In the age of digital teaching, keeping your files with you and up to date is critical to being able to work anywhere you have some time. Many people have turned to a variety of online or “cloud” storage methods to keep their accessible and up-to-date. However, many schools and districts have these services blocked categorically, which presents a problem. As a solution some teachers have turned to using flash drives or portable hard drives, these are great storage solutions but it leaves the problem of how to keep them updated. Many of teachers will use just one copy of their files to work from and then keep it with them wherever they go, this raises the problem of loose or storage failure. Having experienced this type of failure first hand, I am a firm believer in using some sort of backup method. However, because my district has strict requirements about programs and hardware teachers can install there are limited options. Several years ago, I have found a nice little program called SyncToy by Microsoft. This tiny program compares two directories can either synchronize them or contribute files one way or the other. I use a portable hard drive to back up my files at work, at the end of the day while I am getting my things packed up I synchronize the hard drive to my work storage and head out the door. Once again when I get in and my work computer has started up, I synchronized the files that I have worked on at home and they are available in my work directories.

If you have another method for backing up or storing your files, drop us a message.