In today's world it saves loads of frustration if you know how to solve basic tech problems on your own. It's been said that 90% of the problems with hardware and software go away by restarting. Even if the percentage isn't that high, it's amazing what a restart or a shut down and start can do. If your computer is so stuck that it won't restart or shut down, pull out the electric plug, wait a minute or so, replace it in the socket, and then restart. I remember a Vice Principal telling me years ago, "I don't know anything about computers, but I know you can cure lots of them by turning off the electricity."

Another ace troubleshooting solution is to make sure all cables are plugged in securely in the correct places. Sometimes you'll have to crawl under your desk or climb on top of your desk to check your cables and figure out which wires go to which device and if they are all pushed completely into their connections. If you have one or more of those little USB or FireWire hubs, which give you more places to plug in your gadgets (such as iPods, smart phones, scanners, printers, keyboards, cameras and mice), make sure the hubs are connected to your computer. It's possible to get so confused by the mass of cables that you might connect the hubs back to themselves, which I do admit I've done.

USB and FireWire hubs are handy, but they can be devious. For some unknown reason, there are times when digital devices work through the hubs and times when they don't. And sometimes they work fine when connected to a hub for a while and then stop working. The good news is that most of the time when the connection doesn't work, switching the cable to a different port on the hub usually works. If that doesn’t work, try connecting directly to your computer in order to make sure the hub is the problem and not the device. If you continue to have hub horrors, maybe it's time to upgrade to a new one? Make sure it's one with an electric power source.

Let's suppose you've tried restarting and checking your cables, but the problem hasn't been solved. Think back to whether you (or someone else) have recently changed settings or added software to your computer. If so, that's most likely the problem. Maybe you need software updates to make everything work smoothly? Maybe you need to change the settings back to the way they were? To get updates, just go to the manufacturer's site and check for downloads for the specific product. Then install following the directions. If you don't know what the settings were before they were changed, you'll have to wait for tech support.

You don't need to wait for tech support when your printer needs ink. Request the cartridges or toners for your printer model, read the directions (often diagrams) on the ink package, and install. It's usually very easy.

It's not just computers and printers, but networks that can cause you to grind your teeth. It feels like disaster when you can't go online, you can't get your email, and worst of all, your students can't get to their work on one of the network servers or can't go online to do their research projects Before screaming, check with others in your building to see if the Internet is working on their computers. If the problem seems to be in your room, restart and see what happens. If that doesn't work, check the cables before calling for outside help.

Now we get to the tricky part—restarting your school network. It's not tricky because it's difficult. If you can press a button or flip a circuit breaker, you can usually restart the network, but you need to know what buttons to press. Unless your tech people are always readily available to restart your network, administrators and at least one teacher in every section of a school building should know how to do basic troubleshooting of network problems. It's a good idea to suggest that your tech people prepare your school for network emergencies by showing some of those in your school just where devices like Routers (which route information to computers), backup batteries, and circuit breakers are, and how to activate them if they've shut down. Often problems like this arise after the electricity goes off. In such a case, it doesn't take a tech expert to restart a network, but if you learn how, you'll look like one.

Of course, there are times when you put your best basic troubleshooting techniques to use, but the problems continue. That's when to call for help.

Ask elementary and middle school kids to write an essay on what is great about America, and somewhere in that essay will be something like this, "This is a free country, and I am free to do what I want." When questioned about the statement, they'll concede that they can't go out and rob banks and hurt people. Most understand they shouldn't copy other people's words to put in their reports. When middle schoolers are asked if they have the right to free speech, they agree that they do. Most high school students qualify the answer by saying that it depends upon what they said.

No slander. No lies. We know that. But what about what we say online? What about telling someone's secrets-telling about their private life? Maybe it's like our classrooms where kids and teachers have to watch what they say? Maybe it's like the media, which also has rules about how it says what and what it can say? Is it? Or is it a whole new ballgame?

Let's brainstorm. Suppose you are teaching American history, Civics, or Contemporary Issues and want to enliven your lessons on the 1^st Amendment, and perhaps, the 9^th Amendment.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ....

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Just what is free speech? What is freedom of the press? What is privacy? It certainly isn't saying or printing anything you feel like saying or printing about others. Or is it? How does freedom of speech and the press work online, where an item might only appear for a short time and then disappear and be difficult to trace? Does freedom of speech cover what is on a social networking site, and how does freedom of press cover a blog? The legal precedents certainly are not clear on either subject yet.

What about what people place online that's removed - like a comment on a company's web site about how a product doesn't work well? Are people's rights violated when a company wipes out content they've published online? What about what people put online that gets changed. Sure, people understand when they use a site like pedia or take part in writing that things can be changed. -But what about changes by companies, political parties, and special interest groups who monitor these sites editing out anything that isn't positive?

High school students, always ready for a good conflagration over what's happening in our nation and world today, can dive right into this topic-Free Speech vs. Privacy: A Battle Online and Offline.

When it comes to free speech online, start with a topic your students all probably know quite a bit about - social networking sites. They can probably tell you tales of profiles that have vanished or been mysteriously modified. When people become members of social networking sites, they have to click on a box agreeing that they will abide by the site policies. These "Terms of Service", are not usually read by those clicking for membership. There it is stated that if you don't follow the rules, your content can go and you can, too, It's private. It's legal. Of course the question is always the interpretation of the rules and who is doing the enforcing.

It is not just social networking sites, but also Internet Service providers who enforce guidelines to protect their sites and keep them safe for users, especially children. They don't want their products to be known as ones that support unpopular and/or controversial groups.