Crunch time for the tech department

In every district I know, the week before school starts and the first couple weeks after the kids get back are crunch time for tech departments. Teacher computers needing to be set up, labs needing re-imaging, telephone numbers needing changing, system user accounts and permission needing creation, new wireless access points needing installation, and a raft of other "fires" needing to be extinguished keep many on the tech crew working long hours. 

Why, educators ask, does this happen when you've had the whole summer to get these things done?

It's a great question and I wish I knew the complete answer. But here are some thoughts:

• We are often not aware of a problem or a need until personnel return from summer vacation.
• Cleaning and maintenance is often scheduled to be done as close to school start as possible and we can't reassemble teacher workstations until that's done.
• Teachers change rooms and desk locations at the last minute.
• Employees are hired at the last minute and new families join the school at the last minute.
• By law, equipment may not be purchased until a new fiscal year begins July 1 (at least in MN).
• Summer construction projects run up to the wire.
• Outsourced tech projects get delayed. Equipment purchasing and delivery gets delayed.
• Summer school and other programs keep labs and libraries in use for much of the summer.
• Professional development, when the discovery of systems not working well is made, often starts just before school starts.
• Techs, like other employees, like to take vacations during the summer.

I am fully aware that a reason to one person may sound a lot like an excuse to an other person. I am also fully convinced that good technology planning and practices can reduce the severity of the school crunch. 

But if anyone has found a way to eliminate the technology stress, I'd love to know how you've done it.

Oh, while I don't put in much physical overtime during back-to-school weeks (my staff doesn't let me touch computers or go near a screwdriver - I mostly attend meetings and do administrivia), I do put in a lot of mental overtime. Every night for the last three weeks, my eyes open and brain starts at 3AM. Just so you know.

 

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An unsung hero

 My aunt, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Geneva Gotsch, died yesterday, She was 84 years old. And she changed my life.

Aunt Neva served in the Air Force for 20+ years. As a nurse, she flew Air Evac missions from Vietnam, transporting wounded soldiers to Hawaii. She was stationed in the Philippines at the time, but also served in Germany and Spain - and when she came back from these long overseas posts, she would take her nephews and niece on trips most Iowa farm kids only dreamed of - like Disneyland.

She was stationed state-side in Philadelphia while working on a college degree, Oklahoma, and St. Louis. My siblings and I got to visit her in each of these places. I owe it her my love of travel. 

After retiring from the military, she began working for ARAMCO oil company as a nurse in Abqaiq and Al Hofuf clinics. On a visit home one Christmas, she said to me, "Doug, if you are going to be a damn fool and be a teacher, you may as well be a damn fool making money. ARAMCO hires teachers and they pay." I took her advice and applied for a Saudi teaching job and in 1984 my teaching salary went from $18,000 to $55,000 and I got to see the world as an ARAMCO teacher.

She and I lived near each other for five years and was "grandma" to my son who was born while I was in Saudi. I came home in 1989 and she was going to come back in 1990 - but extended her stay so she could provide aid to the soldiers in the Desert Storm conflict - opening her home in Abaiq for much appreciated showers and hot meals. I have never know anyone as generous with her time or money.

In her will, she asked for no obituary, no funeral service, no memorial, no burial service. She wanted to leave life as modestly as she lived it.

As a culture, we celebrate stars in sports and entertainment and business, folks whose photos and words pop up on a regular basis on the news and in tabloids But it is our unsung heroes who truly change the world - or at least change the worlds of individuals. Aunt Neva changed my life as I am sure she changed - and saved - the lives of many around her. 

As far as I know, she never garnered headline. But she will long and lovingly remembered.

September's Power Up column now online at ASCD

Using Technology for Transparency, Educational Leadership, September 2014.

This is the start of my third year writing about technology with school administrators being my primary audience. Any topics you like me to address?

You can find links to all my columns on my website here: http://www.doug-johnson.com/columns/