🙏Tuesday Tech Tip - My Personal Tech Life Hacks with a School Tip

I have established in previous tips that Stuart Thomas hates things that fall under the umbrella of “damaging to his soul”. Apparently hanging pictures does this because it puts holes in the walls and “do you even understand what that means?” he says to me. He actually says that to me about a LOT of things. Well, packing our entire personal portfolio of physical personal objects into a POD to store while we build a home damages his soul also. So much so that his sour mood offended my face. So he got my “look dude, work while you complain and by the way stop being negative” talk. THANK YOU TO MY JESUS LORD WHO FIXES MY LIFE DAILY that my children were at their grandparents. I shudder to think of the metaphors that would have ensued from his mouth and spirit if children who do annoying things would have been around while we packed and moved and packed and then made lots and lots of decisions. I digress. So we are living with my in-laws in their basement. (that sounds really bad except that I’m pretty sure their basement is nicer than my entire home so #blessed) We are in a smaller space and have strictly FORBIDDEN our children from behaving as if they have revolving door access to their grandparents. I adore my in-laws and would like to keep it that way. So nutshell--condensed space, husband recovering from a soul-damaging experience, full-time life that doesn’t care you are moving, extracurricular activities (no details needed there), being an owner of too much stuff that requires you to be a decision-maker more than you care to be--equals the need for things to be #convenientplease. As usual, I use my technology to make my life easier if and when I can. Below are a list of things I do that are basically tech life hacks and :

• Take pictures of sticky notes to get rid of desk mess, favorite them or create a folder in pictures on your phone for them, then throw them away
• Take video or pic notes and add to a Google Keep note
• Create a personal YouTube channel with a personal Gmail to upload your videos, set to private and delete them off your phone
• Image search in Google and Pinterest - drop an image in the search bar to search by image
• Ctrl f in a long document to do a keyword/phrase search
• Use your phone camera in selfie mode as a mirror in case you need to pick your teeth in a pinch
• Run the sticky part of a sticky note in between keys on a keyboard for a quick-clean
• Putting your cell phone in an EMPTY DRY cup or bowl while playing music can give more volume
• Use an old phone as an iPod for music and movies. That way you don’t clutter up your current phone
• Leave the “To:” field in an email blank until you have proofed and are ready to send an important email. I do this for EVERY tech tip.
• Put an emoji or number sign (or any character that is not a letter) in front of the name of a folder or a doc in a folder that you use all of the time. Then sort your folder list alphabetically so that this stays at the top. Brandy, Tiff and I do that  for a few of our folders that we are in and out of a lot.
• Use Alexa to find your phone in the house
• Test your remote control batteries by aiming the remote at the lens of your iPhone camera. If you see a dim light you have low batteries. The lens registers that light better than the human eye.

Got a tech life hack? I would LOVE to hear it!

School Tip:

Book Creator for Chrome is an excellent tool for any classroom. You can create books or students can create their own books digitally then export and share as a epub (all ebooks professional and no are in epub format). Account and book creation are very user friendly, and the end product is very engaging. Need help? Reach out!

P.s.  As a small PSA------while you are creating your ebooks in Book Creator with your students on your chromebooks, remember that the flu season is upon us. Kids + vomit = disaster for chromebooks. Sanitize hands with water and soap because anti-bac doesn't cut it, then sanitize your chromebooks with damp not soaking cloths.

 Stay healthy friends!

🤯 Tuesday Tech Tip - iPhone's Merge Calls Feature!

That’s it. My absentmindedness has reached a pinnacle. So far, applying deodorant to my toothbrush, putting my dish towel in the refrigerator, partially driving into oncoming traffic, and forgetting my phone in random bathrooms has hurt NO ONE but me. Today, that changed……...I forgot my keys in Walmart in my haste, and it harmed another human being.

I left them at the checkout counter (and by counter I mean micro-space where the debit card machine yells at you). The ANGELIC and quick-thinking cashier IMMEDIATELY mounted a strong, intentional jog to yell at me to stop. Instead of catching me, though, she caught the pole in front of her and slightly knocked her own lights out. DID YOU KNOW THAT I NEVER KNEW THIS HAPPENED until AFTER the fact??!! Correct. I made it out to the car never knowing any of this transpired. When I swanned back inside to look,  I found this sweet person sitting in a chair, looking dazed, people standing around her, HOLDING MY KEYS IN HER HAND. People she does not get paid enough for that. I hugged her. I apologized a disgusting amount. I embarrassed myself, then awkwardly walked away. And then I realized….my husband has GOT to get better at relaying important messages to me. During this debacle, I was lost in deep thought (up to the point that I realized this selfless person was physically harmed at my doing) over a piece of news I found out later than preferred, and how I wish I could hear, firsthand, any information that is pertinent to him and me both. If that could happen, my absent-minded-factor would decrease, I just know it! I find things out DAYS sometimes WEEKS later that he SWEARS he has already told me. I will not, at this juncture, name all of his offenses. I will just lovingly say, I really should be present when he hears this information (ie: birthday party plans, family dinner plans, “Hey we are having visitors in 5 minutes”-type plans). Then I remembered one of my tips in the archives: the ‘Merge Calls” feature on my iPhone. This feature allows you to talk to 2 people at ONE TIME.  Here’s the steps---

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ONE - I place a call to my husband

TWO -   I tap the + on my call menu for ‘add call’

THREE - I dial my mother-in-law which places my husband on a short hold

FOUR - Once I have her, I tap “merge calls”, which looks like this:

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#boom---then I humbly ask her to repeat anything she has told him over the last week.

YOU ARE WELCOME! Stay diligent friends!~

Tech Tip Tuesday - My Favorite iOS 12 features

Did Georgia lay down and wrap itself in the equator? I think so. I am still sleeping like a babe though. Because I am somewhat the man in my relationship with my husband. My children don’t even bother coming to my side of the bed anymore. I would giggle a little about how many times he’s been up in the middle of the night with them but he would somehow hear that and then I would suffer his wrath (which isn’t that bad because he smiles more than anyone I know.) I digress. HE, however, doesn’t always sleep like the baby I think I am. Compound this #soextra nighttime scenario with my phone dinging ALL NIGHT, driving him crazy. Who are these people that can operate during the day without sleeping a FULL 10? (If it is not at least a full 10 for me, I am a full HOT FRESH stinkin' mess that nary a cup of coffee, pumpkin-spice-or-no, can fix.) So now that Apple has released iOS 12 I have been reminded of a feature that is even better with this latest release….Bedtime Do Not Disturb Mode! My husband should sleep so much better now! So, my blue bubble friends, let’s take a look at that and dice up a few of my favorite new features of iOS 12, shall we? P.S., Brandy Nichols buy a new phone already!

DO NOT DISTURB

Although this is already a feature of iOS, you can now customize it a little more. When you go into your DO NOT DISTURB setting on your iphone you will now see Bedtime Mode. Swipe right on that sucker, then again on Scheduled and Bedtime, set your time, and voila, you are notification free with a dim screen for the time period you set!

ADD STICKERS TO PHOTOS IN IMESSAGE

I know you are all dying to learn how to better your selfie game, right? #eyeroll BUT for some, you might enjoy the new feature in the camera in iMessage. You can send a pic in a message with a sticker on it. See my elation below:

And he moves. My children will love this…. Anyway, just tap the camera icon in an iMessage text, tap the star at the bottom left, then tap the filter, text, or sticker button of your choice. Play around with it for fun!

SCREEN TIME--WHAT???

Apparently we, as a society, need to be more device-aware. I know that comes as a shock to most of you, however, Apple felt this so urgently that it created a Screen Time feature that allows one to monitor their phone usage. But guess what gives me #allthefeels about this feature? It will give you data on ALL PHONES ON YOUR ICLOUD! Just DANG Gina! Parents everywhere rejoice! I have a tween who oh-so-covets more time on her iphone (that is my old 6 with a shattered screen and no cell service), and a 5 year old that JUST WANTS TO WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEOS ALL DAY LONG. And p.s. the videos are a little awkward. You can set time limits on the amount of time they spend on their device AND you can set down time so that they can’t, I dunno, sneak their phone while you’re passed out asleep and hit up all the social media. It’s so wonderful and robust that it’s too long to include at this juncture. SO, here is a link to some really awesome tutorials with pictures! You’re welcome!

Really awesome screen time tutorial JUST for your phone

Really awesome screen time tutorial for another phone on your icloud

SAVE YOUR PASSWORDS

Not a lot of explanation needed here. There is a new feature that will scour your history to glean usernames and passwords from certain sites you’ve frequented. Remember, this is just happening on your phone/icloud account. It IS NOT floating around out there. Anyway, if you turn on auto-fill it will do just that when you visit those sites. Checkmate for convenience.

I hope you enjoy playing around with these new features. And if you haven’t downloaded iOS 12 yet, hop to it!

Information gleaned from this Digital Trends article.

Technology, Not Tech-magically

Technology: the use of science in industry, engineering, etc., to invent useful things or solve problems. Thank you Merriam-Webster. So, how did this definition evolve into meaning: anything to do with computers? I'm not sure at which point the paradigm changed on that, but I can tell you that technology is not JUST the use of a computer, cell phone, or tablet.

As an Instructional Technology Coordinator I have a variety of conversations surrounding technology. Most of them involve computer technology. And thanks to brilliant minds of our time, technology has taken on a different meaning (or maybe the misinterpreted proxy variables have led to the diluting of the definition). Either way, we have led ourselves to believe that technology is like magic. It feels like magic sometimes. If you don't understand the details and logistics of wireless, networking, fiber, hard drives, clouds, bluetooth, virtual etc., then it truly feels like magic. So it's easy to see why people think it actually is.

To jump straight to my bottom line, technology isn't tech-magically. Every facet of it involves a process that was built by a person. There's programming, hardware, sweat and tears, and lots of cable involved in the technology that makes it to your fingertips everyday. You don't actually need to know those details to operate it, though. That is the essence of the double-edged sword that exists with people in my position. We want you to use it and love it without worrying about the details, but this creates the idea that it should just work. Why can't we snap our fingers and make it work? Can't you click a button and fix this? Is there not an app or website that will accomplish my obscure, specific goals? I feel the pain on both sides of this coin. But I do not want to be guilty of perpetuating the idea that technology is magic.

We are educators. We don't have time 'fo dat'.  I get it. So make the technology work for me. I need a program that meets all of the needs I am outlining to you in this 5 minute run-down in passing in the hallway. What do you mean that doesn't exist? You must be stupid OR you are holding back. But someone, somewhere has to spend lots of man hours and sweat to make that work or to create that crazy app or software. So instead of expecting tech-magic, consider rather that man is the magic, the ultimate work of technology that is humankind is the magic. Computer technology is nothing without human technology, idea technology. The beauty of humanity and this overwhelmingly wonderful age of information is that anyone can learn whatever they choose. Want an app for that crazy idea? Build one. Want a website that meets all of your needs? Get on You Tube, or Google how to build it. That's the beauty of keeping technology in its place....it can never trump us, our ideas, our human magic. So put your computer down, and step away from the metaphorical digital ledge, and know that technology is as flawed as its maker. Technology is incapable. Technology isn't your end-all magic tool....humanity is.

☕Tuesday Tech Tips--Tiny Scanner and Keyboard Shortcuts!

Consumer Tip:
I recently found myself in a situation where I needed to print, sign, and scan back a document to someone. I wasn't at home or in my office at the time, and needed to get it done ASAP! I also didn't want to swipe my debit card to use a public scanner in a hotel lobby. So what did I use instead? I used an app called Tiny Scanner (lite....because I'm cheap). Tiny Scanner (and other scanner apps) use your smartphone's camera to take a picture of the document and then convert it into a scanned PDF (just like a scanner does). You then have the ability to share the scanned documents via email. It saved me money, time, AND energy!

School Tip:
This week's school tip is about keyboard shortcuts. If you aren't using these you may want to reconsider, because they can save you clicks and time. Below is a list of keyboard shortcuts and websites to help you explore deeper if you would like. If you are new to shortcuts, start with just the basics and add from there as you feel comfortable! Happy shortcutting!

The Basics:
Ctrl + C - Copy
Ctrl + V - Paste
Ctrl + X - Delete selected text

Google Chrome Shortcuts:
Ctrl + N - Opens a new window
Ctrl + T - Opens a new tab
Press Ctrl then click a link - Opens a link in a window in the background.
Click a tab and drag it (anywhere) - tears the tab away fro the window and makes it it's own window
Ctrl+1 through Ctrl + 8 - Selects the tab in the specified number position on the tab bar (ie: Ctrl +1 selects the first open tab)
Double-click the blank area on the tab strip - Maximizes or minimizes the window

Windows Shortcuts (that will work in most browsers also):
Ctrl + A - Select all text in a window or defined area
Ctrl + Z - this will undo your last step
Ctrl + Y - will redo anything that was just undone ; )
Ctrl + Backspace - backspace entire words at a time instead of letter by letter
Ctrl + S - Save
Ctrl + O - open a file
Ctrl + P - print
Ctrl + F - find any word on a page, file, document, etc.....Looking for something very specific in a 60 page manual? Press Ctrl + F, then type the keyword you are searching in the text box that pops up!

I gleaned my information from my own experience as well as these awesome articles:
Google - https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/157179?hl=en

Windows - http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/windows-shortcuts-101-ultimate-keyboard-shortcut-guide/

Tuesday Tech Tips--Notetaking and BYOT

Consumer Tip:

As I was trying to fill out some notes yesterday on an outline for a really good workshop I visited, I found myself getting frustrated with the monotonous “fill in the blank/paper-pencil” method. I was very engaged with the speaker and didn’t want to pause my attention to write something down. I am the type of learner that is distracted by that. Notes are necessary sometimes, so I feel like they should also be engaging. My rule of thumb for notes is this: don’t take notes and waste paper unless you REALLY ARE going to reference them later. (mine usually end up lost or in the trash...if we are honest, most of our notes end up lost or in the trash) So in my workshop I didn’t take notes for everything EXCEPT the session that I most wanted to remember . In this case, I needed notes that I KNEW wouldn’t get lost AND that I could easily find for reference at a later time. So a digital method made more sense to me. I used 2 things: my Notes app (that has some new GREAT features) and Skitch.

Skitch

Allow me to nutshell this (because it doesn’t require much elaboration). Download Skitch, allow it to access your camera and photos, take a picture of something, write or draw ON the actual photo. For my note-taking purposes yesterday, I took a picture of the handout with said outline, tapped my draw features, chose text from the pop-out, wrote text over the blanks in the picture of the outline….done! You can also draw arrows on pictures then email the picture to yourself to use in a document. Once you have these, they are saved to your photos (or dump them in Google Drive---download the app!) and you can pull them up by date (how most photos are organized on a smartphone) for reference later. Or, dump them in a pre-created Google Drive folder!

Notes

Notes has added a few features with iOS9. Add a picture to a note, and scribble on a note are the ones I like best. For note-taking, add a picture of a handout to a note, then add any notes or fill-in-the-blank values above or under the pictures. Then, add any scribble notes to that if you desire. Pretty straight-forward, and very handy.

School Tip:

BYOT is not for everyone, I know. I believe in its use, but also know it is not meant to be the end-all, be-all for instructional tools. BYOT is meant to be another tool that supports a specific instructional goal. I think some of us (and I say us for a reason) try to make certain tools (heck, certain people, situations, relationships...i can go on) reach our very high standard for what we want to do. Technology isn’t perfect enough for it to work like magic. All tools aren’t meant to answer all problems. So we have to look at any tool for what it is….a realistic, flawed device that helps one accomplish something specific. Insert BYOT here. Let me back up for a minute and give a scenario. You are introducing different types of rocks. You can only round up a few real-life examples. Have your students whip out their devices to google the different types of rocks so they can see those images. One step further, have them take pictures of certain types of rocks with their devices. You are lecturing through the cold war while students have questions to answer or an outline to fill in. Pull up todaysmeet.com, create a room, let students use devices to ask questions in the background in todaysmeet as you talk. You may just want them to use the browser to look up a definition or a concept. Let them ask Google what something means instead of you. Remember though: DO NOT SHOOT FOR THE STARS WITH STUDENT DEVICES! They are meant to be used as somewhat of a portal to the world, so use them for the web browser only, or for the camera only, and leave the building, creating and designing for the desktop computer. Don’t have such high expectations that your students AND BYOT fail you. Start simple and small and don’t overwhelm yourself.

More Twitter Chats to Engage

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we are trying Twitter chats as a creative way to have conversations with teachers about new/different topics. We thought if we could chat online,  instead of doing face-to-face, it would be more convenient for them. Today, we discussed the Flipped Class.

Chatting to engage on hot-button topics, like flipping, allows us to go deeper than we could in person. You have to minimize your thoughts and opinions into few yet powerful words. As we read, we absorb and process this more immediately and intensely than a verbal conversation. Have you ever realized something was said in a conversation you had HOURS after the conversation took place?

We would love to have constant verbal and present contact with our teachers. Unfortunately we can't right now and might not ever have that. But we can find creative ways to get information to and from them, plant seeds with them, support them, and brag on them, and it doesn't have to be in person. Capitalize on your digital resources and engage your teachers so that they can engage each other, and motivate and inspire you!

If you are a teacher, tweet to engage your co-workers. Do a chat over lunch or in the evenings to share information and ideas. There are other ways to do it than Twitter, so find what works!

As I mentioned above, we chatted on the Flipped Classroom today. We have a few teachers that have successfully flipped, some who are starting to flip lessons, and some that are afraid to flip quite yet. One of our successful "flippers" was able to join our chat and chime in today to add insight for those watching/participating that aren't as far along as he is. This was INVALUABLE! How could we have normally gotten that interaction? We would have had to schedule a meeting with him to give teachers the opportunity to ask questions and they may not have walked away with the same information from an hours worth of time. Not only that, the comments can be seen after the chat is over.

Insightful comments from our #morgantechchat on the Flipped Classroom:

@MorganiTech You can reach every student, in every class, every day. Powerful stuff! #morgantechchat
— A Johnson (@ChemicalPhys) March 6, 2015

@MorganiTech allow the teacher to differentiate in the classroom by assisting the students individually as they have questions
— J Sherwood (@sherwood_joan) March 6, 2015

@MorganiTech Better yet, Flipping a lesson leads to Flipped units --> Flipped Classrooms --> Flipped Learning #morgantechchat
— A Johnson (@ChemicalPhys) March 6, 2015

Explore your unknowns through a digitally collaborative medium. Whether it is a Facebook group (private/closed is now a safe option), a Twitter chat, a discussion forum, etc. Capitalize on the free resources that are out there and make a difference with a conversation!