My Beauty Best Teacher

I love to see how others have their iPads laid out. I actually have my iPhone and iPad with prominent apps in the same places so I never have to hunt. Here are my screens and notes about current rationale for how I organize things. Even if you have a Droid or something else, the apps and the concepts may help you as you decide how you're going to organize things.

Your 5 Important Electronic Desktop Decisions

Having an organized, productive workspace is important. You have 5 very important electronic desktop decisions that can have a big impact on your life and your focus:

1. Your computer desktop
2. Your browser start screen and toolbars (I use firefox browser sync and a custom igoogle page.)
3. Your mobile phone start screen
4. Your tablet device start screen
5. Your media diet (thanks Mark Hurst - author of Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overloadfor this one.) Your media diet is what media sources will I attend to daily

In this post, we'll talk about how I tackle #3 and #4 on this list.

Home Screen- iPad
I "Pareto" everything. What are the 20% of things that give me 80% of the benefit of my life? These need to be in my face on my home screen shouting to be touched and used. What are the things I hunt for? If it is an icon on my home screen, I use it every day.









Home Screen - iPhone
You'll notice that I left the middle row on my iPad out on my iPhone. I did this because I feel like I look for the icons relative to the edge of the screen. So, I will look for the bottom icons relative to the bottom. Also, my tray at the bottom is different but I like it that way.










Photographer Folder- iPad
I like to name most folders by who I am so I can picture myself as that and am reinforcing my thought patterns to get out of life what I want to be. In life, the journey is the destination. Now that photos are synced via my devices, I use these apps even more to doctor photos taken via iPhone. (I literally took a screenshot on my iphone and in less than a minute, the photos were on my ipad, ready to be uploaded into the first draft of this post on BlogPress.)








Photographer Folder- iPhone







Dashboard Folder- iPad
This folder holds my hottest tools and apps I need to get to. I use these items a lot and want to be reminded of them. If it is in my dashboard on my iPhone it is also here in exactly the same order.







Dashboard - iPhone







My Tools Folder- iPad
The utilities and tools that help. I follow the same rule as I have for dashboard.








My tools -iPhone
iPhone has some things that iPad doesn't and those tools are here.







My Thought Leader Folder (Thought Ldr)
Note: my most important reads are ON the home screen of my iPad but I want a variety of news sources at my fingertips so I can read several sources of info. This is on my second screen on my iPhone because iPad is my electronic paper, typically. This is another example of how I'm trying to program myself to think in a way that I want to be.








My Music Folder - iPad
More interfaces to find new music that have text features here.








My music folder - iPhone








My second Screen- iPad
Here, I want my favorite things in front of me that will lead me to the related folder on the right. I look at this screen pretty often.







Second screen iPhone
These are folders based on who I want to be. Even if I don't go in them, I look and read over the folder names daily because they keep front and center who I want to be. When I feel I am lacking in an area or badges are screaming at me, I go there and work on it as I travel.

There are two folder names you may be curious about so I will explain them. The 65% folder is from a statement made in a great book on personal productivity management called Personal KanBan (Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life.) The authors point out that highways start becoming parking lots at about the 65% full level. When I overbook myself I become unproductive, so the apps there help me manage myself to give myself some leeway. You can't manage time, you can only manage yourself. I do not have to say yes to everything. 65% reminds my goal should be to hit that threshold for my waking hours- although I struggle with doing too much. (If you want me to share what is in these folders, let me know and I'll work on a future post.)

Aire- Money is a struggle for many of us who got sucked into the lies the credit card companies told us in the 80's and 90's. I am sad to say that I fell for those lies and have spent the better part of the last 10 years paying dearly. Losing our life savings in the pecan grove in the flood of 94 and floating flat classroom projects on credit cards hasn't helped but we consistently work to pay down our debt and live below our means. I dream of being an aire  one day but will not put limits on it. (I was listening to a Brian Tracy audiobook Million Dollar Habits on the characteristics of millionaires the other day and heard the average millionaire goes broke 3.2 times. I called my husband and said, "Good news, honey, we only have .2 times to go.")

Wishing won't get you your dreams. Find out what those who have what you want do and emulate those behaviors and you will get the same results. Successful and unsuccessful people both hate doing the same things- the difference is that successful people do them anyway. (Another Brian Tracy paraphrase.)




So, my folders are: 65%, Aire, Archivist, Artist, Athlete, Author, Chef, Christian, Connectivist, IPhone, Maestro, Minimalist, Newshound, R&R, Thought Ldr, Traveler

Third screen -iPad
My school app dashboard and other items that were on 2nd screen of iPhone in those folders.




Fourth screen - iPad
My son's study screen. This is where I keep the apps my 4th grader needs to do homework and study. We consistently do the first three games every day.





Hope this gives you ideas but I also want to see your screens. Please share your productivity strategies. Hashtag: #mlearning or #ipadchat

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My iPad has really become my device of choice. When I boot up my laptop it is for work, but my iPad, that is for quick this or a quick that.

I have found that it is very important to separate my screens. I like to "Pareto" everything. This means that I hunt for the 20% of apps that do the 80% of my functions and put them in one place. I used to have a screen for everything but I found that I either searched for it or spent a lot of time sliding to find it.

I also find that 20% of the apps give me 80% of my distraction. I keep those OFF my home screen.

If I am going to live with this device it has to work for me and be easy. So, I am going to share with you my home screens and the folders on that screen in the hopes you can find something that helps you.

We have work to do. The more we can focus on work during work hours, the better job we do and the less we have to work during personal hours.

Here is my home screen and the folders.

My Home Screen (the Pareto Platform)

And, yes, that picture is one I took myself of a beach in South Africa. It makes me happy.

Have a great, productive day! For those of you who don't have an iPad, you can apply this same principle to your desktop or cell phone or itouch, etc.

Posted using BlogPress from Vicki's iPad

Home Screen of my Flipboard

Flipboard is a phenomenal reading app for the ipad and was the big reason I begged my family to give me one for my birthday.

However, because so little content is really produced FOR the flipboard, you have to know how to add it. You only get two screens of content (for now) so use it well.

To get Started...
To follow these instructions, you'll need to download Flipboard onto your iPad.

A look at what is on my flipboard....
Before we begin, let's take a look at screenshots of my two Flipboard screens. The sources of information are printed in the top left corner of each board.


 Sharing from Flipboard
Before we get to the reading part, you can share content within Flipboard.  

What you can do depends upon the content source. If you're reading from Facebook, your like and comment buttons show. If you're reading from Twitter, you have retweet, retweet with comment and favorite. Google reader gives the sharing features available in reader.

But, Flipboard's "Button of power" is always in the top right hand corner of any screen. This "share" button lets you send the link to any of the social media sites you have set up. (For me, it is Twitter, Blogger, and Google Reader.)



Adding Content

The Add a section button is shown beside the arrow.

To add content, you just click on the blank gray square on your starting screen that says Add content. Admittedly, I've deleted over half of what I've added as I've played with Flipboard. If the content isn't updated or not quite right, it isn't usable.

For educators, I'll recommend the educator link or item. For non-educators, I'll give pointers on how you can find something similar in your professional arena.


15 Fantastic Use of Flipboard.

1 - Twitter Feed
Subscribe to your own twitter timeline. Flipboard will make the tweets and turn it into a lovely magazine. It is interesting to see the different nature of your twitterstream depending on the time of day. I find more teachers tweet after school hours (understandably so) and admins seem to tweet DURING school hours. (Interesting study waiting to happen on that one.)  

Flipboard from @coolcatteacher Twitter stream (what those I have friended are writing.)

There are many now who are unfollowing on Twitter en masse as they try to improve their "Klout" score, however, I want to follow just about anyone in education and especially teachers. There is a certain random beauty that emerges from this and I "drill down" to my friends by using lists. It is all about why you Twitter but Flipboard makes it easy to read whatever your motivations or reasons. 

 How to add: Click Add and add an account and set up your Twitter Account.

2 -  Twitter Lists
So, if you follow a LOT of people, you can also slice this down to a smaller group by making a twitter list. You'll have to publish it and then subscribe. If it is public, you'll need to know the name of the list but if it is private you can make a list of your closest friends and follow that way.

This is also a great way for those who hate twitter and will not use it to harness the power by finding a list of people from a credible source to follow. (I kind of like chalkstars.)

How to add: Search for the name of the twitter list (it must be public) and then scroll down to the "Twitter Lists" section if it is for someone else. Otherwise, after you've added Twitter, just click on Add Section and click Twitter and then you can add your own lists.

3- Twitter Hashtag - #edchat
My favorite Twitter based flipboard magazine for educators is from #edchat. Just type #edchat in the search and scroll down to follow the hashtag. If you are in another field, you should look at the common hashtags in your field. When you attend conferences, you may want to have a temporary Flipboard "magazine" for that hashtag. (like #iste11).

#edchat hashtag on Twitter is one of the best feeds to compile on Flipboard.

How to add: Type #edchat (or any other hashtag) Scroll down to the Twitter Search Section and subscribe to "tweets mentioning #edchat"

4 - Other Twitter Features
You can follow tweets mentioning you, saved searches, your lists, lists you follow, lists following you, people you follow, and people following you! So many things. My advice is to be strategic. Your Flipboard should meet a need and should evolve.

How to add: After you've added Twitter, click on Twitter after you add a section and then select what you'd like to add.

5 - Google Reader
Subscribing to all of your google reader will bring everything mixed together. It makes for interesting reading and customized magazine of sorts.

How to Add: Click Add Section and then add the network and subscribe to it.

6 - Google Reader Folder
I have a folder called @hotlist that includes the blogs I want to make sure that I read almost every day. This is on my flipboard. I also follow a folder labeled @freecoolstuff that includes some RSS feeds that scrape information about free things for educators and my classroom.

How to add: Click Add section and then click Google Reader (if you added it for #4 above) and then click Subscriptions. You can then pick a folder in your google reader. If you don't have a folder, you'll need to go to http://reader.google.com on your web browser and set them up.

7 - Public Nings
I subscribe to the Flat Classrooms ning to pull out current content. I'm still working on this as I'm not sure how the RSS is coming out of the Ning - sometimes it has older things.

How to add: Click Add Section and then type in the URL - this one is http://flatclassrooms.ning.com - Again, I'm working on this one. You could also use the specific RSS feed for what you want to follow on that topic.

8 - My own Blog
I am learning about how things deploy into Flipboard, so I follow my own blog. If you blog, you follow yours.

How to Add: The fastest way to add this is to type the url in flipboard. Mine is http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com



9 - Any school or classroom blog that is published publicly.
I subscribe to my school's blog at http://westwoodschools.blogspot.com to follow the content and to show parents how it is done. I plan to write a blog post to show them how as it is so easy to read school news that way. I also have http://digiteendreamteam.blogspot.com a blog run by some of my ninth graders.

This is a great tip for administrators who are nervous about their students producing public content as it is easy to read and respond.

How to Add: Type the URL in flipboard and subscribe.

10 - Best of a Diigo Group
The educators group on Diigo is one of my favorite go-to places for information. (See instructions for how to join properly or you will be delayed in the approval process. spammers beware.)

How to Add: To subscribe, I typed in educators and diigo and then it found the diigo group. The group must be public.

11- Education AllTop
The alltop education resource is one of the best. Founded by Guy Kawasaki, if you are in education, this is a must add to your flipboard. There are alltops in many subjects - go to www.alltop.com. Great flipboard content.

How to Add: Type education alltop and find it or http://education.alltop.com

12 - Resource Sharing Blogs (OL Daily)
Frequently updated resource sharing blogs make excellent flipboards. Stephen Downes is in this category for me. I want to read pretty much everything he links to because it is a wide variety and "he can't be bought." I typically don't subscribe to advertising-type blogs in this category because I've found it gets cluttery.

How to Add: Type in the URL or search for the person's name.

13- Your Facebook News Feed
Add Facebook and Follow everything that comes through your network.

How to Add: Add a network and then subscribe.

14  Photos that Tag You
You can subscribe to all photos on Facebook that tag you in them. (Honestly, if you had the userid and password for a person you could subscribe to the photos they are tagged in - like your younger children. You'd just have to promise not to comment. ;-))

How to Add: Add a network and then click Facebook and choose "Photos of You"

15 - Other Important Things in Facebook 
(Groups, Your Wall, Friend Lists, Pages, Friends, News Feed Links, News Feed Photos)
You can drill down facebook in many ways. This is great for school who want to have a Facebook page but need to keep an "eye" on things.

How to Add: Click Facebook and drill through the menus. There is more there than can be added to a flipboard.

Let it Flow and Evolve
You are a human being bounded by finite time and attention spans. You are not infinite so you must focus your energy in ways that pay powerful dividends.

If a Flipboard isn't useful, delete it. It is better to have 3 useful boards than 2 screens of things that distract you.

Delete What Doesn't Work
For that matter, if you hate Flipboard, delete it. Any device no matter how useful can be a productivity killer if it becomes the master and not the servant.

This is your life. It is your job to have the self discipline to focus your time and energy on what is important to you.

This is Your Life!
When I turned 42 this past Monday, I was running on the track and saw the sprinkler system come on the football practice field. Instead of staying on the track, every time I came close to the sprinkler - I ran through it. It felt great! As I listened to my ipod I heard the words:

"It's my life. Now or never. I ain't gonna live forever. I just gotta live while I'm alive."

Life is changing rapidly as we replace desktops with tablet  and mobile devices faster than most can comprehend.

Look for the tools and things that add to your life. If it doesn't add to it, delete it. This is your life! I think Flipboard adds to mine! Enjoy!

It is official. I'm officially asking for an iPad for my birthday. Flipboard is the killer app that has pushed my hand.

I spent the morning setting this up for Mom and Dad.

I was curious because now over 5% of my traffic from this blog is being read on Flipboard.

I see why it is the #1 ipad app. Amazing.

I've explored the Flipboard alternatives and the bottom line is that there aren't any. Nothing comes close.

Just take a look at what this does with my school news blog!

I've been an iTouch fan for a long time. Because I have a mi-fi card, I'll definitely just get the wi-fi version. 

Bottom line is that Flipboard makes the iPad irresistable, particularly for content producers, executives, principals, and those who need to stay abreast of trends. With the Japanese earthquake perhaps limiting production of the iPad 2, we are ordering today.

News and Current Events is a Top Use of the iPad

Some rights reserved by Tojosan

A new study about reading habits on the ipad which surveyed more than 1,600 people was released by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) at the University of Missouri. who found that "keeping up with news and current events is the most popular use of the Apple iPad." (press release sent to me via email.

Their findings:

"Of the more than 1,600 survey participants:

• Three-quarters of respondents spent at least 30 minutes a day consuming news on their iPad, nearly half said they spend an hour or more.
• iPad users are predominantly well-educated, affluent men between the ages of 35 and 64 who tend to be early adopters.
• A positive iPad reading experience is influenced by age and traditional media habits.
• Overall satisfaction and time spent with the iPad is very high."

What are the Essential Apps for Teachers on the iPad?

Craig Nansen

My "go to guy" for iPads in schools in terms of deployment is Craig Nansen from North Dakota. (There are lots of other experts as well Scott Meech, and Kevin Hunnicutt to name a few.)

Recently, a colleague of mine who teaches literature received an ipad for Christmas and I reached out to Craig to ask what she should get. I got such a great answer that I asked Craig if he'd blog it but lately he hasn't had time to update his blog. So, I got permission to share his advice here so many of you who have just received iPads for Christmas can benefit.  Alas, I do not yet have an iPad (it was that or a TV for my family -- the family got the TV ;-) but I do have a new iTouch which also rocks.

Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments:

Craig Nansen's response to "What should a literature teacher have on her ipad?"

iBooks, Kindle, Nook, Google eBooks for sure. I get everything I possibly can through iBooks, but often get a better deal or find books that Apple doesn't have through Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Google eBooks has the best selection of free ePub books, most of them being the classics that are out of copyright and can be found on Guttenburg (Project Gutenberg) and other sites.

I confirmed with Barnes and Noble that we can LEGALLY purchase one book under an account and install it on up to six different iOS devices. We set up six different accounts with Barnes & Noble to purchase books for an professional development project we have going on next week with Bernajean Porter. (It will be featured in a Spotlight Presentation at ISTE!)

Hopefully she has access to a Macintosh running the most recent version of Pages. Last July I was at the Apple Distinguished Educators Summer Institute and took a 1/2 day session on how to make our own ePub books and get them onto the iPad into iBooks. With Pages, I can show them how to do this in five minutes!

Evernote, GoodReader, Instapaper, Google (with a Google Docs account) and Reeder are Apps that I suggest to anyone who wants to use the iPad to consume information. Any information that  is in text format (e-mail, web site, Twitter, Blogs, etc.) that I want to keep I simply copy and paste into Evernote - and have immediate access to in on my iPad. Any other documents I want on my iPad (or my home computer) I put into DropBox and access it on the iPad from GoodReader. 

I have a ScanSnap scanner by my computer (scans both sides of a sheet in one pass) that I scan articles that I want to read and again put them into Dropbox and read them with GoodReader. When I run across an new article or blog that I want to read on my iPad, I use Instapaper to mark it "Read Later" in my browser and read it with Instapaper on the iPad - without the ads. Reeder is the best RSS reader I have found on the iPad, and it reads the feeds that I have set up on my Google Reader.

Does she know about Readability? How about Google Lit Trips?

Here are some of my resource links on Diigo

http://www.diigo.com/user/cnansen/iPadApps

http://www.diigo.com/user/cnansen/iPadInEducation

Craig Nansen

Director of Technology

Minot Public Schools

Minot, ND 58701

Apple Distinguished Educator

Google Certified Teacher

Star Discovery Educator"