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Here's the new lab layout:

This gives me lots of room and storage in my corner.  I actually kept two fo the tables, one for projects, and one for my printers.  That gave me my other desk back.  For the last year, I've been working on a 3 foot desk with two big monitors.  Every time I move, I knock something on the floor.  By putting the computers to the side, people walking in can't see my screen, and my view of my students is completely open.

It will take a while to get used to talking to them from the side, but I think it will work.

While it might be because a lot of students were out of the bulding today, I still think their extra space is making them calmer.  Each student has 6 inches more work space, but we also have more space between each other.  Weird, but I always felt cramped with the horseshoe.  This works better, but I wish I had space to have kids with no computers.

The good news, is that I can blank the screens thanks to Lanschool.

I have been completely off the grid, haven't been on the phone, text messages, or email — not one of my accounts for over two days.

Wednesday TAKS Day was pretty well forced, plus agility class night.

Thursday the tables came.

I finished moving tables at the end of first period today.  Okay, I didn't move the tables.  Well, I moved a few, but not far.

Here's what I did.  I asked my PAWS class (study hall), who wants to move furniture, showed them where it was at, had them move the empty tables out of the room and put the new tables there.

My tech support class and I installed about a 1/4 of the computer on the new tables.  My custodians brought about another 1/4 of the tables during that period which absolutely amazed me, as they have lunch to deal with.

I asked my 6th period, who wants to move furniture and we did more.  Same thing with 7th, and 8th.   We had all the tables in the room 6th period, and all but 8 computers were moved and installed by the end of the day.

This morning, one of my more annoying students and I moved two computers on two tables.

That left 4 tables.  5 of my 8th period students volunteered to do that last table.

I then worked on my desks and tables. 

We still have a lot of tables to fix the wiring on.  Some of the computers, I just slide the old tables out and slid the new tables under the computers, so they are still a mess.  I should have taken pictures but was just too tired.

Not only did I get the tables done, but this week's grades are in the gradebook, lesson plans for next week are turned in, and all my other paperwork is done.

I'm a little tired.

They are not in my room yet and I am going to see if I can get a few up here this morning.

They are the tables I expected them to be — used for several years in the Buckner lab, but they will be easy to keep neat — they have troughs for the computer tables.  I don't remember if they have a place to put the computers though.  I should take a picture of them.

Survived TAKS ELA — I don't know why they always plan that we'll go to class, and we don't.  I did give my people an extra break, but it was later because I was dealing with some campus technology stuff and applying for an Alice Workshop (which I got in).

Tables didn't come – lead custodian thinks they are coming next week.  Will be interesting.

We're almost done.  In fact, the rooms that I were in were done.  We were scheduled to start classes now, but we haven't yet.  I personally think that is a good thing and am not very worried about it.

Seemed to go well, but I feel really bad that just about 4 week ago, we had to go through all this for a Benchmark.  Especially since the TAKS is supposed to go away some day.

No signs of my new tables.  (See previous blog post).

A few weeks ago, I got an email saying that if I jumped through the right hoops I would get new computer tables.

I jumped through them, then got an email saying the tables all had homes and then forgot about it.

Monday, late afternoon, got an email saying that the tables were being delivered to my lab on Wednesday (today).  Yikes, it's TAKS testing day.  "We can't have furniture being moved around".  Well, my smart custodian and admin in charge of facilities decided they would put them in the band hall and move them after testing — which might be a good thing.

Here's the huge problem.  The tables give the students 30" more space.  That's a problem — yes — right now, I have the tables in a horseshoe, around the room.  There are problems with that — hard to get to cables, and besides, they are just tables.  Oh, and they are 17 years old.

It looks like instead of a horseshoe, I'm going to have to go to three rows.  But I've figured out a way to do it where i think we can get staright to the A/C, might help the ventilation in the room and give me storage for all the dead equipment.

Should also give me some private space, I'm hoping.  That's the problem with the horse shoe.

The other nice thing about this arrangement, is that I'm betting that I will only get two-four tables at a time, giving me some time to move computers etc.

I think I'm going to give the old tables away via the same system I got mine — basically an email with a requirement — mine is going to be send 4 kids up to get the tables, first come and first served, just like the above system.

I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Old arrangment

New Arrangement 

This actually throws a few cents my way.  Love Typepad, that's what I use for blogging.  I have actually purchased this book — the Kindle version — and am reading it on my PC.  Why did I pick the Kindle version?  $9.99 and I don't have to wait for it.

Okay, it took a few seconds to download.

Like all dummies book it is an easy read and has a lot of good information.

I’ve made a recording of setting of Windows Live Writer and It will be here in a few minutes.

I like to use Windows Live Writer to put program code into my blog:  Here is an example:

	Me.Label1.Text = "This is a test"

If you want to give it a try, use coupon code called RESOLVE2BLOG2010 which will give you 20% off for life –> Click Here to Try It!

One huge problem I have as a teacher, is the technology keeps changing.  Lynda.com helps with that.  I signed up for it originally for myself, but recently the district has made it available to us for free.  Love that!

They have really good videos over most of the high school technology software. 

If you want to give it a try, see Free 24 hour pass to lynda.com.

I’m trying to see if there are still multiple Facebook posts.