How to use an Android Tablet to stay organized in school

I was just reading PC magazine’s list of 100 Best Android Apps and saw 3 apps that might help high school students stay organized.  Please comment about which apps you use.

Astrid Task/Todo List
Free
Create and manage the ultimate power to-do list with Astrid, which has topped numerous “Best of Android” charts for its clean, simple UI and innumerable customizable features. The app helps you organize events, shopping lists, vacations, and followup notes after a meeting. Syncs seamlessly with Google.

Catch Notes
Free
Catch is a free cloud-based service that lets you save notes of all kinds–audio memos, typed notes, and photos. It’s similar to Evernote, and its well customized for Android phones, so if Evernote isn’t quite your speed but you’re looking for something similar, Catch is worth a try.

Dropbox
Free
If your files live all over the place—your office computer, home desktop, laptop—having a dependable syncing program is a must. Dropbox, the service that lets you store your files in the cloud and access them from anywhere you have a signal, fills that role nicely with an Android app. Dropbox updated its Android app to 2.0 in December, streamlining the interface and adding numerous features for an even slicker experience. College kids can receive 500MB for free.

Hope that helps.  I’m still using the calender function that came with my phone!

Smiles,

Robin

Parents: Ready to journal your own experiences of school?

In this part of the world, the denial that school will really start up again, in late August or early September, is starting to wear thin.   I like seeing shrink wrapped notebook paper displayed in stores, but I know it gives many a sinking feeling in the stomach.

One of the things that makes being the parent of school-aged kids difficult, is that most parents were once school students.  We have baggage!  If you are ready to go digging through a few of  those old memories, I recommend you download Alice Wellborn’s ebook  No More Parents Left Behind. Alice Wellborn has been a school psychologist for 30 years, and is a parent as well.

If your child is ‘just exactly  like you’ or ‘nothing like you’ you may find that a little work on your part leaves you feeling more powerful and more in control of your role as parent of a school kid.  A little insight goes a long way.

This ebook also has a lot of great worksheets and organizers, tips on homework contracts, and tips on setting up morning and evening routines.

Have a look, see if this is the right tool for you and your family right now.  If it is, but you are concerned that you won’t use it without support, contact Robin for a bit of coaching.

Enjoy

Robin

Learning Spelling Words ‘Mario’ Style

A friend of my recently told me of her unique way of learning difficult spelling words.  She is on of those ‘non-linear’ thinkers who don’t so much think in pictures as in ‘feelings’ and ‘movement.’  She loves to read, but is a terrible speller.

I’ve always had a harder than average time learning anything rote – from times tables to spelling words.  To me many versions of the same word look equally plausible.  My parents were told that I would catch up in time because of my wonderful skill with reading.  NOT.

So here is how she uses her strengths to commit difficult spelling words to memory.  She imagines herself as a tiny character in a Mario style video game.  Then she travels back and forth across the word.  She asks herself what it would feel like to travel on letters with nice flat surfaces like i and z, instead of slippery round letters like s and o.

She feels herself resting on the letters i and j.  She imagines herself frightened on the tall letters such as l, t, and f.  She imagines herself bouncing on the letters like m,n, and a, reasoning that the vertical elements would stabilize the rounded parts.  She gets a super bounce from the related letters b, d, and h that have longer vertical elements.  She experiences turning to jelly for a moment at the bottom of rounded letters like u, and being slapped in the upward facing jaws of v, w and k.

She reports that the words stick in her memory better this way, and that it’s less boring than trying to project a visual image of the letters on a mental blackboard, which is very difficult for her to do.

I don’t think that this would work for everyone, but now that I’m reading

The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain 

by Brock L. Eide and Fernette F. Eide,  I’m really appreciating how some of the most creative brains have a really difficult time with getting to automaticity.

If you are interested in doing a ‘group read’ of this book, please contact Robin.

 

My favorite book about Organizing: ‘Getting Things Done’ by David Allen

I may stop reading ‘Let’s get Organized’ books, though, becuase  I think I found the ‘last place’ in David Allen’s GTD system. It is ‘simple enough but not too simple.’

Link to ‘Making it All Work’
I started by listening to the CDs to get my mindset into it, then adopting the practice of ‘mindsweeps’ to get it out of Brain RAM, and on to 3×5 index cards.  I finally bought a plastic coupon box meant to hold 3 by 5 index cards, which is small enough to keep with me at all times. (I use my smartphone’s calendar function now)

I made categories such as

• ‘to do at home’
• ‘to do on the road’
• ‘to do with WiFi’
• ‘waiting for someone/thing’ and
• ‘to do at work’.

Every time I said yes to some task, I’d give it it’s own index card and write down the ‘Next Action’ That way everything on those lists was a beautiful little task, complete with phone number, email . If I didn’t have some of the details for doing the next thing, than finding the details was the next thing to do, my ‘Next Action.’

I like that he says that every agreement we make with ourselves is equally ‘important’ in the sense that ‘need to buy cat food’ will drive us just as crazy if it doesn’t happen as ‘write 30 page paper.’ I felt a great relief to hear that, because it’s how my brain works, and I had been a little perfectionistic about it, as in ‘I think my brain SHOULD care more about the 30 page paper than buy cat food because I need it to.’

I wrote more about mindsweeps here http://schoolsuccesssolutions.com/tag/mindsweep/

I also use a calender but that’s pretty self explanatory.

1.  you gotta enter the data,
2.  you gotta update it weekly,
3.  you got to look at it daily

There is a natural tendency to put down what ‘should’ happen on the calender, but since your brain knows that you don’t ‘really’ HAVE to do it on that day, the tendency is to ignore the whole page of information.  Strange but true for me.  Try it yourself and see if it’s true for you.   I really like the idea of only putting on the calender what REALLY has to be done, and put everything else in the 3X5 card system.

That doesn’t mean you can’t chunk large assignments and create mini-goals, and even but reminders such as ‘check progress on mini-goal A’ as a calendar item, but really, the key to any of this is that every week the person sets aside an hour or two to review ALL active projects. Some extraverts won’t be able to do this on their own and will need a buddy to be with. Sometimes the buddy can be doing their own work at the same time, even their own weekly review of their own organizational system. Sometimes the buddy has to be the role of a coach and be focused on the person.

This is what I use. I use it very imperfectly. I don’t often do weekly reviews until the pressure builds up and I do a Mindsweep and start over. But my life is quite repetitive with very little to organize.(By Design, because I’m so weak here.) I also use the ‘5 minute rule’ which is ‘if I can handle something in less than 5 minutes, I do it the minute I get my hands on it, no matter how much I don’t want to be interrupted. I don’t know if I could have done the 5 minute rule when I was younger, but now I realize that however unpleasant it is for me to do it now, it’ll be 6 times as unpleasant to do it later. So a lot of things never make it to my 3×5 card system. I say ‘no’ more because knowing that if I want to do it I have to make a card gives me an extra chance to notice that I really don’t want to do it.

Hope that helps.  If this is the key step for you and your family now, give it a try.  If you need some individualized coaching to get started, contact Robin

Automaticity or Stuck in a Rut?

On my welcome page, I write:

‘BABY, YOU NEED TO GET OUT MORE!’

Because I see first hand how easy it is to get stuck in ruts.  Our own ideas and habits limit the way we view the world, and we come to believe that the way things are is the only way that they can be.

On the other hand, I praise Automaticity.   Anyone with a child who isn’t naturally strong in what , Mary Sheedy Kurcinka calls ‘Regularity’ knows how difficult life is with too much little automaticity.  Routines, habits, and personal policies will (eventually) strengthen the longer they are practiced, simply because of the way most humans are built.  Getting them set might be an effort, but once they are established, they make life so much easier.

 But when does Automaticity turn into a Rut?

Part of the problem is that we rarely spend time with people outside our immediate circle.  One of the easiest ways to get out of a Rut, or to know that one is in one in the first place, is to go places one would never go, and talk with people one would not usually talk to.  Time is limited for everyone, particularly parents and high school students – two very busy groups.

But the minute I think about doing any thing different, I get a sinking feeling.  I hear a voice that says ‘You would hate that’ or ‘You don’t have time for that.’

This is almost universal.  It takes a little experience to learn to ignore those impulses.  To question our immediate thought and be a bit skeptical.  If this is particularly difficult for you, you may want to find a therapist who practices Cognitive Behavior Therapy, (CBT) but I think most people are good at developing this ‘grit’ once they realize that it’s so useful.  My posts for High School Students talk about developing  ‘calm assertive pack leadership’ for these internal whines.  I imagine that we are Cesar Millan, taming an overexcited dog into noble service with a few deep breaths.

I believe that this need for, and susceptibility to, habits arises naturally from how humans are built.  Once the patterns are established we tend to forget that they aren’t the only way to live.  Contact with other people’s minds, through reading or talking is a way to fight this tendency to forget that there is ‘more’ out there.  Unfortunately,  the other way to realize that what I thought was the real world, was only a creating of my mind, are those upsetting moments when I realize that what I am doing isn’t helping, but instead is getting me into more trouble.  Those moments are painful, but so precious.

I’ll bet you can recall some of those experiences.  Have you learned to appreciate them?   Have you learned to see them on others? Have you learned to be helpful to others at those moments?  Lovely when it goes well isn’t it?

If you have hit bottom, or would like to turn things around before you get there, and want some company as you take steps in the new direction, contact Robin

Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire August 11, 2012

If you are local, you may want to plan to attend

Celebrate New England D.I.YRhode Island’s own Mini Maker Faire, featuring hands-on making, building & hacking, crafting, garage technology, arts and creativity for sale, and robots, right in the middle of AS220 Foo Fest 2012, in Providence, RI on August 11, 2012.

You might even want to Make something and show it off.

If you aren’t local, check here to see if there are any Mini Maker Faires planned in your area, or attend the World Maker Fair in New York City, USA in September. What family project has been going on at your house?  Please comment below.

Smiles,

Robin

Online Summer Camp for kids 13-18 #MakerCamp

Looking for something interesting to do this summer on a shoestring budget? try:

 #MakerCamp ,  a new online “summer camp” on Google+. Over the course of six weeks, 13- to 18-year-olds (as well as their parents and teachers) will have the opportunity to collaborate with popular maker personalities—including +Mark Frauenfelder  of +Boing Boing    +Stephen Voltz  and +Fritz Grobe  of EepyBird (the Coke and Mentos guys),  +Jimmy DiResta  (co-host of Dirty Money on the Discovery Channel) and +Limor Fried  (founder of+Adafruit Industries) —and other creative makers on fun projects themed around “the art of making.” Our goal is to encourage everyone this summer to make something and share it with their friends and family.

Making is a wonderful way to experiment and explore, to try to do new things, and mostly to let your imagination get the best of you. Making is fun (and it’s also a great way to learn, even if it is summer!). Making can be done indoors—even in a small space, like a kitchen table—but it’s also great to go outdoors to make things you can play with in the backyard or park.

Making could mean traditional arts and crafts projects, or science projects, but it could also use innovative technologies and processes that enable you to create something entirely new.

Every Monday through Thursday morning, beginning Monday, July 16, a Maker Camp “counselor” will post how-to instructions for a new project, right here on MAKE’s Google+ page. Some of these projects will overlap with ones in MAKE’s 3D “School’s Out” special issue, our first-ever summer issue devoted entirely to kids.

These projects are great for families to do together or for teens to do on their own. Many of the projects involve materials and tools that you can find around the house. Camp Director +Nick Raymond  will host a Hangout On Air in the afternoon so campers can post questions and comments and share photos and videos of their projects.

The first project at Maker Camp is our popular compressed air rocket. You’ll see from his post below that rocket guru +Rick Schertle  is our guest counselor for this project, and will be with us in New York to launch Maker Camp (and rockets!) with a Hangout today at the New York Hall of Science.

It wouldn’t be summer camp unless you were able to meet a lot of great, new friends who share your love of making. You’ll find that other campers will inspire you to come up with new ideas for projects.

Maker Camp is free, and open to everyone with a Google+ profile (you must be over 13 to have your own Google+ profile). To participate, simply follow +MAKE

Whether you build rockets or race cars, make T-shirts or experimental music, or discover nature or new things in the community where you live, I hope that you’ll have a blast at Maker Camp.

Posted by  +Dale Dougherty,  Publisher, MAKE Magazine

Happy Making,

Robin

Wow – that’s some Making!

The new word for Family Projects is ‘Makers.’

Where to get (and document and store) ideas for Family Projects?

Things to cook, to make from fabric, yarn, paper, metal, wood, electronics, rocks.  Creating anything physical now counts as ‘Making.’

 

Try Instructables.

About Instructables

Instructables is a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others. The seeds of Instructables germinated at the MIT Media Lab as the future founders of Squid Labs built places to share their projects and help others… We also have a guided tour.

Smiles,

Robin

Should I buy my teen a Tablet computer to use at school?

I’ve been reading more and more articles about schools that adopt Tablet computers to lend to all their students.  I’ve been noticing some general questions that are interesting to think about.

From the experience in Charlottesville, Va we see that the first concern is durability.

After considering various alternatives, school officials selected the Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 model, a Windows 7 tablet with a 10.1-inch display, protective case, stylus and rollup keyboard.

“There were some dead spots on the touch screens,” Johnson said. “Some students were not accustomed to carrying a computer in their bags, so we had to be cautious of that piece. We’ve had a few damaged.”

To date, 35 tablets, fewer than 2 percent of the total issued, have required repair because of accidental damage. “None has been lost or stolen,” said Dean Jadlowski, director of technology for the school system.

Budget concerns were important.

Developing Routines to give the Tablets a nightly charge caused a lot of drama at first, but then became second nature.

Alternate ways of teaching have developed in the first 6 months,

Since the tablets were issued, teachers have begun making greater use of Moodle, an online course management system, he said.

“They use it to put up class materials, PowerPoints, class notes, quizzes, discussion forums, collaborative documents,” Daly said. “The usage on that has really taken off. I’d say we’re now seeing 10 times the usage we had in November.”

And there is experimentation with ‘Flipped Teaching’

By utilizing the tablets, Moodle and other technology, more teachers are embracing an initiative called the “flipped classroom,” a new buzzword in education, he said.

“In a traditional classroom, you come in, get the lecture, the basic information from the teacher and then go home and work on problem sets,” Daly said. “This flips it around to where now, in advance, you watch a video or PowerPoint to get an overview of the topic. Then you come in and do the traditional homework part in class.”

Completing the problem sets in class allows students to collaborate with each other and seek help from teachers when needed, he said.

“If you don’t understand number six, you don’t just give up,” Daly said. “You have someone to ask. One of the biggest advantages is that everyone comes in with the same foundation and then students’ questions or sticking points guide the class.”

Johnson said he’s pleased to see the increase in collaboration among students.

“They’re able to respond to questions and each other,” he said. “And they’re able to do that across classrooms.”

Increasing student engagement is another goal met by the initiative, Lewis said.

“Studies show the level and depth with which a student responds in a virtual situation is often greater than in the classroom,” she said. “It’s a way to hear all the voices in the room.”

What I find the most fascinating is the way classroom culture has changed.  Without the Internet in each student’s reach, the teacher is pressured to be the source of knowledge, and the student’s questions had better serve the teacher’s didactic purposes, and the student gets the nonverbal that they are wasting everyone’s time. But the very definition of learning is placing new bits of information next to related already learned bits of information.  Since every child’s existing stock of knowledge is at least slightly different,  then making connections is a more or less individual matter.  With the Internet, every child can add new knowledge with connections that are relevant to their previous knowledge and current interests, without placing a burden on the other classmates who don’t find those specific connections relevant.

“You hear a lot more of, if a student asks a question, ‘that’s a great question. Can somebody look it up,’” he said. “A lot more learning is being pushed back to the kids.”

Please use the reply area and say what your district’s policy is towards tablet computers in the classroom, and how it’s working out.  In districts where there isn’t a universal program, are students allowed to bring their tablets from home?  Are they allowed Internet access during class time?  How are the distractions of the Internet limited?

Smiles,

Robin