Monday, September 29, 2014

Adding printers (new server)

OK.. here is what you will need to do, to add the printers on the new server.

1.  Go to Start button and click on "Devices and Printers"



2.  You will want to click "add a printer" at the top, and then select "Add a Network printer".


You will then get a list of printers on the network... the two you want to add are:
"Teacher Workroom on ElkFileServ" and "Office on ElkFileServ".

 They will be a ways down the list...there will be a number of them listed from "Server1" This is the old server...Do NOT select from Server1.

You should be able to install these printers, and you will be good to go, and hopefully have no further issues with running out of memory.

Please Set "Teacher Workroom on ElkFileServ" as your "default" printer.

The "Office on ElkFileServ" is the color printer, and should only be used on those rare occasions when you have to print something in color.

You May Notice that "Computer Lab on ElkFileServ" has already been added to your printers.  This is the North Lab, and I have set that as the default printer for the entire school domain (so the students all have that one installed already).

Once we have everyone transitioned over to the new server Print Service...we will take off all the Server 1 printers...but for now, it's a best practice to have both, until everyone is switched over.

Once you have the new printers installed... you should be able to "remove" the old printers on Server1.  (That means the old office and lounge printers... I don't think it'll allow you to delete the original north lab printer (it's the default for everyone), and of course this doesn't apply to other machines like the FACS or Secure printer used in the office.)

This would include the printers I installed as a workaround the "ElkServerDC" printers...both Toshiba and Workroom should be deleted.

I will give this a few day, and then I will disable the Print Service on the old "Server1".

When that happens, any printers that are connecting through Server1...will no longer be reachable.  For Example "North Lab on Server1" won't be there, but "Computer Lab on ElkFileServ" will be there.  Some of them may still appear in your list of printers...but they would be grayed out.

This MAY, just may, cause a few issues for those people with the AR printers or the FACS room, but we should be able to do a re-install on those, because they are on the new server as well.  Your computer just may be pointing to the old server to reach them right now.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PATIENCE.  This has been a difficult process.  But we have gotten through it because our staff is so great.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

My trip to Blue Heaven

Most people who know me, know of my (somewhat irrational) love of the North Carolina Tar Heels.


I had a grade school friend, back in my Rutland Elementary Days, who moved to South Dakota from North Carolina.  And I kind of picked up cheering for the Tar Heels from him.  Or because of him.  Something like that.

I have stuck with them ever since.  And although I would cheer for my Jackrabbits if they played them, UNC is my favorite of the "major college" teams.

I was able to visit briefly a few years ago, as my niece Graduated from UNC, and although I got to see some things, it was a rushed and busy weekend (flew in Friday, Left Monday morning...and a graduation and 2 receptions attended).

This time... My wife was signed up to take a class right there in Chapel Hill, so I had a room and everything, just had to purchase airfare and meals.  So I decided to ride along, and take in the Campus, and of course the BB program.

Anyway, here are some...Most of the pictures from my trip.  Hope you enjoy!

Click on the picture of the Old Well to get to the web album.
North Carolina Take 2!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Cool Video: One Second a Day

I saw this video posted on the internet today, and thought "Wow, what a cool idea!"

A young lady, a senior at the University of North Carolina, took a one second video clip of every day of her Senior Year at UNC.

I really enjoyed this.


If you are interested in reading her thought process behind the project... She wrote an explanation at this LINK.

These are the neat kind of things we can do with technology...but we need to unleash ourselves and do something creative.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

So Cool! Stream from International Space Station

NASA has attached HD Cameras to the outside of the International Space Station.

They stream it live 24 hours a day.

Here is the LINK.

Just a sample of the live feed from the space station.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Neat Picture!

I saw this picture on Google Plus this morning, and it just made me want to jump right into the photo and start running down that road!

I love this!

This makes me want to run.

Posted on Google+ by Photos of the world

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Internet Explorer Fix - Article

Here is a LINK to an article from ABC News about the "Fix" for the Internet Explorer Security Issue.

A fix has been found! 


Ghost Sighting!

I thought this was pretty funny.


Posted on Google+ by  Marlo Angelo Tito


Alternate Browsers - Installation

Because of the Security Flaw in Internet Explorer, it has been recommended across the board, that anyone using the Internet use an "alternative" browser.

Here are some instructions for installing both Google Chrome and Mozilla FireFox.  I prefer Chrome, because it is so fast...but I do know that FireFox users are very loyal, and they don't like to switch for any reason.

So for the time being, if you don't have another browser installed...here are some options:

How to install Google Chrome:


How to install Mozilla FireFox:

Also...if you MUST use Internet Explorer... you may continue to do So, but you need to disable Flash.

This will greatly limit your activity...as many sites utilize flash player.  But it's still possible.

To disable flash you go to: Settings -> Manage Add-ons, then select Shockwave Flash and click the disable button.







Tuesday, April 29, 2014

2014 TIE Conference resources

A few weeks ago, Mr. Farnham and I attended the 2014 TIE Conference in Sioux Falls.

It was a very informative conference, and I learned a number of different things.

I thought the Blog would be a good place to link some of the resources.

First off, here is the LINK to all the participants presentations.  If you click along the top "tabs" of the Symbaloo...you see there are all the sessions listed, Sunday's in depth sessions, Mondays, and Tuesdays.

Some presentations you may have interest in:

40 Web Tools for 21st Century Skills - it's a lot, but they are pretty good.  (Note:  Link takes to webpage...PowerPoint is downloaded from there).

Symbaloo (is kinda neat) I haven't used it, but it looks interesting.

Top 10 Classroom Tools - This has some neat things in it.

Chrome Apps - this was a good one, I attended this presentation

Hope you can find something interesting and exciting that you can use in your classroom!


Friday, April 25, 2014

Arbor Day 5K

Well, there weren't many of us this year, but we still did our best to represent the school.

Miles and I got up early and drove to Brookings to run in the Arbor Day 5K.

The race started at 6:30 am, and we were home by 7:30... plenty of time to shower and get ready for work.

Miles was the faster of the two Harmings in this morning's 5K.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

One of those days... and a neat video from the Juniors!

First, Mrs. Harming's Junior History class did a neat video of the Gettysburg Address.




Very Good Job Juniors and Mrs. Harming!

And... because every time I turned around today something was in need of some fixing...a little Toad the Wet Sprocket.


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Another "Makes Me Feel Old" Post

This is really quite good.

Kids React to Walkman - Video

On one hand its funny to see the kids of today struggle with the technology of my youth.

On the other hand, it's really quite something to think about, how quickly time flies... and how fast Technology advances.

Enjoy!


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Google Calendar: Scheduling the Mobile Labs

In the past few weeks, you may have gotten an e-mail from me inviting you to use Google Calendar (if you previously were not signed up for this service).

With our K12 credentials, the state has given us all Google Accounts, and we have talked before about some of the google products we can use, such as google Drive.

Google Calendar is simply another tool we can use.  It's simple, and it's easy, and we can all access Google Calendars from our own computers.

After discussing this with the Tech committee, we decided to move the Calendars for the Mobile Labs to an "Online" Calendar... so that way, we can find them, and sign up for them directly from your own computer.  No more sending someone down to the lab to see who signed up for it last.
(Also, no more having to go anywhere to sign up for it yourself...you can simply sign up for it from your own desk.)

The following screencast (which I recorded on Screenr) will walk you through the steps of how to log into your Google Calendar account, and how to schedule the mobile lab.  Several people are already doing this, and it seems to be working pretty well.



If you are having trouble
A. Signing into your google account
B. Scheduling the lab
C. or anything else (maybe the lab isn't 'shared' with you?)
Please let me know, and I will try to walk you through it, and help you in any way that I can.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Will Wheaton- Video...had to share

I loved this so much, I had to post the video.


Please share with any and all students, and other teachers!

WHEATON!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Office 365 Sharing issues - Integrating Technology Website

I know that previously there has been some sharing issues with office 365 between users with Office 365.  Dan Robbins and I have been in contact with the state about this issue, and this was what we have heard back from them ... (It has been working in Internet Explorer, but not in chrome)... this was the recommendations of the state, that I am copying and pasting below...

Microsoft is switching their product to be named “OneDrive” instead of “SkyDrive” so you’ll see that change across the board.

Since it sounds like the issue is browser-specific  (Chrome) and only one the one computer, you can do the following testing if you’d like:
1)      On the Chrome menu, select Settings.
2)      On the settings page, click Extensions.
3)      Please disable all Extensions (by unchecking the box next to enable)
4)      Exit and restart Chrome
5)      Return to the Extensions page to make sure they are still disabled
6)      Log back in to Office 365, and see if the problem continues to occur.

If everything appears to be working fine in Office 365, you can enable each extension one by one (testing Office 365 after each) to try to figure out if one of them is causing the issue.

So It appears that sharing issues could be related to extensions in the chrome browser?  

Something for you to try anyway, if you are having any sharing issues.

Also, this website was shared among the Tech Director Listserv last week...and I looked at it....and there are ALOT of Technology resources listed on here.  (too many to discuss each individually)... please feel free to check it out.... there is common core stuff on there as well!

http://www.willoughby-eastlake.k12.oh.us/classroom/technology/


Monday, March 3, 2014

Campus Update: Clear your browsing history.

This past weekend, Infinite Campus, ran an upgrade and to be able to log in and use the "new" version of the website, they have asked that users clear their browsing history and cookies.

I have helped a few staff members do this already this morning, but just in case you haven't done it yet, and you would like to do it yourself (It's not difficult), I thought I would lay out the steps needed in this blog post.

 I am going to show the steps in google chrome.  The chrome browser seems to be working with this update.  I had a teacher try Internet explorer earlier, and it wouldn't work...we tried chrome, and were successful.  However, there is a similar procedure for Internet explorer.

#1  Go click on the menu button (top right of your screen) in the chrome browser.

The Little Box with the 3 Horizontal lines is the menu button
 #2 Go down the drop down list, and select "Settings".  This should bring up the Settings in a separate tab.

#3 On the top left of the page, select the History button.


#4 Near the top, on the main page click the "Clear Browsing Data" button.  This will bring up a "pop up" window for clearing your browser data.



#5 In that window, select the drop down for 'Obliterate the following items from:' and select the option 'the beginning of time'.



#6 Ensure that the following items are checked: 'Browsing history' and 'Cookies and other site and plug in data'.  (NOTE:  You can choose to select and delete other items such as: downloads, passwords, etc... but you don't need to.  The only ones that NEED to be selected are History and Cookies)

#7 Click the button that says 'Clear browsing data'.  You will probably need to wait a minute or so until the data is cleared from the machine.

 And that is all you need to do!  Your history and cookies are cleaned up, and you should be able to successfully run the "new" version of Infinite Campus now.

If you continue to have problems, please don't hesitate to contact me, and I will endeavor to get you back going again.

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Happy Birthday to my eldest Son!



Hope you have a great day!


Thursday, February 27, 2014

Let's Go Elks!

Since I posted on Tuesday, and we won...I've got to keep it rolling!

Let's Go Lady Elks!
Tonight we face the DRSM Lady Cardinals.  It will be a good matchup and  I'm sure an entertaining game.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Let's Go Elks!

No real blog post today, I am miserable with a head cold.

However, tonight is the start of the District Tournament, and the Lady Elks host the O-R-R Raiders this evening at 7 pm.

Let's Go Elks!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Tuesday Teacher Tips: Free Technology for Teachers website

I posted about this site once last year, but I thought it would be a good idea to share it again.

Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne

Mr. Byrne is an educator/blogger/ and speaker.  He was the "keynote" speaker at last year's TIE conference in Rapid City.



I would highly recommend following his blog, or if you are a twitter user...you can follow him on twitter, as he is constantly posting his links to his articles on free technology resources.

To be honest, I'm not actually sure how he gets it all done, as he is a teacher, and all his blog updates, and his speaking engagements.

It's a really excellent resource, complete with discussion of many, many different web applications, iPad apps, free guides and favorite resources.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentines Day!

And, for tonight...Go Lady Elks!  Let's beat those Arlington Cardinals!

Let's Go Elks!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Tests, Testing, and Testers.

With the move of standardized testing going "online" I have been busy installing the new "tester" on several machines.

What I have been  installing is the Smarter Balance Secure Browser 6.3  The icon for this program looks like this:

Basically, what it is...is a "secure browser".  It shuts down your ability to run any other programs on the machine while you are using it.  (to prevent people from cheating).  It connects directly to the smarter balance website, and asks the user to log in with their testing credentials. (username and password)

The program itself isn't difficult to load on the machines, but it takes a little time.  And, I'm happy to say that all the machines in the North Lab, and the Windows 7 lab, have it installed on them.  We have also enabled the SBAC tester on the chromebooks (which was much easier to do...I just authorized that app for all our chromebooks, and BOOM, it was done).

This also required me to take a trip out to Roland colony and make sure the newest browser was installed.

The HS Juniors all need this on their machines as well.  A week or two ago, I did this on the great majority of them.  If there is a Junior HS student who doesn't have this installed, they will need to come and see me, so I can install it on their machine.

Problems will probably arise...they always do with technology.  But hopefully the move to online testing will go fairly smoothly, and it will certainly improve and get better with more experience in using it.  (Both at the state and local level).

At the latest check the tester seems to be working (we had a slight hiccup last week, when the testing site was down for a few days...but that was on Smarter Balance's end of things), and hopefully we are prepared and ready to go when the testing begins.

In our weekly testing coordinators update, they did ask for people to begin "practicing"  (See paste below)
 "Secure browser installation – please try to get the secure browsers installed this week so you can have as many students as possible try the training test next week. "
 
We have the browser installed, so check with Ms. Bogue as to when you can begin a "practice" session.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Tuesday Teacher Tips: Websites and return of the podcasts!

In December, Mr. Erickson, Mrs. Neill, and I, were able to attend a workshop in Sioux Falls hosted by TIE which went over a number of devices and mobile apps that can be used on them.

While there...one of the instructors gave us a link to a google doc page where she had listed over 200 websites (and/or apps) that can be used on mobile devices.

The Link to that spreadsheet is HERE.  My advice would be to look through the list when you are thinking of trying to do something new.  There are many sites on there...some I have discussed here before, and many others that I haven't even heard of.

Secondly, I plan to begin recording some more podcasts in the coming weeks.  The main reason that I stopped, is that the phone that I was using to record the interviews had died (it would no longer charge), and I had a replacement phone that did not have a voice recording option on it.  I recently acquired a different phone that has a voice recorder...so we can pick up where we left off.

So, if you know someone with a coming event, or you have a team or organization that you would like to discuss on the podcast, please let me know.  They are very simple to do, and it does not take a large amount of time.

If you want to listen to any of the previous episodes from this past fall, they are located on the "Podcast Central" page.

Thanks for reading, and check out that spreadsheet...there are alot of good resources on there!

Friday, January 3, 2014

Changing Wireless Access Points

I am changing the wireless access points for the school today.

Formerly the wireless network had been named "elktonschool" and all wireless devices should connect to that automatically.

The "NEW" Wireless network is called "GoBigBlue", and will have a new and different wireless access code.

THIS WILL REQUIRE ALL WIRELESS DEVICES TO CONNECT WITH THE NEW ACCESS CODE.

So, Monday the 6th, I will need to enter the NEW access code into all student and teacher machines that haven't gotten it, yet.
(I WILL DO THIS FOR ALL MACHINES IN THE BUILDING TODAY)

So, I will need to see all students on Monday to enter the code.  Luckily, this will not take long...only about a minute to enter the new access code under "GoBigBlue".  I may even go around and visit classrooms at the beginning of the day.

We are asking that only SCHOOL OWNED devices connect to the school's wireless.  I know there are several staff members who connect their cell phones and ipads and other personal devices to the wireless networks currently.  We will NOT connect personal devices to the school wireless from this point on.

One of the bandwidth issues we faced during the Standardized testing this fall, was that our wireless network was strained by the amount of machines accessing it.  By limiting these 10, 20, 30? extraneous devices...we will lessen the load on our wireless system.  (Also, there is a chance that some students had access on their phones, or ipads).

If it is a school owned iPad, or something like that...there is no problem.

Thank you for your patience and help!