Hello all, I've been thinking of new ways to be organized. I've always started the year with good intentions of keeping a school calendar that is separate from my personal calendar. However, about October rolls around and those good intentions fall by the wayside. I do love my iPhone and Siri... but have normally just kept my personal calendar on it. I'm wondering... if you have a Smart phone... do you use it JUST for personal info, or do you also keep it to organize your professional/teacher life?
I use my iPhone and iPad for all aspects of my life...personal and professional. When I know I have a meeting I put in in my phone so it will alert me the day before or an hour before depending what it is. I also take attendance on my phone using Safari and my districts mobile site for attendance. Edit: I also have every students contact information entered into my phone. It eliminates me having to find the number each time. I delete them at the end of each year.
I use my iPhone IN my classroom. I have several apps I plug into my Activboard, I take pictures with it, I have an "EZ Grader" app, an app that draws "sticks", etc... I put things on the calendar all the time!
I'm another fully integrated iPhone user. I keep both professional and personal items on my calendar, notes on my notepad, hook up the speaker cord to play music or audiobooks, record videos, take pictures, show videos on my smartboard, use classroom apps, look up the occasional vocab word, keep supply lists, google photos and maps to visually support my lessons, and lots more. I frequently text colleagues during breaks, much less intrusive than phoning, and they can reply when it's convenient. I have also texted the school secretary if there's an issue. I often wonder how teachers managed before iPhones.
We are not allowed to have them, either. Mainly because one teacher texts all the time. However, I never text during the school day, and she is more than welcome to pull my phone records at any time. I figure I'll beg for forgiveness if it comes up.
I use it for personal and professional calendar and messaging. It is integrated with my iPad and I use dropbox so I can access my files from my phone, pc, or ipad if I need them.
I used my iphone to track both my personal and professional google calenders. Just sync both of them.
I also use my iPhone to manage my personal and teaching google calendar! I love it! I did want a few more features than the basic calendar so I bought the app Calengoo. It works amazing! There is an app for dropbox! I have dropbox on my phone, my ipad, my home computer and school computer! I'd be lost without dropbox!
I do this, too. I have my school email synced to my iPhone, too. We use Microsoft Outlook, and it automatically syncs the calendar as well.
I use my phone calendar for mostly personal reasons. Anything school related goes on my desk calendar or in my lesson plan book. There are some people who I work with who prefer to keep everything on their phones, though.
With regards to an iPhone app, I'm thinking about this for my calendar... http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/week-calendar/id381059732?mt=8 Wondering if anybody here has used/tried it?
How do you hook up your iPhone to your SmartBoard? I have several site "blocked" videos that I would love to show. TIA
The Apple.com store has the VGA adaptor you need here. Many sites are blocked by my school's wifi. If that's true at your school site, you'll need the 3G or 4G cell phone connection on your iPhone or iPad to bypass the wifi. I usually show videos and web content with my iPad, not sure if I've used my iPhone for videos or not, but it's the same connector for both devices, so I'm pretty sure it works. Videos purchased through iTunes are blocked by Apple unless you buy Apple TV, but web-based videos (i.e. Khan Academy, YouTube, etc.) work. The same audio cable I use for my laptop can also connect my iPhone or iPad to my classroom speakers to play music, speeches, or audiobooks. Just to clarify, I do NOT text in class. I leave my (silent) iPhone on my podium and glance at it while circulating among students. If my husband, kids, or colleagues have texted me, I can take a moment to reply between classes, if it's urgent. That's why I use my iPad to display content, it doesn't ring or text.
