Monday, December 14, 2015

Happy Birthday Marcus!

Hard to believe my 2nd youngest is a teenager!

Happy Birthday Buddy!  Hope you have a great day!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

This is a sample post

I am posting this to show the students how to create a post in their blogs.

Me and the Seniors at the DVC Championship


Wednesday, May 20, 2015

K12 Websites change

The K12 Data Center will be moving all State Hosted websites to new servers this summer.

I will plan on migrating all our websites (that would include the school site, and the staff sites), next Tuesday, May 26th.

The new servers will no longer support "Front Page Extensions" and will not use Front Page as web development software.

What does this mean for you?
1. You can NOT use Microsoft Front Page 2003 to edit your webpage any more.
2.  To edit your webpage, you will need to use either Sharepoint Designer 2007 or Expression Web 4.


3. Once you install them, you can open your website by following the directions on this FAQ from the K12 Data Center Members Site:  FAQ 187 Open Web Site Using Sharepoint Designer 2007
(you will need to know your K12 Credentials to log into the Members site)

Will this affect your webpage?
Not much... there are only a few features that will be affected in the migration.
Those will include: (This is copied from FAQ 1316)

If your website included these FrontPage features, you can expect the following after your site is migrated:
  • FrontPage counters
    • These counters will break. They can be replaced with an alternative (e.g. StatCounter).
  • FrontPage forms
    • These forms will no longer work. Any form that you would like to continue using will need to be replaced with an ASP.NET form.
  • FrontPage discussion boards
    • Users will still be able to view the discussion boards but will be unable to post new content.
  • FrontPage page includes
    • Changes to the included page will no longer update across the connected pages. Future edits will need to be made on each individual page.
So... In Conclusion... If you use Microsoft Frontpage for Webpage editing... you will need to install either Sharepoint Designer 2007 or Expression Web 4, for editing your webpage.


Monday, May 18, 2015

Thank You Karla!

When the Conference Track meet was moved to Friday because of Weather Condtions, I needed to leave early to attend, to be able to watch my son compete.

Because of this, I needed someone to "cover" for me, and collect student computers from those who were checking out for the year.

So, Karla Denison.... I salute you!


Thursday, April 16, 2015

Enabling Java in Chrome Browser

One of the helpful things about Chrome is that it updates automatically. Once you have it installed, it automatically updates and upgrades to the newest version whenever you use it, and shut down for the day.

 However. There is a slight problem that has arisen with running Java (which infinite campus, and other websites use) in the "new" version on Chrome, Chrome Version 42. (Which just came out, this week).

 What you need to do?
1. If you are using all your websites normally, and nothing is giving you trouble. Do nothing. This means that your chrome hasn't updated yet (and you can't make the appropriate changes until it has gotten past Version 42).

 2. If websites with Java platforms included on them stop working (Infinite Campus in SD, or the TestNav Testing Site in MN)...there is a simple solution (3 steps long) to enable this in Chrome Version 42 and later.

This "snip" was taken directly from the Java Website.
Step 1.  In your URL bar, enter:  chrome://flags/#enable-npapi

Step 2.  Click the Enable link for the Enable NPAPI configuration option.

Step 3.  Click the Relaunch button that now appears at the bottom of the configuration page.

That is it!  

If in the future it becomes apparent that Chrome is not the preferred browser to use, I will let you know.  

If you should need help in applying these changes, please let me know and I can help you through it.


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Testers are ready! (almost)

The Smarter Balance Tester 7.2 has been installed in all the desktops in the computer lab, and on the Juniors computers today.  The AirSecure Browser for the chromebooks has also been updated.

The Smarter Balance Browser should have a logo and shortcut on the desktop and it looks similar to this.


In addition, the Questar Test Browser (used for the Science portion of the testing, for grades 5, 8, and 11) has also been installed in the Computer Lab, and on the Junior machines.  After installation each of those tests was logged into once, and given a trial run, making sure all the features of the test work (highlighter, help page, calculator, etc...).  Once the trial test was completed the machines are registered as OK to go.  As of the moment I am writing this, all seem to be working!

The Questar logo should be located on the desktop, and will look similar to this.


The chromebooks will have a different log in for the Questar Test.  These have been requested from Questar, and they should be getting those to me at any time.

When I get those, the students will log into the chromebooks using the Questar log in when they get on the chromebooks.  They will NOT log in to their normal chromebook account.  (I will install the Questar accounts on each of the chromebooks)

As before, if they are taking the Smarter Balance portion of the test, they will use the Smarter Balance "AirSecure Browser" which is located on the startup page.  This is what is known as a "Kiosk" App, and I have checked the machines, and it is there.

So hopefully, we will have the chromebooks finished up by the end of this week, and we should be all set and ready to go for online standardized testing!

I do have a few old "loaners" to image, to make sure we have some spares for the Juniors.

If you would like the tester installed in your classroom to "practice", all you need to do is ask, and I will get it done for you.  It only takes a few minutes to install the Smarter Balance Tester, and a little bit longer for Questar (since it requires a log in, and check of the system to register the machine).

Thank you very much, and Happy Testing!