#admin — Page 26

How using Dropbox changed my life!

October 14, 2013 by Amber 2 Comments

I know that sounds a lil’extreme, but seriously, it did.

Dropbox is a storing/sharing place in the cloud that allows you to keep up with all of your files,where ever you are, even across platforms. I love this blurb I came across:

“This program acts as a “magic pocket” which is always with you and contains whatever you place in it. Put a file into your Dropbox and it’s on all of your computers and mobile devices.”

Who doesn’t want a magic pocket? The genius of this for me is that I use a number of different devices for a number of different things. I take pictures on my phone, I take notes on my iPad, I do appraisals on my Mac, and then will write a blog post on my home PC that needs ALL of those things. Having a place that I can easily access ALL of my “stuff” is crucial for the efficacy of what I do throughout the day.

How to get started/going?

Step one: Go to Dropbox and set up an account. I just use the free one because with as many times as I downloaded it, I got a couple free GB just for multiple downloads. Next, download and install the Dropbox app. Put files and folders that you need to access from various locations and devices into your new Dropbox folder. Then repeat these steps on your other Mac, PCs, and iOS devices. (Again for me, that was two ipads, a phone, two PC’s, and my macbook.
The account that you create automatically includes a Dropbox folder and it shares files with any other devices that have Dropbox and are connected to your account. (PS: you don’t HAVE to download it, but it does make life easier. Anytime I’m working with a file I know I’m going to need later, I just toggle and save in my “Dropbox” folder so I can get to it later.
Now, anytime, you go to SAVE something, you have the ability to add it to your Dropbox. Easy peasy, I tell ya!
Many of us store the files and folders for active projects on the desktop. Put them in Dropbox instead. On your phone and take a pic? Click the + sign on your app and choose what pics you want to add to your Dropbox. It will then be available from any of your devices. Working online? Fabulous! The “files” tab on the website will bring you to your Dropbox folder. This folder is exactly the same as the folder on your devices; any files that you’ve placed into your folder on your computers are accessible through this part of the web site.
Want to share files? BIG Files that you couldn’t send via email without crashing the world wide web? Presentations for parents? Set up separate folders in Dropbox’s Public folder for different people, and then send the separate URLs to each. Or set up a different shared folder for each project, and then distribute that URL to all project participants.
Want to share amazing classroom pictures, but not make them “public public”? Copy photos to Dropbox, and share the URL with family and friends. (I’m going to use this for our family involvement activity next month!)
Feeling adventuresome? 62 things you can do with Dropbox suggests this: Go to the Send to Dropbox Website (sendtodropbox.com), click on Connect To Dropbox, and provide your Dropbox credentials. You can now email files to Dropbox. That makes all sorts of scenarios possible. For example, create a document in Google Docs and then opt to share it. In the Share drop-down menu, select Email As Attachment and provide your Send to Dropbox email address; the Google Doc will appear in Dropbox’s Attachments folder.” (WHOA BABY!)

It’s a very intuitive tool to use and following through some of the getting started tasks easily explains it as well as earns you more “free” space, 🙂 Nothing to lose there!

Feeling defeated or tired already?

October 10, 2013 by Amber Leave a Comment

I was listening to a webinar last week discussing the benefit of effective teachers in the classroom and was blown away by what was being shared. The average effect of one teacher on a single student is modest. All else the same, a student with one excellent teacher for one year between fourth and eighth grade would gain about $4,600 in lifetime income. The student with the excellent teacher would also be 0.5 percent more likely to attend college.

That’s not too shocking, right?

What about this? Replacing a poor teacher with an average one would raise a single classroom’s lifetime earnings by about $266,000. Multiply that by a career’s worth of classrooms.

Students with top teachers are less likely to become pregnant as teenagers, more likely to enroll in college, and more likely to earn more money as adults, the study found.

How can you ever doubt the importance of what you do, every single day?

The webinar really solidified for me that teachers are the most important part of a child’s education. Not a program, a strategy, or a test. Great teachers make a great difference; poor teachers hurt a child’s life chances. LIFE chances.

You. Matter.

Remindingly,
Amber

Parents not on Twitter? No problem!

October 9, 2013 by Amber 3 Comments

One of the first things I hear from educators as a reason why they shouldn’t jump into the social media stream is because they don’t have families/staff on Twitter.

Social media can be very dividing. Justin Tarte and I were just discussing how there is still such a mentality of “block it & lock” it…as if we were to stick our heads in the sand, *maybe* these crazy tools will go away. I don’t think that is going to happen but I can tell you my rationale’s for moving forward with twitter as a communication tool between the home and our campus.

I LOVE that when I get onto twitter, facebook or instagram, I get updates on my daughter’s school. It is SO much easier for me to read an update on Facebook than it is for me to get home after a 12 hour day, get her purple folder out, get through her graded work, and find any announcements her campus has sent home.

Now, the flip side of that is that my anti technology hubs? ONLY gets info that is in that purple folder. He doesn’t visit the website and *gasp* has no online presence.

I’m not suggesting that schools stop sending paper items home, I’m merely pointing out the opportunity we have to reach even more parents.

When we send home information at the beginning of the year, we send home something asking if parents want to get school information through text messages. (Regular rates apply.) It walks them through sending a text, “Follow Watson_Wildcats” to 40404. Once they have done that, every tweet we send, that parent gets as a text. It doesn’t require a twitter account. You don’t have to have the “scary social media” talk.

98% of all text messages are opened, and 90% are opened within the first three minutes.

The point isn’t getting on Twitter, or blocking social media, or adding to your plate. The point is connecting with as many parents as you can in order to do what is best for our students.

Connectingly,

Amber

Top five reasons I am a “connected” educator…

September 29, 2013 by Amber Leave a Comment

October is a big month to celebrate education. Not only are we leading the charge for National Principals Month, but NASSP is also involved in promoting the importance of connected leading and learning during Connected Educators Month I thought in that spirit I would list the top five reasons I think being a connected educator has changed not only the way that I do my job, but also how I think, interact, and learn. (Those are HUGE facets of anyone’s world!)

#5. Connections become friends.

When I have an important decision, point to ponder, or even a snarky opinion to express…I now contact people that I have developed relationships with online. I have met some of them once, hung out with some of them twice, but I interact with them on a daily basis. They’re my sounding board, my inspiration, and the ones who keep me on a path of doing what’s right for kids.

#4. I get the opportunity to discuss innovative, trend pushing, status quo breaking initiatives with educators who are out there making it happen. The last #SAVMP hangout was awe-inspiring. (And not because I was leading it, wink wink!) We had three different educators who are doing things in three incredibly different ways, all making a difference in education.

3. Conferences become family reunions.

BT (that’s before twitter) I’d attended both the ASCD and ISTE conference with my instructional technology position. They don’t particularly stand out in my mind (aside from the great travel companions). This year, ISTE and ASCD were the HIGHLIGHTS of my admin career. I had such an incredible time putting faces and voices with profile pics and avatars. Between each session there were hugs and speedy chats as you went from session to session. I traveled to ASCD alone. In Chicago. If you know me, you’d know that is a HUGE thing for “Ms. I can’t even go to the movies alone.” I went and came back having found two ladies who are not only inspirational educators, but are now inspirational, supportive friends. I have already started planning for both conferences again next year, and @ErinKlein and I have roomie ‘rangements pending!

EdCampDallas is also just around the corner and that’s another great way to make connections with learners around you. We sold out (!!!) this year, but keep your eyes open for others to pop up in our area soon!

#2. Your jargon has changed and changes often.

Hashtag. FF. Voxer. Techlandia. MISTERMACNOLOGY. Podcasts. Feedly. Cpchat. Follow. Retweet. Google hangout. Ignite. Blogger. Google Plus. DM. Chat. Followers. Twitterati. Bammy’s. GFC.

All google worthy things that are now a part of the lexicon of being a connected educator.

#1. Like you even had to read this far to know what my #1 was. 🙂