Making Photo Albums on the BlackBerry PlayBook

My PlayBook has a great camera and taking pictures is easy. This post addresses two points any user would eventually have:

1. What is the easiest way to transfer pictures from my PlayBook to my desktop computer?
2. How can I organize photographs on my PlayBook?

I had been using my USB cable to "sync" PlayBook pictures with a folder on my computer. Organizing the pictures on the PlayBook into "albums" was something, however, which alluded me. After doing a search, I found others had the same question. Here is an option that is easy, gives me a better way to get pictures onto the PlayBook, and at the same times gives me a simple way to create albums on the PlayBook. This method does assume the PlayBook and the computer are both attached to the same Wi-Fi.

• On the PlayBook go to "Storage & Settings." Turn on "File Sharing." Turn on "Wi-Fi Sharing."

• On the computer, go to "Start."
• In the "Search files and programs" line on your computer, enter your PlayBook's IP address. To find this address, from the PlayBook's home screen, swip down to reveal the settings menus. Go to "Wi-Fi." Click on the "?" in the lower left corner. Under "Diagnostic Information," go to "Internet Connection." The "IP Address" is what you will use. Begin with "\\" making what you enter look something like: \\123.1.1.1

• The window you will see includes a file called "media." Open it. 

• If prompted for a username and password, the username can be found by going to your PlayBook's "Storage & Sharing" and then to "Network Identification." The username that you will supply is the username diplayed here. 
• If prompted for a password, you will also supply whatever password you used in the "Password Protect" line on the "Storage & Sharing Screen." 

• Open the "photos" folder and and create folders as needed within it. The folder names will correspond to the albums you wish to create.
• Drag photos into the photos folder as desired.
• You will probably also see photos in the "camera" folder which you wish to move to your newly-created album folders.Simply open a separate window and drag them over. 
• You can rename photos, delete photos, and drag additional photos into or out of the folders you create.
• Your results will appear on your PlayBook. Here are several albums I just created.

This technique makes transferring pictures from the PlayBook to the computer quick and easy. Creating albums is effortless.

I now have organized sets of pictures on my PlayBook. Plugging the micro-HDMI cable into a TV, any photo album can be displayed as a full-screen slideshow on the TV.

Memorial Day

Slide show created by Daniel Breitfeller. Music is Dogs of War from the Medal of Honor: European Assault soundtrack.

Make Your Summer Count

The final bell has sounded. Goodbyes have been said. The hallways are empty, and summer has begun.

You may be a student. You may be an adult whose job is in education. You may be the parent of a school aged-child. For just about all of us, the end of school and beginning of summer has an impact on our routines. For a huge percentage of our population, summer provides the largest block of discretionary time we will have all year.

Those three months will go back like a flash, and the bell will sound again. Students all over the country will complete that first writing assignment of the school year, the one entitled, “What I did during my summer vacation.”

What will you do on your summer vacation? How will you make your summer count? What skills have you wanted to learn? What new habits have you wanted to add to your life? If it’s going to happen, now is the time. Without some thought, however, August will be here and you will have little to show for it.

As you think back over your life, what are the summers that are memorable for you?
…The summer you learned to swim?
…The summer you learned to ski?
…The summer you learned a musical instrument?
…The summer you took that great trip?

Are you ready to build some more memories? Start by taking a blank sheet of paper and writing your own, “What I did during my summer vacation” letter. Write it as if August is already here. Write it from the standpoint of someone who is able to accomplish great things, because you do have the power to do great things. If you are a parent, work with your son or daughter as they craft their letter. As an adult, write your own letter. The little ones need to see that just because you are grown does not mean you stop growing. Having our story on paper is the beginning.

Now make it happen! Brainstorm the steps that will get you from where you are to where you want to be. Trap those steps with pencil and paper as you go. Make them as specific and clear as possible. Put the steps in whatever paper or digital planner drives your day so that making progress on your goal is integrated into all else you do.

Hang on to your letter. Re-read it weekly throughout the summer. With the letter as your compass and your paper or digital planner as your roadmap, you can make it happen.

This could be the summer to remember. It’s up to you. What are you waiting for?

Principal Center Webinar Follow-Up

Thanks to those who participated in the Get Organized! webinar series these past 3 Tuesdays. Also thanks to Justin Baeder, Director of The Principal Center for hosting this series. This post serves as a follow-up to the series, and especially as a follow-up to the third session..

Staying Connected
If you liked what you heard and would like more, here are several ways you can keep in touch:

• Check out our website. In addition to general information on what we do, you will find a page of free resources.
• Follow me on Twitter.
• "Like" my Facebook page and check back for updates.
• Follow me on Pinterest (which organizes blog posts by general topic)
• Subscribe to the free monthly newsletter. 
• Bring new blog posts straight to your e-mail.
• Read Get Organized! and/or Organization Made Easy!
• Bring me to your school or organization.

iGoogle
If you are interested in adding to your iGoogle page some of the same gadgets I have on mine, here is an easy way to get them. As you click each link, you will be taken to a page that describes the gadget and lets you click a button to automatically add it to your iGoogle page.

Google Bookmarks
Google Reader
Yahoo News
Twitter
Facebook 
Bit.ly URL Shortener
Weather
reQall 
Toodledo
People.com
MapQuest Driving Directions
Area/Zip Code Lookup
Music
YouTube
Document to PDF
Movies
GoogleDocs
GoogleCalendar
Google Map Search
Portfolio Monitor
Calculator
Stopwatch
Flight Status
WolframAlpha 
Time Converter

Here is how to make iGoogle (your homepage).


Dropbox
Want to set up a Dropbox account? Here is an easy way for you to set up an account and get an extra 250MB of free storage for both you and me. Click here to sign up.

I have written a short e-book which explains how I use Dropbox. For information on downloading for free, go here. 

Google Docs Forms

In a time where tablets are becoming popular, conducting classroom walk-throughs is an extremely practical use of collecting and organizing data.

Here are the steps for creating a walk-through form using Google Docs and then getting that walk-through form onto your tablet.

1. Design your walk-through form on paper. You may wish to begin with a paper form you are already using. Only after you have thought through how you want the form to look should you go to the computer.
2. Log into your Google account and go to docs.google.com. You will see a list of all of the Google Docs you have already created.
3. Click “Create New” and choose “Spreadsheet.”
4. In Row 1 enter each of the questions that will go on the form. (Examples: Teacher name, Subject, Resources Being Used, Objective/Essential question posted?, Student activity, Number of students not actively engaged, Teacher activity, Level of questioning, Overall comments). Press the tab key to go from column to column. Note: You do NOT need to have a column for the date. The date and time of the walk-through will automatically be gathered for you.
5. From the “Tools” menu, choose “Form” and “Create a form.” You will now see a form with your column heading already listed. Below each item will be a short blank where you could enter a response.
6. While some fields lend themselves well to a short answer, for others, a drop-down list, series of check-boxes, paragraph text box, etc. will be a better fit. As you move the mouse down the page, each item will turn a beige color and display a series of icons to the right. Click the pencil icon to decide what type of response you want and create your list of checkboxes, items on drop-down list, etc.
7. Each question will display a “make this a required question” checkbox. It is a good idea to check this box. That will keep you from overlooking an item. Click “Done" when you have finished editing that item.
8. At the top of the form is a button called “Theme.” Click it, and you can choose from an array of attractive looks for your form.
9. At the very bottom of the form, you will see “You can view the published form here” followed by a rather long URL. This is a very important step! Highlight and copy that link.
10. By this time, Google Docs has probably prompted you to save the spreadsheet. If not, click “Save.”
11. Now we want to get this form on your BlackBerry PlayBook, iPad or other tablet device you will be using in the walk-throughs. You can also use the form with a Smartphone, although the size may be too small for you to use comfortably.
12. Open a new e-mail on your computer, paste the link from the bottom of the Google Docs form in the body, and address the e-mail to yourself. Send the e-mail.
13. Go to your PlayBook, iPad, or other tablet. Check your e-mail, looking for the one you sent to yourself.
14. Open the e-mail, and click the link. You should now be looking at your walk-through form.
15. Your tablet should offer you a way to save a URL as a “shortcut” on your home screen. For example, on the PlayBook, you will tap the hollow star and choose “Add to Home Screen.” You have now created an app for the walk-through form.

If you also wish to have the form on your Smartphone, you will repeat the process on that device. Check your e-mail on the Smartphone and open the one containing the link to the walk-through form. Click the link to display the form. Now turn that URL into a desktop shortcut. How this is done will vary from one Smartphone to the next. For example, on a BlackBerry running OS6, click the icon just to the right of the URL address bar. Choose “Add to Home Screen.” You have now just made the walk-through form into an app! You will find its icon on your home screen.

You are ready to start your walk-throughs! Each time you finish a form and touch “Submit,” the data instantly goes into the Google Docs spreadsheet. Each entry is date and time stamped for you!

No more filling out forms and then recopying that data somewhere else! Your data is neatly stored in rows and columns on your Google Docs spreadsheet. Less time spent on paperwork. More time spent on helping good teachers get even better. Life just got easier!

reQall

Create your own reQall account for free.
Also check out Vlingo.


Questions?

For answers to questions others have posed in the past, take a look at these two posts:
Webinar Follow-Up: Answers to Your Questions (Part I)
Webinar Follow-Up: Answers to Your Questions (Part II)


Again, thanks for participating in the webinar series. If one of your goals for the summer is to "Get Organized!" I hope the three hours we spent together will give you a great start.

What I Keep in Outlook "Notes"

You use Outlook, but do you make use of all of the modules Outlook offers? I have addressed one of the underused powers of Outlook in my e-book on Outlook Tasks. This post examines another under-utilized area of the program, the "Notes" module.

Notes is a place for holding reference information. Nothing there requires action. The great thing is that Notes, along with Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts syncs with my BlackBerry. therefore, no matter where I am, I have access to the information in Notes.

Here are examples of some of the Notes I keep in Outlook:

• AA-ZZ Information-Here is a list of account numbers, membership numbers, login information, pin numbers, etc. When I check-in at a hotel and they ask if I have my rewards number handy, I go to this note. When I am on the phone and a salesperson asks if I have my account number handy, my answer is always "yes." The number of cards I carry is narrowed to my driver's license, several major credit cards, and insurance card. Everything else is simply stored in Notes rather than carrying the physical card. After a while, this Note got to be lengthy, so I have broken in up into "AA-ZZ Information A-C,"  "AA-ZZ Information D-F" etc.
• Accident Information Sheet-If I were involved in a minor accident, what information do I want to be sure I collect? Instead of trying to think it up on the fly, here is a list.
• Best Times to Buy Items-Prices on lower on certain items during certain months or certain days of the week. I have that list handy no matter where I am.
• Bio-I never know when someone is going to need my bio to introduce me or to include on promotional material. I have it handy no matter where I am.
• BlackBerry Troubleshooting-Cures for common problems or instructions for common routines are available here.
• Cabrio-Cabrio is a Sheltie we adopted. In this one note is his microchipping information, the type of food he eats, and a record of his weight at each trip to the vet. I have a similar note for our other Sheltie, Bonnie Lass.
• Canada Smartphone Tips-Here is my game plan for using my Smartphone in Canada so that I do not incur a small fortune in data use charges when traveling there.
• Classroom Information Observation-Although I am no longer a principal, if I were called upon to conduct a "walkthrough," here is a list of what I could be looking for.
• Coconut Dream Cake-I don't do much in the kitchen, but this is my specialty, and it's delicious. I have the recipe in Outlook and synced to my BlackBerry.
• Computer Information-Here, I have the product key, service tag, and other information about each computer in the house.
• Constant Contact Color Scheme-What are the exact colors I use in my monthly newsletter template? This note tells me.
• Delta Skymiles Partners-Here are the Skymiles numbers for me and my wife along with a list of all the rental car and hotel chains which partner with Delta.

You have just seen a few examples, and even at that, I am only to the letter "D."

Since Notes is a part of Outlook, I can "drag and drop" into or from Notes. During my days as an elementary principal, I had a Note containing driving directions to my school. Whenever someone requested directions, I could drag the Note to the "Mail" button, and Outlook would create a new e-mail containing the directions. If I am planning a trip and need a reminder on what to pack, I drag and drop my "Packing List" from Notes to Tasks and immediately Outlook creates a new Task listing all of the items.

I think you can begin to get the idea. "Notes" gives me a place to put reference information. If you use Outlook, but have not used Notes, I recommend it as a useful place to store all of that miscellaneous information you often access.

"Wear Suncreen" (and Other Advice for Graduates)

Advice to the graduating class..."Wear Sunscreen." The lyrics are taken from a famous essay — written in 1997 by Mary Schmich, a columnist with the Chicago Tribune.

Webinar on Demand: "Manage the Flood of Incoming Information"

I enjoyed presenting this webinar for CLAS (Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools). It has now been posted so those who were not able to hear it live can still benefit.

If you feel overwhelmed by the flood of information which comes to you on a daily basis...e-mails, phone calls, interaction with people (both planned and unplanned), meetings, etc., this webinar may be your answer. Length is approximately 40 minutes.

Manage the Flood of Incoming Information

Using "Application Shortcuts"

One little trick can often mean a huge difference in productivity, and this post attempts to offer just that for BlackBerry users. In short, we are going to change one menu setting from "Universal Search" to "Application Shortcuts." To make this change:

1. Click the "menu" button (the one which has the BlackBerry logo on it).
2. Choose "Options" from the menu which displays.
3. You will now see a drop-down menu which has two choices in it: Universal Search and Application Shortcuts. Change the setting to "Application Shortcuts" and save. That's it!

Why Do We Make This Change?
 With Application Shortcuts enabled, you are able to access a number of apps with the touch of one key:

• L opens the Calendar
• T opens Tasks
• A opens Contacts
• D opens Memo Pad
• M opens Messages
• C composes a message
• N opens BlackBerry Messenger
• B opens the Browser
• U opens the Calculator
• K will lock the keyboard
• O opens Options

Anytime I want to look at my tasks, pressing "T" brings up the list. Just think how much easier that is as opposed to scrolling to it! Note that all of these shortcuts work when you are on the Home screen. So, if you are looking at your Calendar and want to switch to your Task list, first you will escape out of the Calendar so you are back at the Home screen.

How did I know what shortcuts were available? How can you remember this list of shortcuts? Once you set your menu to "Application Shortcuts," you will notice that when you scroll over various icons, not only will you see the name of the icon display, but many of them have a letter underlined. The underlined letter is the keyboard shortcut.

So Do I Lose Universal Search?
You can have your cake and eat it to. There is one more shortcut to learn. "S" takes you to Universal Search. Here you can enter a keyword and the BlackBerry will find it in any of the core apps on your BlackBerry.

Do These Instructions Vary From One Model to the Next?
The instructions I have given are for BlackBerry OS6 and OS7. If you are running OS5 or earlier, you have a similar technique. Instead of changing Universal Search to Application Shortcuts, you are going to turn off "Dial From Home Screen":

1. Go to "Options" (the icon which resembles a wrench).
2. Choose "Phone Options."
3. Choose "General Options."
4. On the next screen, look for "Dial From Home Screen." Change the setting to "No" and save.

The shortcuts listed above will now work with your phone.

The application shortcuts are not available on the Pearl (where a single key represents more than one letter of the alphabet).

One small change can make a huge difference. In my opinion, switching to Application Shortcuts is the #1 BlackBerry productivity tip.

What is your favorite productivity tip for your smartphone?

What's a "Super App"?

The BlackBerry receives its share of criticism for lack of apps. With over 500,000 apps available for the iPhone, 400,000 available for Android, the 60,000 available in BlackBerry App World pales by comparison. Of course, when you take into account the amount of duplication, the difference grows smaller. Taking into account sources stating that 26% of downloaded apps are used only once, the difference grows smaller still.

With any platform, you find apps whose names continue to be mentioned again and again. They appear on every list of the "must-have" apps. With the BlackBerry, popularity is not what makes something a "Super App."

The primary characteristic of a "Super App" is the way it integrates with native BlackBerry apps, such as the Calendar. This post covers three Super Apps which make my life easier.

BlackBerry Travel
If you do much travel, and especially if it involves flying the friendly skies, BlackBerry Travel is huge. To illustrate, I place a call to a hotel to book a stay. That's it...one phone call, and then I hang up and do nothing else. In a few minutes, I received an e-mail not only from the hotel, but also an e-mail from BlackBerry Travel reviewing all of the details (type of room, confirmation number, room rate, check-in and checkout times, etc,). Most of all, the BlackBerry Travel App went into my calendar and entered the hotel stay on each day along with creating a name for the trip itself (which I could edit).

A link in the note section of each entry opened all of the details about the hotel stay or a birds-eye view of the trip as a whole. I could see flight arrangement and rental car arrangement that I had either made, or notification that there were none associated with that trip. I can make those additional arrangement from inside the BlackBerry Travel app. I also saw all of my LinkedIn connections who live in the area to which I was traveling.

When a flight has been delayed, BlackBerry Travel notifies me by e-mail. When it's time to check-in, I get a reminder from BlackBerry Travel along with a link that takes me straight to check-in.

Certainly, I am capable of entering this trip information on my calendar myself and making sure I have a hotel room for each day between my flight's arrival and departure. I could also sign up for an alert from the airline for each flight. But when this app does it all for me, life becomes easier.

What makes BlackBerry Travel a "Super App" is the way it interacted with my calendar and my LinkedIn account. By the way, it's free.



BlackBerry Traffic

In short, BlackBerry Traffic is a GPS. It interacts with the GPS location on the BlackBerry to determine the starting point. It will interact with e-mail to send a pre-formatted message announcing your expected arrival time and the address to which you are headed to anyone you wish.

The app will search for nearby gas, food, etc. and even telephone your selection with one touch. While we have all paid well over $100 for a GPS, not to mention charges for updates, BlackBerry Traffic is free. Again, the interaction with your email and the BlackBerry's GPS location makes this application a "Super App."

Poynt

When you open Poynt, you first see the current temperature at your GPS location. The program will allow you to find people, businesses, gas, food, movies, or events. With movies, for example, you can start by searching for movies or for theaters. Either way, you wind up with the ability to view trailers, buy tickets, and get directions to your location. When you decide when and where you want to go for your movie, Poynt will put that information on your calendar.

The "People" section will allow you to input a name, address, or phone number. No matter which of the three you choose, you are given the other two pieces of information together with how far they are from you. Mapping the location is also easily done.

The ability to interact with your GPS location, place information on your calendar, and interact with your phone makes this application a "Super App." Poynt is free.

For information on other BlackBerry "Super Apps," read this information related to the following Super Apps (all of which are free):

• AccuWeather-Get local weather for your GPS location, weather anywhere in the world, daily forecasts in your e-mail, and forecast for each day on your calendar.
• ScoreMobile-Put a team schedule of your choice in your calendar. Get scores and notification of game start times.
• Pageonce-Syncs online banking, bills and travel accounts. In general, the program puts all of your personal finances in one place.
• eBay-Places reminders on your calendar of when bids of interest are closing and receive alerts when another bid has been placed.
• 1-800-Flowers Mobile-Allows you to order flowers for special occasions, checks your calendar for special occasions and alerts you. The app also integrates with your address book.
• Foursquare-Alerts you when friends are nearby and allows you to get recommendations on what to order at restaurants.
• Urbanspoon-Suggests a restaurant in your location. You can narrow to certain cuisine, price range, or neighborhood.

If you already use any of the Super Apps, I would welcome your comments on what you think about them. If you try one based on what you read here, let me know about it.

Thank a Teacher Today

Like all professions, teaching has both those who are outstanding and those who are less than adequate. All too often, the best and the worst are lumped into generalizations which do not accurately depict either extreme.

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 7-11. It offers a time for us to recognize the teaching profession as a whole. It also offers each of us the opportunity, on a personal level, to single out that individual who made a lasting impression on us.



You have read this post, watched the video, and I would image are thinking about a particular teacher who made a lasting impression on you. Does this teacher have any idea the impact he or she made in your life? If not, what do you intend to do about it?

With social media being what it is today, reaching out to someone else has never been easier. With this week being "Teacher Appreciation Week," there is no better time than now.

How Will You Say Goodbye to Graduates?

This month, schools everywhere are planning activities which will send its graduates to the next stages in their lives. I this post, I share one such tradition we started in the elementary school where I was principal. It was designed to add a keepsake for each of our students as they left us for junior high.

On Awards Day, each 6th grade student walked across the auditorium stage to receive his or her diploma. With it was another piece of paper. Except for the name, the wording was the same:

Dear {Name of student}, 

Your completion of elementary school is a big step in your education. At Graham, we congratulate you on the interest and dedication which have brought you to this important milestone in your life. 

Your learning experiences, however, have only begun. It is our hope that you will approach the next grades with eagerness equal to your abilities and take advantage of the many wonderful opportunities open to you. 

 It has been our pleasure to have been associated with you through your elementary school years. We are convinced that this school will always be proud of you as you progress along education’s path. 

We shall continue to watch your achievements with interest and pride. 

Best wishes, 



What made the letters unique were the signatures at the bottom. Each letter was signed by the adults in the building who had formed a relationship with that student. No two students had the same set of signatures.

The process was simple. I had created the text of the letter and mail merged it to a spreadsheet. The names of our 6th grade students were pasted into that spreadsheet. We then were able to print a set of letters, each with the same text except for the student's first being inserted.

In a faculty meeting, I explained the process. I had signed all of the letters and passed the folder to the 6th grade teachers. Since we did some changing of classes, the 6th grade teachers signed all of the letters. The folder would then be passed to the 5th grade teachers. They would sign letters for any of the student they had taught or any student who whom they had established any sort of relationship. Over the next couple of weeks, the folder would work its way to each grade level, to the music teacher, librarian, counselor, lunchroom staff, and custodians.

Any staff member could sign any letter they wished. When the folder was returned to me, it contained letters rich with signatures of the people who had worked with each student though the years.

On Awards Day, each 6th grade student received a letter with good wishes for the future and the signatures of the people who had helped shape elementary school memories.

Several other principals with whom I have shared this idea also use it successfully. As you are planning the close of this school year, perhaps this idea is one you can use.

What end-of-school traditions do you have at your school that might benefit others?

Data That Matters

Renewing administrative certification in Alabama is done through the "Professional Learning Unit," acquiring a set of five over a five-year period. Thought retired from public education (although anyone who has kept up with me knows that I am not retired--just went a new direction ) I am still keeping this certification alive.

Six months ago, I participated in an online course entitled "Leading Data-Based School Reform." The "final project" is to come back six months later and show how I am implementing concepts related to this topic. Because the course is designed for administrators, the expectations is that I show not what I implemented for my personal growth, but how the concepts impact others. Below is the "showcase" in which I demonstrate a tool I created, explain how others can use it, and provide it as a free download.

"When I Grow Up..." An Idea for Elementary Principals

During my years as an elementary school principal, one of the parts of the spring "Awards Day" ceremony was Kindergarten Graduation. Prior to the event, the kindergarten teachers asked each student what they wanted to be when they grew up and why, with emphasis on the why.

On Awards Day, the kindergarteners were lined up off stage, each student wearing a graduation cap. As I called the name of a student, he or she walked across the stage to receive a diploma from the appropriate teacher. As the student walked across the stage, I would read, "When I grow up, I want to be a ______________ because _____________________." The "because" was always the most interesting part!

I could stop there, and it might well provide someone with idea to add to his or her own end-of-year activity. The real purpose of this post is to tell you what happened six years later.

You see, each year I would aave the script from Awards Day. My 7th year as principal at that school, the first class of kindergartens were now 6th graders, the upper grade in our school. Prior to that last Awards Day for them, we would practice their part of the program. As we completed that practice, I would mention very casually, "Some of you have been with us for a very long time...every since kindergarten." Nobody had a clue was was about to happen.

I turned to a student and said, "Do you remember walking across this very stage as I said, 'When I grow up, I want to be a.....'" I would read from the script I had saved from six years before! Then I would mention another student and do the same thing. By the third student, they knew what was happening. We went through each one of them, what they said they wanted to be, and why.

One of the most memorable points came with two close friends whose names were adjacent in the alphabet, and whose goals were therefore read back-to-back. Each said he wanted to be a "policeman." Their "whys" were very different. While one wanted to be a policeman to "help people," the other wanted to be a policeman so he could "ride motorcycles." Amazing how two totally different rationales brought about the same future wish.

We all look for neat traditions that don't put a great deal of stress and strain on our already full agendas. Saving those Awards Day scripts and reminding students as they are about to leave what they had said when they began the journey was one of those easy ways to close their elementary school experience.

In the next post, I will share another one which was easy and meant a great deal to both the students and the staff.

Illinois Principals Association Online Academy

I had a great time Thursday presenting a webinar for the Illinois Principals Association Online Academy. Entitled Time Management: The 5 Keys to Total Control and Peace of Mind, the 3-hour interactive webinar was designed to give practicing administrators practical tools to help them accomplish more, stay on top of their workdays, and experience less stress.

Here are the comments from the participants:

• I would enjoy more presentations by Frank, especially with regards to free tech tools and being an efficient digital administrator. 
• Great presentation! 
• The workshop was great! 
• This was an exceptionally helpful presentation. Organization is essential. 
• Great Job! I appreciate you responding to all the questions. 
• Great presentation!
• Thought it was great! 
• Great interactive presentation. Thank you for all the great ideas! 
• Great information and presenter. 
• The Online Academy Time Management was presented well and the information presented is USEFUL information. Well done! 
• There was a lot of useful information presented to us today. A great amount of time would be saved by just using 1 or 2 of the ideas shared. 
• I actually do some of the organizational tasks that Dr. Buck mentioned. For example, the journal. I really enjoyed the detailed information and I will be using it. 
• This was an excellent presentation. I will actually start using some of the items today and can improve on others such as Outlook with the “Drag and Drop.” 
• I have over 1,000 emails and thanks to Dr. Buck I plan to have none by Monday. 
• Thank you for providing organization ideas that are helpful in managing the flood of information. 
• This was a well-organized and practical seminar. 
• The Online Academy was great! This is my 2nd and I love them! 
• This was so practical and oftentimes the practical gets lost to the theoretical. 
• I feel that this has been the most informative academy that I have attended. I plan to put the information I learned today in place as soon as I sign out of the academy, 
• Extremely practical and helpful! 
• I gained many useful tools to help me get, and stay, organized in this profession. Thank you! 
• I am literally taking this home to share with my wife so we can get organized at home also, given some of the business ideas we are working on for our companies! 
• If you need time, make time for this! 
• This information was very helpful. 
• This was a great use of my time! I got some great ideas and will incorporate them immediately. 
• Great ideas that were very practical and some I accomplished immediately. 
• This workshop will make me a more efficient administrator. 
• This AA offered very practical suggestions. I am eager to implement them!

How Google Docs Saved Us

About this time each year, high schools are busy planning graduation. One of those tasks is securing a graduation speaker, and in most cases is something that happens with little fanfare. April 29, 2009, almost three years ago today, an article broke in our local newspaper which shaped the course for the rest of that day, and paved the way for a great deal of excitement and hard work over the next month.

Months earlier, Superintendent Joanne Horton had the idea to extend an invitation to Dr. Condoleezza Rice to be the high school graduation speaker. Having left the office of Secretary of State several months prior and having ties to Alabama, we thought while it was a long shot, it was a request worth extending. Because it was a long shot, very few were told of the invitation. When a long shot became a reality, the plans remained confidential as many of the details were worked out. One of the decisions made was that our local newspaper, The Daily Home, would be the one to break the story.

And so on April 29 three years ago, the front page story was that of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice coming to town as the high school graduation speaker. And on April 29, the phone started ringing with people who ordinarily would have had no desire to attend a high school graduation asking how they could attend this one.

The ceremony was to take place in the stadium, but in case of rain, having a "Plan B" was a necessity. The school system had a 1,500-seat auditorium, which normally would have been a gracious plenty. Under these circumstances, that auditorium was starting to look very small. In addition, Dr. Rice was still under Secret Service protection, and the Secret Service wanted to know the name of every person who would be attending the ceremony. How in the world were we going to handle the logistics? Enter Google Docs.

I created a Google Docs spreadsheet and entered across the top row the information we would want to know about each attendee: name, address, phone, e-mail, and how many tickets. I created a "form" from the spreadsheet (Tools>Form>Create a form). On the form, I edited the field for "number of tickets" so that instead of being a short-answer blank, it became a drop-down menu with "1" and "2" as the possible choices. I took the link at the bottom of the form and used it to create a link on the school district's blog.

When people called inquiring how to attend graduation, they were simply told to go to the school district's blog and click the link. There, they filled out their requests. As soon as they clicked "Submit," their request automatically populated the next blank line of the spreadsheet, and the request was even date and time stamped.

The Google Docs spreadsheet was shared so that at any time, the superintendent, high school principals, appropriate central office clerical staff, and I could see all of the requests in the order they were received.

Communication needed to happen with every person who had requested tickets. If the event was being held in the stadium, each person needed to be holding a ticket because of the Secret Service requirements. In the case of rain, we had to notify people as to whether they could be accommodated in the 1,500-seat auditorium or whether they would be amongst the overflow watching the ceremony on closed-circuit TV in the high school gym.

We knew how many family members and close friends each graduate would have coming to see him or her, our first priority for seating in the auditorium. We knew how many teachers and their spouses would be attending, our next priority. Selected dignitaries had been invited, and we knew those numbers. Subtract the grand total from 1,500, and we had the number of people from our spreadsheet who we could seat in the auditorium.

We went down the spreadsheet to the point which would serve as the dividing line between who we could seat in the auditorium and who we could not. We copied and pasted all of the e-mail addresses above that line into the bcc line of one e-mail. We sent that group of people an e-mail instructing them where and when to pick up their tickets. The e-mail went on to state that in the event of rain, their ticket would allow them into the auditorium. We highlighted all of the addresses below the line and pasted them into the bcc line of a second e-mail. This e-mail told where and when they could pick up their tickets. But this e-mail stated that in the event of rain, their ticket would allow them into the high school gym where they could watch the ceremony on closed-circuit TV.

All of the requests and all of the communications were handled easily, all due to Google Docs. I had always though of Google Docs as a time-saver. In this case, it was more like a life-saver

In Case of Emergency, Reach for Your Blog

This blog post caught my eye. In times of emergency, communication is critical. Realize “emergency” is in the eye of the beholder. For the parent of a 3rd grader, a bus that is late coming back from a field trip constitutes an emergency is nobody has communicated that “all is well.”

In my final year as a principal, I started a blog as a communication tool with parents. The blog replaced the newsletter which accompanied report cards at the end of each grading period. The initial reason for starting the blog was a desire to deliver information in “real time.” What happened today was reported today rather than in a newsletter a month from now. But I quickly found blogging had advantages far beyond delivering the good news.

Anyone who has ever worked in a school setting knows that the one thing you can expect is the unexpected. Being able to broadcast good information instantly is your best way to prevent panic.

For the principal or central office administrator who is asking, “What good is a blog? Sounds to me like one more thing to do,” I would suggest reading the post which inspired the one you are reading now, “10 Ways to Use Your Blog to Manage a Crisis.”

After all, it’s not communication that is time-consuming. The clean-up work as a result of failure to communicate—now that’s the time-consuming part!

7 Seconds to Make a First Impression

Roger Ailes was a media consultant for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, and is now is president of Fox News Channel and chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group. In this video, you will hear Tom Peters talk about point about which Ailes has written.

According to Roger Ailes, a person has seven seconds to make a first impression. We have all known the importance of making a good first impression. We probably have not thought about how short our time frame really is.




What are the things you can do in those 7 seconds that can make that first impression a good one?

Can't Stay on Top of Twitter? Here's Help

The more content you read, you more good content you are likely to read. Would you agree? In the world of Twitter, the more people you follow, you more content you will see in you Twitter feed. Hence, the more good content you will have. So far, so good.

The only problem is that increased content not only means more good content, but also more bad content. Personally, I don't care who had lunch where, or how much traffic they encountered at the local shopping mall. I want quality. What can I do to get the good content without also being overwhelmed by a flood of all the other stuff?

Thanks, UberSocial
UberSocial is the Twitter client I have used on my BlackBerry for some time. An update of UberSocial featured something called "My Inner Circle." The idea was that you could identify certain people you follow as being in your "Inner Circle." From there on, any time you clicked on the "My Inner Circle" icon on UbberSocial, you saw the tweets from just those selected people.

Who are those people whose tweets you always want to read? I would imagine you have some, but they are the minority.

Inner Circle, Priority 2, Priority 3
You don't have to use a particular client, such as UberSocial, to establish your own Inner Circle.Twitter has a feature which it calls "lists." Next time your are looking at Twitter on your computer, notice the "Lists" tab. It is located just below the box where you enter your tweet. Click on it and then look for the option to "Create a list."

Create a list called "Inner Circle." You have the option to search for people to include in the list, but I would skip that step at this point. Instead, create two more lists called "Priority 2" and "Priority 3."

To this point, all you have done is create a name for each list. Now, let's add people to them. While you are at the Twitter home screen, click on the "Followers" link. You now see all of the people you are following. Beside each person, you will see a drop-down menu. One of the choices is "Add to list." When you choose that option, you will see the name of each list you had created. Assign the person to "Inner Circle," "Priority 2," "Priority 3," or no list at all.

I also have lists such as "Education," "Technology," and "National Figures." A person can be assigned to more than one list.

Setting Up Lists on TweetDeck
I use TweetDeck as a means of organizing tweets and allowing me to schedule specific dates and times for each of the tweets I compose. When you click the icon to add a new column, you are given the option to assign that column to one of your lists. I have a column on Tweetdeck for each of my lists. In addition, I have columns which search for particular hashtags, such as "#Timemanagement," and return every tweet which is using that hashtag regardless of whether or not I follow that person.

Staying on Top of Twitter
Now that you know something about my setup, let's look at how I how I handle reading Twitter on a daily basis. In short, I want to read everything written by those who are in the "Inner Circle." I can easily accomplish that during spare minutes in the day. For example, when I accompany Davonia to the grocery store and am pushing the cart down the aisle, I am reading Inner Circle tweets. When I start reading tweets I have read before, I know I am finished with the Inner Circle.

When the Inner Circle has been read, I can continue to Priority 2. Those in Priority 2 generally write good stuff, but I don't care as much about them as I do those in the Inner Circle. If I read all of the Priority 2 tweets, that's great. If not, that's OK too. If there is additional time, I continue to Priority 3. Priority 3 people, in general, could be Priority 2 or maybe even Inner Circle if they simple did not tweet soooooo much. Remember, it's quality, not quantity! 

Many of the people I follow, are not in any of the three priority groups. To be honest, I may never see their tweets. We all have to draw the line somewhere, and I have drawn mine. I can stay on top of the "Inner Circle," "Priority 2," and "Priority 3" tweets. It gives me a sense of completion, and we all need that feeling.

Since establishing the three lists I have addressed in this post, I have felt much better about my experience with Twitter.

How do you stay on top of Twitter?

HootSuite Tutorial

In the last post, we examined TweetDeck as a tool for organizing your Twitter experience. This post examines HootSuite.

I started using TweetDeck more than a year ago and established a HootSuite account last month. Personally, I like HootSuite better. The primary reason is HootSuite is web-based, allowing me access from any Internet-accessible device. I found the setup to be incredible easy, especially since I had experience with the features of TweetDeck.

This tutorial shows you how to establish a HootSuite account and set up you site.




Anyone want to share their experiences with either TweetDeck or HootSuite?

Email++

I have been extremely happy with an app for my BlackBerry called "Email++." It does not replace the native BlackBerry email app, but adds additional functionality. The email experience on any handheld pales in comparison to working on your desktop with Outlook, but this app does help to close the gap.

Turn Emails into Tasks, Appointments, or Memos
Those who have heard me talk about getting information from email messages into your Outlook task list or calendar through "drag and drop" know what a valuable tool this is. Email++ has that same capability.

When are You Available?
Think of how many times someone emails trying to set a date and time for a meeting or appointment with you and wants to know when you are free. Supplying this information, particularly if you are working from your phone, can be a real research project. You wind up scrolling through your calendar, jotting down available blocks of time on paper, and then going back to the email to transfer what you had written on the paper.

With Email++ , while reading the email which asks about your availability, you simply scroll to the top of the message, click a icon on the upper right corner, and choose "Availability." Choose a date (it defaults to the current day) and select whether you are interested in the availability for that day or that week. Your results display on the screen along with a button to click which copies those results. Now, click to reply to the email and paste the results into the body of the message.

The programs setting allow you to define when your "work time" is, so that the program doesn't say you are available at 2:00 A.M. or on Saturday morning. You get to choose the earliest and latest times you allow for availability and the days of the week on which you work. That setting only needs to happen one time. Email++ takes it from there.

Where Am I?
The same icon which let you choose you availability will also let you find your location. Clicking the "My Location" button provides an option for your results to be your GPS location (if you are outdoors) or the location of the nearest tower. With one button, you can copy those results as well as paste them into an email message.

Auto-Preview
As email comes rolling in, you see an auto-preview, just like you see on Outlook. This feature is handy for those times you are expecting a particularly important email. Just as with Outlook, you can turn off this feature if you wish.

How Much Is It and Where Do I Get It?
At $4.99 (or $2.99 if you catch it on sale) this app is a steal. You can even try it for free. Read more here.You can download it here at BlackBerry App World.