Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Charge!!!


Well, approximately 800 laptops have been issued to students. Of course, one of the first questions asked was “Where and how are we going to charge all of these laptops?” Teachers were issued two multi-plug surge-protected power strip extension cords. This would allow half of the class to charge for half of the class period and the other half to charge their laptops the second half of the class period. In addition to that we added charging stations in the cafeteria. Now, these are not fancy stations like you would find in an airport. These charging stations were created with the same power strip extension cords that teachers were issued, two long tables, and a plethora of zip-ties.




Tuesday, November 19, 2013

One Blessing Counted Multiple Times!!!


My editor, who is a very dear friend of mine, will tell you that one of my quirks is that I have a sequencing problem as well as an aversion to commas. I have a difficult time doing things in the right order. The comma thing keeps her employed - and this job doesn't pay. So thank you Editor for your endless work in making me appear and sound literate, coherent and educated. (To my audience, I wanted this to be a surprise so it hasn’t been proofed by Editor – this is what I really sound/write like.)

--- IT Girl
 

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Yup, I am Thankful for YouTube.

If you have been on Facebook at all this month you have no doubt noticed the November “Thankful” status updates. While many of us use the social media as a platform to discuss and even rant about political views or the performance of our favorite sports teams. It is nice to see that November turns our statuses into outbursts of praise and thanksgiving if only for a month. I too have posted my “Today I am thankful for….” statuses. I find that while on Facebook I am thankful for all of my many blessings and friends and general day to day stuff that makes me happy or makes me a better person (although some days the better part is iffy at best) but thankfully I can post in this blog the techy things that I am thankful for.

This is actually a long story – and those of you who know me best, know what that really means. Yes, pop some popcorn, pour yourself a beverage, and snuggle up. We are going to be here awhile. This post actually begins when I was in junior high. (Wait, don’t leave, I have a point, I promise – channeling my inner Elle Woods)

My mother was bound and determined that she would teach me to crochet. I just couldn’t get the hang of managing the hook, the yarn, my fingers, and counting all at the same time. My mother was undeterred. She kept trying, bless her heart. (Yes, I am southern.) She tried and tried for years. She was hopeful that I would get it, eventually. Finally, she stopped trying. She crocheted numerous baby blankets for my children without inviting me to participate. I was thrilled. No more pressure. I had already resigned myself to the fact that I would never be able to crochet. I was ok with that. I would never be a brain surgeon either and that hasn’t really bothered me. So I doubted that not being able to crochet would either.

Fast forward to summer of 2013. My oldest son is an avid gamer, so when his PS3 yellow-lighted, his world came to a screeching halt. My dad was a great mechanic. I did not inherit those skills. In fact, I am sure he is in heaven getting a good chuckle out of the fact that sometimes I repair computers as part of my job and that I have in fact been issued a screwdriver.  I felt powerless to help my son. I was also unwilling to spend the money necessary to replace the outdated gaming console just weeks after he put his own down payment on the PS4. (FYI that will be out this Friday.) I asked if he had any friends who had the same problem with their machines and if they had any advice for him. He said their only solution was to buy a new one and they were on their 2nd and 3rd PS3s. I wished there was something I could do to help. I went to bed that night wondering how much it would cost to repair it.


When I awoke the next morning, my dining room had been transformed into an operating room. Jacob had laid towels across the table. On the table were a laptop cued up to YouTube and his most prized possession, his PS3. “Mom, you and I are going to fix this.” I could not believe what I was seeing and hearing. Jacob told me that he had been up late the night before searching YouTube for a fix and he had found one. We would need a screwdriver, thermal paste and lunch. So we borrowed a multipurpose screwdriver set with a point I had never seen before, then we headed over to Radio Shack to pick up some thermal paste and drove through Wendy’s. Now, we were ready to work. Below are pictures of the procedure. We even had to wrap the mother board in aluminum foil and bake it in the oven to activate the paste. It was a tremendous learning experience for both Jacob and me. I am so glad he let me scrub in. (And yes, it worked after it was reassembled and we only had four screws left over.)








So, remember when I said I would never be a brain surgeon and I was ok with that, well now that I have been a PS3 scrub nurse, I felt that I needed to tackle that other thing I decided I would never be. That’s right. My son’s broken PlayStation sparked a curiosity. Could I learn to crochet? Did I want to? Who really crochets anymore? Well, wouldn’t you know, a dear, sweet (somewhat younger) friend, Ashton, was learning to crochet. Hmmm. Maybe I will just see how her crocheting venture goes. Then it hit me. I needed to learn. I needed to conquer that. Ashton was having the best time making things for her, her friends, and her family. She was the nudge (push) I needed. I texted my mom that night, way past my bed time, and told her I was FINALLY ready to learn if she was STILL willing to teach me. She agreed with all the enthusiasm of a mom who can’t wait to teach her child something – ANYTHING. So we set a date for Sunday afternoon, in between church services just in case. I showed her the patterns I had picked out and she sat on the couch with me while I crocheted silently. (Remember I could barely manage the coordination and the counting. I couldn’t even fathom holding a coherent conversation concurrently.) I single crocheted my heart out. I was thrilled. Ashton had liked my status when I posted that I was thankful for my mother’s patience in teaching me to crochet. I couldn’t wait to take a picture of my finished project and send it to her.

We scheduled lesson 2.This time I would learn to crochet a flower. I was so excited I could hardly stand it. Then during lesson 2, it happened – overload. I had mastered the single crochet. I understood the idea of the double crochet although I had never done one. Now, knowing what I know about a single and what I thought I knew about a double, could I transfer that to a triple? Wait, did my mom just tell me to do a half double crochet? Isn’t that just a single? I distinctly remember in math 1 being half of 2. OMG!! I would never be able to crochet. I looked at my mom with frustration.  I had just learned to crochet in a straight line now I am expected to crochet in circles?! She took my hook and my messed up lopsided round and said “I can fix this”. Sigh, I would spend the rest of my life contracting out my crocheted flowers. Mom left and I jokingly said maybe I should look it up on YouTube. Defeated I logged into Facebook and looked up Ashton’s page. I wrote her a note that said “Flowers are hard”.

Ashton replied quickly and gushed that she loved making flowers. I was thrilled for her and sad for me but figured maybe I could strike a deal with her, maybe she would make my flowers for me and just mail them to me. I was about to suggest it and resign myself to being a beginning single crochet person for the rest of my life when Ashton did what I only joked about. She sent me link to a YouTube video with a message that said, “This is how I do all my flowers because the rounds confuse me too”. Music. To. My. Ears. I was not alone. A young girl was able to validate my frustration and help me move past them. YouTube was the answer. Oh my goodness!! Since then I have set up a playlist for my crocheting tutorials.

I am an Instructional Technology “expert” (I use that term loosely) and I know the value, or thought I did of setting up Professional Learning Networks. Why didn’t I seriously think about YouTube to help me learn how to crochet? Why did my PLN only exist for my Professional Learning Network? Personal also begins with the letter “P”. Perhaps I need a P&PLN.  Now I can include my adult friends and teenage friends.  My son, 15 and my friend Ashton, 18, both knew the value of YouTube as a tool for learning. The skeptical adult in me saw it only as a place to look up new music, movie trailers, inspirational video clips for training sessions, or classroom simulations.

I promised I had a point and here it is, our students recognize the educational value of YouTube. We as educators must not be afraid of it. Yes, there is junk on YouTube and things that I don’t want my kids to see but that is true of just about anything and anywhere. So we must be diligent in teaching them how to search. Perhaps that should be my next series. In conclusion, I am thankful for the young people in my life who teach me new things every day. And, I am thankful for YouTube which helped me become a surgeon (of sorts) and helped me learn to crochet.
--- IT Girl

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Chocolate and Praise


Hello faithful and loyal readers. I apologize for the long hiatus. I really intended only to take the weekend off from writing – not a week. Life is funny that way. I hope the 31 Day Challenge did not defeat its purpose which was to develop a habit of writing on a daily basis. Hopefully, I will get back in my writing and posting groove. While I was writing the 31 Day series, there were many other things going on in my Instructional Technology life. I have already written about the 1:1 Initiative – here is the link to an article about that.
 So, what has happened in the meantime? Well, students got their laptops and teachers got busy integrating. That is where the real magic happens. And what does every teacher need to keep going? That’s right, chocolate and praise.

 As I have visited classrooms and seen technology in action I have placed one of these notes in the teacher’s mailbox. It’s not much but sometimes any little thing will help. J

 
 
 
 
--- IT Girl