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!

Success Interview

Last night my son came home and had to do a success interview for his Religion class.  What a great idea!  We spend so much time running around now days that it is hard to stop and talk about the important things.  Spending time with my son talking about my life and what I was successful with and what has been challenging was a great exercise that we both enjoyed.  He had to write out paragraphs for each question so it also worked on his writing skills.  I thought it was such a great idea that I stole it for my class this morning.  I often thing that my best ideas I have ripped off from someone else.  Here is the 5 questions I gave my students this morning.
1.  What has helped you be a successful person?
2.  What is the biggest challenge you have faced?
3.  If you could teach me one thing what would it be?
4.  If you could change one thing about your past what would it be?
5.  What is your biggest hope for me?

This is the list I came up with. Let me know if you have better questions.

Not much going on tonight.  I just thought I would throw down a couple of ideas.  There is a new OSx coming out called Mavericks.  I am not sure if I will upgrade.  I having been toying with the idea of going back to windows lately.  I just am not sure.  I sure like OSx but it just does not run as many programs as windows.  Working part time at Staples has really given me the opportunity to compare the two.  I really like the build of the macs and the operating system is really nice.  I guess I don't have to make the decision.  Since I won't be buying a new computer any time soon.  One of the things that working as a teacher and as a sales person has taught me.  I don't want to throw away my money I work to hard for it.

Where did the time go!

As my wonderful wife had a business trip today and I was at home getting the kids up and ready for school I had a moment where I remember my boys (now in gr 7 and 8) younger.  Dragging my youngest out of bed, literally, and helping them get dressed.  Today I wandered by their rooms and turned on their lights and said "get up".  After a few grunts and complaints I found them downstairs eating their own breakfast.  I sat there and realized that I would not get to do all those wonderful things.  Don't get me wrong I really didn't like harassing my kids to get up, I know my wife didn't!  I just can't help missing my kids being younger.  I guess all I can do is enjoy what is in front of me!

We are all dying

Here is a heavy idea.  We are all dying.  I was thinking about this the other day.  What does this mean?  I could look at it two different ways really.  First, I could say "I need to do a bunch of crazy things that I wanted to get done in life."  This really didn't sit well with me though.  Having kids I feel into "what important lessons do I want my boys to know."  I did come up with a list that I will share another time.  The idea that I am thinking about today is this.

If I look at life a precious and that with every breathe I am dying I have to carry myself and make decisions based on the idea that this might be the last time I see that person.  It might be the last time I go for a walk.  It might be the last time I cook supper for my family.  It might be the last time I teach.  It might be the last time I sell something at Staples (yes I work there part time).

If I look at it that way.  I owe it to myself and others to be there in the moment.  Not thinking about what I am going to do later.  Or what I am going to do that weekend.  I have to be right there with that student, customer, son, wife or fellow teacher.  I owe it to them and me to be the best I can be at that point in time.

Just an idea.  Probably a bad one!

Nelson Mandela

I was listening to some of the tapes from Nelson Mandela last night. It was on the news. What an interesting man!  His life was so full of hardship and yet he was so kind and forgiving. He says that he was free because of his ability to forgive.   After being ill last year I have made an effort to look at things differently than I have in the past.   The biggest thing I have tried to change is to try to see things from another person's point of view. The exception of course is sometime the other point of view makes no sense. This has allowed me to be more relaxed about a number of things.  Which in turn has made me a better person. It has also forced me toto clarify what is really important to me. So while I try to see the other point of view it is also important to know where I stand on things. 

What is important to you?