My first Chromebook

Well I picked up an acer chrome book 11 today for my birthday.  So far I have to admit that I am very impressed.  It is very light and the screen is very sharp.  I should explain my situation a bit though.  I have been using google chrome and google docs a lot on a windows machine.  I am a grade 5 teacher and I started using chrome because it allowed me to change some of the things on my computer that I could not change because of the security policies of the school board.  So I have been using google docs on and offline for a while.  It was my birthday yesterday and I got some cash from my parents enough to buy a chrome book so I thought to myself I can at least try it out for a couple of weeks.  Now I should mention as an open discloser that I also work as a technology sales representative for Staples Canada.  The store I work for is in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  I love working at Staples.  So I am going to use my blog to chronically my usage on my new Chrome book and the advantages and disadvantages.  This will be from a lay persons point of view.  While I am fairly technological I want to see if an average person could use this.

Okay so the first thing I have notices is how light this laptop is.  I am not going to list how heavy it is but it is crazy light.  I am obviously writing this post on it.  The screen is very clear and crisp and I love the fact that is is a matt finish.  I did have a problem connecting it when I first started it up.  It said it could not find a DHCP hookup.  Now I knew what DHCP is but could not imagine my mother knowing how to fix that.  I just hand to reset my wireless router and I was good to go. I was not happy about this at all though.  Like I said I know what that is.  I did a quick search and found out this is a common problem with chrome books.

If you are thinking about getting a chrome book you have to understand that it uses goggle docs not Microsoft office.  Now I can open up word documents and use them but this is a whole different operating system.  It would take a while for most people to get used to this.  A couple big advantages though
1.  I don't need security software.  The OS is constantly being updated by Google so you really don't need security software.
2.  You don't need to buy office.
So when you buy a chrome book you really don't need anything extra.  Now I work at Staples I would highly recommend that you allow us to setup the chrome book for you.  If I was talking to a customer I would tell them that we would take their documents and photos and put them on Google Drive for them and setup a Google account if they didn't have one already.  I would also highly recommend a one on one tutorial.  Like I said it is quite different and while I am enjoying it so far I am already familiar with Google products.  If I wasn't this would really frustrating.  The setup services that Staples offers is to make the experience of getting a new computer as fun, exciting, and smooth as possible.  I would not want my mother to get a new computer without the setup.  Now I am the one that sets up her stuff.  The question remains would I want my mother to have this?  Not sure yet.  My kids yes that is easy this would fit their school work perfectly.

I will write some more in a couple of days.

Staples Chromebook Link

June 6th the anniversary of D day

So today is the anniversary of D-day. It is important to remember those that have fought and died for our freedom.  The challenges that we face today you should be thankful for. Without the brave arm forces that still operate today you would not have the freedom to complain about the arm forces.  It is, in my opinion, ironic that people today who look down on people who are in the forces or were owe their freedom to do so by the people they look down upon. So even if you don't like them you still owe them some level of politeness and respect after all they are protecting your right to speak your mind.

Why is PDD so boring

I was reading this article today which was very good.  It occurred to be that I find PDD really boring most of the time.
http://blog.web20classroom.org/2014/01/3-things-we-need-to-remember-for-every.html

I really do find PDD (Professional Development Days) boring.  I was thinking that it is a product of two reasons one of which is my fault.
1.  I don't invest enough effort into it.  My next PDD day the organizers have sent out a couple of articles for us to read.  This time I will read them and take some notes.  If I invest my time and effort I will get more out of it.  Unfortunately most PDD that teachers do you walk in "cold" no prep and it is forced on you.  I really don't have an emotional investment into it.
2.  Presenters are boring.  They never engage me.  I sit and I listen.  I am terrible at that.  I want to do something I just don't want to sit there.

So is this going to change.  Probably not.  Since most of the time the PDD is forced upon me and I walk in "cold" I can't see any improvement in my attitude towards professional development days.  I get more out of my own research and development on my own time.

Clarity from sales

One nice thing about having a part time job at Staples is that when you are asked a lot of questions you do get pretty clear on what works and what does.  I was talking to a customer last night that asked me about the new IPad Air.  He was buying for his wife.  All she does is email, surf the internet, and watch Netflix.  As I was talking to him I realized that the IPad ($519) would do this.  So would the Samsung Tablet we have ($399), and the Asus Transformer ($399).  Together we realized why is he paying $519?  I didn't have a good answer for that.  I know that the IPad is probably nicer than the others.  However, for what he was doing and for what most people do why spend the extra money for no reason.

And Yes I do have an Iphone and Ipad Mini.  Not sure if I would get either now however.

Samsung Chromebook

So I took home the Samsung Chromebook this last weekend.  The main reason is I wanted to know what it did because I get people asking me what they are.  Frankly I didn't know.  I have read reviews online but that is not the same as using it.

What I found was a very nice very small computer.  I was impressed with how light and small it was.  The screen was clear and it had lots of ports!  USB 3 and HDMI.  The one I looked at also had a SIM card port so I could add cellular data to it if I wanted.  

What I liked

I liked the fact that it is cheap! $299 CDN.  If I get it I don't have to worry about it breaking or losing it for the money at least. That is a big bonus for me since I have kids.  I worry about them breaking it or it getting stolen.

I like the fact that most of the stuff is stored online.  If I am working away from home I can then go to my regular computer and finish it off. This brings me to the point that I would use this as a laptop replace but it would work better as an add on to my desktop.

The battery life was awesome I got 6 hours out of it.  That for me is great!  I don't need 15 hours it is over kill.  Besides it is $299 for 6 hours instead of $999 for 15 hours (mac book air I am talking about you)

I also found that I can just plug in a usb drive or an SD card and use that as well.  I have a lot of pdf files being a teacher and I need access to them.  Fortunately I keep them all on a USB drive.  You can also download your files as word docs etc and save them on a usb drive.

What I didn't like

It was difficult to print.  Ok it wasn't for me but I can see it being a problem.  If you have a printer that does eprint or cloud printing then it works.  I have an HP 8500a so I just had to email my printer and it would print off the attachment.  I had to set it up.  Lets face it I would have a problem with my mother for this.  After I set it up she would be fine but I can't see her doing it.

You can use it offline for google docs but it really shines when it has an internet connection.  I think I would need one.  The offline part of google docs worked fine.  

Summary

I liked it.  I really did and I am an apple guy.  If you know what it does it works great.  If you are invested into a lot of google stuff (google docs, gmail, google calendar etc) It is great.  If you are not then it isn't the best solution for you.

For me it would work fine for work.  The only difficulty would be printing.

Tech News Roundup November 19th

Tech News Roundup November 19th

Just a few articles I have seen I enjoyed this last week.  With the push to improve the individualization of student learning I have been focusing on reading where I can let me students get some more out of their learning experience.  The first article is there because where I live in Saskatchewan we are having a big population and economic boom.  This is putting a lot of pressure on our schools.

More Planning is need for school repairs.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/more-planning-urged-for-school-repairs-1.2431517?cmp=rss

The biggest hurdle to flipping your classwww.edutopia.org/blog/biggest-hurdle-flipping-your-class-jon-bergmann?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-hurdle-flipping-class-quotes-3

4 tips to improve student learning in the library

www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2013/11/4-tips-promote-student-learning-library

Traits for teacher

I was asked the other day what personality traits you need to be a teacher.  My first response of course is that you need to be crazy!  In truth that is part of the answer. You do have to be a bit crazy to be a teacher these days.  The amount of pressure from students, parents and administration can be overwhelming.  I have worked in a number of schools now.  Some of which the admin was there to help me teach and relieve pressure and some increased it.  Parents can also be a great help or they can be your worst nightmare!  I have seen parents completely defend their kids, which they should do to an extent.  However parents also need to realize that as a professional I may know a thing or two about your child and what they need.  So, yes you need to be a bit crazy to be a teacher.  You have to be crazy enough to love the job and see the positives about hat you are doing!  You have to be crazy for the kids because they are the reason you are really there.  You have to be crazy enough to know yourself really well and be confident in who you are because you are questioned on a regular basis.

Crazy ya teachers are crazy!  You had better hope your child's classroom teacher is a little nuts or they will crack under the pressure!