A LYS Superintendent challenged me with the following question: SC, you commented last week that every school district you have visited lately had issues with Internet access. I would like to know what specific issues you had when you were in my district. We are very conscientious about this very topic and have always tried to provide easy access to the Internet throughout our District. So, if you will give me specifics, I will do my best to remedy the situation. SC Response I didn’t have a big problem in your district and your tech staff was waiting for me when I arrived on site. It was a general comment. I have been in nine different districts in the past month and in general it is a three-ring circus to get Wi-Fi access. My non-technical suggestion is for districts to create a “Guest” network. The extreme of this is one district I work with that has made its campuses neighborhood Wi-Fi hot spots, so anyone who is in range can get free Internet connectivity. I like the idea of schools being knowledge beacons for the whole community. That is slightly different mindset than that of most district technology departments, which as a group seem to be overly security conscious. A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using your own bootleg technology devices to follow Twitter. If you haven’t done so yet, we want you to join us. To let you see what you are missing, here are the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of September 11, 2011, as tabulated by the accountants at Price Waterhouse. 1. Education, not gender or race, now largest factor in worker earnings (by – @eschoolnews) 2. Hate to rain on the Tea Party’s parade: but protecting our country involves a strong central government and, yes, taxes. (by – @BorowitzReport) 3. Try not to dislike or dismiss your distrators. They often ask the best questions. 4. It should go without saying, but if you show up late, unprepared and have a bad attitude – you have lost your right to complain about students. 5. You can go a long way in maintaining a high quality school facility if you just give your custodians a can of touch up paint. 6. If your morning announcements include anything more than the pledge a minute of silence, you have to know that no one is listening to them. 7. The unemployment rate among high school graduates who have not attended college is 10.2%. Among those with a bachelor’s degree, it’s 4.6%. (by – @FareedZakaria) 8. Technology is great to inform parents of school events. But if you are using technology to reduce the need to meet with parents, you are missing the point 9. How come when we know students are behind, the typical “go to” intervention is to go slower? 10. The more your tutoring program resembles traditional instruction, the less effective it is. Think. Work. Achieve. Your turn… Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation Come visit us at the LYS Booth at the TASA/TASB Fall Conference on 9/30/11 and 10/1/11 Attend the LYS presentations at the Texas School Improvement Conference on 10/26/11 and 10/27/11