Not there yet, but another step closer
We have had 30 laptops now for over a week, but they still haven’t been put on “the network” because they need to be tagged (inventory control) by the school district 1st, and only then can I make an appointment with IT to come out to put them on the network and connect them to printers and so on. No tags today … maybe tomorrow????? Frustrating for a class that is supposed to be 1:1 and we are already past the first grading period. But how much can we really complain? At least we have this incredible resource at hand!
So in the meantime we “tagged” them in a different way ourselves today. We numbered them and made them “ugly” by spray painting them to discourage those that might steal them … hoping that they would be harder to pawn if they are ugly and we used our school colors. Being a gambling town Reno is thick with pawn shops. The lettering you see will peel off revealing the white of the computer underneath. At least we got that done.
It could be 1 to 2 weeks (or more) before we can start using them at this rate, unless things fall into place more quickly than it seems they will.
Learning is messy!
Tags: 1:1
November 19th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Brian: I am so happy for you that you got new laptops!!! Woo hoo!!!
November 19th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Another good idea from your good idea factory.
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:51 pm
That is a fantastic method for marking your computers as yours as well as including your students in the “claiming” process. Now they really do belong to your class.
Nice work!
Steve U
@Seattle
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:22 am
This year our school went through revitalization. I know how it feels to be so close to having a great resource, but yet not being able to use it. It took us a few weeks into the school year to get our ActivBoards hooked up and another few weeks after that until they were functional. I really liked your idea about theft prevention. I never realized how crafty kids could be…
November 30th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Interesting idea. I believe using our creative minds to help reduce theft of any time is time well spent. Also, you include a great opportunity for learning and community building!
December 15th, 2009 at 8:12 am
I think this is just a great idea. It might take the temptation away from people trying to steal the computers or pawning them off. I can only imagine how wonderful it is to have your own computers for your class. This helps so that you don’t always have to sign out the library and figure something else out when it is busy. I think this is such a creative idea to help reduce the temptation of the students. I never really thought about how theft would be a problem in schools, but it is a great idea to not even let the students be tempted.
December 15th, 2009 at 8:18 am
I think marking the computers is a great idea. This helps relieve the want to steal them or pawn them off. Students will be turned off by the paint and the ugly numbers on the front of the labtop. Plus it would make them hard to pawn off when they have spray paint on them and such. I think it great to have computers for the classroom — this way if the library is signed out or busy you don’t have to wait and change the lesson plan. This really helps build the opportunities for learning!
December 18th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
It is so cool that you are able to have so many computers avaiable for the students. It may be really frustrating not having enough help for all the students. It is nice that you are able to look at the positive and see that this resource is one that can really help the students. I find it creative and interesting that the computers were colored to make sure that they were not seen as an object to steal. I never would have thought of that.
December 18th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
I think it is very good that you have such a postive attitude about the situation. It can be very frustrating when there is not enough help in the classroom. Computers are such a nice thing to have in the classroom. I really like that. Also, I would never have thought to color the computers. It is a creative idea to no longer make then an object that people wish to steal.