Technology and CS in Dallas

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  • Backup Solutions

    I’m always telling my students that they should backup anything they want to keep and that goes for the rest of us.  I always keep things in at least three places – the original computer, the cloud, and a server at the house.  Over the years I’ve had several

    My favorite, which I am in morning for to this day was a HP Device that ran Windows Home Server.  That thing was the easiest to use.  I could just stick a thumb drive in a computer, come back to it 4 hours later and it was back to whatever state I wanted it in.

    But all hardware has a limited life.  I still have it, but have removed the working drives, and it sits gathering dust.

    My next favorite devices are also old, but still working, a Buffalo Terabyte NAS and an Iomega NAS. 

    The Buffalo NAS had really good customer service and good software.

    Iomega was bought out by Lenovo.  I haven’t dealt with customer service since they were bought out, but I do have one of the new devices:

    It was easy to install and very easy to use.  Since the district is very firewalled, I haven’t used any of the cloud features.

    I also have a Netgear Stora, that’s quite old.  I haven’t been happy with the support or reliability of Netgear devices.

    The latest device I really like is the Western Digital My Cloud.  Customer support is really slow at answering email, but so far, other than an issue with initially loading firm ware, it just works.

    I have the 2TB, comes in a 3 and 4 version:

    What I really like about this device, is that all my tablets, my Windows Phone and my IPod working with it, both at home and when I’m out and about.  I keep trying to find a way to keep my extra books available to me when I’m on the road and this is it.

    Very easy to use.  I’m also willing to help set it up.

    The most important thing about any backup solution, is that you use it.  Make sure you set up a way to run your backups. 

    One of the things I like about Windows 8, is that you can automatically set up things so they are saved while you are on the go using Skydrive.  However, I still back up my Skydrive!  Especially photos.  That’s what I mean about having everything in three places.

  • Project Based Learning on TV

    Nicole Curtis – Rehab Addict — January 16

    PERFECT PBL!

    She presented a problem, told them there was no right or wrong answer and left them to think — Urban Garden.

    On the job site, she appointed a kid that had been working on the project for a while as foreman.  She stopped and showed them certain tasks — how to plan mum for example — and then let go.

    Here's the win-win on this — cheap labor, kids are out getting Vitamin D –AND the kids in the neighborhood have sweat invested in the garden — are they going to tear it up?   Are they going to stand by and let other people tear it up?

    No way, no how.   If you are interested in PBL, look up the episode, it just moments, but it's exciting.

  • Showing my Web Design Students how to blog

    I'm in my 2nd period web design class, and I am showing my students how to blog.

    I've been using TypePad since they opened business.  They are not free, but I always free you get what you pay for and I have with Typepad.  It's easy to use.  There are lots of different ways to post entries. You can do it on the web, with your mobile phone, with the ipod with an app, (probably with the iPad's, but I haven't tried it). 

    There may be an android app, I will have to look but you can certainly do it in Chrome on any Android device.

    There are lots of Window's clients and you can even blog in Word, but we're not real happy with it.

    Typepad is at http://www.typepad.com and also linked to my site.

  • Bluetooth attachment for Surface Type Cover

    I recently got the Bluetooth adapter for my Typepad cover, but had no idea how cool it was until now. I'm using it to type on my iPod Touch.  Sadly it doesn't work with my Windows Phone.

    It also works with my Amazon Fire and my original Google Nexus.  Weird that it works with everything but my phone.

    I am using the older model, but here is the current keyboard:

     

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    Unfortunately the adaptor is currently out of stock:

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    Check out great sales at Microsoft Store

  • New Year

    New Year is starting – didn't get things rolling in time for kids to have dual credit this year for Web Design L so I'm going to do some new stuff with them this six weeks. Traditionally they are supposed to get a client and make yet another large website, which I know they will hate from past experience. So I think start out with some social networking, based on some stuff I did over break, do some movie making, and expand on what we've done on the past.

    Game programming will have to be a quick review, will probably get some new students and I know a lot of the students haven't been thinking about XBox programming

    PreAP will be keep on keeping on.

    Not sure what I am going to do with CS Fundamentals. Better group that last year, but attendance is spotty with that group. Hard to do anything when you don't have students in the room.

  • Is ADHD Awareness keeping us from teaching children from focusing?

    Just glancing at the New York Times article on ADHD and I have been wondering this for a long time. The single biggest problem my children have is focus. Which is a bit crazy as we have short class periods.

    The worse group is been my robot kids. I continually have to remind them to pick one task, think about it only, and finish it. They wonder off to other robot tasks, other tasks, and then to completely inappropriate conversations for the classroom. Makes me nuts.

    Wish the lower grades had taught them skill before sending them to me.

  • Why I am not doing the Hour of Code

    Well, I might have my own students do something, but our class periods don’t last a few hour.

    I really dislike it when people take up my class time for their own agenda. Ask my husband.

    It doesn’t matter if it is “Take Your Daughter to Work Day”, someone else’s field trip, etc. I want my students in my classroom each day doing my work.

    In return, I am very careful not to take students out of other people classrooms. I have signed students out of their class once, and may have to do it again this year, but at least I’ll plan it in advance this time.

    I also think it is too little too late for the upper grades. I wouldn’t mind a program for elementary kids, as long as it is incorporated with other learning. Just don’t hijack other learning.

    Oh, and after seeing the look on my principal’s face after mentioning his learning programming recently, I know better than to ask. It looked like my face when you mention the dentist.

  • How to Survive an Ice Storm, especially in Dallas

    We lost power at approximately 4:00 am and again at 9:20 am. When we lost power at 4:00 am we only had part of the pole come back. We were missing completely power for about 3 hours after the 9:20 outage.

    My Kindle Fire HDX 7″, HDX Display, Wi-Fi, 16 GB
    has been wonderful. Great battery life and very little drain to charge.

    My Microsoft – Surface 2 with 32GB – Magnesium
    has been even better.

    I have Prime and I have been catching up on some TV, alternating between the beagle version of Star Trek: Enterprise and Rehab Addict.

    Hey, I’m a nerd, but you knew that.

  • I think you need to put yourself first

    Paraphrasing one of my heros – Randy Pausch – Remember how the airline stewardesses always tell you to put on the oxygen mask first, then put it on those around you?

    Well, that’s my philosophy in teaching. I always put my own physical and mental health before my students. If I don’t I won’t be there when I need them. I seriously going to give up my weekly adult time for tutoring and even tried a compromise this week, and it won’t work.

    Now, I DO tutor every morning, and I do let kid come in and work and lunch and most of the time will answer questions – I did just say “No” to a child when I had a robot in my lap and was in the middle of showing the robot class how to program. And then explain later, I am normally good at multi-tasking but not when I have a Robot in my lap.

    I very rarely say no to after school tutoring on Mondays, Tuesdays or Thursdays, when I do, I have a meeting or I am so tired I can’t see straight.

    What I am turning down is the one night a week that late night busses are provided, and the kids that stay for tutoring are doing it because they are required to, and the ones in my room this Wednesday were all knuckle-heads.

    It’s funny how every hears “I won’t tutor” when I say “I won’t tutor on Wednesday evening”. Added because of Facebook comment.

    I also pace my class so that if you are doing your work you actually DO get free time. Not much.

    I take the occasionally mental health day or physical health day – well planned, with the right sub. I take the occasional recharge conference week – TCEA in February – well planned, again with the right sub. I do an assessment when I don’t feel well – if I go in, will I do more damage than good.

    I take care of my house, my husband and my dogs – though one of them does a better job of taking care of me.

    I do what I can to take care of my physical health though I picked the wrong parents – I go to the gym, etc.

    I am irritated when people are praised for thinking of their students first but then they aren’t doing those things and then fall apart at the end. Are you truly taking care of your students if you aren’t taking care of yourself?

    By the way, what brought this on, was a comment about a recently killed teacher: “He always thought of his student’s first”.

  • Movie Making

    Last year, we had to keep a group of students in our classrooms for an extra 12 days.  Don’t ask.

    I developed a short course on Movie Making.  One of our staff members even took the course himself and enjoyed it.

    It’s already done and ready, with videos, instructions, etc.  For $5.00 – pay via Paypal, anyone can take the course and learn how to make movies.  It’s set up in Moodle, so if you would like the whole course as is for your own purposes, $10.00.  You can drop it in your own Moodle site, I’ll provide directions or do it for you.