Category: Blog

I am loving TwInBox at http://www.techhit.com/TwInbox/twitter_plugin_outlook.html and didn’t realize just how addicted I was to it until last night when it stopped working.

If you like Outlook (which I live by), you’ll love it.  It allows you to do Twitter in your Outlook, and one think I like about it is that it works seamlessly with OneNote, I use it to save Tweets I want to do something with later.

They got an update out this morning that fixed their issue and I am going well — I’m sure that Twitter made some kind of change and broke it.

I remember why I hate new phones….

Getting them configured so they fit.

The Fuze is very different from the Tilt.  Not as many buttons, and has something called TouchFlo 3d. 

I love TodayAgenda – http://tiews.info/index.php?show=&lang=en It’s a plug that shows your Tasks and Appointments in a very organized way.  However, with TouchFlo 3D, it didn’t work.

However, there is something called Second Today http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=37867 that makes switching from Touch Flo 3d back and worth very easy.  Love it.

Also the slider is on the other side, and doesn’t Tilt. My previous HTC worked the same way, so it shouldn’t take long to get used to it.

I’ve got necessary accessories on the way, extra stylus, screen protectors, extra batteries and a cradle.  When I travel I always run out of juice!

Also finally have my Bluetooth stuff working with.

I didn’t mention that we didn’t have power when I got to the middle school this morning, we had a massive set of thunderstorms.  I volunteered to stay and help supervise – when I thought I just had 3 or 4 girls I was going to pull out my laptop and show them some stuff, but nine was just too many to try to do it without power.

I went down to the gym with the group.  Since we didn’t have power, I didn’t know if we would even have kids, or if we’d them send home, I left everything in the car, including my breakfast and diabetes stuff.  Not the brightest I’ve ever made but it gets worse.

One of the teachers I was with ran an errand and when she got back, I went out to the car to get my stuff.  I never do this, but I had my keys on the seat and I locked the car.  BRIGHT!

But at least I remembered I’ve been paying for ATT Roadside Assistance forever. 

I called, got the address to ATT and they were out there in 20 minutes.  Guy was in and out of my truck in less than 5 minutes (scary), and handed me my keys.  Cost me nothing, was a nice guy and it was quick.

I RECOMMEND HIGHLY!

Just finished the first week. 

I wrote the curriculum for this camp last winter.  So far, we’re doing well.  Each day we’ve gotten a slighter larger group of girls and a slightly different group.

Many of the girls have already gone through all the Alice tutorials – I LOVE them because the tutorials won’t let you skip ahead or make a mistake.  You have to read them exactly.

I’ve got one girl is who making her own worlds already.   She has been sneaking her thumb drive home and working on Alice at home.  THIS is a good thing.

I’ve been able to get the girls to write a journal entry each day using Kompozer.  We’ve also been able to take their pictures and put that in their journal website.

I’m having a good time and it’s only 4 weeks – 4 days a week – and 2 hours a day.

I’ve heard lots of stories from other teachers, and maybe these are the best and brightest, but even so, they are reading and writing and most of the time treat each other with respect.  I have a few potty mouths and a few who act out, but not bad.

There is a huge dent in my ATT Tilt to the point that there is a section of the Touch Screen which is not working.  Has been driving me nuts, as to make a phone call, I have to use the screen keyboard or the sliding keyboard.

I have been paying insurance on my phone forever, and finally looked and damaged touch screens are covered and so I called and they are supposed to be sending me a replacement.

Right now I am setting up my old 8525 so I can use it until the new phone arrives. 

I was thinking about a 3G iphone, but I remembered that I hated iTunes and Apple in time to avoid making that mistake 🙂

They tell me I’ll be getting a Fuze, so it’s a pretty good deal and I have been paying insurance forever (over 4 years) without a claim.

How come my middle school girls can:

• Play music
• Play with monster trucks (I need to check out that website at home, looks fun)
• Do Meez (whatever that is)

AND I CAN’T TWITTER and GET GOOD STUFF ON EDUCATION. (and help find the occasional lost dog)

Oh and can’t use any of the short url sites.

<snarl>

Alfred brought something up on twitter, here’s the tweet:

I’m one of those teachers who needed tenure a few years ago, and had it as close as you can get to having tenure in Texas.  I caught my principal in a lie, accidently, at a faculty meeting.  I am not sure anyone noticed except her — it took me a while for it to dawn on me.  Plus I’m pretty sure she didn’t like overweight, white woman who were "dog people", as she ran one out of the middle school a few years before she got to me, and tried it on another one.  Yes, they were both acquittances.  We "dog people" stick together.

If you do an internet search on her name, you’ll see an interview with the Dallas Morning News where she explained how she got rid of teachers:  made them teach a subject they were not comfortable with and made them float.  Well, she put me in a portable as far from campus as she could and gave me the worst kids in the building.  She didn’t KNOW I was comfortable teaching math so that backfired on her.  The other thing she did was take me away from computers, but I had my own plus my own internet access through my phone.

The fun part is that I came out of the situation smelling like a rose — I managed to get the majority of those "bad kids" to pass algebra, do better on the bench marks than they had ever had and managed to get them to pass the TAKS.  Quite a few of those kids graduated and they weren’t expected to graduate.

She has gone on, but she has made me very gun shy of administration and I don’t trust new principals.  Sadly I’m at a school where principals don’t stay long — they usually get promoted though she ended up retiring.

Here are my notes from today.

I was very worried that we wouldn’t have any girls.  I was VERY happy to get 5 girls and those 5 girls seem that they are pretty good with computers.  They brought us a 6th girl towards the end of the "class period".

Most of them like the shirts and all of them seem to like our bags and what Sheila put in them.  They commented most on the blank CDs.

We started with introductions and took pictures and videos of the introductions.

We started the girls in Alice and most of them at least saw the "Defending Naptime" tutorial. They have all gone through the first tutorial.

Ms. Wilson has still pictures on her camera, I have videos and pictures on mine.

I finally broke down and bought one and set it up.  Yes, I have a severe internet addiction and the school network has been driving me nuts.  Plus with the traveling I’m doing this summer, I definitely want to quit tethering and go straight to the internet.  I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time and with the money I get from being teacher tech, the discount I get through the school district and the fact that it reduces my main bill considerably, it’s time.

I like it.  I’ve set it up on both computers I plan to use it on, and I can still VPN into the school network and do what I need to do with it.

One cool aspect is the micro card slot, which I happen to have an extra 8 gig card laying around will allow me to do some interesting things with it.

I’m going to be interested to see how well it works up at my agility class site and at the different agility venues.

Besides, I have thirty days to change my mind.

I am scheduled to attend a workshop from July 14-16.  I can leave Dallas as early July 8, but have to be home on the 20th.  I have been thinking of driving, and stopping at my mother’s in Brandon, Mississippi, on the way and the way back. I am thinking of staying at the Embassy Suites in Alexandria and making that my base the days before the trip.  I am thinking of taking the train to either Philadelphia and or New York.  I also want to see the sights in Washington D.C.

I know I want to see the Smithsonian Museum that has the Faberge Eggs and the Museum that has the Spirt of St. Louis.  I’m open to suggestions for everything else.

Any ideas?