Computer Lab Update

Since I described the computer lab situation last year, perhaps I should throw in an update on the Computer Lab in 2012:

We now have spiffy laptops although no printer that works as yet. The computer lab has never been officially opened but I am going there anyway. So let’s say the lab opened in mid-March. People find me there and say, “Oh, is the computer lab open?”

I’m kind of amused to discover I don’t want to tell anyone that it’s open. Right now, the only people who are competing with me for the lab are the special education teachers who have their IEP (Individual Education Plan — the special program for students who need extra help) meetings there. I told one colleague who works near me. I can share the lab with him. I told a special education teacher. But mostly I’m keeping quiet.

For one thing, it’s cool in the lab. When the class goes above 85 degrees, that lab is a welcome refuge. As of this date in mid-March, the only student work saved on the disks in the downstairs lab comes from my classes. I don’t know what if anything is saved on the upstairs computers. We’re working downstairs because that was the only working lab on the day I started our PowerPoint projects. Since we are saving to specific machines, we’ll stay downstairs for now. I need to buy a flash drive so I can back-up student work.