving up a corporate ladder or owning your own business, you can always learn something from reading about others.

The other thing I want you to do is to go to Google.com and then more, even more. This will list all of the Google apps that are available. Your assignment is to pick at least 5 of them that are not things we are familiar with (ex, can't use docs, calendar, web, images, video, etc..) and learn about them. Go to the web page for each one and learn as much as you can. Type a paper--with a title, etc.. and a description of each one. Do this in Google Docs and share the document with me. The last short paper you all wrote didn't follow very good format. You should always title your papers, put your name on them, etc... If you have questions, ask. Let's work on these this week as we are in a slow time right now. You should be able to get them done pretty easily.

March 7, 2011

Monday: I am working on ordering some new PC's for the special services department and doing a few other small projects. I'm not sure what will come up for each of you but if you have not finished the Google Boys video, please do that and turn in your questions.

March 4, 2011

Friday: Today I want everyone to watch the Google Boys video I have. I also have a worksheet for you to fill out while watching it. If some emergency comes up, you may have to watch it on Monday but all seems quiet right now. Have a great weekend and be safe.

March 3, 2011

Thursday: Lucky you--short day with an early release. Not so lucky for the rest of us. I am in the process of finding custom pages for PowerSchool and doing some updating on it. I'm hoping the administration and secretaries find it helpful.

March 2, 2011

Wednesday: I have graded your articles and put the grades in PS. Some of the articles were not very "innovative" so you may have lost a few points there. I have a movie, Google Boys, that I want you to watch--probably on Friday since tomorrow is a short period. I have a worksheet for you to fill out while you are watching it. This is a biography of the 2 gentlemen that started Google. I will let you know when I remember to bring it from home.

March 1, 2011

Tuesday: Wow, I'm posting early. I have an assignment and I didn't want to forget to tell each one of you. There is a website that allows you to create accounts, load a client on a machine, and then take control of another pc from yours. So I want each of you to go to https://secure.logmein.com/ and create an account. I will help you walk through the steps to load the client on a pc in the lab and then you demonstrate that you can take control of that pc and work on it. I wante everyone to know this exists so that if you are trying to help a friend or relative, you can use this tool to work on their pc or help them with a problem without physically being at their house. Ask me for assistance when you are working on this. I have a webinar again tomorrow at 9 a.m. on EOC's. Have a good day!

February 28, 2011

Monday: Hope everyone had a good weekend. I am working on some EOC state reporting for all you seniors. We have to verify that each of you took the required EOC tests or else you cannot graduate. We have some errors and guess who's job it is to figure those out. :) I'll let you know what you need to do during your hour and you blog what you did!!

February 25, 2011

Friday: I am home with a sick child so look at your phones for texts from me. I will be checking my e-mail from home. Leave your articles on my desk. They are DUE today!!! Have a good weekend.

February 24, 2011

Thursday: This morning I went to a workshop for teens on Internet Crimes given by the Cyber Crimes Task force for Mid-Missouri. I was pretty amazed at how easily you can become a sex offender with a cell phone. I am hoping to bring this person into our school to give a talk. I hope the HS students will listen and take note.

I am also working on purchasing enough netbooks to have a mobile lab. I'm hoping to get this project underway soon and have these here in March.

February 23, 2011

Wednesday: I've already spent over an hour at the Elem. running some scans on Mrs. Winslow's pc as her e-mail and some other things aren't running very well. I have some core date odds and ends to finish up and will look at the school web site today. Don't forget that your articles are due on Friday. No excuses!!!

Tuesday Update

The article's due tomorrow may be turned in by Friday, but NO LATER!!! Due this Friday, typed and stapled to the article that you have printed.

February 22, 2011

Tuesday: We are still helping Mrs. Schmidt with her class projects during 2, 4, & 6th hour. The others are filling in and helping with whatever is needed. Don't forget your articles that are due tomorrow. Have a great day!

February 21, 2011

Monday: Hope everyone enjoyed their 3-day weekend. Congratulations to Caleb and his success at the state wrestling tournament. Watch out because he is now eating the licorice and animal crackers in my office. :)

I am going to try to finish the MOSIS ID update information today. I don't have a lot on the agenda right now so don't forget your articles that are due on Wednesday.

February 17, 2010

Thursday: So I forgot to blog. I worked on a DESE MOSIS upload that keeps track of every students ID number, grade, school, etc... What did you do?

February 16, 2011

Wednesday: I am going to work on some PowerSchool updates and things that aren't crucial but I should get done. I'm in between core data reports and things seem to be running rather smoothly lately. Knock on wood. Let me know what you ended up doing today.

February 15, 2011

Tuesday: Be sure to find an article soon for your project. I have been helping with registration some and doing odds and ends. I hope to clean my desk some time today. :)

February 14, 2011

Monday: Happy Valentine's Day! I hope all of you will tell your parents Happy V'day and that you love them.

Please be sure to read Friday's post because I added an assignment. Also, we are going to help Mrs. Schmidt at the Elementary do a flip video project. Right now she needs someone 2nd, 4th, and 6th periods, so you guys will be going for sure. The others will take care of whatever problems we have. Today I am working on updating the transcript form for seniors for Mrs. Shanley. Hopefully that all goes well. :)

February 11, 2011

Friday: I have an assignment for everyone. You are to find an article on the web about schools using technology in innovative ways. I want you to go to the on-line resources offered by MoreNet first at http://infotrac.galegroup.com/. You can search multiple or all sources here for technology in education, schools using technology, etc... Try different search terms. You will notice there are different tabs at the top with magazines, journals, books, and news that all have different resources for you to look at. Once you find a good article, PRINT it. The article must be about one school or district that is using technology and what the benefits of it are. You will type a summary of the article and must include the school name and location, what the technology is they are using (be specific) and the benefits the school is seeing from using this technology. If they list obstacles or problems they are having, you should include those also but the primary focus should be on a good outcome, otherwise pick a different article. Staple your summary to the top of the article and hand these in by February 23, 2011. If you have questions, ask!

February 10, 2011

Thursday: I forgot to blog--I was deep into fixing some core data and working on the school board web pages. What did you do?

February 8, 2011

Tuesday: I have a webinar today at 10:00 a.m. on administering the School Messenger service because they changed their web site. So, it is a phone and computer conference so you'll have to be quiet if you stop by during that time. (1 hour) I am working on creating new bell schedules and attendance conversions for all the buildings since we had a 1:15 release last week. Then I have to recalculate attendance and make changes to students who left the buildings early that day. Mr. Jones doesn't realize the work he caused me by not calling school off at 1 or 1:30 because those schedules were already in the system. Ugh! We also need to finish the computers on the counter and work on the web pages for the school board.

February 7, 2011

Monday: Most of you either helped with a big web page project I'm working on for the school board or reformatting a computer for one of the teachers. Post what you spent your hour on.

February 5, 2011

Friday: Whohoo, it is already Friday but of course we have to make up the 3 days we missed some time. :( I am looking through e-mails to make sure I have met everyone's requests and working on some web page updates. Let me know what you ended up doing today. Have a safe weekend in this snowy weather.

January 30, 2011

Monday: Well I hope we all get through this day and back home before the bad weather hits. Please drive safely. We will try to stay in the HS today just because of the weather. I'll let you know if I have anything for you to do.

January 28, 2011

Friday: TGIF and Happy Winter Sports! This will basically be a short day but at the moment we don't have any teachers waiting on us to do things. Blog about what you ended up doing for the hour. Have a fun and safe weekend.

January 27, 2011

Thursday: OOPs, didn't blog on time and not one of you reminded me. I worked on February core data and it is still January. That is pretty amazing even though I know you don't really understand or care. Scott Jaegers came in the afernoon and helped me figure out some wierd problems I couldn't get solved, most of which were deleting and then re-adding in the same ports (for printers) or IP numbers (for the 2 laptops). Oh well, sometimes I need a different set of eyes too.

January 26, 2011

Wednesday: NOTE to All Student Techs: When you work on another pc, make sure that you log back in at the end under the normal login name and password. What is happening (I think) is that you are logging in under techadmin and then just logging off. When the student or teacher goes back to login, the context has changed or the windows login has changed, or some other small aspect and the teacher cannot get the machine logged in. This is stopping them from having that machine until they can notify me and I can get someone else over there. SO.... from now on, you always log back in with bhs in the high school, bms in the middle school, and boe in the elementary. If it is a teachers machine, have them login in your presence so you know it works and we don't have to go back again. This is very frustrating to me that I get at least one or two calls a week on this.

January 25, 2011

Tuesday: I guess the day got away from me as I see I didn't blog in a timely manner. I tried reformatting one of the small Dells to get Type to Learn to work on it and it still doesn't work. :( Not sure what the deal is but I'm having my outside tech come on Thursday to take a look at a few problems I can't seem to solve. What did you do today?

January 24, 2011

Monday: Looks like we will have a full week of school--don't be too disappointed. We have to go some time. Today we are going to finish the last of the DNS number change. Carson pointed out to me that I put the wrong number down in a previous post. It should be 150.199.178.8 and 150.199.1.29. OOPS, thanks Carson. We have a few other odds and ends to do also. Remember to be very descriptive in your posts. Who's room, what did you do, was it successful or not!!!

January 21, 2011

Friday: It has been a pretty quiet day. Still working on the DNS number change and a few odds and ends. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

January 19, 2011

Wednesday: This will probably be our last day for a couple if we get all the snow that is predicted. As you all know by now, we have to change our DNS numbers. Here are the two numbers you must use now: 150.199.1.29 and 150.199.187.8. Below is the explanation of what the Blackhole DNS numbers do for us. Please read and understand this. Ask questions if necessary.

MOREnet members may choose to use the free Blackhole DNS service to add a layer of protection against spyware for their workstations and servers. The service is very easy to use; system administrators just need to replace the DNS addresses of MOREnet's traditional DNS servers with these BHDNS servers, and organization workstations will be unable to browse to many spyware infected sites. If IP addresses are assigned by DHCP, this transition is very quick and easy to do in the DHCP configuration. If an organization has local DNS servers, just point those local servers to the BHDNS servers. Sites that manually assign DNS entries will need to visit each computer to make the changes.
The service works by returning invalid IP addresses for sites that are known to serve up spyware. Many times these sites are hidden in ads and scripts, and users don't even know they are at risk of accessing spyware-infected sites. When users attempt to browse to a site that is serving spyware, the BHDNS servers return an invalid address to the DNS query and the system is not able to complete the request.

January 18, 2010

Tuesday: It doesn't seem like we've been at school much and we probably won't make it the rest of this week with the snow coming. Things went pretty well on Friday with moving and installing all the computers there. It was a full day job for sure. We need to check some printing issues there but I think that is all for today.

January 14, 2010

Friday: What a quick week and next week will be short too. I am moving all of the computers we have been getting ready to the MS today and working on setting them up. Please call or text me at the beginning of your hour and I'll tell you if I need you to come over and if I need you to bring supplies. Most likely everyone will be working at the MS today. Have a good weekend.

January 13, 2011

Thursday: Hope everyone enjoyed their 2 snow days off. I would have liked to only have one so we don't start adding on to the end of the year but too late now. Last day of school is now May 19. I'm hoping tomorrow will be warm enough for us to move PC's to the MS and work on rearranging all the stuff they want done there. Today we are finishing up getting some pc's ready and some other minor stuff.

January 10, 2010

Monday: Burrr, it's cold. My guess is we won't be here tomorrow so lets get some things done today. I have some PowerSchool attendance calculation issues going on that I need to get fixed so that is my priority today.

January 7, 2011

Friday: I feel like I've been running non stop today. I know I'm posting at the end of the day but sorry, it has been busy. Most of you worked on loading the new pc's except Caleb went to the Elem, Zach to the HS library, and Conner was absent. Please fill in with more detail on your response. Hope you have/had a safe weekend.

January 6, 2011

Thursday: Six new computers arrived today. We will be getting these ready and the other 4 for the MS.

January 5, 2011

Wednesday: Odds and ends today! I need to redo some core data and we will start loading software on the 4 machines left in the lab. These are going to go to the MS lab.

January 4, 2011

Tuesday: Welcome back from what I hope was a great Christmas break. I enjoyed my time with family and friends and guess I'm ready to get going with second semester. We have quite a few things to get taken care of as the new year begins. We will be setting up a mini lab in the MS and getting several teachers hooked up to LCD projectors this week. If I am not in my office, text me. I got a new phone and lost some of your numbers. :)