A day in the life of a Technology Specialist...

I often get a very funny look when I tell people that I am a technology specialist at an Elementary School.  No, I do not know a lot about computers, but somehow they seem to keep me in this position. So for everyone who wonders what a typical day is like, 

I now present a day in the life of a technology specialist...

6:45 a.m.  Arrive at school  and begin checking email.  This seems to be the only uninterrupted quiet time

7:00 a.m.  The computer recycling guy has arrived. Phillip and I help him load 10 monitors and CPUs onto his truck.  I cannot believe that we have to pay this company to haul off our equipment, knowing that they are just going to turn around and make money off it.  

7:15 Begin turning on equipment and getting things ready for our morning broadcast.  Every Wednesday & Friday the 4th and 5th graders do a morning show that is broadcasted live over the entire school. It is very entertaining.  The 5th graders run all the equipment and the 4th graders are anchors.  

7:30 Help the kids set up equipment and rehearse the show which is very very entertaining, ended up having a very enlightening conversation with some 10 year olds about how their parents named them. I love these kids and they just make me laugh!!

8:15  Live!  It was a first show for many of the kids, so they were very nervous and  did a fantastic job!!!  I was very proud of them

8:15- Help the Assistant Superintendent get her presentation loaded on the network, answer a few emails

8:30  Off to teach a 5th grade class about Word.  They learn how to do borders, watermarks, bullets, and numbering in their word documents.  It is amazing how excited kids become when they learn how to put a heart border around a word document.  

9:30  Decide to call tech support to figure out why my Tricaster has stopped working. I really think that when the tech support people talk to a woman they seem to think that we are not very smart in the technical arena and have just done something stupid like forget to plug it in.  Now when I call I just start the conversation out by stating the problem and telling them every trouble shooting method that I have already tried, which seems to cut down on the nonsense. After a 20 minute conversation and trying different things, I learn that I just have to send it in, great.

10:00 check and return emails

10:30  Off to teach a 4th grade class about software.  They seem to think that if their friend has a fun computer game that they can just borrow it and also download it to their computer.  Which leads to an interesting conversation of copyright laws for music and software.  

11:30 lunch in the cafeteria

12:05  meeting with Assistant Superintendent and Director of Curriculum and Instruction about learning targets and the future of report cards and assessments 

1:15  check and return emails. 

1:30 back up info on the Tricaster

1:45 walk to the UPS store to send the tricaster off for repair. What a beautiful day to get outside!!! 

2:00 AVI contractors finally come finish my AV installation in the gym and auditorium.  This project was supposed to be completed July 31.  He is very very sarcastic with me and just plain rude. This man made me very very upset earlier in the year. I think many of these contractors forget that we are the customer and we pay them.  His arrogance drives me just makes my blood boil!!!!  Wasn't this project supposed to be completed in July.  

2:15 Help the counselor with her powerpoint presentation

2:30 Help a 4th grade class do research on the new online Alabama Encyclopedia.  It is a fabulous resource and wonderful Alabama History tool for 4th graders!! This makes me remember how much I loved teaching 4th grade.  

3:00 Crosswalk duty which is always an entertaining conversation with 2 11-year olds. Today we discussed Auburn football and Harry Potter.  

3:15 help 1st grade teacher with her Activotes.  Activotes are  little egg shaped remote controls. They allow the students to answer any question the teacher poses.  With the click of a mouse the teacher can then see every kids answer. It really gives every kid a voice, even the kid who never raises his hand.  Wonderful tool that every teacher loves!!

4:00 cut out some die cut letters for character ed sign in the lobby

4:15 check and return emails and head home

So, here is an example of what a day is like.  No two days are alike, but hey it is always that way in education.