End of year reflections

The school year slowly grinds to an end. Must be time to reflect back on what was good and what was not.
Think there was more good than bad

Good
Working with the 4th graders on the wiki, (http://wheatland-wiki.wikispaces.com/) this was one of the last things, but nice to do. Hope to work with more on this tool, pushing it at the end of the year to plant the seed over the summer for next year

New Email Server. The old one was almost dead, had to fight it nearly every day. It did not like to talk to the spam filter and would stop every now and then. The bad part, it would lull me to sleep by working well for a week or two, and then suddenly go bad for a few days. Now the new server is happy, have not had an issue with it yet. Improved features, archive service, going to link it with the voicemail this summer.

One-piece smartboards. Greatest thing since sliced bread. They do not get bumped during the day, projectors are there and are ready to go. What more is there to life? Getting more over the summer. Excited teachers.

New mobile lab in the elementary school. Replaced the 7-year-old one. People happy.

Seeing projects working without me to hold hands. Videos are being shot and edited without me working through the process. Some teachers get it.

Not so good
Switching to MS office 2007. The 2000 version was crashing left and right, we needed to upgrade and did so mid-year. Some technophobes wanted to make it union issue for “changing working conditions” The switch itself was not bad, it was the one or two loud whiners.

Old mobile lab in the HS. Needs replacing. No money. Got money at the end of the year. Next year will be better with this.

Walking around the building and seeing old teaching methods. Is it really necessary to stand in front of the class and read a book to the students?

Inflexibility on the part of some teachers who do not follow the IEP for my child.

Remember to check to see if the power cords and network cables are plugged in before calling.