Skype

Grrrrr!!! I went back to view my blog post and it wasn't there! All that writing and it wasn't there! I forgot to click publish post! Nice job, Anna! Sheesh! Well, that's how my day has been -- TGIF in a big way!

It all started at 7:50 a.m. Husband left at 5 a.m. to go deer hunting in Missouri. Got the kids up, got to school, got Emily on the bus, went up to the lab to begin my day. Son Aaron asked me how many counties there were in Illinois. Being the tech gal I am I said, "Aaron, just Google it." That was easy enough or so I thought. He said, "Mom, it says it can't find the page." First I thought that perhaps he spelled it wrong and the filter picked it up. So I said, "Check your spelling and try again." "Mooooooommmmmm, it still doesn't work!" I check my computer. Sure enough, can't find the page on mine either. Open email, hit send/receive. Error. Okay, Internet's down. Phone rings. Other building. I pick up the phone and instead of my usual "hello" it was, "Internet's down, huh?"

I spent the better part of the morning on the phone with the ISP. Turns out, one of the ports on our router went bad and it chose 11 p.m. last night to crash. I didn't realize how much I rely on the web -- that is, until it's down. The projects the students are working on are in some respect web-based. So it was on to plan B. Usually my plan B is web-based. Well, not today. Good teachers need a plan B and a plan C. I have gotten to plan D before -- well, I have been in education over 20 years and it was bound to happen. I'm sure it will happen again too. What is funny is that the kids don't even realize we use the web so much. It kind of reminds me of when the electricity is out and you think about baking cookies or turning on the computer. As soon as they walked in the door today I told them the Internet was down and here were their choices. I had barely gotten the words out of my mouth and one boy asked, "Mrs. Jukes, can we go to Mathisfun?" Yeah, well....

Okay, so back to the fun... my ROE tech friend brought me a spare router and it was back on the phone with the ISP.

Lunch was plan B too. Normally, I go to the cafeteria and grab my lunch, take it upstairs to the lab and listen to Leo Laporte. Instead I caught up on Tom Grissom's podcasts. (great education stuff BTW! -- plug for Tom! tech4teachers podcasts -- great stuff!)

Turns out the ISP couldn't fix it remotely so they came to me. I finally got home around 4:45 today. But, I'm glad to say, we are up and running and now we will all have internet and email on Monday. Yoohoo!

I just realized that the title of this blog post is Skype. Oops! Got a little carried away with my day that I almost posted without talking about it. That would've left you all confused and probably me too.

Last night I had the privilege of co-presenting with our LTC director at the Southern Illinois chapter of the Illinois Computing Educators monthly meeting. We talked about Skype. I get so excited when I talk about Skype because I've had some great experiences with it. We were able to Skype Tom Grissom. That was really cool! I "met" Tom on Twitter when we started following each other. I had never seen him in person or talked to him. After all, he's in Central Illinois. Talking to him and actually seeing him was really, really cool!

I'm hoping to unleash some more of it's potential in my school very soon. I have been in contact with the education department of the Jefferson Laboratory in Virginia to Skype with our 7th graders who are studying atoms. We are planning on trying to get together in the next couple weeks. We need to be sure our equipment works on both ends. What a great learning experience for our students! This is stuff you can't learn in a textbook.

My next adventure is to hook up with another 5th grade class either in the U.S. or another country for our 5th graders to talk to.

The world is certainly getting smaller!

Until next time...

Oh my!

Okay, so I've put this blog on the back burner.... sorry. I guess there are so many things going on, this was not a priority. A former co-worker used to say, "it's 3rd on my list of things to do". Well, this was 3rd on my list of things to do. I can't believe the last time I posted was the beginning of August!

It's now the end of October. Gee this month has flown by; it's unreal. October has historically been a busy month for me though so I should not be surprised at all. I guess as an administrator it was even busier. It seems that all organizations choose October for their big events -- which makes sense. In October, we've been in school for a little over a month, we've gotten to know our kids and teachers, and there is still enough time to take back to school what we've learned and make a difference.

October is my favorite month. The trees are turning, there's a chill in the air, and it's the beginning of a slew of holidays. Yes, I love October -- pumpkins, orange, brown, red, yellow, cinnamon, candles, scents -- I love October!

Labor Day

It's homework time. Why these boys wait until 8:30 p.m. to do homework is beyond me. It's painful. After all, I've done my seventh grade and fifth grade work -- 30 years ago. But that's part of being a parent -- helping with the homework. So, we drudge along. Luckily, neither of them bring home much. They are quite good at getting it done at school which means they really are using their time wisely; at least at school. I'm very blessed to have kids that do well in school, who try, behave appropriately, and are polite. Of course, they can't get away with anything that neither their dad or I won't find out about. Kinda stinks having your mom as a teacher and your dad as a custodian in the district. I think it rocks, but that's because I'm the momma.

The seventh graders are learning about the Constitution. What a great year to study it. This election will certainly make history. Will we have an African-American president or will we have a female vice president? Either way it goes, it's a first. Anyway, I've been working on some ways to integrate technology into their studies. I've been able to find the old Schoolhouse Rock videos on YouTube. Remember those? When I was younger, those used to come on during the cartoons on Saturday morning. I can still remember the catchy tunes and the concepts they were trying to teach. That's how I learned the Preamble. Actually, that's how I still remember the Preamble. I don't think I could SAY it, or write it without singing it in my mind. Whoever invented those was a genius. Seventh graders, if you are reading this blog, get ready -- we're watching the Preamble this week. Stay tuned....

Those interactive whiteboards were another fantastic invention. I really miss mine. I can't wait to get my new one. I'm getting a 77' Numonics Intelliboard. I'm looking for it any day now. My sales rep says I should get it by the end of the day tomorrow. I've been waiting for over a month and I'm just about to burst. Russell's going to be busy helping me put that thing up tomorrow night (if it comes in) -- he just doesn't know it yet. Surprise, Honey!

Back to School Tomorrow!

I can't believe the summer is over already. Just when I was getting into the summer do-what-I-want routine, it's over. So long summer '08 and hello school year 08-09. That's another one I can't believe! I started teaching in 1987-88. So, that makes this year, what, school year number 22? It just doesn't seem possible. Afterall, I'm not that old. Oh well, the time and years will pass and over this I have no control.

This year I would like to try some new things with my students. It will be a challenge this year with the kids having computers everyday all year long. I would like for the teachers to step up and help out with assigning projects that I can assist with. (I need to word that differently -- always learned that you should never end a sentence with a preposition.) My thoughts are turning to Google Earth, stop motion animation, and podcasting. I really need a couple more ideas. I really, really want to do Lego Robotics. That would be a great experience for those kids. However, have you priced those kits lately? Wow! That's what's holding me back -- the money. Time to start looking -- again -- for grant and funding sources.

Nighttime Rantings

I just realized that I haven't posted since school was out in May. Today marks the 1 week point until school starts for the 2008-2009 school year. I'm excited about the new year starting; but at the same time I'm not ready for summer to be over. This year will be an interesting one. There have been several changes made that I think are positive changes for our school. I will be very busy this year. Can't really give any details yet.

I am looking for new and exciting technology projects do to with the kids this year. I'm thinking about doing stop-motion animation. I think they will really like making their own "claymation" movies. They'll be really short, but I think that will be fun and memorable. I really want to do Lego Robotics with one group. The materials are so expensive though. I wish someone or an organization would just GIVE me money to purchase the kits.

The Internet at school is finally up and running again. Tomorrow I go to the other building to try and get them up and running with the help of ICN. I just hope it doesn't take 4 hours again. I've got a cake to decorate!

Time to go for now. If you visit my blog, please leave a comment and tell me who and where you are. Thanks! 'Night!

End of another year...

Well, the 2008-09 school year is coming to a close, very soon. I just can't believe how quickly these years go by. What a great year I have had. I love the school, love the kids, and love my content areas. Everything just seemed to work out perfectly. I pretty much have my dream job -- Title 1 reading and technology. Who could ask for anything more? I think everyday about the decision I made to leave administration. What a great decision that was. This year has been one of no stress. I don't have to make those tough decisions, deal with student discipline, go to board meetings (unless I want to), deal with employee issues, deal with angry parents, and all those other things that go along with the position. I can focus on the kids I have, develop curriculum, and go home at night and stay home. What a great feeling!

I have no regrets being in administration and will probably go back in some capacity sometime in the future. But for now, I'm loving what I'm doing.

Pop-ups and other stuff...

I have had more trouble this weekend -- started Sunday actually -- with pop-ups. I'm using pop-up blockers, ran virus scans (always comes up with spyware), added blocked websites in IE and I still was having major pop-up problems. I don't believe I EVER had that problem. I tried system restore and it wouldn't let me restore because it said I had errors on my drive. I got all that fixed and did system restore again. This time it worked. I rolled it back to Friday when Jing updated and guess what...that fixed the pop-up problem--so far anyway. I haven't had any at all since then. When I start up, Jing wants to update and I'm holding them off. The Google pop-up blocker is catching them.

I filled my hummingbird feeders today. I just love those little creatures. They never cease to amaze me.