A Hilarious Look At Software and Tech Support

Here's a must read for all married couples and everybody else. This was shared by Bob Price, Superintendent of Empire Unified School District up near Modesto. Bob is a member of TICAL.

Dear Tech Support,



Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as
 Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0,
 NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1

. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. 

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?



Signed,

Desperate




DEAR DESPERATE,



First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

 Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html, try to download Tears 6.2, and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If those applications work as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

 However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

 Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

 In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0-program. This is an unsupported application and will crash Husband 1.0.

 In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.



Good Luck,


Tech Support

Real Education Reform

If you really believe in education reform, but technology integration is not part of your toolbox (as it isn't for many educators, especially site and district level admin), read this story. Then go and sin no more. Renounce your ignorance!

Here is the headline:

Mooresville’s Shining Example (It’s Not Just About the Laptops)

Back In Business

Ok, I am back at this. Whenever I fail to get something done in a timely manner like updating this blog, I am reminded of the movie "48 Hours" (with Eddie Murphy). As you will probably recall, Murphy plays Reggie Hammond, who is a criminal in cahoots with several others including a short, angry young man by the name of Luther. Luther goes to a parking garage to recover Reggie's car where several hundred thousand dollars is stashed. When he presents the number of the car to the attendant, the attendant incredulously says,"it's been here three years," Luther replies, "Yeah! I've been BUSY!"

So that's why I'm writing for the first time in 2 and 1/2 years: I've been BUSY!

So come back and see how much wisdom I have acquired during my last years as a principal!

SmartBoards: Are they the answer? Part 2

Ok , so we talked last time about how SmartBoards are real popular, but have some issues the competent school administrator needs to be aware of.
Last time it was the revelation that they were NOT PROJECTION DEVICES. So when you spend $1200 dollars on a SmartBoard, you still need a projection device and..........a computer to hook up to the projection device (don't say, "everybody knows that, too!" cause believe me, they don't).

So here goes part two: the mounting and other hidden costs.

The SmartBoards I have seen purchased have always been without casters (wheels), 'cause everybody thinks they can just mount them on the wall like hanging a conventional whiteboard.......which is why, no lie, a large percentage of schools have had SmartBoards on site for months before their district or custodial staff could get them up.
This is especially in true in schools that had enough money to buy 25 SmartBoards, but not enough to mount them, so unless they do it themselves, which in some districts is against collective bargaining agreements, they aren't going to have them going until January. (And if it were an easy thing to do, I wouldn't have heard so many complaints from colleagues about them sitting around.) In addition, if you are using video projectors, you either have to mount those in the ceiling (around $1000) or purchase some kind of cart for them. I will say I have a different idea about all of this, but you'll have to wait 'til part 4 of this series. Read on, reply, comment, get mad (I'd love an argument about this issue), fire off a response!

Part 3 next!

Smart Boards: Are they the answer?

Ok, so you heard about Smart Boards and think you have to get them for your school 'cause everybody else is. Well, think again. They may not be the best idea for your school. Since I really need to get writing on this blog, I have compelled myself to use this topic to get going. I will post something about Smart Boards every day for the rest of the week. Then you decide. 

I am not a Smart Board advocate per se. Here are 5 reasons why:

Reason # 1:  You need to also buy a video projector so you can use the Smart Board. You knew that, right? 

No not really.

I have spoken with more than a few teachers and admin who were dismayed to find out Smart Boards do NOT project images on the screen. They ARE the screen. The board interacts with the software on the computer through a wireless signal. This allows you to manipulate objects by touching them on the board. So when do they usually find this out? AFTER they have spent all the money they budgeted for technology purchases! So remember that. Now you are aware that buying the $1200 Smart Board also involves a $750 projector. (Actually about $1000, cause when the bulb burns out in the middle of your reading lesson, you will not want to wait two weeks for a purchase order and replacement.)

So there's Reason #1. If you can't wait for the rest, visit my website (www.caedtech.com) or email me at jxjarvi@comcast.net.

Next: Reason #2 

I need to write more often!

Ok, I have to write more often or I need to be out of the blogosphere. Today I am up at TICAL. TICAL is an organization that brings representatives of 19 regions in California to explore Ed Tech issues. It's a great organization made up of school and district administrators who are technology experts. If you want great tools and resources, register at TICAL. Especially great is the work done by Susan Brooks-Young on Webtools 2.0. We are using these tools at our school and what an impact. Especially useful is the "Google docs". Feature. Susan is a national educational treasure and travels all over the country spreading the values of utilizing technology to improve education.

New School Year

So we started the new school year with new attendance boundaries. That meant 220 more students and new teachers and buildings. The best part about utilizing technology as your fundamental content presentation component (translation for you admin types: providing direct instruction using your computer and projector) means new teachers can plug right in and be up to speed very quickly. Our teachers share their lessons with their grade level colleagues, so the new staff had no trouble getting up to speed with our program. If you walk around the school, you could not tell the new teachers from the regulars by looking at their content. Compliments to the teachers for their collaboration and good attitudes.