Good Bye :(

GaHyun Yoo



I feel so sad to say this is our final blog post as tech interns. When looking back, I only have good memories from this opportunity. Joining this Tech team was definitely one of the best decisions I have made and I will never forget it. I actually joined this team about a month later than everyone else but I was so thankful because all of my fellow interns and Mr. Gbaguidi were so welcoming and nice. All of the skills and life lessons I learned will forever be with me. I am so thankful for this opportunity, my fellow interns, Ms. Annitti, and Mr. Gbaguidi for making my experience wonderful!


Gene Lee

This internship has been a very wonderful experience for me. I will definitely miss my fellow interns as they go off into college but I am sure more interns will join me in the next year. I am very excited to continue working with Mr. Gbaguidi for a second year and I expect to learn more skills I can use for my future career. I am extremely grateful for my mentor and my interns for making this experience so fun. As the only Junior in the internship program, I am sure I will be able to use this opportunity to get a head start in my career. I would like to thank Ms. Annitti, Mr. Gbaguidi, and my fellow interns for this amazing year and I look forward to my second year of internship.


Tim Reid

I'm extremely grateful for the internship experience this school year. While interning under Mr. Gbaguidi, I've gained valuable knowledge on how to interact with others in the workplace as well as the correct workplace etiquette. In addition, I know now much more about the technology field and how devices work due to his teachings. I can't thank Mr. Gbaguidi enough for this invaluable experience. :)


Austin Kim

Interning with Mr. Gbaguidi for two years has been an amazing experience I will never forget. Although he has taught me many technical skills, I most enjoyed learning the work and social skills that he embedded in our minds everyday. Things like time management, work ethic, organization, and responsibility were primary topics he enforced. I did, however, enjoy the technical skills like working with Chromebooks, Windows, and hardware. Thank you Mr. Gbaguidi!

PARCC Prep

Since the PARCC testing begins this month, we discussed plans on how the students will be testing. Mr. Gbaguidi talked to us about how each student would have to bring his or her own Chromebook. Any student who did not have their Chromebook or had issues with battery, power, etc. would have to report to the Media Center to take their tests. The Media Center, he said, would serve as the backup for any and all students. He explained that he would accept any help from us to set up the equipment during PARCC.

Multiple Repairs but No Fix

Our week started easy but got progressively harder as we faced various issues. One issue we faced was a Chromebook that had come back from the Repair Center. The specific Chromebook had already gone to the Repair Center twice but on upon its arrival, we discovered that it would not turn on. Despite having been just opened from the Repair Center, we were forced to submit another ticket regarding a repair for the Chromebook that we could not fix.

DVD Player Fix

This week we helped Mr. Gbaguidi maintain his busy schedule by completing his simple tasks for him. One was regarding a DVD reading issue with Mrs. Gatto's laptop. The laptop would not properly play a movie on her DVD. Mr. Gbaguidi presented us with the tools (a dvd playing program installer) and allowed us to do the rest. We installed a program which would update the software that played DVDs and by the end of the period, after a long installation, she was able to play the movie.

Helping Teachers

This week we replaced the toner from Mrs. Settembrino's room. Because of our training, it was an easy task because we were so familiar with printer maintenance from experience with Mr. Gbaguidi. We also helped a teacher with her personal device. Mrs. Marut was attempting to purchase a cyber security product on her phone but her school email was prompted to be used as a payment method. To amend this, we replaced the default account of her phone with her personal one, allowing her to purchase the app on her mobile device. We also worked on the computers in Mrs. Marut's room so that they could print to the printer in her room.

Broken LCD

This week we worked on repairing the broken LCD of a Chromebook. The particular one we received had streaks of white, red, blue, and green going across the screen. However, some parts of the screen were visible. We contacted Dell Support chat which led us to redeem the device's one free accidental damage repair. Because it was an accidental student damage, we were able to easily process the damaged Chromebook and return it to the student.

Downloading Programs

This week we had to download programs such as Microsoft, Google Chrome, and Firefox onto a new computer that had most of its parts replaced. We had to re-enroll it into the school system and update it to the latest version. Other than this, we had to do the usual things like fixing Chromebooks and sending some to the repair center due to problems such as broken screens that cannot be fixed by us. These have to be replaced completely so sending them to the repair center with Dell Chat Support is the only way to fix them.

More Chromebook Repairs

This week we fixed Chromebooks that had issues with the battery, keyboard, and screen. Screen problems like cracked screens are sent to the repair center using Dell Chat Support. Other screen problems like the disconnected monitor is reconnected after opening up the chassis. The keyboard issues are sent to the repair center after we decide we cannot solve it. The battery issues are easily solved after opening up the chassis and tightening the wires. Overall, there was nothing new this week. We faced the usual problems and worked with no difficulties.

Prepping for PARCC

In light of the upcoming PARCC exam, Mr. Gbaguidi had us help set up computers in the various tech labs. We simply logged into each computer and updated the Test Nav application. Even though the PARCC exam will be taken on student's Chromebooks this year, we made sure that tech lab computers were set up in case students needed it for the test. During this task, we discovered that two computers would not connect to the domain. The problem was that the Ethernet cable for these computers were either missing or broken. Intuitive thinking allowed us to update Test Nav on one computer before temporarily using the same Ethernet cable for the two without a functioning one. We will most likely finish all preparations for PARCC testing by next week, all in hopes for a smooth testing period.

Blinking Amber Indicator

This week we performed more basic tasks including replacing ink cartridges in printers and repairing broken Chromebooks. On multiple days, we replaced ink cartridges in faculty rooms, the media center, and guidance offices. A lingering problem Mr. Gbaguidi has noticed throughout the year is the overuse of printing as faculty members quickly use up the school's ink supply. While repairing Chromebooks this week, we encountered one with an unusual problem. When Chromebooks fail to turn on, we usually don't struggle when fixing it. All we have to do is reset the battery cable and plug it in. However, this easy fix didn't work for s this time. After troubleshooting, we noticed that the LED indicator on the side of the Chromebook was flashing amber. This means there was an actual battery problem that we could not fix ourselves with the resources in Mr. Gbaguidi's office. The next day we sent out the Chromebook with flashing amber LED indicator along with other faulty Chromebooks to the Dell Repair Depot.

Completing Repairs

Austin Kim & Timothy Reid

This week we worked to finally fix Mr. Hall's laptop. The charging cable was already replaced when we got to his office so we opened up the laptop and reconnected all the wiring. This allowed the laptop to begin working again. We finished off the week with fixing some Chromebooks. We also opened up a few of the Chromebooks that were sent in by students and opened up the back of them using screwdrivers and prying tools. We reconnected the battery and used the charging port to force the Chromebooks to boot up.

GaHyun Yoo & Gene Lee

This week Gene and I focused on sending out Chromebooks to Dell Tech Support. We received three Chromebooks this week with different issues. The first one had some screen damage due to the student closing the Chromebook with a pencil in between the screen and keyboards. The second had keyboard issues. Lately, we have been getting a lot of Chromebooks with keyboard issues. We are unsure if there are problems with the Chromebooks themselves or if the students aren't taking care of them. The last Chromebook had battery issues so Gene and I opened to unplug the power cable and connect them again. Besides sending Chromebooks for repair, we also got four back which we delivered to students.

Mr. Hall's Laptop

This week we focused on fixing Mr. Hall's laptop. His charger port was damaged and the wires in the laptop were loose so it was impossible for him to charge his laptop. We believe we will fix this problem by replacing the power cable and we have already ordered a new power cable. Mr. Hall will be purchasing and supplying the power cable for us because this is his personal laptop. Other than this, we worked on Chromebooks. We sent a few to the repair center with Dell Chat Support. We also opened up a few Chromebooks to fix power problems and keyboard issues.

Missing Mr. Gbaguidi

We only saw Mr. Gbaguidi twice this school week due to the block schedule and other circumstances, but that didn't stop us from getting work done. As usual, we worked on many Chromebooks this week. Tasks include contacting Dell Tech Support, manually repairing Chromebooks that won't turn on, and returning Chromebooks to students once they're fixed. However, we faced a special task this week. Dr. Sforza's computer for the school's security cameras had a problem. A fan inside did not seem to be running correctly. We tried many fixes, but in the end, all it took was pushing the fan back into place to stop the noise and any other potential problems.

Above is a Chromebook we sent in for repair.

Screw This!

This week was like any other typical week. We mainly focused on repairing Chromebooks. One difference was we had an issue opening one of the Chromebooks due to a damaged screw. The screwdrivers did not work because the screw was damaged so we had to forcefully take out the screw. After taking out the screw, we put in a new screw after checking the Chromebooks for problems. We noticed that the screws were very easy to damage after this incident. Other then this screw problem, this week was normal for us. We received Chromebooks from the repair center and re-enrolled them back into the school system. We sent Chromebooks with problems like cracked screens and broken keyboards to the repair center through Dell Chat Support. We also gave a few Chromebooks back to the students so we ran around the school for a couple minutes. Overall, we fixed the screw problem and used our knowledge for other Chromebook issues.

Chromebook Work

This week we worked primarily on repairing and maintaining Chromebooks. We worked on various issues and used the appropriate solutions to resolve the issues. These solutions involved resetting the battery by unscrewing and opening the back. We also opened the screen of one Chromebook to reconnect the wire leading to the monitor. We delivered a couple of the Chromebooks back to the students. We had to explain to one student that the Chromebook sometimes takes a long time to load after coming back from the Repair Depot. These rare occurrences would cause the Chromebook to take from 20 seconds to a minute to boot up and reach the login screen.

Using New Tools

Tim and Austin

This week, we used the new tools we recently received last week. We used these tools to open up Chromebooks that were not charging due to a loose battery wire. These tools proved to be very useful and it made fixing Chromebooks very efficient. We also re-enrolled a few Chromebooks that came back from Dell Chat Support. These Chromebooks had most of their parts replaced so it was required to put these Chromebooks back into the school system. We put a few Chromebooks into boxes to send it to the repair center. We had used Dell Chat Support for these Chromebooks a few days ago to receive the boxes. Finally, we took back Ms. Annitti's desktop to see what was wrong. The desktop was still running slowly even though we had replaced the hard drive last week. This was due to software on the computer that allowed her to see what other students were doing on their computer. We were not able to fix this problem but were able to figure why the disk was always so high.

Gene and GaHyun

This week, GaHyun and I focused on opening up Chromebooks with the new tools we had received last week. These Chromebooks would not turn on and would not charge so we had to open them up to figure out what was wrong. Using these new tools made fixing these problems very quick and easy. Some of the screws turned out to be difficult to open so we had to use the old tools sometimes. It turned out that the battery wire was very loose so the Chromebook would not charge and not turn on. For one of the Chromebooks, we took out the entire battery and replaced it with a better one because it was not working properly. We also boxed a few Chromebooks to send them to the repair center. These Chromebooks were physically damaged so we could not fix them. For example, a few of the Chromebooks had cracked screens. This could happen when students drop the Chromebooks or when they close them with something inside. Finally, GaHyun and I also tried to fix Ms. Annitti's desktop because it was not running well. Last week, we had installed the new hard drive into the computer but the software was causing the computer to still run very slowly. This issue has not yet been solved but will most likely be fixed this week.

The Arrival of New Tools

Tim & Austin

This week, we learned how to use new hardware and tools in order to expedite the Chromebook repair system. First, we received a variety of power tools including an electric, cordless screwdriver with a flashlight. This would help open and repair Chromebooks quicker without the tedious screwing and unscrewing of the back cover. We also returned the repaired desktop computer back to Ms. Annitti's room and replaced it with her current one. We ended the week by packaging broken Chromebooks into boxes to be shipped to the Dell Repair Depot. Finally, Mr. Gbaguidi taught us the importance of maintaining professional work attitudes. He taught us the various topics and customs in workplaces such as avoiding discussion of politics and religion. This was very useful as it provided us with new information that we could with use in our future occupations.

GaHyun & Gene

This week, we focused on many of the similar tasks worked on by Austin and Tim. We also sent out the Chromebooks that were broken the previous week. By contacting the Dell Repair Depot, we had successfully sent out three Chromebooks with keyboard issues, screen issues, etc. Like Tim and Austin, we also were able to take advantage of the tools Mr. Gbaguidi had provided us in order to improve our repairing of Chromebooks. We discussed the issue of a computer's fan being too loud. Although we had replaced the fan before, the issue had reappeared again. Mr. Gbaguidi decided that if the issue continued, it would be better to buy another computer rather than another processor.

Week of 1/8/18

GaHyun and Gene

This week Gene and I focused on fixing Ms. Annitti's computer. After running through some trouble shooting, we realized there was something wrong with the hardware. After Tim and Austin changed the hard drive from the computer, Gene and I worked on the re-imaging part. Re-imaging the computer was pretty simple but was very time consuming. After re-imaging, since it was out of date, we had to run some updates. We also had two chromebooks we sent out to the Dell Tech Support. One had an issue with the keyboard and the other one had a cracked screen. This week was pretty easy for us since we have gotten familiar with re-imaging and talking to Tech Support.

Tim and Austin

Since we knew there was something wrong with Ms. Annitti's hard drive, Austin and I removed the old hard drive to replace it with a new one. We had to unscrew the back of the computer to access the old drive and put it back together after. Following with the re-imaging process, we had to update most software on the computer, such as, iTunes, Java, Adobe, and TestNav. We also worked on fixing some Chromebooks. Two Chromebooks we got this week seemed to have battery issues. To check if there was something wrong with the connections of the wires, we opened the back of the Chromebooks and re-plugged the wires to the battery system. We also got Chromebooks Austin and I couldn't fix ourselves. For those Chromebooks, we sent out and packaged them to the Dell Tech Support. Overall, it was a busy but manageable week for us.

Week of 1/1/18

Tim and Austin

Because of the snow day and our schedule, we did not see Mr. Gbaguidi that often this week. When we did see him though, Austin and I accomplished two main tasks. First, we replaced an ink cartridge for a printer in the faculty room on the second floor. By now, a job like this was easy for us and only took a few minutes. Then when we returned to his office, he asked us to replace a hard drive for a desktop that had been defective. We unscrewed the cover and carefully replaced the faulty hard drive. Since Austin had done this many time before, he let me perform most of the task so that I could learn to do it myself. Mr. Gbaguidi is currently working on re-imaging this desktop so that it can soon be used again in the classroom. It was an easy but productive week for us, and hopefully, we will soon be able to return the desktop to its classroom in satisfactory condition.

This is a picture of the desktop we are repairing. It is currently being re-imaged by Mr. Gbaguidi.

GaHyun and Gene

This week was very short for me and Gene. We saw Mr. Gbaguidi once and was assigned a fairly simple task. He had us open up and update Chromebooks that came back from Dell Tech Support. once they were updated and connected to the network, Gene and I returned them to their owners. We look forward to getting more done next week!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! Here we'll share our experiences working with Mr. Gbaguidi.