Freedom is Not Free

Lauderdale County and Cell Phones

Today's Associated Press article talks about Lauderdale County (Alabama) and its approach to cell phones.

While at the National Middle School Association Conference, I listened to closing speaker Rick Wormeli talk in no uncertain terms of how backwards many school systems will look five years from now in terms of cell phone policies they tried to enforce. At this same conference, I had planned to attend a session on cell phone usage in classrooms. There was such a crowd, I couldn't get in the door.

Back in August, I devoted several posts to this subject. I think this is a topic that deserves more thought than many people are willing to put in and is a topic that is not going to go away.

Backup Your Outlook Data

For those of us who keep our calendar, a complete list of all of our tasks, our one and only address book, and a wealth of reference material in Outlook, our Outlook data is precious. Therefore, backing up that data is crucial. It is important to note is that all of the Outlook data is housed in one single file, probably named Outlook.pst on your computer. If you archive your Outlook data, there will also be a second file called something like Archive.pst. Backup those two files, and if the hard drives goes down, your data is still safe.

Microsoft offers a tool which will automatically backup your data. You can get the backup tool free by going to www.microsoft.com/downloads and searching for "Personal Folders Backup." I found the tool at this address.

To configure the tool, open Outlook and click on the File menu. Click on "Backup." When the box opens, click the "Options" button. Here you will be able to decide how often your data will be backed up. You can also choose the location for your data backup.

I do not choose the default location for my backup. Instead, I set the location to my "Current Projects" folder. That way, when I backup my Current Projects, which I do weekly, I am making a copy of my Outlook data.

When the scheduled day comes for the data backup, the tool kicks in when Outlook is closed. I don't need to remember to backup the data. The backup tool handles the remembering for me.

Serious Outlook users depend on the data housed in the program. Protecting that data is essential. With the Outlook backup, that data is safe.

Cramberry--Site for Online Flash Cards

I am impressed with Cramberry, a free online source for flash cards. You create a free account. From there you can either create your own deck of flash cards or browse decks that others have created. When you find one you like, you simply "add to your set."

The thing I like about this site is that there is no multiple choice involved. You are presented with the question and have to come up with the answer out of your head. When you click the mouse, you see the correct answer and rate yourself as being correct or incorrect. Incorrect answers cause that question to be recycled so that you get another chance at it later.

This one is definitely worth a look.

Crystal Clear Task List

When I talk about composing a task list where the items will actually be accomplished, wording the tasks so that they are crystal clear means the difference between the desire to dig in and the tendency to procrastinate. The Eye on Education Blog highlights that concept. The post can be found here.

Institution Versus Collaboration

This video of Clay Shirky is from 2005. It is about 20 minutes long. He shows how closed groups and companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have big roles and fluid cooperation replaces rigid planning. The takeaways for me were:

1. The explanation of how he put together part of his presentation by using the "tagging" feature of Flickr to allow him to select photos from many photographers. For those unfamiliar with how "tagging" works on Flickr, blogs, Delicious, etc., Shirky's talk shows us why they are important.
2. The blogging revolution and how it is reshaping journalism.
3. This quote from his talk, "If you want to know what technology is going to change the world, don't pay attention to 13-year-old boys. Pay attention to young mothers. Because they have got not an ounce of support for technology that doesn't materially make their lives better."

The "Sixth Sense." Could It Be in Our Future?

This demonstration is from Pattie Maes' lab at MIT. It's a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with the environment. When we look at how far technology has come in the last 10 years, such as the sophistication of the Internet you are using to read this now, imagine where we could be 10 years from now. This demo makes for some fascinating conversation.

What do you see here that is good? What do you see that concerns you?

Get Organized--10 Take-Aways

The National Middle School Association has asked its presenters for a list of "10 Take-Aways" from their presentations. At first glance, to try and reduce several hours of well-chosen material to 10 points is tough. I must admit, however, the exercise was eye-opening. Summing it all up in 10 points forced me to look not only at tools but to look at principles which emerge again and again regardless of the tool. I have often siad that if I go to a workshop and come away with one point that is life changing, I would consider my time well spent. To be able to offer people 10 of them makes me realize the importance of the material and its relevance to the world of today and what's coming tomorrow.

So, here are the 10 Take-Aways for my participants:

1. An educator's world is complex and becoming more so with each passing year. Staying on top of all of our responsibilities requires a system.
2. We do what is easy; therefore, our system must be easy.
3. "Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now." Thank you, Alan Lakein!
4. Make the decision, "When do I want to see this again?" and put it in your system so that you do. However, your system should allow you to answer the question, "What if I need to see it before then?"
5. Tickler files keep your desk clean and ensure that papers resurface on the desired date.
6. A digital signature tool allows that which arrives digitally to stay digital. It offers the advantages of portability, shareability, and searchability.
7. Education is a cyclic business. Getting good at identifying repeating tasks makes life easier.
8. Documentation is easier than you think.
9. You can be a master at follow-up. The "bookmark" system shows how.
10. Stress is feeling the whole world is caving in. Organization is keeping all of the balls in the air by giving each one the right amount of attention at the right time.

The Future of Work in a Warehouse?

National Middle School Association

If you are attending the National Middle School Association Conference in Indianapolis, please join me for Get Organized! Time Management for School Leaders. Details are here.

The Best $10 You Will Ever Spend

My life is on my BlackBerry...or at least as much as I can reasonably store there. There are those times when I have to jot something quickly or draw a quick sketch. In addition, I do need some way to carry credit cards, business cards, and so forth.

In my shirt pocket, you will find a little memo pad that ran me around $10 at an office superstore. It's manufactured by Buxton. Simply putting "Buxton Memo Pad" into a Google search will return plenty of hits. Here is one of them.

In the pocket on the left side, I keep about half-a-dozen business cards, a couple of major credit cards, and my driver's license. Credit cards receipts, business cards from other people, or other miscellaneous little pieces of paper also go right up front on that left side until I can get home and handle them. The right side features a memo pad. A pocket underneath the memo pad houses my insurance cards just in case.

The whole thing measures 4 3/4" high X 3" wide X 3/4" thick. The best thing is that I carry no wallet! Money goes in a magnetic money clip in my left front pocket. Pictures are digital and stored on the BlackBerry. The memo pad handles the rest.

One little tip. The memo pad includes a couple of pen loops and a pen. I found the pen loops to get in the way big time, so a pair of scissors took care of that problem.

While the BlackBerry is certainly my signature tool, that $10 memo pad provides the perfect companion.

What's Not Working?

Conveniences are all around us. From microwave ovens to electric pencil sharpeners, we have an abundance of tools that make our lives easier—provided they work. What a handy tool we have in that electric stapler—only it doesn’t work because it’s out of staples. How about that empty tape dispenser in your desk drawer?

This week, I challenge you to look at what’s not working in your world and do something about it. The electric stapler sits unused because it’s out of staples and you haven’t refilled it because you are out of (or can’t find) more. You have been meaning to order more but you keep forgetting. The next time you think about needing staples is—you guessed it—when you go to use that stapler and find it’s still empty.

As you come across these little annoyances, take a second to decide what needs to be done to fix it, and jot it in your signature tool. Don’t put getting staples on the list for today. Instead pick a day about a week out and start a list of little items to get. A week from now, you can handle that whole list at once.

Fixing the problem is the first step. The second step is deciding how to avoid the problem in the future. Think about this one—at your house, when do you decide you need to buy toothpaste? Is it when the tube runs out and you realize there are no more under the counter? Or, is it when you take the last one from under the counter. In the first case, you have a minor crisis—you need toothpaste NOW. In the second case, you just need to put toothpaste on the grocery list and get it within the next few weeks.

Ask yourself the same thing about supplies in your classroom. Do you order more when you are OUT or when your reserve is low? What about textbooks? If a new student enrolled tomorrow, would you have books for him? If not, why not go ahead and put in a request now, so that when you DO get another student—and you will—that you are prepared. You own 7 umbrellas, yet you never seem to have one in the car you when a downpour occurs. What could you do to fix that problem once and for all?

What else in your classroom doesn’t work? What about that regular pencil sharpener where the handle has been loose for 2 years? What would it take to fix that? You have two desks that are awfully wobbly. What would it take to fix them? Realize this is a thought process that seldom occurs to most people. Too many of us simply get so used to all of the things in our lives that don’t quite work that we soon stop thinking about them anymore.

Have you cleaned out your desk lately? If not, put it on your to-do list. Out go the pencils with no points, the dried-up ink pens, the empty packs of Sweet & Low, and a host of papers that never should have been there to start with. You will be amazed at what you find there that you had no idea you had.

Why do people resist thinking through what it takes to fix the little broken things? I think the answer lies in that thinking through what needs to be done creates a long to-do list for people who already have too much to do and try to keep up with all of it in their heads. For those of us who have a “signature tool,” life is easier. We take a second to jot down what need to happen. We organize our list in a way that groups similar items together. Then, we handle a number of similar items all one sitting.

Get all of those conveniences in your life working and watch some of the stress in your life go away.

Time to Aim Lower?

I enjoy reading the thought of Dan and Chip Heath, authors of Made to Stick. In the March issue of Fast Company, they advise us to "aim lower." That sounds like just the opposite of what we have always been told about achieving success.

How often do we set lofty goals and then nothing happens? The goal seems like an insurmountable obstacle. What if we took the time, however, it figure out exactly what the first step towards completing that goals might be. Not the first 27 steps. Just the first step. What if we devoted just a few minutes towards pushing that goal forward?

That's what this enjoyable article was all about. The authors make some pretty valid points, and it's well worth the few minutes it takes to read it. To view the article, click here.

Did you Know 4.0.? Social Networking and the Computer in Your Pocket

This version of "Did You Know?" focuses on the changes in communication brought about by technology, and in particular changes brought about by the cell phones we carry in our pockets.