Wednesday, October 27th

Today is wonderful day to be alive....it is a day that God has made. Although I do like my Thursday and Friday mornings in the Computer Lab I must be honest when I say Wednesdays are much more exciting!

Noon, on Wednesdays in the computer lab of McCracken always seem to be very busy. There are students in both labs, generally a class in the far room and students in the 'library' section. Now that I've learned a bit more about the computers and the lab I've started making rounds. I try to go around to all of the students to say "hello, how are you and do you need any help?" My favorite part is the smiles on their faces or the surprised looks on their faces!

Today I had a little bit of a different experience. I had an older student, she was probably close to my age, trying to put together a Power Point Presentation and then print it out...thank goodness I am very comfortable with PP and was able to help her...she seemed to be at her wits end...she was very appreciative and relieved at the end of our session...most of the younger students are tech savvy and only need help when a techy issue occurs, which I'm not always able to help with yet! I'll get there though!

God always puts us in the right place at the right time!

Friday, October 29th

• 0800 Arrive in Computer Lab: Not a soul in the lab
• Swifter, 409, Clorox Wipes, Paper Towels, yada, yada, yada....
• Fill the printers with paper
• OCD kicked in...arranged keyboards, monitors, chairs and CPUs
• Die-cuts organized, contruction paper organized by color and size
• 0930 A Student arrives....no help needed bummer!
• 0945 The Student leaves....
• Tick-tock, tick-tock....
• 1030 A few students in and out, no help needed
• I answer a few emails, help find the MAC hidden printer Icon....
• Head on to Grover Center....

"Be Still And Know That I am God"

Wednesday, November 3rd

• High Noon: The Lab Is CRAZY! I don't see a computer station open!
• Printers not working
• Rebooting all computers
• Printers working
• Hidden Printer Icons (Love those MACs)
• Today was very exciting for me! The GAs were very busy with the rebooting of computers, a printer wasn't working in one of the offices...I went by myself, did some computer tech steps, plugged, un-plugged, more computer tech steps and IT WORKED! Yay ME!

This was the first day in computer lab that I didn't sit down the entire time I was there!

Thursday, November 4th

• 0830 Arrived in Computer Lab: one student there....football player, wished him luck for tonight's game, asked if he needed help, small talk...he's good to go!
• Printers filled with paper, key boards cleaned, screens cleaned, counters dusted
• 0915  a couple of faculty/staff/GA emails configured to Outlook, some prefer to stay with G-mail, but like the Outlook Calendar!
• 1100 Back to the lab, several students in the lab now...looks like end of quarter project time, panicked looks and voices!
• A few MAC issues, I'm still not real sure about about those Apples!

Down On My Knees

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

Day 4:

• Arrive at 0830, there's no one in the lab
• Grab Swifter, 409 and paper towels, appalled at the filth of the key boards (why don't we invest in the plastic covers that are able to be cleaned?)...cleaning I will go!
• 0905...Scott to the rescue! Monitor malfunction...blue cable, white cable, power cord, CPU
• Is the knee bone connected to the shin bone or is the shine bone connected to the knee bone?LOL...
• Stand up, sit down, kneel down...
• Trial and error, the blue cable doesn't work, the white cable doesn't work, the power cable worked!
• Stand up, sit down, kneel down...
• Next the second white cable still not working, hallelujah, the blue cord works...the DVI cable is the white cable, what's the blue cable?
• Next, room 111, monitor not working!
• Stand up, sit down, kneel down...I know what to do! A lesson learned, a monitor fixed!
• Learned to work scanner!
• Downloaded software on laptops
• A very productive day in the Computer Lab!

Lift Up Your Face!

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

The third day of Computer Lab...I arrived at 12 noon, tidied up the die-cuts, construction paper, paper cutters, made sure there was paper in the printers and dusted the window sills (they looked like they hadn't been dusted since I graduated from OU in 1986!)

As I walked around to see if anyone needed help, I noticed that no one was looking at anyone, were listening to their music and typing away. As the students left one by one I smiled and said "Hi, how are you today?", one by one they looked at me as if I had the plague!

Not much more happened Wednesday in the Computer Lab. However, as I walked back to Grover (yep, I walked up Jeff Hill) through the College Green, I noticed the same thing. Everyone walking, with earphones in or texting as they walked and not making eye contact. Once again, I made it a point to look people in the eye and say hello...as I continued walking everyone began to say hello in return.

Long story short...lift up your face, smile and say hello to everyone you pass! You may make someone's day a little brighter!

Refresh to Be Refreshed

Thursday, September 23, 2010. Day 2 of Computer Lab

As I entered the Computer Lab today I was quite surprised to see that it was still basically organized the way I had organized it the day before. The beginning to my "shift" was dedicated to a little dusting and cleaning of monitors, key boards and mouses (is that proper verbiage?). As a nurse and having OCD, the inability to clean/scrub the key boards was a bit stressful. Thinking of the hands that had touched this technology and where those hands have been...can you imagine?

Scott to the rescue! Can you download this program onto 7 of the computers? Absolutely...directions and passwords were pass on, downloading I go...After completing the downloads two other 880 students arrived...Guess where I took them? You guessed it...the basement!

We were sent to find a replacement CPU for room 124...sorting through the surplus and "keep" CPUs we were unable to find exactly what we needed. With a brief explanation to Scott, on to the next project...

A student approached me and asked for help! "I can't get my document to print"...a trip to their computer station...explanation and education success! The student thanked me for helping her complete her assignment! So, long story short, I was able to re-fresh the student's confidence and in return I was able to refresh my confidence...a great way to succeed in education!

"He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."

~Proverbs 11:25~